Originally Posted by
KatW
Another newbie gratuities question-- we will be cruising on Azamara which includes gratuities in their pricing. However, do I assume correctly that additional tips may be prudent for, say housekeeping, butler and waitstaff? I know drinks carry an added 15% for gratuity and, of course spa treatment and other added services will entail adding on a tip.
Our cruise is 15 nights starting and ending in Amsterdam and cruising Norwegian fjords. What monetary unit should we plan to use for cash tips?
If gratuities are included, then there isn't a requirement to tip extra. However, my first experience on Holland America, when their policy was "no tipping required", most people still tipped. It was our first cruise, for our honeymoon, and we had no idea about tipping, and the cruise line was no help in suggesting how much, so we probably way undertipped, while at the same time, thinking that anything we gave was a bonus lol.
Fortunately there are now sites like cruise critic which have info easily obtainable about these things, and I strongly suggest looking over there about this. I would suggest that US Dollars would be the preferred currency.