How to communicate that a tip to staff on a cruise ship is additional to those prepaid?
My wife and I will be traveling on Carnival Cruise lines here in a few days. We did the prepaid tips.
However I find that two staff members can make a trip extra special. Those would be the waiter and the steward.
What would be some suggestions about tipping extra to those folks?
How do I communicate that this is an extra tip? Keep in mind the extra would be low if I did not do the prepaid tips as well. Keep in mind that many have limited English skills, and that is the only language that I speak.
I was thinking about doing some at the end and some at the beginning.
Best Answer
How do I communicate that this is an extra tip?
Giving money should be perfectly well understood without any verbal communication. The donation is communication.
The recipient is not going to misunderstand and, say, think you are sending them out to fetch you a pizza.
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Is it better to prepay gratuity on a cruise?
If you want to make your life easier, and don't plan on removing or adjusting the gratuities on a cruise, it's better to prepay before you go. In our experience, prepaying gratuities does not negatively affect the service onboard.What does prepaid gratuities on a cruise mean?
Just like in restaurants and hotels, guests on many cruises are generally expected to leave tips for certain cruise staff members serving them. Pre-paid gratuities means that we {Cruise Specialists} have negotiated a special offer for you and you are not expected nor will you be charged for tips.How are tips distributed on a cruise ship?
Generally speaking, mainstream, U.S.-based cruise lines automatically add gratuities of about $14 to $15 per person, per day, to your onboard bill. These tips are divided among the dining staff (waiters, assistant waiters and head waiters) and housekeeping staff (such as cabin attendants).Do cruise staff get gratuities?
Most cruise lines distribute the gratuity charges among a number of workers, including some, like laundry workers, who previously didn't receive tips, Guilford said.Cruise Tipping Explained
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Answer 2
Here is what I ended up doing:
1) The wait staff on the first night was terrible, luckily we needed a table reassignment.
2) The next night we were assigned a wonderful wait staff, the got called out in our comments for their great service and I gave the waiter $50 extra at the end of the cruise, and each assistant $20. Luckily we had them for the rest of the time.
3) I gave our cabin steward an extra $20 at the end. He was okay, not great.
Luckily all of the parties involved had great English skills so it was easy to communicate the extra amount.
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