Additional tipping for suites

[2flacruisers]

Does anyone sailing in a suite tip their room attendants a little more, in addition to the tips already applied?  We were able to upgrade to a Celebrity Suite, and would like to know what others do.  Thanks in advance...

[justcrusn]

My answer to the tipping conundrum is this:

The standard tips, cover standard service.

Anything extra, or special, or above and beyond, should be tipped extra.

What would be “extra”? Thats very debatable, but one example for us is

asking to have a bottle of champagne (we provided) iced and ready with glasses on the balcony when we return from an excursion.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Since the grats have increased we have scaled back our additional tipping.  If our cabin steward goes above and beyond, we will as well.  On our last cruise, a b2b that was split between a PV stateroom and a sky suite, we gave additional grats to our cabin stewardess on the non-suite leg.  We did not tip beyond the grats for the sky suite.  Bottom line, its personal to your own experience and desire to tip or not.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, justcrusn said:

Anything extra, or special, or above and beyond, should be tipped extra.

What would be “extra”? Thats very debatable, but one example for us is

asking to have a bottle of champagne (we provided) iced and ready with glasses on the balcony when we return from an excursion.

Well said!  The above and beyond for us was when our cabin stewardess decorated our room for our anniversary and provided a cake and sparkling wine.  It was all her doing and completely unexpected.

[George C]

We always tip extra , the amount depends on service 

[Liao]

35 minutes ago, 2flacruisers said:

Does anyone sailing in a suite tip their room attendants a little more, in addition to the tips already applied?  We were able to upgrade to a Celebrity Suite, and would like to know what others do.  Thanks in advance...

Just do what feels right to YOU

[DingoMom]

I concur with @George C. Our suite stateroom attendants have always been superb, and we have always wanted to recognize that. Our last one provided service to our room immediately after we left for breakfast and dinner, so we never had to ‘stay away’ so he could work in our room. Very much appreciated!

[TeeRick]

We do tip extra above the standard daily gratuity - with cash in an envelope the last night of the cruise.  Many cruisers do this.  Here is what we typically do.  Amounts are up to you.

 

For a CS, you will have a true dedicated butler.  That never changed*.  When we cruise a CS and above, we tip him/her if we used them.  Some use them more than others on here.  We use our butler to deliver and set up breakfast, leave refreshments, etc. , also laundry services.

 

[Note: Many Sky Suite cruisers no longer tip the butler team - although that is changing back].

 

We tend to leave an extra cash tip for the room attendant if they attend to any special requests.

 

We tend to give an extra cash tip in Luminae - address it to the Team.  Some give to individuals like the wine steward.  

 

We tend to give a cash tip to the Retreat Concierge if they did anything above and beyond for us.

 

Bartenders and Bar servers - in the Retreat - we add a tip when they deliver our drinks.  

 

[love to cruz]

$23.oo per day, per guest seems a little steep to us. As a rule we very seldom ask for anything especial.

[Liao]

7 minutes ago, love to cruz said:

$23.oo per day, per guest seems a little steep to us. As a rule we very seldom ask for anything especial.

Are you referring to the ship on-board gratuities, pre-paid and/or charged per/day at the end of the cruise?

[Georgia_Peaches]

11 minutes ago, Liao said:

Are you referring to the ship on-board gratuities, pre-paid and/or charged per/day at the end of the cruise?

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

Edited April 6 by Georgia_Peaches

[Rick&Jeannie]

Here we go.... buckle up!

 

[Pinboy]

15 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Here we go.... buckle up!

 

You got it --- " And, Away We Go "--- Remember who ??---He won the "Safest Bus Driver of the Year Award" !!!

LOL---- We don't stay in no sweet---We always tip our Stateroom Attendant, Assistant Waiter and our Waiter ( even though the Bum forgot to bring my 3 shrimp cocktails at the same time back in 2013 ) a few $$(US) extra--- 

LOL--- When CCers post " I tip depending on the " over and above " service"--- What does that mean, " over and above what ??

Come to think of it---- Who them people in the long line at GR on the last night of the cruise?

[Liao]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

Right I am aware of that, but that's not what I asked.

[Lastdance]

19 hours ago, 2flacruisers said:

Does anyone sailing in a suite tip their room attendants a little more, in addition to the tips already applied?  We were able to upgrade to a Celebrity Suite, and would like to know what others do.  Thanks in advance...

The crew loves hearing from you by writing a personal note applauding their service.  You can get the note paper from Guest Services or concierge, returning it to the same place.  That individual gets recognition from his/her peers, along with others.  We have done one or the other, but many times both if our service was excellent.

Edited April 6 by Lastdance

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, love to cruz said:

$23.oo per day, per guest seems a little steep to us. As a rule we very seldom ask for anything especial.

This ^

2 hours ago, Liao said:

Are you referring to the ship on-board gratuities, pre-paid and/or charged per/day at the end of the cruise?

Followed by this ^

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

Followed by my response to your question above ^

38 minutes ago, Liao said:

Right I am aware of that, but that's not what I asked.

Followed by this ^....Hmm...what did I miss?😕

Edited April 6 by Georgia_Peaches

[love to cruz]

7 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This ^

Followed by this ^

Followed by my response to your question above ^

Followed by this ^....Hmm...what did I miss?😕

If you look up gratuities, all suites are $23.00 per day, per person. We will likely not use the butler & ask for nothing more from a room steward than if we were in a regular cabin. It seems quite steep to us 

[Georgia_Peaches]

Just now, love to cruz said:

If you look up gratuities, all suites are $23.00 per day, per person. We will likely not use the butler & ask for nothing more from a room steward than if we were in a regular cabin. It seems quite steep to us 

Yes, completely agree.  I was just confused by @Liao response to my follow up to your post regarding daily grats.   Perhaps s/he will clarify.

[Folsomdoc]

We did get what we considered above and beyond service from our steward, butler and regular waiter in Luminae. We did give them each an additional cash gratuity.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On our last cruise I did not realize I had a broken bone in my foot, I just knew it hurt and didn't want to take the pain pills my doctor gave me because I was drinking wine. Our butler brought me bags of ice twice a day so I could keep the swelling down. I consider that above & beyond and  tipped an additional $100 to $150 for a 10 night cruise.  Oh, and he also gave me a bottle of Vevue for packing day.

Edited April 6 by CHEZMARYLOU

[Mark_K]

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

But not quite as high as The Haven ($25), which is probably its most direct comparable.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, Mark_K said:

But not quite as high as The Haven ($25), which is probably its most direct comparable.

Whew!  That’s high!  It’s been before Covid since I was in the Haven and I’m sure we didn’t pay that. Sign of the times, I guess. 

[Mark_K]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Whew!  That’s high!  It’s been before Covid since I was in the Haven and I’m sure we didn’t pay that. Sign of the times, I guess. 

They made a big jump effective 1/1/23, maybe that’s what got Celebrity to thinking.

 

For bookings made on or after January 1, 2023:

• $25.00 USD per person per day for The Haven and Suites;
• $20.00 USD per person per day for Club Balcony Suite and below;

 

For bookings made before January 1, 2023, that pre-pay their service charges before their sail date:

• $20.00 USD per person per day for The Haven and Suites;
• $18.00 USD per person per day for Club Balcony Suite;
• $16.00 USD per person per day for all other stateroom types

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Pinboy said:

You got it --- " And, Away We Go "--- Remember who ??---He won the "Safest Bus Driver of the Year Award" !!!

 

 "to the moon Alice" 

 

 Who could ever forget!

 

 

[Liao]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

This ^

Followed by this ^

Followed by my response to your question above ^

Followed by this ^....Hmm...what did I miss?😕

Foolowed by this:  I didn't question what they said, I asked if they were referring to the on board grats.  So settle down and relax.