Your system is admirable and generous. I feel that nobody can disagree with your reasoning and beliefs. It all just endorses your decency and personality. Excellent video.
I was on half moon cay i was finished using the bathroom...it was spotless ..the woman in there was really hard at work ...i gave her a 20 dollar bill i told her i appreciated her hard work ..you would have thought i gave her a plate of gold she thanked me over and over with tears in her eyes ..i was so happy i did that
We do both. We typically will pre-pay. But that's not much for the team because it gets so cut-up. If we are at a venue that we are really enjoying the service, we will tip as we go. If we REALLY enjoy the venue and used it a lot then we will usually lump sum tip them at the end of the trip as well. Those folks have such a huge impact on our enjoyment that we feel compelled to try to help them and their families.
I agree and we pretty much do the same as you with tipping. We leave a card with the Cabin Steward tip on day 2 usually so we're ensuring we get good service on our cruise. Usually day 1 and 2 you have had to ask for some things like extra pillows, blankets, the mini bar cleared out. So you've worked and interacted with the Steward several times so I want them to know up front we are grateful for their time.
The game is pretty simple. It's all the different odds and things that make it more confusing. If you look at a craps table you will see a puck that says On or Off. If it says "Off" this is called the "Come-Out" roll. A 7 or 11 will win, and a 2, 3, or 12 will lose. Any other number becomes the point. The puck will then be placed on that number and switched to "On", the idea is now to roll that number before rolling a 7.
I overtipped my room steward but he was extremely helpful and put up with my cabin mate. I gave him $80 for four nights. It's the amount that felt right and I don't regret it.
Great info, Tony! I feel the same as you! On our first (and only cruise at the time 😋), we were on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas in Alaska and were always so impressed with the "Washi Washi" hand sanitizer fellow outside the Windjammer Buffet. He commented on my hubby's hat early in our cruise and we chatted with him and you know, he remembered us every day! He was always smiling & friendly to everyone! So on the last day we went to thank him for making our first cruise so enjoyable and slipped him $25 when We shook his hand. He was soooo surprised and thrilled! It made our hearts feel good to see his delight. I doubt people recognize those employees as much, but he left a lasting impression with us. 👍
Totally agree with your tipping guide.One person I am reluctant to tip though is the Maitre d...Never see him for all the cruise and on the last day he is going to all the tables hoping for a tip..especially in the days of putting your tip money in envelopes with their name on,maybe that’s just me,everyone else I will go above the prepaid gratuities..I always give $5 to the person bringing room service.After Christmas I start saving $5 bills,if I get one given in my change it gets saved,by the time my cruise or trip comes along I have a good stash for tips and my slot money...Loved the way you explained it Tony..well done..
I don't mind pre paying my gratuities. I also walk with extra for additional tipping. A little story... I work in a department store and one week after my cruise, I saw our room steward at the registers. He pulled out a stack of singles and fives to pay his bill. Not sure but I don't think they get paid on a weekly or biweekly basis. So that extra tip money comes in handy for picking up necessities in port. And frankly, I felt so pampered by the ship staff that I was more than happy to tip a bit extra.
14 hour shifts, 6-9 month straight serving guest. Salary onboard is not an option. Tipping is culture, USA guest usually have no issue tipping 20-25usd/ day, 300 eur per couple, 7 day cruise. Brits, Asia run short, all the time, so prepaid is a must.
In my opinion their isn't a right amount to tip. It's just what you feel comfortable with giving. I pay the gratuities before the cruise and tip based on good service.
Paul Callahan 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ we only gave our room steward and head waiter an additional tip of $20. each. We prepaid our regular gratuities before we cruised.
Try giving your room steward a cash tip on the first day. You will be amazed at the great service you will get, above and beyond for the entire cruise.
that's a great idea and I was going to say the same thing! Really! :-) because if the steward and other servers know that you reward good service, they're more likely to give you EXTRA good service!
Usually your Cabin is serviced by the Lead Cabin Steward and the Assistant Cabin Steward, so you should Tip both the Lead and Assistant. I always Cash Tip the Lead Steward and Assistant Steward Personally and Directly. $20 to Lead Steward and $20 to Assistant Steward on the First Day. This is on top of the Cruise Line Prepaid Gratuity which I also pay when I book my cruise. In the Main Dining Room, with I also Personally and Directly Tip the people servicing our table at each meal...ie at Dinner the Head Team Waiter, Team Waiter and Assistant Server $5 each at every meal for our party of 2 that we have at the MDR.
We tip what we are suppose to , but most of the time we give them more if the service is extra special, on the side when we run into the the person around the ship . I heard of people running these cruise workers , and never tip .
Hi Tony. This video was very helpful to me. Because we don't have a tipping culture in Australia it is always difficult for us to know how much to tip when travelling North America. Gratuities are included in the cruise fare here so daily gratuities can be a shock when it shows up in the final bill. There is very little information about tipping here before travelling so your channel is very helpful. I believe we Australians have a reputation for poor tipping or no tipping at all. I know many of us are not prepared so don't have the extra cash for tipping. There is no excuse for those of us who refuse to tip and are rude and insulting about it. Now that I have had my rant I will say that I agree with everything you said. Happy Cruising
Appreciate the info. We're going on our first cruise in November, and tipping is one of the things I wasn't sure how to handle. Had already planned to bring a stack of 5s, so at least I was pointed in the right direction. 😅 Great vid - thanks!
I've said this many many times and these are FACTS: 1. The cruise employees are paid a flat fee for the length of their contract. Part of that money is the service charge that is collected (pre-paid gratuities). 2. If you elect to not pay your service charge, the employees still make the same salary. 3. If you write in a tip on a bar tab, or any bill that allows you to enter a tip, that money does NOT go to the employees. My thought is ALWAYS ask for your pre-paid gratuities back and tip the employees with CASH. That is the only way to ensure they get the money. You've paid enough for the cruise already, why are you paying more by giving the cruise line a service charge?
I've heard the same thing, but I doubt if that is true. Some whistle blower would have exposed by now if there was any funny business with the employees not getting their tips......BUT....Certainly it's a good idea to tip with cash along the way, that'll get you extra good services - and probably some freebies!
@@OwenGilmoreOG You're missing the point - they are technically, as past of their salary. I think there's a big misconception by a lot of people that they believe the employees are handed tips at the end of each cruise. That just isn't true. I know people that work for several different cruiselines. These are facts. Ask your room steward, they'll tell you the same thing (but they're really not supposed to talk about it).
@@bhorv67 No, I didn't have that misconception, but I thought you were saying the employees didn't get the tips at all. I guess I misunderstood what you were saying.
@@Keep-on-ok What makes you think that? It would be easy for any whistle blower to show if the cruise companies were stealing the tips from the staff. Claims require evidence! (kudos to you for tipping directly though)
Great video Tony and thanks for being so candid about a topic many people don't wish to discuss. For us, we do prepay the gratuities, I also think of this as money given to staff we don't see often, buffet staff, kitchen staff, etc. We have only been on 7 day cruises so far and tip the room stewart $100 for the week, with all they do we feel it well deserved. If we have the same nightly wait staff we tip $80 for the head server and $40 to the helper. Each person is different but this is what we feel is fair. After listening to your video we are definitely under tipping room service and will adjust. Thanks again!
We do the assigned gratuities and then tip extra to the room stewards, dining room waiters, bar servers and bartender and baggage handlers. Also usually tip excursion drivers or guides.
I just got back from a 10 day cruise to the Panama Canal. Yes the one where Carnival Fantasy had a little accident in the Panama Canal. What I do is buy a lot of $2.00 bills before I go on the cruise. I had a cabin steward and two helpers. I gave each one of them a $2.00 bill each day. Then on the second to last day of the cruise I give them each a $5.00 bill and on the last night a $10.00 bill. That is a total of $31.00 for each person. I did the exact same thing with the 3 people I had on the wait staff. I still paid the gratuity on my bill. All the workers were very appreciative. They thought it was so cool getting $2.00 bills. If I can have a positive impact on people’s lives, I will do it. It is well worth it.
I do the usual employees like you but am always on the lookout for other hard workers with less popular tasks and always acknowledge their superior service as well. Most of them are really appreciative when you tell them what a great job they do and tip them accordingly. The smile and the sparkle in their eyes when you do this is priceless. To me this defines cruise life
Hi Tony we love to tip my daughter used to work in a restaurant and she used to be so happy when she got home just seen her face is used to make me happy that's why I like to make somebody else happy too I always tip in the cruise ,restaurant and Everywhere I Go.
Before you give me hate, I do tip well, but.... wouldn’t it be nice if we were just charged enough for the company to pay their employees instead of making us deal with having to do math all the time?
Great way to break it all down! I know when I was a first time cruiser, I was very curious about the "norm" on this topic. I agree with everything you said here. However, I do always tip the wait staff in the dinning room. They are the ones that go above and beyond for me and my family every single night so I feel they should get more than the pre-paid stuff. :)
We cruise on NCL. The past couple of cruises we've brought thank you cards. We give one to the room steward on the first day with $25.00 in it and do the same thing at the end. The bartender gets $1.00 per drink. The waitstaff we usually give $5.00 at dinner. We're lucky that we can afford to go on a cruise so why not give the crew a little extra.
I truly believe hard work and human caring earns a decent tip for sure. Most all of us know how much workers in the business of "service" deal with ....spread it around....we are here briefly but can help one another alot!
Oh my gosh Mr Barnette I'm so embarrassed because in my 11 cruises I have never tipped anyone beyond the assigned gratuities thru the ship . I thought I wasn't supposed to because I paid already !! Oh no !
Ain't nothing wrong with that. Everything more than your assigned gratuities is just icing on the cake. I've heard the argument, which is pretty persuasive, that the cruise lines should pay their staff more and dispense with the extra line items. I certainly think the staff should be paid more because they work very hard. And people would still tip for good service.
I like that you added about the room service, they are not part of the 'tipping pool' and they work very hard to get all orders to the room on time and in great condition. I use them daily for my coffee wake up call and they bring it into my room where I made space, even in my pj's! We also do traditional dining and the waiters assistance gets my vote for extra tips. Each night I have my drink ready for me and it's always service with a smile! They and the regular wait staff get the same thing above and beyond the already added on gratuities. I am always amazed at the lack of tipping that happens with those who just don't understand it is part of the deal within the cruising lifestyle. A tip for them: Research and maybe you'll appreciate a little more of how employees on a cruise ship make a living.
I thought you explained the societal norms and expectations really well! I always pay the "assigned" cruise tips and then add to room steward and servers as I feel it's applicable. I tip room service about a dollar an item. Since 18% is automatically added to my drink at the bars, I won't necessarily tip more unless I am getting exceptional service.
Thank you for your honest discussion. In the past couple years the increased attention to how and how much to tip has been the source of serious consideration. I respect those who provide service for me and try to be generous in showing appreciation. That being said the entitlement that is being demonstrated more and more is discouraging. Being ask to tip before service is provided does not really sound like a “tip”. On a recent trip at a location with a variety of performers it was hard to avoid some of them. Like yourself if I can’t tip I don’t photograph, video or interact with the performer. 2 different performances that I did enjoy I tipped however I was disappointed with the reaction of the performers in general. 1 before passing the hat, gave a brief history of street performing and the importance of supporting the performers and basically said if people did not support they did not appreciate the sacrifices he was making to carry on the tradition. The 2nd played some music then passed his bucket. He then did some gymnastics and tumbling, impressive. He then passed the bucket again, yes some new people had joined the crowd and some had left but as he concluded he got very angry when people started leaving without tipping. It seems to be getting more aggressive.
Thanks for sharing how you do things. I agree with the "When in Rome" policy. If you take away the prepaid gratuities and then tip individually, that individual has to turn in the money to be pooled with the behind-the-scenes crew.
Sorry to pile on, tipping shuttles seems wrong. After all, I would not tip Northern Rail or Stagecoach Bus, even if on the off-chance that they are on time. A shuttle to me seems no different than a regular bus or train. And of course there is no-one to tip at the inter-terminal airport shuttle!
Oh!! Tony, meant to say I followed your previous tip this time where you suggested giving the cabin steward a tip on the first day. I always get good service but following your tip had AWESOME results!! Thank you so much for all that you and Jenny do for the Loca Fam!! 💖🛳
Tony, great tips! We’re currently on Carnival Freedom to St Maarten, St Kitts and we’re using a similar tipping strategy, these are hard working folks! Been watching you all thru the pandemic thanks!
Well Tony, if you’re my drunken husband last night on Allure of the Seas in the coastal kitchen and suite lounge areas, he was passing out $20 bills to everybody who served us lol!!🍷😂
I always make sure I bring along extra cash for tips, a lot of small bills and I always give a generous tip to the room steward! I also usually tip an extra $1 for drinks.
Great video, and very informative.. In my personal opinion, tipping (especially in the USA) has gotten out of control by a longshot. I agree 110% workers should be paid fairly and rewarded for "above and beyond" efforts; however, I find it ridiculous that so many companies now pay bare minimum amounts to staff and then expect customers to subsidize the difference in tips. Tipping has gone from voluntary (as a way of rewarding truly outstanding service) to a common expectation... and now a pure necessity. For years, I worked in the customer service industry with a top-ranked international airline. Tipping was nonexistent, as a standard policy. My colleagues and I were expected to work hard for long hours, put customers first, and give absolutely phenomenal service at all times... and we were paid fairly and rewarded for consistent exceptional service by our employer. This allowed customers to simply sit back and enjoy, and it completely removed any unspoken expectations or awkwardness/ stress often associated with the U.S. tipping culture.
Hey Tony! Todd & I always pre-pay our gratuities as well. We also give our stateroom attendant and our MDR server an additional $10-$20 on the last night. We also do the Ultimate Drink package, but we tip our bar/server an additional $1 every other order.
I do not want to sound rude, Tony. But after truly enjoying your videos for a while ( I did subscribe a few days ago) I did find you somehow wordy. Food for thought!
We usually add cast to out wait staff, they are with us all week long in the 3 different dining rooms. They feel like family at the end of the cruise. #DisneyCruise
I agree. We always give the room steward cash on top of the gratuity that we already paid. I will also give extra for our bartenders as well as any dining stewards that are awesome🛳😎🌴
We always prepay the gratuity with our cruise fare, then we tip cash for great service. our last cruise we never saw the room steward so he did not receive a cash tip.
I use much the same system. Leave the cruise tip amount on my bill. At least $3 tip per bag for checked bags ($5 if the bag is max heavy); $5 tip for every room service delivery; tipping as needed per drink (I don't drink that many alcoholic drinks); will tip a few bucks to the guides on shore excursions if we got good service; large tip at end of cruise for room steward; medium-large tip for waiter(s) in the MDR (on Disney you have the same waiter throughout the cruise); any drivers, taxi, Uber, Lyft, shuttle, usually $5 to $10. I always go to the bank before a cruise (or any other trip) and get about $200 in five-dollar bills, maybe $50 in one-dollar bills. You don't have to spend it ALL for tips, of course, but that makes sure you will always have some small bills.
I think that tipping is good workers on cruise ship they go above and beyond to make you happy. My room Stewart he or she gets the most tips. They have to clean 18 rooms morning and night.
We tip about like you do. We normally do Club Class on Princess for dining and we have the same waiters so we do tip. We also usually hang out at the same lounges - one inside and one outside - and tip our favorite bartenders extra. Room steward gets a extra tip, and all guides, drivers and valets get extra. We live in NV which is a tip heavy state. I was there once, working for those tips, and I just count it as part of the overall vacation cost.
We always give $20 each for 7 or less days and $40 each for 8+ day cruises to our cabin Stewart. Plus if you have a great bartender or waitress and you slide them an occasional twenty...you get served "next" most often.
Here is what I do. There is always 2 cabin attendants on Carnival and I get to my room as soon as I get on so they are working dilligently on getting the other rooms turned. I quickly give them each an additional $50 at the beginning of the cruise letting them know that this is in addition to the standard gratuity. I also tip the cab driver or porter $10 each. I normally hang around the atrium bar getting ginger ales and I was under the impression that the bar staff on Carnival is a part of the standard gratuity. There are normally 2 shifts of 3 and some of them listen to my babble and stories and the ones I develope a friendship with then they get $20 on the last night and I take some video or pictures and give them my card and we become facebook friends. FOr the dining staff depending on if I am in the MDR the people caring for my table will get and additional $20 each on the last night. Porters are the bomb carrying camera equipment backpack 2 big bags. They end up taking my luggage right to my car or the curb for a cab. They get a $20. In the US servers make nothing for a salary and rely on tips so I tip no less than 20%. Now there are some place that add the tip in and then thats what they get. I would have tipped more but that is just the wrong attitude in my mind. Very few places I have come across do that and I find it mostly asian establishments. I just really appreciate the crew and others taking such good care of me that the best way to say thank you is with money and then they can choose to spend that how they wish. It is always important to show that appreciation.
It is not normal to tip generally in the UK. We expect an employer to pay the person sufficiently for their work. We already have paid for the service and see no reason to pay extra.
I am from Hawaii. When we are in a Vegas breakfast buffet, we always give a dollar to the chef at the omelet station. At the blackjack table, some of us will bet an extra dollar in front of their bet. That is for the dealer. So, if we win, the dealer pays both and then takes the tip bet. And we always tip valets and anybody that helps me with my luggage (shuttle drivers also handle your luggage so, yes, you should tip them too).
Don't get me wrong, I tip and Tip good service very well. But I find it ridiculous that in the U.S we've normalized supplementing the wages of the employees of billion dollar corporations, So Carnival and Royal can't pay these people a decent wage and so that falls on us? This isn't a problem in other Countries, most civilized countries pay their workers fair lol
My wife and I ALWAYS do prepaid gratuitous. She also makes homemade thank you cards for the cabin steward and the MDR wait staff. The steward gets an additional 30 to 40 dollars and the waiters each get and additional 40 to 50 dollars. We take every meal in the MDR plus breakfast and lunch 2 to three times each per cruise. I will admit that I am a bit needy in the MDR and the waiters earn their tip.
Tony, we occasionally travel on Princess and use the morning room service every day. One day I went to add a written tip on the slip and the server told me that yes, I can do that, but those tips go to the corporate office whereas cash tips they keep themselves. I suppose it's because they never tell anybody. I figured it was the same at the bars and everywhere else too, so I always tip with cash. Thanks for the video! :-)
WHEN i cruise....I always tip my room steward $20-50 on day one. And on the last day , I tip the bar staff members who have taken care of me....about $20.
Great video. We did the gratuity on our latest cruise and it worked out well for us. When it comes to tip and everyone else I let my husband do that because he has been in the business of living on the tips. The casino workers do live on the tips that you pay them the amount that they get paid is less than a server at a restaurant. I know this because I lived in this lifestyle for eight years.
Great Video. In addition to pre paying the gratuities I like to fix up little gift bags with some chocolates ,snacks and personal hygiene items. I usually give them to the room steward and his team. simply because they are taking care of me 24/7. I also bring thank you cards with a little monetary something inserted for the wait staff and bar staff etc. It makes me feel good when I see their faces light up and them knowing that I truly appreciated their spoiling me throughout my vacation.
In my opinion, if you are a person/couple who tips, then go for it. If you are not, then so be it. But in either case, to each their own. Less judgment on others and their choices, more lounging around and having fun on the ships.
I'm a blackjack guy myself but we tip similarly, if I'm trying to win three hands in a row on a $10 table I'll put $2 down for the dealer to play along with me. (My bet for three in a row would be $25 for myself) Also depending on the blackjack playout any 50 cent piece I get I usually put out for the dealer to play along with me. I also tip my waitress at the table $2 extra per drink just to keep her eager to get back to my table.
My age is showing. In my younger years tipping was 10 percent. It took years to get my father to tip more. We would leave more when he was leaving the table. I prefer to tip cruise staff personally but with the my time dining you don't have the same dining personnel each day so I accept the daily charge and give additional to the room steward if he or she went above and beyond.
I’m not a big fan on the way the cruise line pay theirs employees. That said, it’s the way the cruise lines maximizes their profit and reduce the payroll expense. Not much we can do about that, however, those employees do work hard and have to deal with some unruly cruisers at times, so I don’t think I would ever remove the tip. I just count it part of of the cruise cost. How much extra do you budget overall for extra tipping? Do you budget tipping like other items, excursions, gambling etc? Like 10% of the total vacation. Do you tip the room steward on day one, each day or at the end of the cruise? It may be easier to tip if you budget tipping when you plan your cruise.
In addition to the tipping already paid we pay like $ 10 on first day when we ask for a bucket of ice to be in room each day. Then probably tip them $ 30-40 at end of cruise.
I Always prepay the gratuities and give extra to my Stewards & Wait staff and others... before embarkation & after disembarkation I also give the porters a tip, along with the shuttle drivers, carry fives & ones for them. Don't drink or gamble ;)
This past cruise was the first cruise that we have ever felt compelled to give an “additional” tip for their excellent service. I only left $20.00 for the room steward and to our head waiter. Sounds like i was an unintentional cheap skate! Oops!! Next cruise i’ll be a little bit more generous!🤷🏼♀️
Very informative video Tony! We do the same thing as u but we do tip our assigned waiter, helper and the sommelier most of the time the hostess. They all are supper through out the trip and work very hard to please u, and of course the room attendant even though they have not been the best on my last three cruises.
We did the prepaid gratuity on our last trip. At the end we tipped extra to the room steward & the helper in the MDR. Our assigned waiter acted very stuffy. What really bothered me was how short tempered he was to his helper in front of us. We felt the helper was very nice and attentive so he got the extra $$ envelope.
We do both, pre pay tips and then hand out actual cash. Its no big deal. I also yes tip the porter a few bucks. Another thing people freak out about. You just spent thousands of dollars on a vacation and you are worried about 5 bucks to porter handling your bags? I don't get that.
What about Cunard, the ferry from Southampton to Brooklyn? Should I tip both ways? Of course I wouldn't even think of tipping on Stena, Irish Ferries or P&O from Pembroke Dock, Fishguard. Holyhead, Birkenhead or Cairnryan to Rosslare, Dublin, Larne or Belfast, or on the Dover to Calais or Dunkirk ferries, or even on P&O between Hull and Rotterdam or Zeebrugge (the latter being an overnight crossing). Because even long ferries are basically a bus. So to me tipping on a cruise at all seems strange.
I have to agree and disagree on some of these: Agree, there are cruise crew that are paid fixed or tipping. Fixed have higher basic salary. Tipping position (mostly, crew who engage with guests) is paid less basic salary taking into account that they will get tip based on thier performance. Which also is good for a company that the tipping crew will do his/her best to give great performance. Disagree on tipping position based on port or cruise itinerary. Crew don't switch whether your are in Asia, America or Europe. Yes, you are in Japan but doesn't mean the crew ois Japanese. The pay structure is still American because the giant companies are mostly based in Florida despite the fact that they hold foreign flag.
Something Royal Caribbean did on the cruise I took in October was, in addition to the built-in gratuity, they dropped off a couple of envelopes on the last night to leave tips in, with a place to specify names on the outside. I thought that was convenient.
I like your theory on tipping the casino staff! I'm from NZ and tipping is hard to get my head around, will have to budget for that when we go to the US. Especially when our NZD only gets about 63 cents US
The cruise companies should all agree to tips being included in the fare. That would stop all these arguments. It would stop the schnorers who stop the tips when they get on board. If they can’t afford to cruise rent a caravan somewhere and eat at Maccas and watch tv for entertainment.
I estimated that the average person working on the cruise industry, is getting about $270 per week per cruise. Based on the tips prepaid, etc. That is going on the concept that the company is keeping half of all those tips being collected!
