2.00 $-dollar bills

[LJRat]

I was thinking of taking $2.00 bills for tips, above the 20 percent for outstanding service at the Bars, restaurants & Island ports. Your thoughts!

[shof515]

regular dollar bills is much much better

[Cruise5life]

I use them all the time.    They’re great conversation-starters.   
a lot of people will tell you they don’t know what to do with them.   
And think they are fake.   
they spend just the same way a 5,00 bill spends 

 I just went and got a bunch for my 3 cruises com8ng up in 2 weeks.  

[complawyer]

i prefer to keep any that come my way

[hallux]

18 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i prefer to keep any that come my way

I have a stack of 3 or 4 on my desk, along with (I believe) a $5 silver certificate.

[AstoriaPreppy]

You think a $2 bill is the best attention-seeking tipping move? No way!

 

I prefer to dole out my tips out in $1 Sacagawea dollar coins of my favorite Presidents… both educational, and as frequently confusing to Western Union tellers when the crew tries to cash in tip money to wire it home! Will it work in a vending machine? Who cares, it’s just fun to give out!

(Sarcasm intended)

Edited December 22, 2022 by AstoriaPreppy

[casofilia]

People think they are as good as the old USD3 funny  money!!

[MoCruiseFan]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

i prefer to keep any that come my way

Why?  They are rare. special, or worth even 1¢ over face value.  Even the very old twos are not worth a thing unless professionally graded at an extremely high grade.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Don't you think they may be harder for non-US based personnel to use?  Cashiers haven't ever seen one, and will suspect it is fake.  Even in the US, cash registers don't have a slot for $2 bills or $1 coins.  [This was a very faulty implementation by the government – they need to drop $1 bills and 1¢ coins to make room for these new ones.]

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, LJRat said:

I was thinking of taking $2.00 bills for tips, above the 20 percent for outstanding service at the Bars, restaurants & Island ports. Your thoughts!

Why?  Is it to appear clever?  Why not just tip common cash for outstanding service and make it all about thanking the person who is being tipped instead of about the person doing the tipping?

[borgerboy@aol.com]

1 hour ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

You think a $2 bill is the best attention-seeking tipping move? No way!

 

I prefer to dole out my tips out in $1 Sacagawea dollar coins of my favorite Presidents… both educational, and as frequently confusing to Western Union tellers when the crew tries to cash in tip money to wire it home! Will it work in a vending machine? Who cares, it’s just fun to give out!

(Sarcasm intended)

 

[borgerboy@aol.com]

Might be a good idea, but my experience traveling internationally for work is that tipped employees hate coins for tips because you can’t cash them in 

[zzdoug]

I used to like the idea of a $2 bill as a tip but I kind of feel like a tip should be enough for the recipient to buy something, at a bare minimum.  Unfortunately there really isn't much anyone can buy for $2 anymore. So my tips now usually start at $3 to  $5. Also because they are so uncommon, I am persuaded by the argument that the recipient might have an unnecessarily difficult time getting people to accept the $2 bill as tender when trying to spend it abroad. I thought i read somewhere that coins of any denomination, even dollars,  typically are not accepted at all in other countries. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by zzdoug

[phillygwm]

As others have stated, $2 bills are a conversation starter.  And they'd be accepted in the US, but I'm not sure people in places like the Bahamas would know it's legal tender.  2 $1 bills will be a lot easier for the crew to negotiate.

[Cruise5life]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't you think they may be harder for non-US based personnel to use?  Cashiers haven't ever seen one, and will suspect it is fake.  Even in the US, cash registers don't have a slot for $2 bills or $1 coins.  [This was a very faulty implementation by the government – they need to drop $1 bills and 1¢ coins to make room for these new ones.]

Yeah cash registers don’t have a spot for 100’s or 50’s either.  Does that mean we shouldn’t use them?   ive had in-depth discussions with the crew about the 2.00 bill.   And they spend just like any other bill on the ship and at the ships bank.   
I had one server that would save the bills for his daughter who collected them.   

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Why?  Is it to appear clever?  Why not just tip common cash for outstanding service and make it all about thanking the person who is being tipped instead of about the person doing the tipping?

Perfectly said. Thank you. 

[pookel]

16 hours ago, LJRat said:

I was thinking of taking $2.00 bills for tips, above the 20 percent for outstanding service at the Bars, restaurants & Island ports. Your thoughts!

 

Fine on US soil. Rude outside the US as they will have a hard time actually spending the bill.

[Turtles06]

58 minutes ago, pookel said:

 

Fine on US soil. Rude outside the US as they will have a hard time actually spending the bill.

Even in the U.S., some will question it as fake. 
 

I would never tip in a denomination that is not in common use or one that otherwise might be difficult for the recipient to spend. 
 

From time to time, there have been other threads like this one, and I always wonder why the tipper would not make it as easy as possible for the recipient. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by Turtles06

[JGmf]

Just now, Turtles06 said:

Even in the U.S., some will question it as fake. 
 

I would never tip in a denomination that is not in common use or one that otherwise might be difficult for the recipient spend. 
 

From time to time, there have been other threads like this one, and I always wonder why the tipper would not make it as easy as possible for the recipient. 

 

The OP and others who bring these kinds of rarely used paper or coins are likely very excited about the cruise and want to do something different and special.  I can definitely appreciate their thinking.

 

That said, I'll pile-on....I wholeheartedly agree with @Turtles06above: skip the $2 bill or $1 coins for the reasons he/she mentioned.

 

 

 

[cementhands]

17 hours ago, LJRat said:

I was thinking of taking $2.00 bills for tips, above the 20 percent for outstanding service at the Bars, restaurants & Island ports. Your thoughts!

Yes, absolutely!

They will remember you as that $2.00 guy/gal!

I’ve been doing that for years. On Celebrity and Royal in Diamond lounge it works wonderful for better service. Not every drink but occasionally, well dispersed does the trick. Order em at the bank 🏦.

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, cementhands said:

I’ve been doing that for years. On Celebrity and Royal in Diamond lounge it works wonderful for better service. Not every drink but occasionally, well dispersed does the trick.

I'm pretty sure it is cash tips in general that work wonderful.  A single or two works great.  An occasional 5 spot works great.  And maybe a 20 the last night (just to say thanks, not about me me me).

[MoCruiseFan]

9 hours ago, Cruise5life said:

Yeah cash registers don’t have a spot for 100’s or 50’s either.  Does that mean we shouldn’t use them?   ive had in-depth discussions with the crew about the 2.00 bill.   And they spend just like any other bill on the ship and at the ships bank.   
I had one server that would save the bills for his daughter who collected them.   

 

Cash registers (the ones I be worked with anyway) have five slots for bills and five slots for coins.  None of them designate which bills or coins I need to put in each.  IN our use, we used the bill slots for $1, $5, $10, $10, Large Bills, but again ther were no slots  particularly designated for anything.

[MoCruiseFan]

19 hours ago, Cruise5life said:

And think they are fake.   

 

Like all other US bills they clearly state on them "this note is legal tender for all debts public and private".  Anyoen who tings a $2 is fake is highly ignorant of the US monetary system.

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Like all other US bills they clearly state on them "this note is legal tender for all debts public and private".  Anyoen who tings a $2 is fake is highly ignorant of the US monetary system.

Well, apart from the millions of ignorant Americans, not to mention the ability to print anything on just about anything, I’m sure that all of the mostly non-American crew on most cruise ships have had to take a course on the U.S. monetary system in order to be hired. 

[schmoopie17]

A lot of places don't take $100 bills, either. Must be because they don't have a slot in the register. *sarc*