Private car--suggested tips

[safety]

Hi All, I will be on the Emerald Princess on Aug 4th, cruising the Baltic Seas. I have arranged thru Princess for a private car with a driver and guide. I have reserved the car for the 2 days (8:30-4:30 each day).

I am assuming I will get good service from both the driver and guide.

 

My question is what % or amount should I tip each one per day for their services. I certainly want to reward them fairly for good service rendered.

 

Thanks---Safety and Wonderful Wife:)

[j!m]

we were in baltic in june

 

had our own car,driver guide in saint petersberg

 

tipped what we thought was fair

 

no idea what %

 

i forget total cost

[boiledham]

Hi All, I will be on the Emerald Princess on Aug 4th, cruising the Baltic Seas. I have arranged thru Princess for a private car with a driver and guide. I have reserved the car for the 2 days (8:30-4:30 each day).

I am assuming I will get good service from both the driver and guide.

 

My question is what % or amount should I tip each one per day for their services. I certainly want to reward them fairly for good service rendered.

 

Thanks---Safety and Wonderful Wife:)

 

I've read on the boards that in Europe tipping isn't practiced among Europeans (like in the US) and so isn't expected. I personally like to give a little extra if service is good.

 

Have you checked with your roll call to see if anyone has arranged a private car outside of Princess? I found that the prices thru Princess was about 3x more than with outside tour agencies. I had 5 ports in the Med. and all services were fabulous. We shared with others and cut the cost greatly. Cost may not be an issue for you and that's fine, too. Just thought I'd offer up an option. Have fun! And let us know how you liked it ..I'd love to do this one someday.

[safety]

hi boiledham--thanks for the advice --I do appreciate the comments-Iwill let you know how it turns out---Princess advised me to address my question to the excursion desk aboard the Emerald.

[Kittycatwlv]

In Europe tipping isn't the norm

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

I've read on the boards that in Europe tipping isn't practiced among Europeans (like in the US) and so isn't expected. I personally like to give a little extra if service is good.

 

 

In Europe tipping isn't the norm

 

As a European, I think I am qualified to counter these thoughts. In Europe, tipping is considered normal for a service well provided and I think it would be noticed if you didn't ;)

 

The difference to the US is that it is not as automatic - i.e. you do not tip because it is expected, you tip when you receive good service. The better the service, the better I would tip, I do not adhere to set percentages.

 

However, the service would have to be extremely poor for me to not tip at all. This includes everything from wait staff / drivers (taxis, coaches, private cars) / tour guides etc etc

[ttc_8]

Like I mentioned in another board, we paid $30 USD tips to our private Russian guide, and we were told by Princess that we did not need to tip the driver (we were thinking of it, but our driver wasn't very good).

 

If you take the guide out for a lunch, then I assume you can give less tips.

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

Like I mentioned in another board, we paid $30 USD tips to our private Russian guide, and we were told by Princess that we did not need to tip the driver (we were thinking of it, but our driver wasn't very good).

 

If you take the guide out for a lunch, then I assume you can give less tips.

 

I agree that you should not tip the driver if you feel that they weren't very good and did not provide the service you expected / paid for. But I am curious to know why Princess would advise you in advance not to tip the driver? If they had been good, would they not be just as deserving of appreciation as the guide?

[Kittycatwlv]

As a European, I think I am qualified to counter these thoughts. In Europe, tipping is considered normal for a service well provided and I think it would be noticed if you didn't ;)

 

The difference to the US is that it is not as automatic - i.e. you do not tip because it is expected, you tip when you receive good service. The better the service, the better I would tip, I do not adhere to set percentages.

 

However, the service would have to be extremely poor for me to not tip at all. This includes everything from wait staff / drivers (taxis, coaches, private cars) / tour guides etc etc

What would be appropriate tipping while in Europe, I'd like to do as the Romans do when I'm there?

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

What would be appropriate tipping while in Europe, I'd like to do as the Romans do when I'm there?

 

If you wish to consider this in percentage terms, 15% would be appropriate in a restaurant / cafe if you have received good service.

 

For drivers / tour guides it would of course depend on the length of the tour and the quality of the service provided, but for a full day I personally would tip around $20 each (driver and guide) for good service, more if the service was exceptional.

 

But you need to go with whatever you are happy with. I just think that not to tip at all because of this general misconception over the pond that tipping isn't normal in Europe, would be a little unfair. :)

[TracieABD]

Regardless of the country or the customary tipping procedures, I always try to tip for excellent service. (This, of course, was highly misunderstood in some of the smaller cities in China- so I had to refrain, as I was offending the local population...)

[boiledham]

We did end up tipping and when you have a party of 7 it ends up to be a nice one. We had fabulous drivers and guides and it's hard not to even tip those who try to be fabulous and miss it the mark. We saved so much with private vs ship excursions...we could afford it!