Tipping on river cruises

[hamilton23]

the packet of information we received for upcoming Danube cruise says that the trip is inclusive of all tips , however I have seen other threads about tipping on ABD. For those that ve done the river cruises, did you tip? If so, to whom and how much?

 

[sayhello]

All tips are included specifically for the river cruises. For "regular" ABDs, all tips are included except for the Adventure Guides. For the river cruises, you have up to 8 Adventure Guides, in various combinations and I think they thought it would just be easier to include them. You do tip the Adventure Guides for "regular" ABDs. I heard they don't include the tips with the cruise add-ons anymore.

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

This was really confusing to me as well but if you look on the ABD website for a regular land-based adventure they give you specific suggested amounts for tipping the adventure guides. On the Danube cruise it specifically points out that all tips are included. Because of that we did not tip.

 

[amberwc]

I actually learned why last night, because AmaWaterways builds all their tips into the price, ABD felt they should follow suit to make it less confusing for the guests. Still if someone goes above and beyond, you are free to tip a little.

 

[OhanaCuz]

I actually learned why last night, because AmaWaterways builds all their tips into the price, ABD felt they should follow suit to make it less confusing for the guests. Still if someone goes above and beyond, you are free to tip a little.

If you take an Amawaterways cruise without Disney the tips are not included in the price. I just did one. On the last day they left envelopes in the cabins for gratuities for the crew manager and the staff.

From the Amawaterways website:

Gratuities to your Cruise Manager and ship crew are not included in the vacation price. While the amount of these gratuities will depend upon your degree of satisfaction for services received, many of our clients have asked us for general tipping guidelines. Here are our recommendations:

Europe: For great service, we recommend 3 Euros per passenger, per day for the Cruise Manager and 12 Euros per passenger, per day for the crew, which will be divided up among the ship's personnel. It is also customary to acknowledge a particularly good performance of a local guide by leaving a tip of 1-2 Euros per tour and Bus Drivers 1 Euro. Gratuities on most vessels, but not all, may be charged on credit card as well as cash.

 

[laceltris3]

As I recall, the main issue is people having to figure out how to tip 7 or 8 guides, some of whom they may not interact with. It’s just a logistical and practical concern.

In any case, it’s part of the reason I am doing my first ABD. I much prefer the Tauck Bridges system of not having to deal with such things on the trip and knowing the guide is fairly compensated.

 

[Woodview]

If you take an Amawaterways cruise without Disney the tips are not included in the price. I just did one. On the last day they left envelopes in the cabins for gratuities for the crew manager and the staff.

From the Amawaterways website:

If you take an Amawaterways cruise without Disney the tips are not included in the price. I just did one. On the last day they left envelopes in the cabins for gratuities for the crew manager and the staff.

From the Amawaterways website:

Note € 1 ===== $ 1.20

 

[Woodview]

If you take an Amawaterways cruise without Disney the tips are not included in the price. I just did one. On the last day they left envelopes in the cabins for gratuities for the crew manager and the staff.

From the Amawaterways website:

One Euro is equal to about One Dollar & 17 cents ( + or -- )

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

In any case, it’s part of the reason I am doing my first ABD. I much prefer the Tauck Bridges system of not having to deal with such things on the trip and knowing the guide is fairly compensated.

100% agree. One of the things I don't like about ABD and wish they would change.

 

[mathgeek]

I heard they don't include the tips with the cruise add-ons anymore.

Nope. I was given gratuity envelopes for the ABD guides as well as for the DCL stateroom host & servers. However, it was emphasized that the gratuities for the local guides were taken care of through ABD.