Thanks to JMac, I'm on a cruise starting 8/11 out of Vancouver to Anchorage on Holland America. We agreed to the tipping and drink package.

So, do you still leave something in the room, like some chocolate as an extra? How about when you get a drink? Do you still leave a dollar? I've never done the tipping package so I'm not sure what the expectations are there.

Thanks.

Hey!
I tend to tip extra. I always tip my room steward on day one and then sometimes again at the end of the cruise. I've also been known to bring some snacks they may not easily be able to get. I never bring anything that's non-edible, because they are very limited on space, so never any souvenirs or knickknacks or anything like that.

I've not ever had the drink package, but I probably would throw it a dollar here and there if they were doing really good service. I also do tend to tip my servers at the restaurants at night.

But of course, none of this is required, and is completely up to the individual.

JMac03 said:

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Hey!
I tend to tip extra. I always tip my room steward on day one and then sometimes again at the end of the cruise. I've also been known to bring some snacks they may not easily be able to get. I never bring anything that's non-edible, because they are very limited on space, so never any souvenirs or knickknacks or anything like that.

I've not ever had the drink package, but I probably would throw it a dollar here and there if they were doing really good service. I also do tend to tip my servers at the restaurants at night.

But of course, none of this is required, and is completely up to the individual.

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Good advice. How much per day extra would be appropriate for the room attendant. I mean, that towel art takes some skill!

Give your cabin steward at least $20 on day one. You'll get great service the rest of the trip. If you frequent a specific bar, I tip $1 per drink for the first couple of days. Your drinks & service will be much better.

We never tip at the beginning but at the end we give the Cabin attendant - $50-$100. Our waitstaff $100 (to split among the 3 that serve our table). on celebrity we are in the Retreat so we do not have to sign each time we get a drink so again at the end we tip the bartenders & pool staff. On Carnival we tipped each time we signed for a drink but we had one server who took very good care of us so we gave him extra.

I play a lot in the casino so if I'm winning I also tip the folks who are cleaning the bathrooms and around the casino.

It is definitely not required or expected - I had a lot of anxiety about this before my first cruise, but now we just give a little extra to those who go above & beyond. Have a great time

scd88 said:

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JMac03 said:

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Hey!
I tend to tip extra. I always tip my room steward on day one and then sometimes again at the end of the cruise. I've also been known to bring some snacks they may not easily be able to get. I never bring anything that's non-edible, because they are very limited on space, so never any souvenirs or knickknacks or anything like that.

I've not ever had the drink package, but I probably would throw it a dollar here and there if they were doing really good service. I also do tend to tip my servers at the restaurants at night.

But of course, none of this is required, and is completely up to the individual.

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Good advice. How much per day extra would be appropriate for the room attendant. I mean, that towel art takes some skill!

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Like Plano mentioned, I give $20 at the beginning of the trip. If they did a great job, I will tip more at the end.

If you have your same waiter every night, you can tip at the end. I usually tip day by day because I rarely do the "assigned dining time".

An d like csnole mentioned - I've been known to tip the folks cleaning up in the casino. They work so hard and get nothing.

Kind of like all-inclusives, I always recommend to tip housekeeping - they do not get tipped nearly as much as the bar tentders and waiters. A recent Texager reminded me to note it on my documents to also include the person who fills up the mini-fridges in the room. It's something I always do (leave $$ inside the fridge), but I didn't have it on my tip suggestion documents.

I've always done the pre-paid gratuities. If you don't pre-pay, they tack it on your final bill, right? So there would never be a situation where you could just tip all cash throughout the trip?

reedsterg said:

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I've always done the pre-paid gratuities. If you don't pre-pay, they tack it on your final bill, right? So there would never be a situation where you could just tip all cash throughout the trip?

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Some people have gratuities removed and they self-tip. I HIGHLY discourage this as the tips are shared with people you will never come into contact with, but still provide support. So if people remove gratuities, they are hurting some of the help.

What really irritates me is when people remove them completely and not tip at all. Honestly just wish cruise lines would do away with them and just include them in your cruise cost so folks can't even do that.


Whether you pre-pay, or they tack them on to your room, it all works out to the same for the staff on the trip. Some just like to tip extra if they are able to, but not a requirement at all.

We've generally tipped an additional $5/day, paid daily to our room steward. The stewards are always friendly and go out of their way to help with any issues. I'm guessing they're not paid well overall, and the living conditions aren't probably the greatest either.

On a side note, we've done drink packages twice, and I'm not sure they're worth the extra cost. I think we figured that we'd need to drink 6-8 alcohol drinks per day minimum, in order for it to result in a cost saving compared to simply paying as you go. For us that is hard to do, day after day. But we don't do "booze cruises" in general, we've done Alaska and northern Europe, and have generally been more interested in the ports of call (and the glaciers and bays in Alaska) than simply sitting on a large boat and drinking all day.

Some of the cruise lines are including drink packages at a nominal cost now, and not the $125/person/day that RCCL and others charge. For instance, for an extra $300ish total for 2 adutls on NCL, you get drinks, wifi package, $50 off shore excursions.

The package the OP got included drinks, wifi, and grauities. Would have cost way more to get it all purchased separately.

But overall, I agree, especially when you pay the full price. I didn't even drink $100 worth of acohol on the ship on my Royal Caribbean cruise.

On the cruise topic, I typically just book myself through the cruise line's website. Is there any advantage to going through you or a VacationsToGo?

reedsterg said:

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On the cruise topic, I typically just book myself through the cruise line's website. Is there any advantage to going through you or a VacationsToGo?

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Depends on the cruise line.

V2G is an online cruise agency who rebates their commission, so sometimes you get lower pricing than direct. They essentially can justify it because they do so much volume and their agents are "order takers" and not realy travel agents, so between volume and what they pay their people, they can afford to give back some of their commission.

With travel agents, we should never be more than booking directly (unless the agent charges fees - hit and miss on who does, I do personally do not)(and certainly not saying anything negative for those who do). Many times we have access to group rates so we can sometimes save money over booking direct. Sometimes we get perks. I have a client who got a free excursion on their Holland cruise. Many times onboard credit. It just depends. I'm always happy to provide a free quote. Carnival is usually who we do not get extra perks given to us unless we have our own group.

What I think helps me stand out is the service I provide before and during travel. I am cautious where I put you on the ship, you don't want to be below the swimming pool, or above/below a kitchen galley. I answer questions, send out discount parking coupons (Galveston), mail out luggage tags and sometimes a multi-port USB charger, etc. You get me every time and not someone at the other end of an 800#.

I think drink packages also include stuff like specialty coffee, Cokes, bottled water. It's not just alcohol but whatever you would pay for. We "get" 15 drinks a day. I'm not pounding 15 beers a day.