A couple of general questions

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, clo said:

Which is another topic entirely. I ask people who want to use dollars to tip, how would they like it if they got tips in pounds. They don't seem to reply to that 🙂

 

See response #23. All over the world, service personnel (particularly on cruise ships) gratefully accept all sorts of money and exchange it amongst themselves or at banks/exchange bureaus.

 

As for me: As a young man, I worked in the ski industry and I can tell you that I always preferred even foreign currency to yet another knitted cap. 😎

[clo]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

See response #23. All over the world, service personnel (particularly on cruise ships) gratefully accept all sorts of money and exchange it amongst themselves or at banks/exchange bureaus.

 

As for me: As a young man, I worked in the ski industry and I can tell you that I always preferred even foreign currency to yet another knitted cap. 😎

Of course one would prefer any currency to none. Sorry. My point is that Americans (that seems to be who do this) don't want to go to the process of going to an ATM and getting a small amount of local currency. The cost is minimal and can't we possibly afford it more than the person 'serving' us?

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Of course one would prefer any currency to none. Sorry. My point is that Americans (that seems to be who do this) don't want to go to the process of going to an ATM and getting a small amount of local currency. The cost is minimal and can't we possibly afford it more than the person 'serving' us?

 

“Seems to be” (Americans) is your unsubstantiated claim and nothing more. 

In any case, the fact remains that all money is money and, personally, I’ve never seen any service person refuse a gratuity consisting of US $.

 

In fact, I remember one experience many years ago in Athens, Greece where I asked a cab driver how he preferred to be paid during a time when the Greek economy was having a difficult time. His answer? “US $ if you’ve got them.”

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, clo said:

Of course one would prefer any currency to none.

 

Remember when US $2.00 bills were a new thing and people were using them for tips on the ships?  I think they thought they were doing something special since the bills weren't really common for a bit.  Now they have faded away again.

[osandomir]

8 hours ago, Harters said:

Ah, yes, American cultural imperialism. Have you even considered for one moment what an insult that would be to your server, to receive a tip in a foreigner's currency, rather than their own.. Nasty. Just plain nasty. Shame on you. 

Tip in any currency for hardworking crew is better than no tip at all. Like we witnessed how the passenger from the other country was looking to remove the tips while cruising on “American culture” Oceania ship.

[Vallesan]

9 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Where is everyone getting the idea the UK is a no tip country?  We do tip for good/excellent service but not just because the person providing the service turned up for work 😂 

I agree with you. We always tip for good service unless there’s a service charge already added which is becoming more widespread these days. We also always tip over and above the gratuities on Oceania and other lines. However we don’t tip as a ‘bribe’!
 

I won’t repeat our experience at the Intercontinental in Miami last year,  but suffice  it to say it has just about put us off travelling to the US again!

[daydreamer62]

5 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

 

See response #23. All over the world, service personnel (particularly on cruise ships) gratefully accept all sorts of money and exchange it amongst themselves or at banks/exchange bureaus.

 

As for me: As a young man, I worked in the ski industry and I can tell you that I always preferred even foreign currency to yet another knitted cap. 😎

I would kindly suggest if you ever come to New Zealand that you don't tip in US dollars. Banks here do not convert foreign currency at all. You need to take it to a currency conversion shop which give appalling rates and often have minimum amounts and maximum fees to convert. A few US dollars would be almost useless unless the recipient was planning to leave the country . It would be far more appreciated if you had converted your money to local currency or used an ATM to get cash  and paid those fees yourself if you really appreciated the service you had received 

[Techno123]

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

 

I won’t repeat our experience at the Intercontinental in Miami last year,  but suffice  it to say it has just about put us off travelling to the US again!

Oooh now that I have to hear 😁

[tine-tine]

When is a tip not a tip!!!!

[Vallesan]

8 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Oooh now that I have to hear 😁

OK!

 

Very briefly we sailed from Miami February 2023. Arrived at the airport. I have assistance. Collected luggage, assistant called porter to take said luggage, 2 cases. He walked less than 50 yards to taxi stand. OH gave him $5, …” not enough” says the porter, “ it’s $10!

 

Intercontinental. Toro Toro restaurant for dinner. Pretty empty. Waited on by pleasant lady. Towards the end of the meal a young man, who’d not served us, came up to our table…. “ Can you leave me a tip as the service charge is kept by the hotel”!

I gave him a ‘tip’ …. but not to be repeated here! 
 

Not to do with tipping but added to our experience the hotel failed to service our room until 5pm and that was after bringing the issue to the attention of the front desk several times. When the room was eventually serviced the tray from the previous evening was left in the room. Expect far more from an Intercontinental!

 

Anyway, the whole experience left us less than happy to return to the US. Not sure we would ever get used to the rudeness in general and the ‘tipping’ culture in particular.

 

 

[Techno123]

@Vallesan maybe we just need to take some Vietnamese dong as it's acceptable to tip in other currencies 😂 Personally I would probably have taken the $5 back off him.

 

I do understand that in some states the servers are paid a pittance (but not all) but my view is it's the company's job to pay its staff. If they do a great job then they get a bit extra - if they don't, they don't.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by Techno123

[Harters]

9 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

the server would be appreciative of the kind/generous gesture

Bollocks! 

[Harters]

3 hours ago, Vallesan said:

unless there’s a service charge already added which is becoming more widespread these days

Of course.

 

And we encountered it during our brief pre-cruise stay in  Miami Beach. I'd noted, from the Tripadvisor forum, that restaurants there commonly add a service charge (at around 18%). And so it was on both dinners we had there. First night, the server pointed out the charge on the bill, saying that nothing more by way of a tip was expected. Good for the Miami Beach restaurant industry. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 hours ago, Kay S said:

Remember when US $2.00 bills were a new thing and people were using them for tips on the ships?  I think they thought they were doing something special since the bills weren't really common for a bit.  Now they have faded away again.

Not true. Even our local bank branch carries them (and the manager says many folks order them in large denomination packs for future travel. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

Bollocks! 

no soup for you.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, daydreamer62 said:

I would kindly suggest if you ever come to New Zealand that you don't tip in US dollars. Banks here do not convert foreign currency at all. You need to take it to a currency conversion shop which give appalling rates and often have minimum amounts and maximum fees to convert. A few US dollars would be almost useless unless the recipient was planning to leave the country . It would be far more appreciated if you had converted your money to local currency or used an ATM to get cash  and paid those fees yourself if you really appreciated the service you had received 

Response #23.

[Flatbush Flyer]

4 hours ago, Vallesan said:

OK!

 

Very briefly we sailed from Miami February 2023. Arrived at the airport. I have assistance. Collected luggage, assistant called porter to take said luggage, 2 cases. He walked less than 50 yards to taxi stand. OH gave him $5, …” not enough” says the porter, “ it’s $10!

 

Intercontinental. Toro Toro restaurant for dinner. Pretty empty. Waited on by pleasant lady. Towards the end of the meal a young man, who’d not served us, came up to our table…. “ Can you leave me a tip as the service charge is kept by the hotel”!

I gave him a ‘tip’ …. but not to be repeated here! 
 

Not to do with tipping but added to our experience the hotel failed to service our room until 5pm and that was after bringing the issue to the attention of the front desk several times. When the room was eventually serviced the tray from the previous evening was left in the room. Expect far more from an Intercontinental!

 

Anyway, the whole experience left us less than happy to return to the US. Not sure we would ever get used to the rudeness in general and the ‘tipping’ culture in particular.

 

 

So, of all places, you pick Miami, Florida by which to judge an entire country?

[Croooser]

4 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Anyway, the whole experience left us less than happy to return to the US. Not sure we would ever get used to the rudeness in general and the ‘tipping’ culture in particular.

 

 

Seems like it might be best for you and for us from the USA if you choose not to return as most Americans would likely see your opinions as unwarranted and objectionable.

[osandomir]

4 hours ago, Vallesan said:

OK!

 

Very briefly we sailed from Miami February 2023. Arrived at the airport. I have assistance. Collected luggage, assistant called porter to take said luggage, 2 cases. He walked less than 50 yards to taxi stand. OH gave him $5, …” not enough” says the porter, “ it’s $10!

 

Intercontinental. Toro Toro restaurant for dinner. Pretty empty. Waited on by pleasant lady. Towards the end of the meal a young man, who’d not served us, came up to our table…. “ Can you leave me a tip as the service charge is kept by the hotel”!

I gave him a ‘tip’ …. but not to be repeated here! 
 

Not to do with tipping but added to our experience the hotel failed to service our room until 5pm and that was after bringing the issue to the attention of the front desk several times. When the room was eventually serviced the tray from the previous evening was left in the room. Expect far more from an Intercontinental!

 

Anyway, the whole experience left us less than happy to return to the US. Not sure we would ever get used to the rudeness in general and the ‘tipping’ culture in particular.

 

 

We’ve travelled all over the world and I can tell you that all these can happen anywhere. Hotel room wasn’t serviced in time - that’s the end of the world. If we feel so offended every time we get a problem we’d stop travelling altogether and miss the opportunity to see so many wonderful things around the globe. And by the way, we’ve experienced much more “rudeness” towards the Americans in Europe than here at home.

[Harters]

39 minutes ago, Croooser said:

if you choose not to return

We've visited the States a goodly number of times since our first visit in 1980. We do not generally visit the areas that are popular destinations for foreign tourists. It's often been the case that folk in the hospitality industry have never previously met a British person. Rudeness has been rare - probably no different than in the UK or other European countries. I've always enjoyed and been engaged by those trips - I find America to be the most "foreign" country I visit, even though we generally share a language. More foreign/different than, say, other European countries. It's just down to America and Europe generally having very different social cultures on so many aspects. But, what I see of current American society suggests that our recent pre-cruise stay will probably be our last visit. It no longer holds an appeal. 

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

So, of all places, you pick Miami, Florida by which to judge an entire country?

I was just relating ‘my experience’.

 

I don’t judge the entire country by my trip to Miami, which actually I didn’t  ’pick’, rather it was ‘picked’ for me, as that’s where the cruise was departing from!

 

We actually had an amazing time in Sarasota several years ago but that was a place we did ‘pick’!

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, Croooser said:

Seems like it might be best for you and for us from the USA if you choose not to return as most Americans would likely see your opinions as unwarranted and objectionable.

I was just relating ‘my experience’ in Miami.
 

I think you may have misread my post as I was talking only about that experience, and those people, not ‘most Americans’.  
 

If you go to a restaurant that serves bad food or take a trip that doesn’t live up to your expectations, wherever that may happened to be, you probably wouldn’t repeat the experience, when there are so many other choices. I’m sure ‘most Americans’ would feel the same. A ‘bad’ experience wherever, is unlikely to entice you to go back!

 

[Vallesan]

1 hour ago, osandomir said:

We’ve travelled all over the world and I can tell you that all these can happen anywhere. Hotel room wasn’t serviced in time - that’s the end of the world. If we feel so offended every time we get a problem we’d stop travelling altogether and miss the opportunity to see so many wonderful things around the globe. And by the way, we’ve experienced much more “rudeness” towards the Americans in Europe than here at home.

I was just relating ‘my experience’ in Miami.

 

I agree a hotel room not being serviced isn’t the end of the world but just a bit annoying when you’ve done a long haul flight and want to rest in the afternoon. Yes, of course this can happen anywhere in the world but that doesn’t really excuse it especially when you’re paying Intercontinental rates!

 

Maybe your experience of ‘rudeness’ in Europe is partly down to differences in language and culture?

[Vallesan]

48 minutes ago, Harters said:

We've visited the States a goodly number of times since our first visit in 1980. We do not generally visit the areas that are popular destinations for foreign tourists. It's often been the case that folk in the hospitality industry have never previously met a British person. Rudeness has been rare - probably no different than in the UK or other European countries. I've always enjoyed and been engaged by those trips - I find America to be the most "foreign" country I visit, even though we generally share a language. More foreign/different than, say, other European countries. It's just down to America and Europe generally having very different social cultures on so many aspects. But, what I see of current American society suggests that our recent pre-cruise stay will probably be our last visit. It no longer holds an appeal. 

We have not traveled  to the US that many times and it has only been in Florida. I assume your pre-cruise stay wasn’t much better than ours! As you say it could very well be down to having very different social cultures. 
 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on Vista!

[Vineyard View]

Vallesan, it does sound like you ran into a few off-putting situations. I am sorry you experienced that. It can happen anywhere, in any country. It can plant an image in our minds when that happens. My brother years ago had a bad experience in a country in Europe, and he did not want to return. He was a bit hard headed though. When we went to the same country and had a wonderful time, shared our experience with him, he still would not change his opinion. (Not suggesting that is you). 
Tipping in the States is a culture that has been in place for a long time. Right or wrong. Mostly it occurs because those servers really do rely on that income. We tip based on the level of service.  We are generous of good and not so much if not. When we travel to another country, we try to understand what is expected and standard in tipping. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that servers do make a living wage and that even with great  service, it is truly not necessary at the same rates. What we have encountered a few times is a server who almost expects a larger tip simply because we are from the States (happened last year in Venice).  So I think it can be confusing from both perspectives at times. 
We always hit ATM’s and/or order foreign currency when we travel. The one time it was challenging was on a 29 day Viking trip that covered a multitude of countries with different currencies. There were days we just limited our purchases to credit cards only, as going to ATM’s in each country for a day was not the smart play.