Tipping on excursions

[ChanaC]

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but I don't travel much, and when I do I don't usually take tours. Does anyone have any guidance on how to tip tour guides, both on Royal Caribbean excursions and independent excursions? 

We're going on an Alaska cruise, roundtrip from Seattle. We're getting into Seattle two days before and already booked a walking food tour of Pike Place Market. I'm prepping to tip our guide about 20%, especially since it's a small group tour with one leader. But what about other tours and excursions? We're booked on the Endicott Arm and Fjord Glacier (aka the small boat glacier tour) and the White Pass Railroad with Royal. Would we tip on both of these? I imagine we'll be interacting a lot with the small boat crew, but on the train I think we just get on and off. On our own we booked a whale watch and Mendenhall Glacier tour with Juneau Whale Watch. Do we tip both the boat crew and bus drivers? I believe on another whale watch tour I did in the past there was a tip jar on the boat and it looked like all the employees (boat captain, crew, naturalists, etc.) all split the tips. I don't want to be rude or not appreciate these hard working employees. Also, I'm trying to get an estimate of how much cash, especially small bills, I should bring with me.

[ChessE4]

i can't comment on whale watching, but I will share our experiences.  About 15 years ago on an excursion to Tulum from Cozumel, we were told by Royal crew that our excursion price included ample for tips and to avoid being hustled for additional money on the trip.  On later cruises (Europe), we found that tour guides expected 1-2 euros per person for a few hours of work plus something extra for the driver.  COVID has changed things, and many in the tour industry were marginalized.  Also, I believe it depends upon the type of excursion.  A guide taking us through caves safely deserved at least $5-$10 US per person while the driver of the bus to the site got $1 per person.  We are not big tippers, but always give something, and we give more as we age (can't take it with us...).  The level of service is clearly a factor, but the type of excursion and effort of the guide are also important.  Again, I don't know protocol for higher cost areas like Alaska and Hawaii, but I imagine $$ tipped would be greater than in Mexico or Morocco.  I am sure others will post their thoughts.

PS.  I am talking about group excursions, private tours are a completely different situation.

[HeWhoWaits]

We usually plan $5 per person as the baseline. We'll tip more for a particularly good experience.

[CruiseMom82]

I could maybe do $5. The Alaska excursions are expensive already, not they they are not "worth it," but I think it's up to you if you want to tip extra.