Tipping Policies

[nordski]

I have no intention of keeping this discussion running, but I would like to particularly thank Steamboats, Smeyer418, Toggypoo, and Hansi for helping me personally to formulate a more cogent policy re: tipping.

 

Perhaps there is a little guilt involved since, on a 3-day extension in Prague, I made a hash of tipping an excellent guide because of an inadvertent failure to accurately convert Euros to Czech Crowns.

 

I was also really pleased to read their points about about hiring and remuneration practices. This information is a reason why this discussion board is a semi-addictive pleasure.

 

Finally, on our last cruise I was impressed as to how the Americans (I am Canadian) handled ,with sophistication, the whole tipping issue. Except for one individual, they were great ambassadors for their nation.

[tiggypooo]

Nordski..... Hello neighbour (I'm in Oshawa)...

I agree with you about most onboard passengers re: the whole tipping issue.

On my cruise last year, there was an extremely demanding woman from New Jersey with us.

She had the entire crew jumping through hoops for her for the entire 12 days. I was shocked at the end when she surveyed every passenger to see what they all thought of the tipping policy.

Of anyone, she should have been the one who was happy to leave a large tip.

Instead, I'm sure that she left nothing or very little.

Everyone else though, was happy to leave a good tip.

On my cruise this year, there was not one word of discussion about tips.

I took this to mean that all the passengers were quite alright with the tips and if they weren't, they just adjusted accordingly without making a deal of it all.

Tiggy

[nyfeds]

We've cruised almost extensively with Regent, where there was no tipping. Our one river cruise on Peter Deilmann, was not all-inclusive; therefore, we were "required" to tip.

 

Guidelines were given (as were tip envelopes). In all honesty, to those who offered good to stellar service, we tipped accordingly, and higher than the guidelines. And, to those who simply went through the motions - happy to say, very few - we gave a lesser tip.

 

To me, guidelines are just that. I will do the right thing for those who have earned a great tip. It's shameful that anyone who has staff jumping through hoops thinks it's OK to stiff crew.

[Heintje]

I posted this reply already two years ago; I thought it might be usefull to use it again.

It is interesting that tipping is becoming such an issue. People are obviously not aware that when tips would be translated in a decent salary for the crew or cruise director, the price of the cruise would be much more expensive and most people would still feel obliged to give a tip for a job well done.

I am happy to see that that the readers of this forum can calculate the amount of guests multiplied by the amount of days, multiplied by the suggested amount. This total indeed gives most of us a decent, but by far not excessive income. This is before taxes and, since most of us are freelance, also before insurances, which costs for our profession, I can assure you, are high.

Since the tourism business is mainly a seasonal one, most of us manage not more that 150 days of work, in bad years noticeably less. During those days, we work 16 hours or longer per day. The fact that you have a hassle free cruise is largely because of those hours we put in. During the season, that means seven days a week, one cruise after the other……. Don’t forget that beside the visible jobs of a cruise director, like giving lectures, running commentary organizing your excursions, there are a substantial amount of hours spent on work behind the scene; administration, bookkeeping, research on the historical background of your tour/cruise. How about organizing the timing on board of your ship for meals, writing the daily programs, background information etc? Our job is certainly not a vacation, what a lot of people quite often think. Very few professions have such a high fallout due to stress, heart or other health related problems. A cruise director has to love his job and has to be totally dedicated, if not, our guests would know so right away, which immediately means less tip. That is where you, our guests, come in, because of your tips, you assure that only the good cruise directors will stay on.

Your show of appreciation will keep qualified cruise directors working for the better cruise companies. If this income from tipping would disappear, just imagine the kind of cruise directors or crew you would get to take care of your cruise. We all know the saying “if you get paid in peanuts, you’ll find monkeys to do the work”. Would you like your well earned vacation, to be ruined by a monkey?

Tipping serves a purpose. It gives you, our guest, the possibility to show your appreciation, or discontent with a crew, or cruise director.

 

Just as an afterthought; compare the $5-10 tip you give to your taxi driver for driving you 15 minutes and taking your suitcase out of the trunk. Or the $10-20 or more tip you give to your waiter for an hour job at your table. How about the porter, who expects at least $2 per suitcase for carrying your suitcase on a trolley and roll it to your room? Don’t you agree that paying $3-5 per day to your cruise director is money well spent if you have an enjoyable cruise which can be largely attributed to him or her.

[hcross888]

I have been reading this tipping thread with interest. I do have to say that I have never had more exemplary service than when I was on the Amadaeus river boat. When the time came to tip, I was actually happy to tip the entire amount. I really wish that Amadaeus was paying people a living wage, but since they aren't, I am more than happy to tip.