Tipping

[blahblah92]

How much money should I tip for room service ONLY?
Molly

[blahblah92]

How much money should I tip for room service ONLY?
Molly

[Karen Knowlton]

The general guideline is $3.50 per day per passenger in the cabin.

[Gr8One]

Is that $3.50 per worker? I mean, if the maid cleans (give her 3.50) then if I order extra towels (another 3.50) and then room service for a late night snack (another 3.50). Since there are two going in my room, that would be $7.00 per service. I am asking only because I have never been on a cruise and want to tip properly. I have heard of pre-tipping and then something at the end of the cruise. But should I tip room service as soon as they do something?

[amy68]

I just came back from my second cruise, I highly recommend pre-tipping. RCCL's guidelines are $68.25 per person for a 7 day cruise. This takes care of everything EXCEPT, if you do order room service, they charge gratuity each time, and of course if you feel the services warrant extra tipping for any members of your staff, then you have the choice to do so. I feel that our service was even more exceptional because we chose to pre-tip. At the end of the cruise we were very disappointed in our waiter and our headwaiter, so when it came time for extra tipping, they were skipped, but there was no guilt because they did at least get the fair minimum amount. Tipping can be a rewarding experience, it was nice to give them something extra for their outstanding service and they were so grateful.

Amy

[blahblah92]

Thanks

[NancyN]

I would like to clarify something regarding room service. The $3.50 per day, per person is a guideline for tipping your cabin steward/stewardess for regular cleaning and maintaining of your room (towels, ice, etc). If you order room service there is no charge (nor a gratuity added) unless you order drinks that are not included with meals (i.e. soda or alcohol), therefore tipping for such services is done at the time of delivery, at your discretion (usually a couple dollars).
Nancy

[amy68]

It's my understanding, gratuity is added to all room service orders regardless of whether soda or alcohol was ordered or not. I never used the service so I could very well be wrong. The way around it is if your ship has a snack bar (ours was open until 3am every night) just fix a plate and bring it back to your room. One evening I wasn't feeling too well, my husband went to the windjammer cafe (buffet style dining) fixed me a plate and brought it back to the room. The staff even helped him with it. I would recommend this if your able to.

Amy

[Karen Knowlton]

Hotels always add room service fees (which one could see as a gratuity of sorts) but I am not aware that cruise lines do - 24-hour room service is included in your cruise fare on all the major cruise lines serving N. America. We always gave a small cash tip ($1-2) to the person who brought our order when we used room service. Sorry I didn't answer the first poster correctly - guess I was on "autopilot" that day!

[maine-iac]

There was no charge for meals ordered thru room service 24/7 on RCCL Brilliance. When we did order a couple of times I tipped $2.00. I said this before, but again, I ordered 50 - $2.00 bills from the local bank before we left and used these for tipping, porters, bus drivers, food room service, etc. It worked wonderful, never had to worry about trying to break a larger bill for tipping. I will certainly do this again.