Tipping Policies

[Robyn France]

Amadeus last year was about $20 per day per person for our cruise in Russia. Amadeus is a US company.

 

Coral--was the tipping component only for the cruise days? Did you stay in hotels for other days and was there a "cruise director tip" expected for those days or separately on the cuise? Many thanks.

[halbfl2]

I couldn't agree more. A salary of $5000/wk seems entirely excessive for what they do. Their argument may be that they only do a tour a couple times a month. However, that's not our problem. You just have to look at it and say "is what they do worth that?" I wonder if the captain of the ship makes that much? Yes, I agree that the cost of the help should just be in the cruise price. Then, if an employee goes way out of their way to do something for you, you should compensate them accordingly.

[steamboats]

I cant agree with you there I`m afraid. Its not my fault if the travel companies dont pay well. I dont have a moral obligation to make up staff wages. As I`ve said before, I`ll tip for exceptional service but thats it. These ships are run as businesses & I`ve paid my fares. They can pay their staff. If that means raising costs so be it. I can take my custom elsewhere if I so choose. Business is business. Its a hard life.

I work hard myself & would never expect tips.

 

I totally agree with you! The cruise companies should pay proper wages. Tipping came from the US where a lot of jobs depend on tipping (especially in service). I´m not used to tip at all and had to learn it. In a restaurant we usually round up the total. Let´s say when it´s 10.50 EUR I give 11 EUR.

 

Unfortunately the cruise industry (ocean and river) took over this system and used it as a way to cut down wages and to cut down the cruise fare. So for a real price you have to have a look on the fare (plus taxes, plus fuel surcharge...) and the tips. Then you get the real fare. Go and try to say I don´t pay the fuel surcharge. It´s part of your business that cruise ships do need fuel to run. So it´s your risk as a company when fuel prices skyrocket.

 

BTW there are companies which tell you it´s a "service charge". Costa is one example. The service charge is automatically added to your onboard account and you can´t say I don´t want to pay that. And look at your bar bill: All US companies add 15% to any kind of bar drink as a service charge (and call it a pooled tip).

 

And BTW there are even rumors that the low charges don´t see pretty much of the pooled tips anyway.

 

So IMHO tips are fake and only keep your cruise fare lower.

 

As for the CDs: They are doing pretty much for you. They organize all the shore tours and all onboard entertainment. They have to deal directly with the passengers and keep track of their complaints. They have to deal with anything which is getting the ship out of schedule. So they are the ones who have to book hotels or organize busses when a ship can´t proceed as scheduled (like with high water, low water, closed locks). As I said already many of them are freelancers and get the tips only. They are usually staying with the ship for the season or alternate with another one and don´t earn any money during off season when the ship is laid up (or during their off time when they alternate). I never heard of any CD which became a millionaire out of his tips and they sure have less monthly income than their passengers.

 

I usually do give the suggested amount. I do give less when the service was really poor. But in most cases tips are charged to your onboard account and of course this is much more convenient as you don´t need extra cash (usually in a foreign currency).

 

steamboats

 

who is in a position where any kind of tips is illegal and regarded as bribe. I can´t even accept an invitation for a lunch.

[lddam]

Coral--was the tipping component only for the cruise days? Did you stay in hotels for other days and was there a "cruise director tip" expected for those days or separately on the cuise? Many thanks.

 

I can't speak for Amadeus, but we just completed a 14-day trip with Avalon, 7 days aboard the Artistry and the remaining days in hotels in Bucharest and Budapest. I calculated the gratuity as follows: 12 Euros/pp/per day times 7 days for the crew of the Artistry, and 3 Euros/pp/per day times 14 for the Cruise Director.

 

Dave

[Coral]

Coral--was the tipping component only for the cruise days? Did you stay in hotels for other days and was there a "cruise director tip" expected for those days or separately on the cuise? Many thanks.

 

This was "cruise only" - there was no hotel stays involved. If I remember correctly - they broke it down to $14 per day for room steward, wait staff and people who took care of the luggage and then $6 per day for Cruise Director, Asst. Cruise Director and Chef. It was a total of $20 per day per person.

 

While I am in the US and understand the tipping model, I did find this excessive. I also thought that the service was not that great to warrant this amount.

[Robyn France]

Thank you all for the information. There are always extras I guess--but good to know the drill--I am curious, who relays the information to you on what is due to whom? Thanks again.

[pjtraveler]

I can only speak for Uniworld--but this information can be found in the cruise companion booklet for each trip--which you can view online before booking your trip. We always consider tipping as part of the expense of the trip and plan for it accordingly as we budget our travel expenditures.

[Coral]

Thank you all for the information. There are always extras I guess--but good to know the drill--I am curious, who relays the information to you on what is due to whom? Thanks again.

 

This is somewhat hidden on Amadeus's website: Gratuities

Gratuities to your Cruise Director and ship crew are not included in the vacation price. While the amount of these gratuities will depend upon your degree of satisfaction for services received, many of our clients have asked us for general tipping guidelines. For good service, we recommend 3 Euros per passenger, per day for the Cruise Director and 12 Euros per passenger, per day for the crew, which will be divided up among all the ship's personnel. It is also customary to acknowledge a particularly good performance of a local guide by leaving a tip of 1-2 Euros per tour.

 

Here is the link: http://www.amawaterways.com/reservations.asp?page=tvlres_eur&view=onb

 

It will be in the cruise info provided with your tickets and they will leave something in your room at the end of the cruise.

[webfoot]

That is the same guidelines that Avalon gave us. Personally I thought that the cruise director and the staff did an excellent job and we actually tipped a little bit beyond the guideline amounts ... we appreciated the good service and rewarded those who provided it.

[Lummy]

I noticed that the math in some of the previous posts for a 14 day cruise included tipping for 14 days. On a typical cruise or tour the first day is flying on an airplane and the second day is usually half over by the time you see someone from your cruise (check in at 3 PM on a cruise). And the last day you are out by 8 AM and back on the airplane. That leaves 11 full days of cruising. How much would you tip for these other days? Surely not as a typical full day.

 

I also noticed just a couple of years ago (I think 2006) the recommended rate was printed at $7 a day. Then instead of increasing it to $10 a day, it was increased to 10 Euros a day. That was a significant increase.

 

Lummy

[halbfl2]

This was "cruise only" - there was no hotel stays involved. If I remember correctly - they broke it down to $14 per day for room steward, wait staff and people who took care of the luggage and then $6 per day for Cruise Director, Asst. Cruise Director and Chef. It was a total of $20 per day per person.

 

While I am in the US and understand the tipping model, I did find this excessive. I also thought that the service was not that great to warrant this amount.

 

Since when did people start tipping the chef on any vessel? It may be that the companies don't want to add the fuel or salaries (tips) to the cost of the cruise because then they have to commission the whole thing to the TAs. Now all those things are outside the "cruise fare" and not commissionable.

[Coral]

Since when did people start tipping the chef on any vessel? It may be that the companies don't want to add the fuel or salaries (tips) to the cost of the cruise because then they have to commission the whole thing to the TAs. Now all those things are outside the "cruise fare" and not commissionable.

 

This was a weird cruise! The only Amadeus employees were the Chef, the CD and Asst. CD. The rest were Vodohod employees (who owns the boat and who Amadeus charters the boat from).

 

So - the $14 was for Vodohod employees and the $6 was for Amadeus employees and it was defined as CD, Asst. CD and Chef.

 

BTW - he was a lousy chef. The last week of the cruise, I just ate breakfasts in the dining room as the food was so lousy.

[AWED23]

:confused: Think about it and do the math....155 passengers @ 3 euros = 465 euros per day for 7 days a week!!!!....465 euros = $725 per day....over $5000 per week......Wake up folks.....It is simply too damn much:cool: !

[orchestrapal]

Ditto! NO way is this appropriate!

[tiggypooo]

You gotta stop converting the tips amounts into US $'s. They don't shop and pay their bills in US $'s..............

[webfoot]

I think someone mentioned this before, but the cruise directors are not full-time employees. They must pay their own taxes, etc. They do not work all of the year as cruise directors. If you average out what they receive in tips over the time that they are actively working, you will find that their salary is still fairly low. I know that our cruise director said that to survive in the off-season, he does translation work ... and sleeps ... :D

 

If the service rendered is good, then I feel that they deserve a good tip! But then, that's just my opinion .... for whatever it is worth.

[smeyer418]

I am always amazed at some of the attitudes that come out on threads like this.

 

1. Unlike cruise ships that are foreign flagged, river and canal cruise have to hire people who are permitted to work in the countries they sail from. So for the most part these aren't third world employees doing the scut work like the Ocean going cruise lines that are registered in Liberia or the Bahamas. For the most part you are traveling in some of the highest cost of living countries in the world when you cruise through Europe. The fact that they might use a Romania employment doesn't change the fact they have to hire people permitted to work in the country they sail in.

 

2. The cost of living is high in these countries, so the recommended tip level reflects the level needed for a living wage.

 

3. Most CD are not employees at all they are what in the US are called independent contractors some others may call them "capitalists" but what ever you call them they are surely entitled to be paid. Unfortunately most of their income comes from tips. I personally would prefer if it was in the form of a mandatory service charge so you know how much it is and the cheapos from where ever don't free load(it could in fact be somewhat less if everyone was forced to pay it). I don't like adding it directly to the fare because when they do that it gets marked up by many things(including commission) which makes it more costly to ME to get the same amount to the CD or ship staff's hands.

 

4. I always like when people count how much others earn as if they like it when people count what they get.

 

and if you think I am lecturing you, I probably am.

 

Tipping unfortunately is the way these people get paid. If they do a fair job you should pay they a fair amount. Of course if they are terrible the tip should reflect that but my experience is that the people doing the cd job are among the most experienced best people and most of the complaints(but not all) are petty and an attempt to justify plain cheapness not frugality but mean spirited pettiness.

 

Are the amounts higher in Europe---yes they are because that is what the market demands to get good people.

[JBVols]

Does Amadeus add the tip to your on board account or can you give it in cash?

[steamboats]

1. Unlike cruise ships that are foreign flagged, river and canal cruise have to hire people who are permitted to work in the countries they sail from. So for the most part these aren't third world employees doing the scut work like the Ocean going cruise lines that are registered in Liberia or the Bahamas. For the most part you are traveling in some of the highest cost of living countries in the world when you cruise through Europe. The fact that they might use a Romania employment doesn't change the fact they have to hire people permitted to work in the country they sail in.

 

smeyer418,

 

Unfortunatley European law is pretty complicated regarding this topic. I was talking of Germans who were forced to contract with a company from Romania and work on - whatever flagged - ships on German rivers. When you´re working for a company from Romania their labor law and their wages are valid. In fact the Eastern European countries do have much lower wages than here in Germany. Romania belongs to the European Community and therefore a company can fulfill contracts all over Europe. This is a legal way to bypass German labor law. European treaties don´t allow citizens of a lot of Eastern European countries to work here in Germany (meaning to sign a contract with a German company and working for it) for a couple of years (since those countries have joined the European Community). But a foreign company is allowed to work over here with their employees. And BTW most staff on the river cruise ships is from Eastern European countries like Hungaria, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republik.

 

As for the flags: Since this year most of the ships are registered in Malta!! A flag of convenience for river cruise ships also. The second largest group is flying the Swiss flag.

 

steamboats

[jibeho52]

We just came back from Uniworld European Serenade and it was fantastic, no issues or problems. It totally exceeded my expectations. On tipping the cruise line recommended 10 euro per day per passenger for the crew to split and 3 euro per day per pass for the cruise director. It was worth every penny of it. After the service they provided they got that plus personal tips from me. Have a good trip and remember to "tip your bartender and waitress".

[AWED23]

You gotta stop converting the tips amounts into US $'s. They don't shop and pay their bills in US $'s..............

I earn dollars and have to spend dollars no matter what the currency is that is used, pounds, euros or winne the pooh money. Wake up to reality. I have the choice to pay what I feel is fair in tips and that is exactly what I shall do....As to there recommended ammounts...HAH....tiggypooo ???????

[lddam]

You gotta stop converting the tips amounts into US $'s. They don't shop and pay their bills in US $'s..............

 

OK, then 465 Euros times 7 days is still 3255 Euros per week. That's nice pay any way you slice it.

[tiggypooo]

Noone said that you didn't have the right to pay whatever you want AWED.

I am giving my opinion, to the comments on the subject originally posted by you. If you don't want the comments then don't post on a public forum.

 

No matter what you give (and I'm sure it's getting lower with every post written) these employees still pay their bills in Euros.

[steamboats]

lddam,

 

Again: Put half of the sum off and that´s about what the CD got left from it. He has to pay income tax (here in Germany we also have a church tax if you belong to any of the two major religions over here), health insurance, retirement insurance and more.

 

AWED, I totally agree with tiggypooo, we have to pay our stuff in Euro and I don´t count in USD.

 

We do have this discussion every year. And each time it´s the same especially regarding the CD. Sorry, but tipping recommendations are not top secret. Everyone knows that tipping is expected and everyone can ask prior to booking a cruise how much is recommended. That´s what these boards are for. Most of you are planning your river cruises more than one year in advance. Recommended tips are no big surprise.

 

The current exchange rate is hurting. I´m pretty happy about it as my trips to the US are getting much cheaper. But I remember when we changed to the Euro the exchange rate was something like 80 US cents for 1 Euro. Now we´re at 1.50 USD for 1 EUR. Sure I did convert my tips from USD to Euro to sum up my expenses. And sure I was a bit shocked by the total of what I was paying. But it´s my vacation and if I can´t afford it I can´t do it. If I need to save money a Med cruise with a US cruise line (NCL, RCCL,...) might be better as you can pay all tips and shore tours in USD.

 

steamboats

[boards]

My TA is trying to encourage us to take a river cruise, but this thread is convincing me otherwise. The tipping thing is just insane. I am Canadian from Ontario and we just completed a European cruise on Hal and the tipping suggestions were nowhere near the numbers being suggested here. I guess the thought is if you don't like it, don't do it and so, no thank you we are not going to take one.