tipping questions????

[lsfield]

I would like to know what is the average tip for giving your bags to the porter before you board, room service, taxi to port, bartender, and other instances where a tip should be given. I have read a couple of dollars. Is that 2, 3 or 4? If at dinner you recieve good service and would like to give an extra tip how much? I dont want to seem cheap or be extravagant. Can anyone please help. Thanks

[Donna]

I think the tipping amount will depend on what you order....Dropping luggage off at the pier, may-be two dollars per bag should be fine. When you order drinks, they will automatically add a 15% tip charge to your bill. Room service is the same, if its a relatively small order 2-4 dollars is fine, something larger may require 5, so it depens on what you are getting.

[rosetattoo]

Here are my suggestions....tips per bag at drop-off with Porters, suggested price on website $1.00 per bag, room service order for two people, $2-$3, bartender and alcoholic server tips are included in your bill..not necessary to tip extra, the only time I might tip extra is for our server in the formal dining room if they remember that I want to order a drink with dinner every night and I am promptly served (this rarely happens), if I receive service from my wait staff or room steward that goes above and beyond normal expectations, I tip extra accordingly but never more than $20 for the week. You shouldn't have to tip extra for good service, it should be the norm. I read about people who tip extravagantly on a cruise and it is totally unnecessary.

[cruisingrandma]

I like to tip porters $2 per bag. Because I want my luggage on the ship when it leaves. hehehe If it's my husband and I I tip $5 for the 2 of us. I jsut want them to know I appreciate them handling our bags. Hey we are all out there trying to make a living.
Room service I tip $2 per time. We usually jsut get juice and coffee in the morning. The rest of the tips are ok what they set to pay. i have tipped a head waiter quite well one time. He was so attentive to our group. Every night...He deserved the tip.

[Sammy1954]

I tip the porter nothing less than 2.00 per bag. When I have room
service - like to have coffee delivered to me in the am I give the person
at least two dollars for that or more. When ordering a drink they get 15%
and I dont carry money around on the ship.
The cruise will charge you so much per day for those who take care of
you. I have always been very lucky and had wonderful service so I will
give them extra cash on the last night. I feel those people work very hard
to make you happy and some things are just out of there hands.
I could not do there job or want too for a week let alone months at a time
so I make sure I give them extra cash.

Sammy

[BobMiller]

I make no assertion that these amounts are right or wrong but here is what I generally tip the people you listed. I think I am a stingy tipper but I’ve seen worse.

Porter (also hotel door man) - $1 per bag, $2 for each bag that is particularly heavy.
Room Service – Ship board $2, Hotel 13-18% depending on speed of service.
Taxi – 10-20% depending on how friendly and efficient the driver is.
Bartender – tip included on board but an extra $1 or 2 every now and then for extra friendly service.
Room Steward – I give $20 (7 day cruise or longer) up front and almost always get top notch service (probably would without the tip too). Many ships have an assistant steward so if he is doing a good enough job that we actually find out who he is and he knows who we are then I give him $5 during the cruise. (Often he’ll be the guy in the hall with a big smile and greeting you by name shortly after tipping the head steward $20). The Steward also gets some the tips Carnival puts on our Sail and Sign card. I can always reduce that if the Room Steward isn’t worth more than the $20 I’ve already given him, but so far that has not happened.
Wait Staff – If we had good service on a 7-day cruise I’ll usually give an additional $10-$20 to the head waiter and $5-$10 to the assistant. Higher or lower depending on level of service. I have never reduced the tip automatically put on the sail and sign card but one waiter didn’t get anything extra because he was frequently impatient with our table mates and some of the nearby tables.
Mater ’d – If I don’t know him by sight by the end of the cruise I usually don’t tip him. If he has helped us with something or even introduced himself and dropped by to check on us during the cruise then $5-$10.

On Excursions, crew members, bus drivers, and guides get a great deal of their income from tips. $1-$5 for drivers and assistants. $5-$10 for a good guide. $10-$20 on top of the negotiated price for a good taxi tour. Once in San Juan our group of 6 ended up giving a tip that was bigger than the negotiated fare itself because we were so happy with the tour. In some of these countries $20 is a week's salary so $5 to $10 can go a long way.

I learned tipping in old Vegas. Anyone that tried to make you happy got a tip. I apply that to the cruise too. I have tipped bus boys on the Lido deck that went out of their way to help us or just be really pleasant and friendly and room stewards from down the hall from us that learn our names and chatted with us every morning. One of our favorites caught me not smiling on our last day, his great line was “Don’t be sad to leave, just book another cruise and come back to see me.” That is the kind of person that makes cruising great.

It doesn’t, however, impress the ship’s officers to try and tip them. (luckily this wasn’t my personal experience)

I tip hotel maids $2 a day, more for a high end room. I don’t know if anyone does that outside of Las Vegas but in a lot of places that is enough to generate some extra good will.

These are just my personal habits. Perhaps you can look at them and say, “at least I’m not that cheap”, otherwise hopefully it’s more information for you to build your own tipping preference on. Sorry for rambling on so long.

[Fern]

Bob, I don't think you sound cheap at all! What you do sounds a lot like what we do, and some people think it's too much.

We don't tip our Room Steward upfront, but usually tip a little extra at the end of the cruise unless they were terrible (only happened once).

We use Anytime Dining, so don't usually tip our waiter's any extra, unless they go way out of their way.

We also tip the bar-boy in our favorite bar . He's the one who does all the real work behind the scenes, and I think he deserves a tip. They're always surprised and very appreciative.

We fill out lots of "You Made a Difference" cards for crew members, too. They're very important for evaluation and promotion.

We tip a hotel maid $5.00 if we're staying just one night because it's more work for her.

Most people want to know how to remove the auto-tips and tip less (or nothing ), so I think we're being fair.