Liveaboard Tipping

[nimoh]

In my opinion tipping is an extremely personal thing and if you feel that 500 is too much then it is. Some people save their whole lives to take a "dream live aboard" dive trip, and simply cant afford to add another 10-20% to the cost.

I agree completely. $500 is definitely reasonable, and probably in the neighborhood of what I would tip on such a trip, but you should tip what you are comfortable with.

 

[Wookie]

In my opinion tipping is an extremely personal thing and if you feel that 500 is too much then it is. Some people save their whole lives to take a "dream live aboard" dive trip, and simply cant afford to add another 10-20% to the cost.

If you make that decision before you even pack your bags, then you're just being cheap.

Tipping is based on the value of service provided. Sometimes I eat in a restaurant and (horrors) tip as much as 25%, when the sommelier suggests a really nice not too expensive wine, or when the order arrives promptly hot from the kitchen and my water glass is kept full (my pet peeve), etc. etc.

If the dive boat crew provides fills that are above and beyond the pressure stamped on the shoulder of the cylinder, and the nitrox reads 32% consistently, and the chef makes sure that there are no nuts in your salad and that you get the gooiest brownie from the middle of the pan and the Captain tours the engineroom with you and the DM points out your first ever frogfish and the stewardess wipes the piss stains off of your potty 5 times a day, and that isn't worth 10% of the trip cost? Of a $5,000 liveaboard week?

Yes, tipping is extremely personal. I have a hard time deciding whether 10% or 20% is more appropriate when I go on a dive trip. On my last one, the dive shop staff made an extra effort to go to town and bring back roti for me for lunch. They saw 20%. It's what I budgeted for. It's part of going diving.

 

[Reck Diver]

If you make that decision before you even pack your bags, then you're just being cheap.

I agree. But my question is why don't the dive operators just include gratuities in the price? This way the crew never gets stiffed.

 

[Wookie]

I agree. But my question is why don't the dive operators just include gratuities in the price? This way the crew never gets stiffed.

Some of us pay our crews wayyy better than others. We appeal to a lot of poor college students because we offer great diving quite affordably. We don't actually expect tips, but they sure are nice. It gives an idea of how we're doing. When some college kid throws 20 bucks in the tip basket, we understand that he gave what he could afford. When some guy wearing the best of everything who brags about his trips to Indonesia hauling a $7,000 camera rig who is a mediocre diver but won't take suggestion leaves $20, we know his story too.

But to more completely answer your question, Americans want a deal. That's why airlines put bag fees on top of ticket prices. That way they don't have to raise ticket prices, they can raise bag fees and hear the same amount of bitching instead of seeing a drop in ridership because prices are too high. To illustrate this, I used to have a partner. My partner maintained his price structure for his dive trips. I went to all inclusive pricing which I find a better deal. We include beer and wine, nitrox, and we cut 10 passengers off the boat. The majority of our clients remained with the other boat because the base price was cheaper. And because there are a few folks out there that don't like me, but that's another story. Anyway, my boat was more comfortable with 10 fewer folks on it, and was a better deal for folks diving nitrox (it drove more of my guests to use nitrox, and we've never had a case of the bends from a nitrox diver), and was actually less expensive for the client. It almost put me under. We had to move to Florida because we couldn't compete in the Texas market anymore.

That's why dive operators don't include tips in the price.

 

[nimoh]

I wonder why discussions about tipping always come back to comparing to restaurants and bars. I generally don't tip at full service gas stations, but if I do, it is nowhere near 10% of my fuel purchase.

 

[Darnold9999]

I wonder why discussions about tipping always come back to comparing to restaurants and bars. I generally don't tip at full service gas stations, but if I do, it is nowhere near 10% of my fuel purchase.

Probably because part of what you are tipping for is service that (for North Americans) we normally tip for. Restaurants and bar service we typically tip for, gas station service we don't. On a liveaboard most of the service you get is service that we normally tip for. Three meals a day with libations, a dive guide, tender driver, maid service, laundry, massage, etc. As someone pointed out - if you were to do all of these things separately and tipped a "normal" amount then the equivalent tip on a liveaboard would be about 10% - 15%.

Any time I feel poorly done by with respect to tipping - particularly in third world countries - I compare my annual income with the income of the local dive guide/tender driver/boat captain/chef. Typically my tip is a very significant part of their income and a very small portion of mine.

Yes it might be better if liveaboard staff were paid a reasonable wage for their service, but that is not the case - and I suspect that the availability of tips is a significant motivating factor that keeps the level of service on most liveaboards that I have been on so high.

 

[Rogersea]

If you make that decision before you even pack your bags, then you're just being cheap.

Some people actually have to live within budgets and do make those decisions before they leave...

Cheers,
Roger

 

[Jax]

Some of us pay our crews wayyy better than others. We appeal to a lot of poor college students because we offer great diving quite affordably. .

Wanted to say something about the college student's influence on you, but I just cannot get past the visual of you appealing to college students.

We don't actually expect tips, but they sure are nice. It gives an idea of how we're doing. When some college kid throws 20 bucks in the tip basket, we understand that he gave what he could afford. When some guy wearing the best of everything who brags about his trips to Indonesia hauling a $7,000 camera rig who is a mediocre diver but won't take suggestion leaves $20, we know his story too. [/QUOTE]

Is it more appropriate to tip singlely, or to tip the whole crew? Or a mixture of both?

 

[Jax]

Some people actually have to live within budgets and do make those decisions before they leave...

Cheers,
Roger

I have to agree to this, Wookie. Budgets are important, especially in this economy. There are some of those people in the middle, who can afford only a little more, but still want to recognize the crew.

I can imagine the shift in gas prices is going to mess up people who drive down this summer.

 

[Wookie]

Is it more appropriate to tip singlely, or to tip the whole crew? Or a mixture of both?

I use the group tip basket approach. I don't like the "call the diver into the wheelhouse alone so no one else can see" method. If you want an envelope, we'll give you one. Usually folks throw cash in the tip basket, but we do allow credit card tips too. The crew cashes out the following payday. Every time. I have a fiduciary responsibility to me crew to, oh, I don't know, PAY THEM?

If someone goes way out of their way for you, like, lends you a bra, see that person separately.