Tipping Divemaster when abroad

[Aelvin]

I had an issue with this last week in Grand Cayman.

Every restaurant I went to added a 15% gratuity to the bill. Some restaurants had great service, several had terrible service. All of the restaurants charged me the extra 15%.

The resort I stayed at added a 10% gratuity for the household staff.

Even though I was on a dive trip and the diving was part of a package, the dive staff DID NOT get an automatic tip.

Who gave me the best customer service all week? The people who knew they needed to provide good service to get a tip.

Who got the biggest tip? The people who enjoyed their work, were always happy and smiling, and who went out of their way to make my trip enjoyable. The dive staff.

The reason i think they do that to most of the vacation spots is because many foreign tourists don't have a tipping habit i guess.

 

[TheTrickster]

Okay I'll bite...

This is *my* pet hate.

I have to say I'm completely against this 'univerisal' tipping. The whole point of tipping is to show the member of staff or team that served you, that you where happy with the service you were given, and it was beyond what you expected.

Now, its generally accepted that tipping is to help out people who perhaps are on the lower end of the pay scales (waiters/waitress, DMs!, Bellboys, etc etc) However when was the last time you tipped the happy to serve you cashier in Walmart, or the post guy who delivered your post on time? Both of which are probably low earners too...

If I do tip, I make sure it goes to the waiter/waitress personally. If I'm diving, and we all end up going out for a beer after the dives, the DM who served me, won't be buying any drinks in the evening - hell I'll even get them dinner... I do not believe in tip jars or the sharing of tips. I find it unbelievable that people/companies have a nerve to automatically add a percentage on top of a bill. I've never been to the US, but I believe its standard practice to leave/ask for 20%? :11:

Also I've read if you leave less than 15% its a way to show you were not happy with the service? HOLD THE PHONE.... You're not happy with the service so you *still* leave a tip - I play it the other way. If I've had awful service, I will leave a 1cent tip, this shows that I was willing to leave a tip, if the service was good but also shows that I didn't forget not to leave a tip.

Richard, thats it, nice and clam......perhaps too much coffee and proplus....

 

[Doc]

An experienced American instructor who has taught other nationalites, knows you are right, Horn, foreigners DO NOT tip! Most don't anyway, we know that already.:14:

This really comes into play at a dive resort when the tip prone Americans get mixed up with the non-tippers. It really gets magnified on the rare mixing-up of cultures while sharing a liveaboard.

I travel frequently on liveaboards that are never used by Norh Americans. There was a recent dust-up here on SCUBABoard by a group of Brits who were surprised when presented with a pre-trip advisory that a % gratuity will be required to be added. This boat in question almost always served Americans, so they never had mentioned a required tip in their materials. They didn't like the idea but the general consencus of the thread was that Americans do tip, they over-tip in relation to local custom, and that the British, at least in this local dive area, were perceived as non-tippers.

Stereotypes come from some place. You can either say that this or that European group "never" tips, you might also say that Americans "over-tip".

 

[h2odragon1]

generally tip the equivalent of one or two dives, depending on how many dives done. package deals (10 dives for the price of 9) generally helps. but it does depend on the service. don't forget the boatman. often the boatman live only on these tips, the divemaster/guide gets a salary, but not much. if you enjoyed, and would like to return to that shop and dive with that dive master, tip good, it will give him/her an incentive to stay. also if you want to return to that dive master, write a letter to the dive shop owner complimenting the dive master, (a small raise could come their way to keep them).

 

[Busdiver]

I always tip $5 dollars a dive. If it is DM I higher to dive with my wife and I usually tip $15 a dive per person (2 dives = $30 a person x 2= $60). However that is only if I want a guided tour of an area.

 

[chrispete]

I think that there should be a mandate that all persons work as a service employee for at least one year of their life. After they've had a few people try to get them fired/had food thrown in their face because one of the customers' cheese sticks cracked open and leaked some of the cheese out while making a whopping $2.13 an hour, some attitudes would change.

I personally tip people when they've done good by me. I don't limit it to foodservice. I've tipped mechanics who I thought did a lot of extra work for too little compensation, etc.

 

[Sideband]

Should be the same for a guy or a gal.

Sorry- couldn't help myself. I'll just sit over here quietly now with my hands folded on top of my desk. Sorry.

I spent a year studying abroad once. She got a restraining order.

Scary. That was my first thought as well.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Scary. That was my first thought as well.

My first thought was, "So dive masters sleep standing up???"


Probably aren't too many people here that know what 'cow tipping' is, though, so I won't mention it...

 

[Sideband]

Lol. Sneaking onto dive boats and pushing sleeping DMs into the water.

Honey! I found something for us to do this weekend!

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Expected tips should be in the total price. Exceptional service should be rewarded to the person. Pay your people so they don't have to beg !

Absolutely right. I'm not stingy person and I don't mind tipping, but when I see people on this board tip 10 (!) per tank (!!!!), I have serious problems explaining to a non-diving friend why on earth I pay 80 dollars or more for a two-tank boat trip or a single-tank night dive???