Tips on tipping

[ejhall]

I'm trying to budget my cash for my cruise this week in Vancouver and I was wondering....

 

1. How much should I plan on tipping the porters at the pier who handle my luggage? I am using the cruise line transfers, am I expected to tip those people as well? Should I use Canadian currency?

 

2. How much should I plan on tipping the guides for my shore excursions? If there are several guides on the same tour, do I tip each one, or does the main guide split tips?

 

Any guideance would be appreciated!

[VentureMan_2000]

Everything in US dollars:

 

Suggested Porter tipping is $1 per bag. Expect to tip $10 per person per day on the ship for stewards, waiters, servers, etc. The cruise lines make this very easy. For a 7 day cruise, $140 will be added on to your bill for this.

 

For tours, plan to tip in the usual 10% to 20% range.

 

Beverages (cocktails, beer, wine) already have 15% added to the bill, so don't tip on top of your tip, unless you want to.

[geoherb]

We tip porters a dollar or two per bag. I've never tipped a bus driver from the cruise line's transfers unless there's extraordinary service, such as helping to handle an extremely awkward piece of luggage.

 

On excursions, sometimes there is a tip jar for the crew or you can tip one guide and hope that it gets distributed equitably. We usually tip according to the price of the excursion, length of time, and the level of service. The usual tip would range from $5 to $10 tip for us as a couple up to $50 for an exceptional guide on an excursion where it was just the two of us and the guide.

 

In Canada, I'd tip in Canadian dollars if I had them. Unfortunately, I'm sure they'd take U.S. dollars as well.

[bUU]

To answer one last bit of the question, I haven't read anything that indicates that cruise-line transfers include gratuities for porters... you do need to tip porters even with pre-paid transfers.

[catmand]

ejhall, just to clarify something VentureMan wrote not all lines use the auto tipping policy. Princess does, Celebrity it is optional, the others I am not sure about. And as he said, it is $10 per day per person, so if there are two in your party it would be $140.00 for the 7 day cruise, more people more tips etc. This auto tips take care of all your onboard staff, BUT, if you order room service and you have to sign for anything, like drinks a 15% gratuity is added to the bill. If it is an order of food (non payment) then a couple of dollars is appropriate for a tip. Also, although a 15% tip is added to all drinks you sign for, some people will tip the server something, I never do because, I don't drink..:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL also now adds 15% to all bar bills - as well as drinks and wine ordered in the dining room.

And HAL also now has the automatic tipping of $10 per day per person.

And we still tip beyond that amount.

[VentureMan_2000]

Regarding the transfers,

 

No, it does not include the tip to the Porters. Expect to tip $1 per bag. Some tip more, but $1 is more than fair. They are paid Union Wages by the Port Authority (they do not work for the cruise lines) in addition to the tips they receive. There seems to be a concensus that if you don't tip, your luggage may get on the wrong ship or end up in the river or ocean. :eek:

[serene56]

WHen taking the cruiselines shuttle- I didnt think you had to worry about your luggage that the bus driver does all that. Do you have to wait til the luggage is taken off the bus only to watch it transfer hands to a porter who puts it on a cage.??? I thought once you got off the bus--that was all.

[ejhall]

Serene - I'm not sure if we will have to handle the luggage when we get off the bus at the pier and hand it to the porters. :confused: If so, then we should tip both the driver and the porter. Oh well, I'll just have a bunch of one handy and see what happens.

[VentureMan_2000]

The way I remember it was the bus driver had everyone's luggage lined up. He asked you to verify that it was there. He asked you watch it being put in the bus's luggage bay and to board the bus.

 

At the port, they unloaded the bus, asked us once again to verify our luggage, and then barked out, "You can tip me now for your luggage! Please verify you luggage and leave your tip with me before boarding the ship. You can tip me know after you verify your luggage. You may leave your tip with me. I will ensure your luggage is delivered to the ship!". On and on he went. Kind of intimidating and rude. How would you like to hear that from your waiter in a restaurant right when you sit down: "You cant tip me now!"

 

I believe the bus driver collected the tips. I'm assuming he split them with the Porters as only the Porters are allowed to load luggage on the ship.

 

The short of it is, you only need to tip once. Some folks who have extra money tip everyone they see. :rolleyes:

[DollyCruise]

Everything in US dollars:

 

For a 7 day cruise, $140 will be added on to your bill for this.

QUOTE]

 

It's $70 not $140.

 

Dolly

[serene56]

Dolly: I think VentureMan was calculating if there were 2 in a room. I know we were charged 140 right off the top.. as soon as we got in the cabin that 140 was sitting on our account already-

 

It is 70 per person. I have those tips prepaid already for next two cruises.

[pairodocs]

Hey EJ

 

Just cruisin the posts one last time before we leave for Vancouver.

 

To answer your question, I usually give the porters $1 -$2 per bag, depends on how much help they are. If they come to the car (taxi) and carry the bags to the onload area I give them more sometime as much as an extra $10 for the load. If I have to carry the bags and all they do is throw them on a pallet, I give them $1 per bag just as a token gratuity ( I too have heard that people who stiff the porters sometimes end up wearing pajamas to formal night, don't need my stuff going to China).

 

The transfer people, I'm not much help with because I never use the transfer service. I prefer to hire a taxi or limo, much less stress and you don't have to wait for other folks to arrive before you can get on your way.

 

Currency wise, you're better off getting some Canadian currency before you leave the States or at least at the airport (high exchange rate). You can always use U.S. dollars but most folks will take the cash at face value and not offer an exchange. Most cabs in Vancouver, as well as merchants and restaurants take credit cards and will show the exchange when it gets processed to your account.

 

I agree with Geoherb, the amount I tip a guide depends greatly on how much they did to merrit it, good service = good tip. If the guide performs minimal service, I give them a minimal tip usually $5 (for my wife and myself) for a 2 - 4 hour tour. If they do more and go out of their way to make my trip memorable, I give them a better tip, usually $10 -$15 for the same time frame. I increase the amounts if the tour is longer or if it is a private tour. I've never run into the multiple guide thing, they usually assign a guide to be responsible for a certain group of clients. I think they do it that way so nobody gets lost or overlooked. Hell of a thing to get left on a glacier. If they do have several guides working together, then I would assume they would be pooling tips. You might ask who is in charge of the groups tip pool or look for a money filled jar with a sign on it. I was on a windjammer cruise several years ago and the passengers (20) got together informally and donated to a pool and that money was given as a whole to the crew to distribute evenly.

 

We plan to tip the ship personel in accordance with what Celebrity suggests as a base. If someone does extra, we'll increase the tip if we don't see the person(or a sign that thier work is defficient) or have to ask repeatedly to get things done, then we'll decrease the tip. I usually bring an extra $200 earmarked for misc. tips such as room service, people helping out, etc. If I need it, it's there, if I don't need it, I get to take my wife out to a nice restaurant or buy a new fly rod.

 

If you have any more question, bring them up at the Critic party on the ship. See you at the party.

 

Chuck

[JanetMarie]

One of the things of my "planning process" is saving tons of one for tipping people, whether it's luggage handlers, island tour guides, etc.