Are gratuities for the cruise tour director and coach driver included on river cruises?
We have enjoyed three land tours and have tipped our tour director and coach driver at the conclusion of each tour. Gratuities are not referenced in the green book we received for our upcoming river cruise. Are the gratuities included in the price of the river cruise?
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Yes. All included. You can find this stated on the inclusions list in the overview of the river cruise tours on the website.
Thank you.
Since there are multiple TDs, drivers and also a cruise director Tauck includes it all in the price.
Thx, Claudia.
What's so great about the riverboats is that virtually everything is included. I did eight land tours before discovering the riverboats and now I've taken four cruises with reservations for another one this October and one in December 2020. On the land tours, we often tipped the local guides, too, but I've not tipped any of the guides or tour directors on the riverboats.
If my cabin attendant did a particularly good job, I would leave a little something for them when I left the boat, and I know some folks who really liked their servers in the cocktail lounge or dining room gave them a little extra, but it's not expected and would just be a nice surprise for them.
Hmmm, I'm not following your logic. I don't know anyone on any of our nearly a dozen tours who has tipped local guides. We have only tipped one Safari driver who did an especially fantastic job. That being said, I don't see how tipping local guides is any different than you tipping riverboat staff neither are mandatory nor required? As far as the TD and CD, don't fool yourself- you are tipping them, the money just runs through Tauck first!
Currently cruising from Cartagena to Mallorca aboard the Wind Surf. I just surreptitiously slipped our superb waiter an extra tip for his extraordinary service. The Wind Surf is open seating but after the first night we asked for the same waiter ... Charlie ... and they were happy to oblige. That being said, I’ve tipped no one else and it is not expected nor required. All the service here is great, and the food has been really good to superb. Our gleaming white ‘sailboat’ is in great condition with not a spot of rust anywhere. It is not.new ship to things break occasionally, but really in good shape for a ship that is thirty something.
We have also on occasion tipped a local guide as well, Travelcraxy. Thank you all for your helpful comments. We are looking forward to our first river cruise and have already booked another for 2020.
I have rarely seen people tip local guides on all my tours. I am still convinced that over the years there are people who do not tip the tour directors, Sometime I think because they are often not clear when will be the last time they will see the tour director. But also, maybe they had no intentions to tip. I say this because we have been asked in the past when to tip. We take an envelope and paper with us and have money already put aside for them. We write a personal thank you note. We give it to them at the Farewell dinner.
There have been a few people on the forum in the past who say that Tauck tours are advertised as all inclusive and that tips for everyone should be included. It’s certainly a lot of cash to be carrying around for the tip. Otherwise we don’t carry that much cash around with us. We usually pay by credit card everywhere.
Tauck does make it clear which tours include tips for drivers and Tour Directors and which tours do not, you just have to search all your paperwork to find it.
I wish someone had given me tips when I worked over and above in the job I was supposed to be doing anyway, but that’s another discussion.
We do the same, except for the past few trips, my OCD has kicked in - I collect some images from the internet of places (and animals) we will see on the tour on my computer, and print them on the envelope along with "Thanks from AlanS and Mrs. S." using a color laser printer. If I know the TD's name ahead of time I print that as well, but most of the time, we just write on a line that is also printed.
We are not so creative, Alan S. We usually use hotel stationary and write a personal note to accompany our gratuity. We have always had intelligent, well organized and fun tour directors. That’s one of the main reasons we continue to use Tauck.