Keith Anderson wrote:
> On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:15:48 +1100, Alan S wrote:
>
> >On 20 Nov 2006 16:14:59 GMT, Bert Hyman
> >wrote:
> >
> >>On our boat, tipping was voluntary and anonymous. There was a box
> >>placed in the lounge at the end of the trip and you could drop an
> >>envelope containing whatever you liked into it. They took only cash
> >>or travelers checks (which would remove the anonymity, I guess). As
> >>I recall, we left about $400 for two people on a 14-day cruise.
> >
> >To someone like me, from a non-tipping nation, that seems an
> >enormous amount for a tip. We occasionally tipped in Europe
> >- but never anything in that vicinity.
> >
> >Could you clarify how you came up with that number? Surely
> >the staff were all on reasonable salaries and not dependant
> >on tips?
>
> The crew on river ships are often poorly paid and their accommodation
> is often cramped.
>
> On the ships I work on, the recommended tip is 1euro per person per
> day, and the tips are pooled then shared equally between crew members
> although senior ones such as the captain, first officer, purser, head
> chef etc are not tipped. That works out at 10 euros for a ten-day
> cruise - nothing like 400 dollars!
Not Europe (although the company runs European tours also) but I was on
a Nile cruise in the late 90s which was run by a US based company. A
little like Saga if you know what that is- i.e. aimed at older people.
The tipping guideline (from the operator) for the staff pool was around
10 USD a day, and a separate one for the guide was the same. None of the
people on the trip seemed to mind the amount suggested, and I think some
people gave more. It is a lot, I realise, and I very much doubt a UK
tour group on the Nile would have been given similar guidelines. So,
Bert's figures don't seem that unusual to me.
--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
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