Do you tip when travelling abroad? And if so, who do you pay, how much and how often? Catherine Masters tries to get to the bottom of it.
Tipping can be a bewildering world for Kiwis where the culture is not entrenched the way it is in some other countries. Tipping was heavily discussed on a recent river cruise in France, and even the experts - the Americans - seemed to have different ideas.
At dinner one night, I noticed my new mate Billy, a hairdresser from New Jersey, slipping the table staff US$5 notes, but his travel companions didn't, nor did the lovely English lady at our table, a retired flight attendant. She was going to leave her tipping to the end, as were some of the other Americans. Cruises often advise you to do this, then you are pretty much expected to part with a recommended percentage. Sometimes this is included in your fare, to take away the whole tipping dilemma. Except, it doesn't totally.
That end-of-cruise money goes into a tipping pool and is divided between the staff - and fair enough, but what do you do if you get exceptional service from a few people? Billy's discreet with his tipping and he comes prepared - he bought US$200 of $5 notes. He folds the note in the palm of his hand and slips it to the staff's hand; there's no fanfare but an exchange of eye contact acknowledges the relationship.
Billy gives his favourites US$5 every day, and reckons that if you do the service is even better; nothing is too much trouble. Still, this can add up. There's the wait staff, and you might sit at different tables so work up relationships with a range of different wait staff, and then there's the bar staff and the reception staff and the cruise directors and the maintenance guys and the person you hardly ever see who cleans your room, who picks up and folds your clothes and shines your shower. Then there are the tour guides and the bus drivers - do you tip them too? The answer is yes, but there are those who say you only tip the tour guide, in the expectation they will share it with the bus driver.
