Tipping on a River Cruise ship
 

This is a subject I'm not comfortable with and since I have never been on a cruise before I don't know how to deal with it. I have a 10 day river cruise through Germany booked for early May and will be accompanied by my wife. I have been told that on sea cruises it is customary to tip your cabin staff but also several other waiters etc. but on a river cruise which is on a much smaller scale with fewer passengers does this still hold true. I know this may sound like a cheap skate but any help or suggestions (Keep them clean) would be much appreciated.

Tour/cruise companies usually give tipping guide lines. Why not look in your brochure or call the company for their advice. I would think that you would tip.

Or check cruise critic which is a board for cruising.

It depends on the company, some pay their staff correctly some fail to do so, however being in Germany should help, though of course they do not have a true minimum wage there.

I have been on Yangtze and Nile river cruises and recently on a Patagonia expedition cruise. For all these tipping was the norm as on cruise ships. I think for all it was a lump sum to be divided by the crew, unlike "olden" days aboard big ships where you had the same waiter or steward you might tip personally. There is probably a word or two of guidance about it in your cruise info and I'm sure they will have a talk or mention about it on board by the final night.

Hi S,

Sign up at www.cruisecritic.com.

Go to "boards" and click on "roll call" for your cruise line.

You don't say which country you are from - for Australians, the tip is usually built into the fare structure, because we are notoriously bad at tipping!

I'd check with the agent you booked through; on the cruise we travelled on the tip info wasn't included in any printed material. I was unsure if we'd end up being charged twice, but when our final bill was presented to us on the last night, the tip had already been included and nothing further requested.

BTW, we did give our cabin steward an extra tip, because he had looked after us so well. Di

Thanks folks for the advice, I didn't spend much time on the sums but just thought this was a rather excessive tip if it was on top of this persons wage.
This cruise is sold out so it has 112 guests served by a crew of 32.
112 (Guests)X 2 (Euro) X 10 Days =2240 euro for the Programme Director.
However if the person is self employed and as you say this is his only source of income then no further problem.
Once again thanks for your help

The tip is surely spread among all the crew--not just the director!! 2E/day would be your tip?

I am sorry, but your cruise company should make the tipping guidelines quite clear and if they haven't you should ask as has been suggested.

Now, as to what you should tip and the whole notion that it should be based on what the person being tipped makes which you seem to think is the appropriate measure, consider this: what if the people being tipped were expecting tips based on what YOU make?

I thought E2 per person, per day was a very low tip so I quickly checked one of the large river cruise companies and the recommendations is $10 to $12 per day, per person. This would be a flat tip to be distributed among the shipboard staff. The recommended tip to the program director is $4 to $6 per person, per day. I believe these people generally make their money from tips. I've not been on river cruises but have been on land tours and the program director works hard.

Sodafarl:
As others have said the cruise company probably has guidelines. Our first river cruise was in 2010 and we had never been on an ocean cruise so we were very unsure about tipping but the company we were with (Viking) had very clear and reasonable guidelines. We have been on several river cruises since then and I have been completely impressed with the staff. The trainers should work with DMV employees!!! I'm with Dukey1 on her reply. Have a wonderful trip.

I'm afraid 2 euros per day isn't enough for anything. Obviously it depends on how many people are serving you but between waitstaff for 3 meals, a cabin steward, moving your luggage etc - I would really check with the cruise line as to what is expected.

We used the guidlines provided by the cruise line and then gave a bit extra in person to our cabin steward and the other staff we got to know. Some people we met on the cruise had decided to only give to the people they directly interacted with but in my opinion, this is unfair to the behind the scenes crew and their are a lot of them.

We used the guidlines provided by the cruise line and then gave a bit extra in person to our cabin steward and the other staff we got to know. Some people we met on the cruise had decided to only give to the people they directly interacted with but in my opinion, this is unfair to the behind the scenes crew and their are a lot of them.

Bilbo got it right.

We have the national minimum wage in Europe, there is no need to tip as staff legally should be earning similar rates to those in any other comparable role off the boat.

Bilbo may or may not have it right, and I think a tip is still expected/needed.

Friends were recently on an American cruise liner out of Sydney and were appalled to be told by some of the staff that not only were they not only was their sole source of income "tips", but their accommodation was shared.

Fortunately it was only a short cruise with their grandchildren. This on a liner where "gratuities were included" in the price. They paid all the people they had regular contact with generously. It's not about the $, although having been told the cost of $$ is all-inclusive, it should be exactly that.

It is, for us Australians at least, the basic premise that a person is worthy of being paid properly for their labour. To make them rely on "tips" like a beggar on the street is beyond disgusting to us.

Sorry, OP, I know this doesn't answer your query.

I have travelled on a river cruise in Europe with Scenic tours and all tips were included in the price, but we were very happy to give our cabin steward a personal tip because of his cheerful attitude and excellent service, which I believe is the true reason one should give tips. Of course, I am one of those terrible Australians who believe that every worker should get a fair wage for a fair days work.

Our experience, not on river cruises, has been the cruise director or whatever he/she is called, give guidelines on what to tip a with suggestions for per day per person. The tip is collected at end of trip and spread among the crew.