Sorry another tipping question

[Cacia]

My tipping philosophy in a hotel or anywhere is to tip the first day and every day thereafter ( at a daily rate). It has taken me 23 years of marriage to convince my wife. she tips on the last day. when I tip we get extra towels and products in hotels. She gets treated like a deadbeat and then leaves a big tip. I'm sure the maids after the last day say they would have given better service.

ditto! Works like a charm.

Bali recently, we tipped 150 US Dollars to the dive guides and captains cause the hustled their butts and treated us like royalty. I admit sometimes I negotiate or cut corners on something else in order to shift funds to the staff.....For example, in Kajane Villa, when I originally booked and they were giving us the rates, I always say once I have a deal "okay, if you throw in a late check out, you have it". They ALWAYS say yes. If you wait till your butt is there they will almost always charge you since where else are you going to go when you have a late night flight? That saves me 100 bucks or so, and I will give that in tips. Or, you can ask that they include Nitrox, etc. This frees up cash for me to tip. Tipping along the way is far superior, IMV. Well, JB does it, but I advise.

 

[HowDidIGetIntoThis?]

This is truly an excellent thread. The diversity of opinions and expectations highlight for me a continuing source of frustration as a tourist: No matter how sincerely one may want to do the right thing, the expectations and "standards" are so variable that if one does get it right it is more likely a matter of luck than good judgement. The further from home one is, the greater the chances of getting it wrong.

Mandatory or pre-charged tipping should more correctly be called a service charge. It has nothing to do with rewarding good service. I don't have a problem with that, so long as it is clearly stated up front, particularly if it is >15%. To try to capture business by low-balling the price, then sliding in a large mandatory fee for a "tip" is unethical, as is paying such low wages that workers have to rely on the vagaries of tipping for their basic income. Let's put it in the travel brochure: "We offer great low prices for this diving vacation because we pay our workers next to nothing. We let you, the customer, decide if you've had enough of a good time that our workers are worth paying."

My nationality may predispose me to having certain expectations as to how much is a reasonable tip, but it does not preclude me from being willing to pay more or less if I understand that local customs are different. Please don't confuse willingness or ability to pay with a lack of understanding of how much should be paid and, perhaps more importantly, why.

 

[freefall2]

Let's put it in the travel brochure: "We offer great low prices for this diving vacation because we pay our workers next to nothing. We let you, the customer, decide if you've had enough of a good time that our workers are worth paying."

You nailed it!

I worked on a liveaboard dive boat in the Bahamas for 4 years and for the most part would have preferred if we could have just been paid a decent wage and abolished tipping. The exceptions to that were the wild dolphin snorkel charters with the "Travelling Ashram" who were a delight to take care of and left each crew member a $1300 US tip!

During the summers we did snorkel charters on the Little Bahama Bank to swim with the spotted dolphins. Most of those trips were Japanese and European tourists. The trips were sold at a higher price, the customers were told they were not expected to tip and the owner passed along the extra money to us so we each made about $400 a week on top of our regular salary. This was about the same as we'd make on a good week with the normal tipping system. The owner wasn't willing to raise the prices for the dive trips the rest of the year because there was too much competition.

I think tipping has become something ugly and embarrassing because it isn't thought of as a bonus anymore, it has turned into a service charge that is counted on by the employees in the service industry. Customers of restaurants, resorts, dive boats, etc. are all counted on to feel guilty about the poor wages the staff are being paid and to cough up a tip whether the service has been outstanding or not. I would much rather have service disappear into the price of the product in the same way I prefer to buy from online companies that offer free shipping even though it is obviously worked into the price of the product I'm buying.

The bottom line - it is bad form to change policy after taking a deposit from a customer. For future charters it would make more sense to sell the trip at a higher price but don't call it "tip included" or "service charge included" just pay the employees more and let customers know that tips are not expected. It's the same thing just not as ugly.

 

[Lesleyatcabin]

I tipped $500 at the end of my 7 day Galapogas Peter Hughes trip....well worth it but NO ONE else did that . It was 10 % of trip. I am heading to maldives on a 10 day boat trip...any suggestions other than 10 % welcome. I like the idea of leaving good gear to good people

 

[Quero]

Lesleyatcabin, you've resurrected a very old thread, but it's a topic that always generates interest, so why not?

In response to your question, many crew members could really use the money, so I don't give gear instead of giving tips. However, I appreciate the sentiment about the gear, and I share it, so I usually take a couple of really good dive lights along to give to my favorite guides on top of a monetary tip. They usually wouldn't spend the money to buy something like that, and they don't realize how much just being able to shine a light on something can enhance their customers' dive--thus making those customers more likely to tip. So I give away good dive lights, like the Aquastar or Intova ones. I use the lights myself while I'm on my trip and just present them to the guides when the trip is over. If you want to get fancy, buy chargers and sets rechargeable batteries for the lights as well.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Yes. A very old thread but I really enjoyed the story line. Only problem was the weak ending. WHO did the group go diving with or did they suck it up and dive the originally booked Lob?

 

[Fionab]

Yes. A very old thread but I really enjoyed the story line. Only problem was the weak ending. WHO did the group go diving with or did they suck it up and dive the originally booked Lob?

Wow this was a surprise to get a notification about this

2 couples decided not to be held to ransom and cancelled the trip, 4 others joined us so yes most of us sucked it up and continued with the trip.

The boat deck crew were fantastic, the assistant dive guide was great. The chef was poor and lazy and the main dive guide couldn't give a sh*t. Well why should he, he had already got his tip. I very much doubt the lower level crew members saw very much of our tip, I would rather have been able to tip the individual crew members who were most helpful.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Thanks Fiona!