Tipping?

[snorkelingsearchers]

So I know to tip extra, but I want to be a good tipper! How much extra do you guys give per person for good and for great service????

 

Also, does Carnival give you vouchers for the prepay like RCI does? On RCI we prepaid, but they gave us the voucher and envelopes so that we could hand out the tips and add extra if we liked (which of course we did). Does carnival do this or do you just slip them some cash?

 

I have heard many people do it at the end, some spread it out, and some do a little at the beginning and a little at the end, thoughts on this?

 

Thanks again and thanks for being such a friendly board!

[surfclam2003]

When we order drinks we usually give $1 (cash) extra per drink. This way they know us right from the start and before our drinks are empty they are around asking if we want more.

 

For the cabins and dining room we usually wait until the end to give extra.

 

I know these people work hard for the money they make.

 

Brinda

[TheVegasMan]

When we order drinks we usually give $1 (cash) extra per drink. This way they know us right from the start and before our drinks are empty they are around asking if we want more.

 

For the cabins and dining room we usually wait until the end to give extra.

 

I know these people work hard for the money they make.

 

Brinda

15% tip is automatically added to each drink. If they are not serving drinks they are not making any money. (Ok, $1.50 per day is what Carnival pays them). When we were sitting on the Lido desk it was slow if someone was not asking us every 5 minutes if we wanted a drink.

 

We tipped our waiter and assistant waiter as well as our room steward, the sandwhich maker and pizza chef.

[habby]

No vouchers like on RCI.

 

We tip whomever, whatever, whenever we feel like it.

 

Do what you feel is right.

[Kurbanfan]

So I know to tip extra, but I want to be a good tipper! How much extra do you guys give per person for good and for great service????

 

Also, does Carnival give you vouchers for the prepay like RCI does? On RCI we prepaid, but they gave us the voucher and envelopes so that we could hand out the tips and add extra if we liked (which of course we did). Does carnival do this or do you just slip them some cash?

 

I have heard many people do it at the end, some spread it out, and some do a little at the beginning and a little at the end, thoughts on this?

 

Thanks again and thanks for being such a friendly board!

 

 

Just so you know......the auto tips are the tips.........some will think them as the minimum......but you are not obligated to tip more.......

[snorkelingsearchers]

So I saw some great answers to when....

 

 

Uhm how much extra? (Sorry if this is a rude question!)

 

Stateroom Attendant?

Head Waiter

Asst. Waiter

 

Who else? (Other than room service)

[Wolfie48]

So I saw some great answers to when....

 

 

Uhm how much extra? (Sorry if this is a rude question!)

 

Stateroom Attendant?

Head Waiter

Asst. Waiter

 

Who else? (Other than room service)

 

It all depends....one group cruise we had a suite our cabin steward had to do alot of extra work. He kept our ice chest filled and cleaned up after our nightly happy hour for 33. I tipped him the first day $40.00, and $100.00 the last day. He did a great job and deserved it!

 

Head waited if they are very good we tip him an extra $40.00 and $20.00 for the asistant.

 

We also tip extra for any/all who have gone out of their way to make our cruise special. Bar tenders cocktail servers etc. even the girl at the coffee bar she would see me coming and get my drink started.

[tef43]

It's totally up to you.

 

Our headwaiter and his assitant typically receive extra.

 

On the Triumph, we made a special point to track down our favorite cocktail server in the Venezia Lounge, as she always went above and beyond.

[pnjkeith]

Just so you know......the auto tips are the tips.........some will think them as the minimum......but you are not obligated to tip more.......

 

Nor are you obligated to leave Auto Tips in Place!

[Kurbanfan]

Nor are you obligated to leave Auto Tips in Place!

 

In place:confused:........nope......to tip......yes........

[snorkelingsearchers]

Thanks for the broad responses and thanks Habby for clearing up the vouchers thing. Thanks Wolfie for being brave enough to spout an amount:D

 

I know everyone has their personal feelings about tipping and I did not mean to judge or bring up a hot topic.

 

The two cruises I have been on - once as a kid and once as an adult - the service was really amazing and so we wanted to tip on top of the suggested amount because especially our waiters really made it special! Then, I started to think - was that a good tip?

 

I know how I feel about it - I just thought I would ask what the variety of cool cats around here are doing.

[cb at sea]

For "expected" service, the recommended tip amounts are adequate. If someone goes "above and beyond" doing something for you, then additional tips are nice.

 

We don't tip above the 15% on bar tabs--to mix a drink or open a beer, 15% is fine! Now, if there's a bartender that we frequent all week and have struck up a "friendship", we will give him/her $20-25 extra at the end of the week, on top of the tips that have been added to our bar tab all week.

 

Same with tour guides and drivers--if we get what we paid for, then that's what we paid for! We've had some who have really given us a great time, and we tipped them in appreciation. The drivers that simply take us from point A to point B--they got paid to do that!

 

Room service delivery folks get tipped according to how much they have to carry to us--anywhere from $1-2 for coffee up to $10 for a full meal for 2.

[Casino Player]

So I know to tip extra, but I want to be a good tipper! How much extra do you guys give per person for good and for great service????

 

Also, does Carnival give you vouchers for the prepay like RCI does? On RCI we prepaid, but they gave us the voucher and envelopes so that we could hand out the tips and add extra if we liked (which of course we did). Does carnival do this or do you just slip them some cash?

 

I have heard many people do it at the end, some spread it out, and some do a little at the beginning and a little at the end, thoughts on this?

 

Thanks again and thanks for being such a friendly board!

 

You give tips based on the value that you attach to the seervice they do. If there is automatic tipping then I either give extra if I thought the service warranted it or down if the service warranted it. There are different ways to do it. I never recommend tipping in advance though. You may not get the service you prepaid for.

[habby]

Sorry to have been so short with my response earlier (I was pressed for time at work)

 

Cabin stewards and waitstaff usually get at least an extra $20 or so, depending on how much we see them and talk to them. The friendlier they are, the more they get. On our first Destiny cruise our cabin stewardess was married to our head waiter. They were both excellent at their job. Needless to say, they got quite a bit more because they made our cruise more special than we could have imagined. They even met us at one of the bars at one of the port stops on our second Destiny cruise.

 

I'll generally start tipping bar servers an extra dollar or two here or there, again based on friendliness and whether or not they're looking for us (we generally hang out around the same places on the Lido deck or in the casiino, so after day one they know where to find us), and especially if they've taken care of us on a past cruise. We've had that happen a couple of times. (It was so nice to hear, "Miss Sandra, where is Mr. Edward?")

 

Room service generally gets $2 for our wake-up call coffee and pastries.

 

Of course, there's the tips for the porters ($1 per bag), the tour guides, etc.

 

Bottom line for us, we like to get to know the people who work in service positions. A lot of times they not only take care of us, but entertain us too! (and we've heard how much entertainers get paid!)

 

Come to think of it, the only time a tip has been "requested" is for the maitre 'd. We don't ask for special table assignments or to have our table changed, so we don't tip them. (However Lloyd on the Destiny in 2005 was just so charming. He'd stop by our table every night to chat. I did end up tipping him at the end of the cruise 'cuz he just swept me, our daughter and cousin off our feet)