Tipping on Red Sea liveaboards

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Coca-Cola, blue jeans, and Springsteen.
 
No, I mean that I usually tip the same no matter where the crew are from and what area the boat travels. Some other posters have argued that tipping less is ok because the crew is local and living in a less developed country with lower prevailing wages.

Ah. I THINK I understand what you're saying. However, I do tip according to local custom, and it does seem to me that in less-developed countries the percentage that is customary is usually less than the 15-20% that is customary in the US. Generally, the less a country has been exposed to American visitors relative to those from other developed countries but where tipping is either not at all customary (e.g., Australia) or not the big deal it is in the US (e.g,, some parts of Europe), the lower the percentage that is expected. For example, if a place gets mostly Aussie visitors, the crew probably doesn't expect a tip. The US is the extreme. In nowhere but the US is a 20% tip expected.

Anyway, all that is sort of a theoretical discussion, because the specific question is about Egypt and the Red Sea. The Red Sea goes by the tipping standards of the Europeans who have long made up the majority of liveaboard customers, and if the Europeans have been tipping around 10% then I'm good with doing the same.
 
I think there is a middle ground. I tipped about 15 percent of the cost of my Egypt liveaboard trip. That was about double the tip amount suggested by the liveaboard itself. But the 15 percent was applied to a baseline that is one-third the cost of liveaboards pretty much anywhere else. By US standards, it’s still a very modest tip. And while I think it’s reasonable to take into account the lower wages of the country where you are diving (and not overtip to the point of charity), it’s also reasonable to take into account the much higher wages one makes in America (and not under tip to the point of being miserly).

This may be an "agree to disagree" situation. Your logic about a middle ground sounds, well, very logical and reasonable. However, I am going to stick with my opinion that if the tip is greater than what one would have tipped had they not felt sorry that the crew doesn't get paid more by their employer, the additional amount is "charity."
 
This may be an "agree to disagree" situation. Your logic about a middle ground sounds, well, very logical and reasonable. However, I am going to stick with my opinion that if the tip is greater than what one would have tipped had they not felt sorry that the crew doesn't get paid more by their employer, the additional amount is "charity."

Fair enough. Tipping is a personal decision!
 
I think we will never get the tipping issue "harmonized" since there are different attitudes towards it. While in the US the tip is considered part of the wage in other countries it is just an addition to the wage (for excellent service that is above what can be expected).

So personally I think if someone does his job he does not "deserve" a tip. If he goes the extra mile the tip is to appreciate exactly that.
When travelling I usually try to be informed about the local customs (e.g. in the US I do tip accordingly even if I do not agree with that attitude. But I do not want to punish an employee for the faults of the industry)
 
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