Liveaboard: how much to tip?

[peterjmaerz]

Another querry into the age old issue of appropriate tipping. I understand that $5 per tank is a fairly standard benchmark. Does this also apply to a liveaboard or resort with in-house dive op situation? And how is this affected by my status as a single (always paying the guaranteed single-occupancy premium?)

For example, I'll be on the Star Dancer in PNG for 10 days. Would you tip 10% of the total trip cost (including the extra paid for guaranteed single, or double the double-occupancy per-person cost) , $5 per tank or other?

Another example: I've stayed for 7 days with Garden Island in Fiji, again paying a premium for single occupancy and diving 2 dives a day. What would you tip?

I understand that tipping is a very discretionary practice, but it's always nice to have a sense of what a hard-working crew member would expect to earn.


Thanks...


Best,

 

[andros]

Hi Peter,

I think it very much depends on the area where you spend your holidays.

I only remember the tips we have given to the crew last year on a north safari Red Sea Sinaii.

AFAIR: we came to an agreement to give one $ each guest for every crew member and every day on board which

6 crew member x
6 nights on board x
14 guests
= 504 $

 

[DivemasterSteve]

on liveabords i have always given at least 10%, if the crew went above the call of duty to help out i give a little more. when i was on my last liveaboard almost 2 years ago with my wife which she isnt a diver, i gave them a $200 tip total for the 2 of us which was a little more than 10% but they went out of their way to make sure my wife had just as good of a time as all us divers did. that was on Blackbeards and we will go back out with them again.

steve

 

[jlyle]

10% is pretty standard, plus more if service is out of the ordinary. (Whether to include 10% of the single occupancy supplement is iffy.)

 

[peterjmaerz]

Thanks, folks, for your replies. Another question: does anyone tip at the *start* of a trip rather than at the end? (With the thought that this will assure crew of your concern for their well-being?)


Appreciate it.


best,

 

[jlyle]

Thanks, folks, for your replies. Another question: does anyone tip at the *start* of a trip rather than at the end? (With the thought that this will assure crew of your concern for their well-being?)

No, always at the end. Someone once said you should borrow some money from the captain of the boat...that way he would make sure you were back on board!

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks, folks, for your replies. Another question: does anyone tip at the *start* of a trip rather than at the end? (With the thought that this will assure crew of your concern for their well-being?)

No way - but, I will often take some token gifts and pass them out as friendly gestures at the beginning of a visit. I'm a self employed salesman, and have ballpoints with my name that I give out - that sort of little thing.

For a coming trip to Belize, I'm thinking about ordering US-Belize Friendship Flag lapel pins, to wear on caps, ust as a friendly gesture. $2.25 each here: http://www.flagline.com/products-lapel-pins.html My bud and I are thinking about buying enough for the 21 in the Group, plus a few more to pass out to boat crew, etc.

Have fun, don

 

[Scubaroo]

When visiting a foreign country, please remember that tipping is not always customary, or even encouraged. Having lived in the states for a couple of years, tipping becomes second habit, but I've previously visited Fiji for example, and we were requested NOT to tip resort staff at one establishment (notices in resort room info folders etc), as it's not a universal custom, many guests don't tip, and it sets false levels of expectation from workers - eg guests perceived to be US or Canadian visitors receiving preferential treatment from workers over guests of other nationalities while staying at the resort, with the expectation of receiving tips at the end of the stay - which ends up being counterproductive when the guy who is actually South African or a New Zealander or some other nationality, doesn't tip. Other guests notice discrepancies in service towards guests of different nationalities, etc etc. So some establishments just discourage it outright. I would hate to be a repeat customer on an Australian liveaboard for example (where a 10% restaurant tip is considered a large tip, and no tip is far more common, because tipping just isn't part of the culture here), where on a previous trip a foreign visitor had tipped the crew $250, and I'd just given a slab of beer at the dock - if anything.

It's the usual tip / no tip argument, but when in Rome... so check first to see if it's appropriate in the country you're visiting.

 

[peterjmaerz]

It's the usual tip / no tip argument, but when in Rome... so check first to see if it's appropriate in the country you're visiting.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Scubaroo, very true. At the Garden Island resort in Fiji, they had a euphamistic "Christmas Fund" for the purpose of contributions to the staff to avoid the cultural violation of a direct tip. In the case of a divemaster there who recovered my camera on the surface after it's tether had broken, and to whom I really wanted to offer some compensation, when I had a chance to speak with him alone, I invited him to visit my room. When he obliged, I asked if he had any children. He answered that he did. I explained that I in no way meant to demean or insult him personally by offering him money, but that, within the customs of *my* culture, even though I had thanked him as profusely as possible on a personal level, I felt I had to give something more in return for the enormous favor he had done me. I asked if it would be acceptible to offer him a sum with which to buy something for his kids, whatever that might be. While obviously somewhat uncomfortable, he said that he thought that would be fine. Of course I never mentioned this transaction again to him or anyone else at the resort during the remainder of my stay. It's a tricky dynamic, the tipping thing. That's why I was curious as to others' opinions.

Best,

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Call me an ugly American but I find it hard to believe that offering someone a tip is offensive. If the culture forbids it they can simply say no thank you and walk away. How is that offensive? I don't get it. Don't get me wrong if the front desk tells me on check-in that it is resort policy not to tip - I don't. On the other hand if someone goes out of their way to make sure my vacation is an extraordinary experience I will go out of my way to offer a little extra. If they don't want it they can say no thank you and walk away (never happens). If they want it they can take it. I don't make a big show of it and I don't make it public. Maybe those of you from the non-tipping cultures should step up. By the way when you come to the States or a place with a "tipping culture" do you step up and leave a little extra? Do you find you get crappier service because you are from a non-tipping culture? Not trying to be argumentative but many of the service people in the areas we traditionally dive depend on the "little extra" to put food on the table.