Tipping

[tfleming23]

How much do you usually tip on a Liveaboard? Last year did Blackbeard's with my son's and tipped $500 for the 3 of us. That amounted to about 12% of what I paid for the trip.

Heading out to Socorro with my oldest right after Christmas and trying to plan to have the cash to tip but trying to determine the right amount. If I stick with the 12%, I'd be pushing $1000, which seems excessive so looking for some guidance. Don't want to be the cheap ass on the boat, but also am not made of money.

Thanks

 

[JPEG]

I’ve been on 5 liveaboards at locations around the world.

Based on chats with fellow customers and more experienced liveaboard travelers, I believe 15% of the boat fare is considered typical for normal-to-good service.

That’s what I tip, usually rounding up a bit to a multiple of $50.

I know that can be a lot of money, and it can hurt.

This I just one data point... hopefully others will chime in.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

How much do you usually tip on a Liveaboard?

That depends on the level of service im getting.
If the service is really good, staff are nice & helpful i usually tip about 15% .
I've had a couple of trips where the service was absolute **** and the staff was horrible so i did not leave any tip.

It also depends on where in the world you would be going - in the Sinai region of the red sea its expected to leave at least 10-15$ a day per person which only comes up to about 70 $ considering they are not very long. (I always give more because i found the service to be exceptional)
On the other hand, the trips are not as expensive as it would be in the rest of the world.

 

[Michael Jastrzebski]

My own perspective- tipping 10-15% for a liveaboard trip is in my own opinion ludicrous. Why should my tip be based on such items for example as fuel, cabin space (do you tip in hotels?) or boat maintenance. I usually estimate in my head what I would tip for meals and diving alone. If meals are lousy (some liveaboards serve mediocre food) I cut the tip appropriately. If dinners are buffet-only - I account for that in my tipping too. Never did I tip anything close to 10% of the trip total cost. From the conversations I had with fellow divers - deep down only few tip the “suggested” 10-15%.

 

[runsongas]

tipping the maids at hotels seems pretty common to me.

 

[runsongas]

How much do you usually tip on a Liveaboard? Last year did Blackbeard's with my son's and tipped $500 for the 3 of us. That amounted to about 12% of what I paid for the trip.

Heading out to Socorro with my oldest right after Christmas and trying to plan to have the cash to tip but trying to determine the right amount. If I stick with the 12%, I'd be pushing $1000, which seems excessive so looking for some guidance. Don't want to be the cheap ass on the boat, but also am not made of money.

Thanks

I generally do 10% rack rate. most Americans seem to also hold close to that. people from non-tipping countries generally will tip less.

 

[Diver below 83]

tipping the maids at hotels seems pretty common to me.

I always tip the hotel maids. Granted my gf works in the hotel industry

 

[chillyinCanada]

I always tip the hotel maids. Granted my gf works in the hotel industry

Do you tip them 10-15% of your room rate?

 

[Diver below 83]

Do you tip them 10-15% of your room rate?

Depending on the hotel we are staying at determines the tip amount. Considering we pay employee rate, yes we actually end up leaving about 10-12% a day of the room rate. Never less than 10% ever. Again my gf is in the industry so we are big tippers. To each their own

 

[Alekseolsen]

I did leave 10% of total trip costs last time (also my only liveaboard, so far), quite painful to be honest, especially as a Scandinavian I guess. It did wind up to only ~20€ a day, so guess I was a cheap bastard.

It's just not in my DNA that everything I do costs 20% more than the price your given. (Always tipping 20% in the states though, I do remember to well a polish colleague insisting on paying for a cab fare, proceeded to pay with AMEX, with 0 tip. Only time I've literally been thrown out of a cab..)