I have read past posts on this, but the answers have been a bit all over the place and the posts are pretty dated. I thought I would ask again.
We leave for Rome on Thursday and leave Rome on cruise ship on Sunday. We've hired Monetti Taxi for a full day tour of the Amalfi Coast from our cruise port in Naples, Italy for 2 people at the cost of 450 Euros. Should we expect to tip as well? If so, how much would people suggest?
Thank you in advance!
Angie
So, without ever having booked a taxi for a day tour and assuming the driver is also a properly trained guide is not 450€ enough compensation to the firm to support proper employee wages/benefits? Limited searching on the Internet reveals tipping suggestions of 5-10€ per person for a day tour, but is that for group tours not private tours? What's the actual practice in this situation by Europeans?
It is very simple.
My tip: €450 is already a lot of money to pay for 2 people. We paid the same for six people. But out of fairness, these private transfers usually charge the same for the day whether they drive one or eight (Same driver, same hours and same amount of fuel). That is why i recommend getting a group together to save money (e.g. go to cruisecritic.com and find the "roll call" for your ship/date), unless you prefer the exclusivity.
(BTW, our group ended up tipping the driver about 50 euros. When everybody else in your group wants to kick in a tip, you can't refuse. See first scene in "Reservoir Dogs".)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This is what I had guessed from my research thus far, too.
We do know it is a pricey day. But, it is half of what the same excursion cost through our cruise ship for less ground covered and in a bus and so we decided to make the splurge. The car is only a Mercedes 4 door Sedan, so for our comfort and because we don't know anyone else on our cruise-we'll keep the splurge for just the two of us this time around.
Thanks again!
In 2011, we were quoted 480 Euros for a private, 10-hour tour for 4 people from Florence (where we were staying) to Volterra, Monteriggioni, Siena, and San Gimingnano. We gave the driver a 20 Euro tip to round it to 500. As @funpig mentioned: "Some people who travel a lot to Italy will get upset if you tip or promote tipping because they feel it will change the non-tipping culture in Italy" (item 4). However, it made me feel better to tip (@funpig item 2), the driver happily accepted my tip (@funpig item 3), and I doubt that that small act had any effect on Italian culture.
It does, in fact, have an impact on Italian culture. You will find tour operators, waiters and bellmen asking for tips now when you would never find that before. Italians know that America is a tipping culture so they will now expect a tip from them where they won't expect a tip from an Italian.
You never need to pay beyond what the price is for anything. A tip is never needed, even if it makes you feel good.
If we all ignore the cultures we go to visit what is the point of travel? Would it be okay for an Italian to come to America and not tip because that was what he's used to? The answer would be NO, you tip in a tipping culture and don't tip in a non-tipping culture.
Donna
I do my best to "adapt my practices" to the culture I'm visiting, but I still feel the need to tip any guide or waiter who provides excellent service - can't help it! Admittedly the tips are much smaller than what we would leave in the States, usually rounding up to the next Euro or perhaps a bit more. I've never gotten the sense that anyone involved was insulted by our leaving them a tip.
The only time we didn't tip after good service in Italy, it was because we only had a 100 Euro bill between us. The guide was American and was quite gracious about it. He just asked us to leave him a good review on TripAdvisor - which I did.
"I still feel the need to tip ...... I can't help it."
Yes, you can help it. Just grit your teeth, be very, very brave and do not tip. First time is the hardest.
Some posts have been removed here. This is a reminder that you are welcome to share your opinions, and we welcome different ones so that the OP and other readers can make the best decision for themselves, but cutting others down for their opinions is not acceptable. Keep arguments off the boards at all times. State your opinion without negatively referring to that of others.
Thanks.
funpig pretty much nailed it on all 4 statements
In this case paying 450 Euro there is no way I would give any tip Unless something happens and the driver does something outside of the normal scope of duties that day.
if that happens tip what you think is appropriate for the extra service only, 20 Euro, 40 Euro, 50 Euro, etc...
We used Monetti taxi this summer from Sorrento to Paestum and back. It was $350 for four people, but I do think they are based in Sorrento so that might be the difference in price. No, we did not tip. During our three weeks we had two waiters point out the amount on the bill did not include tip. Yes, they wanted a tip. We did tip but it was rather offensive to asked for it. This was the times we were low on cash and used a credit card, hum maybe that has something to do with it. The other restaurants no, or just a few euro to even the cash bill. We did two boat trips from Sorrento. One was wonderful and the captain was awesome, didn't tip, we watched the other 8 people getting off before us, no one did. The other trip the captain was talking about money the whole time. He asked for tips at the end. We didn't tip, I did not enjoy that part of the trip at all. (Same company by the way.)
