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Question about tipping the crew in a foreign country?


12thman

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3 hours ago, Allen2 said:

Also happily accepted anywhere in the world.

Onboard yes 

Onshore No

The $$$ is not as popular in Europe as you may believe it is! In fact places will actually reject it same as they do with GBP and any other currency that is not The Euro or the actual currency of the country you are in.

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Since you are starting in Southampton, you will likely have pounds and they can spend them or convert them in the UK., If you are boarding a transatlantic back to the US the crew may not likely be back in the UK for a while, they might prefer greenbacks. I am heading to Southampton from NY but in order to buy pounds or Euros prior to boarding there is a conversion hit in the US for hard currency that can be steep, usually less once you are there but too late for me. The stops on the way are all Euros and you have to consider the nationality of the person you are tipping and how they save or send home. Me converting dollars to Euros or Pounds then the recipient converting to their money (lets say the waiters are from India) causes two conversion hits, I'll tip in dollars with the exchange rate in mind and just have them convert it once. From the RCL ships I've been on few staff are from countries using GBP or the Euro (only 20 of the 27 EU countries use the Euro) and some like Ukraine (met many casino staff from there) have seen their currency fall significantly against the dollar making the dollar worth 25% more than it was last year, but I tend to tip in chips. Now if they want to spend it in port just figure where that ship will be in the coming months. We cruise to places in Mexico frequently and never bring pesos however on land based all inclusives we do bring pesos mostly because the new bills are waterproof, easier carried in swimsuits and all the staff live in Mexico. But living in San Diego on the border we have access to places on the border with just a 1 or 2% conversion hit, other currencies can be 10%. Airports can be extremely costly for conversion costs, my guess is the crw know where the cheapest conversion locations are just like I know those on the SD/Mex border.

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23 hours ago, Ray said:

Onboard yes 

Onshore No

The $$$ is not as popular in Europe as you may believe it is! In fact places will actually reject it same as they do with GBP and any other currency that is not The Euro or the actual currency of the country you are in.

Dollars are more valuable and stable right now.  If I was working on a cruise ship, I would rather have Dollars as the Euro and Pound are losing strength.  Especially if I was sending money back home to my family as so many do.

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1 hour ago, DoomSlayer said:

Dollars are more valuable and stable right now.  If I was working on a cruise ship, I would rather have Dollars as the Euro and Pound are losing strength.  Especially if I was sending money back home to my family as so many do.

I agree! Thats why i said 

Onboard yes to dollars

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