Hello nikkinova23, Welcome to Cruise@ddicts, and to all things cruisings.
We just love to talk cruises around here, and are usually happy to answer any and all questions. You will find tons of information just reading the questions and answers that are here. But the best tip I can give you for being on this board would probably to narrow your questions down a bit, maybe a lot.
I've noticed, over the years here, that questions that are too general, or ask too much at once tend to get very few if any reponses. I think that's because a question like yours asks so much, we just don't know where to begin. I'd have to post an entire book to answer it, and I'd still not know if I was hitting on exactly what you hoped to hear.
Example, on just the topic of tipping, you could be asking who to tip on the ship, who else to tip during the entire trip, how much to tip each person, when to tip each person, by which method to tip them.
And like I've said, it could take a book to answer. Well it just so happens that I've saved enough of my past answers to similiar questions, that I've been tempted to put them in a book. So here's a cut and paste of a few of my past answers on the tipping questions:
The crew’s main source of income is from tips. You should refer to the back of your cruise brochure for suggested amounts, but in general you should estimate approximately ten dollars per person (both adults and children), per day. This is usually divided as follows:
$3.50 Room Steward
$3.50 Waiter
$2.00 Assistant waiter
$0.75 Head waiter
Additionally, tips may be given to the Maitre’D and sometimes a head house keeper, as you see fit. A 15 % gratuity is automatically added to any bar bill.
One way to avoid sticker shock (when your receive you shipboard bill) is to set your tip money aside even before you leave home. In the past, envelopes for the tips would be placed in your cabin on the last day of the cruise. If you had the money already set, in appropriate sized bills, you would be able to fill the envelopes with no problem. And you will be very glad to have avoided the long line of people waiting to get cash, in appropriately sized bills, at the purser’s desk.
On most ships these days, your tips will be added onto your shipboard account. Most cruise lines now do this automatically, but you may opt out of the process by requesting it at the purser’s desk. Then you may tip in amounts of more or less, as you desire and in person. (On a few ships, Norwegian for example, the on-account tipping is not optional. Ask your TA to be certain.
In person tipping is usually done on the last evening of the cruise. The room stewards will make themselves much more visible in the halls outside your room on that evening, about the time you go to dinner. (For most of the rest of the cruise they will be nearly invisible.) For waiters and assistant waiters, it is usually done as you leave the table on that last evening.
Whether you choose the on account tipping or do it yourself, is totally a personal decision. There has been some speculation that the staff may not get all of the tip when done on account, that the cruise line may take a cut. Also, it has been mentioned that they may have to wait quite a long while before they receive those tips. Whether that is true or not, I don't know.
Personally, we leave the tips on the account, and offer a bit extra, in person, to those we feel deserving.
Who else to tip? Well they do seem to be everywhere; the people you need to tip, I mean. With so many, you need to not only know that this is an added expense, you need to be prepared. I mean you need to carry enough appropriate sized bills. We have, several times, ended up offering a much larger than necessary tip, mearly because we lacked smaller money.
So we alway take along a pack of fifty singles. And I start saving up fives, a few weeks in advance.
Other people you will likely need to tip:
-The taxi (or shuttle) drivers who takes you to and from the airports, both at your home airport and at the destination airport, both on arrival and on the trip home. That would mean at least four, to six times, you'll be tipping the driver. (depending on whether you choose to arrive a day early and have to taxi from hotel to ship also) Addition taxi tips for times you use one to get around an island.
-The sky cap who checks your luggage at the curb at the airport. ( he can be bypassed if you take the time to go to the counter.)
- The airport porters at the who may help take your luggage from baggage claim, to the taxi stand or shuttle
- bell boy at your hotel, both on arrival and at check out (should you decide to arrive a day early)
- the dock workers at the port to whom you hand your bags for loading onto the ship
- the guy who watches your luggage for you at the hotel (this is a service they often provide for people whose planes arrive early, while check in is later.)
(Most times we tip the people who handle our luggage about a dollar per bag for all the above people)
-room service delivery people both on the ship, or in a hotel
(most room service tips are one or two dollars, depending on small or larger meal order)
-excursion operators. Excursions are usually either full day (5 or 6 up to eight hours) or half days (3 or 4 hours) . Hubby and I, tipping as couple, offer five dollars for a half day excursion. Ten for a full day. That is for group excursions. We tip more if it was exceptional or if it was a personal tour for just us.
I'm sure others can offer more on the tipping. Some like to tip the room steward some money at the start of the cruise. They say it ensures good service. I really don't like that idea at all, because if I were the person on the receiving end of that tip, I would be insulted by the insinuation that I would give worse service, if I'm not bribed. That's just personal opinion. I only mention the practice, because some people do do it.
Now as for the rest of your question, like I said, it's really an awful lot of questions bundled together. And each one might have an answer as long as this. So maybe give them a try, one by one.
(And the thought occurs to me, that sometimes we don't know what we don't know. Meaning you may not know what questions to ask, that would be more specific. So here are a few examples of questions, to break down that request for tips and infofrmation into a more manageble size.:
How does the ship board billing work?
What costs extra on the ship?
How much do you usually spend on the ship?
Do you or do you not buy cruise ship air?
Do you or do you not travel the day of the cruise?
Do I have to have a passport, how do I get one, what do they cost. Is there a better/ cheaper/ easier way or place to get one?
What about the dress codes, what should I wear?
Besides clothing what should I pack?
What cabin should I pick?
I'm booking my own air, how do I get a good price?
Which hotel should I stay at?
What if I have to cancel?
How to choose a good Ta?
Why should I buy the insurance?
What to expect on embarkation day, what to do first?
What can I /can I not bring on board?
Airline baggage rules?
What to do about seasickness?
Packing and getting ready to leave tips? where can I find a great packing list?
What's this about putting the luggage outside the door for debarkation/ What's that about?
etc, etc.
See what I mean? There are a million potential questions.
