I was watching a vlog about Viking river cruises and the narrator said that, even though almost everything is included in the price, tipping is not. Which surprised me. He laid out some general daily guidelines and it seems to come to about 20 euros a day.
Does that sound right? If so, doesn't that mean I have to break my own you-don't-need-cash-in-Europe advice and load up on euros? Or do they somehow let you put it on a credit card?
I just wish they would bake the tips into the fare.
In Viking's Q and A section it says gratuities are included but you can include more at your discretion,
Another reason we like TAUCK better than Viking, AMA, Avalon, etc - it is truly ALL INCLUSIVE including excursions, tips, unlimited 24/7 top shelf alcohol.
Yes, you do have to tip on most other river cruise lines (except on Tauck and Uniworld - which are truly all inclusive). We've cruised with Viking, Avalon, AMA and everyone's tip was added to their acct the last night - you had the option to tip more if you wanted - it definitely wasn't included in the initial payment. Viking is NOT an all inclusive tour. Once you go with Tauck or Uniworld, you will never go with anyone else. We've taken 12 River Cruises on many different companies over the past 15 years - we have 3 more booked with Tauck for 2023 and 2024. That said, Viking employees work hard and certainly deserve every tip they get.
If they baked it into the fare, us Americans would tip on top of that anyway. It's baked into us.
We took a Viking cruise. Tipping was pretty close to mandatory. I believe it was $200 which is then split among the service workers. I think, if I am recalling correctly, it was automatically charged to the accounts. There even was a spiel the night before the end of the trip that in effect, we were allowed to tip more for employees that might have been especially helpful. I also recall that passengers were allowed to opt out of the automatic tipping, but it seemed like it just wasn't done.
It did grate on me some. Everything is included, but not really. Other than that, we really did enjoy the cruise and may some day take another.
On our Viking River Cruise, the tip was added to your account and you paid your final bill by credit card. So NO you don't need Euros at the end to pay this.
Having said that: You should have some Euros on you from the beginning of your cruise. I am surprised on how many Viking passengers didn't get any Euros beforehand and tried to pay for items while on shore excursions in US dollars. These passengers were upset that European merchants wouldn't accept US dollars!!!!! "Why not?" said one. "They take them on our Caribbean cruise!"
It was an good example of being an ugly American.
We did a Viking River Christmas Market cruise in December 2022. You register a credit card when you embark. Near the end of the cruise, a tip is added to your bill. You can view the charge on the television in your stateroom. Ours was $133 per person ($16.67/day USD).
The amount can be adjusted or deleted by speaking with a person at the guest services desk. I have seen people at the desk asking to remove the tip and they did it. I guess there could be a variety of reasons - the person doesn’t tip, they want to tip individuals in person. I don’t know. I understand that tips are included in the fare for travelers booking from the UK and Australia (and maybe others).
We think the amount assessed is fair. In addition, we leave a bit more cash (local currency) in an envelope for our cabin steward(s) and sometimes one or two servers who treated us exceptionally well. We’ve done two Viking river cruises, three ocean, and one expedition. We like Viking and think the service is great. Hope you enjoy your trip!
PS - You might take a few euros to tip the local guides on excursions.
How can it be a tip if it's compulsory or included in the price? Surely that just makes it another charge. Tips are meant to be a recognition of good or exemplary service so paying tips for every staff member, even upfront, is not a tip/gratuity, it's a charge.
Just pay the staff more.
JC, it does seem rather comical. If the tips are more or less baked in, then just include the price in the regular fare. This tipping stuff is getting ridiculous. It's annoying to check on prices but with the add-ons it's a completely different ballgame. Just be up front from the get-go.
derek, man, that's embarrassing.
Just returned from a Viking river cruise in Europe. For those concerned about such things there was an optional tipping charge that you could add to your bill which was explained as covering the entire crew for the week. It was optional - you could elect not to participate and go ala carte if you so chose ... or forego tipping altogether I suppose.
There was a "suggested" amount per person offered but you weren't obligated to participate, nor did I perceive any pressure to do so.
Given the quality of the service offered aboard we were happy to go with the suggested amount and be done with it, but to each their own I suppose.
I took a Viking Cruise several years ago. They sent a booklet before the trip going over several things. One was tipping. It clearly said the 'expectation' was at the end of the journey the tip should be per day/$X (I don't remember the specific amount, but it was in dollars.) However, at the end of the journey, at our meeting the night before departing to review the departure process, they stated the tip should be 'X' euros. At the time the difference between euros and dollars was quite significant. I believe you were provided an envelope in which to leave your tip at the front desk. I left my tip in $$ equivalent, not euros because that was what I had initially been told. I enjoyed my river cruise and would do it again. However this switch from dollar to euro (to their advantage) was just one reason why I would not take Viking again.
We have taken 2 river and 2 ocean Viking cruises and we are going on our third ocean cruise this July with Viking; the service is wonderful. The tipping is "Suggested" but by no means required. They add the tip to the charges at the end of the cruise on the last day of your account page (can be paid with credit card) but you have the option of changing the amount to more, the same or to delete it completely. It is simply the same as when you go to a restaurant and they have "Suggested" amounts to pay the server added in the gratuities section of 18%, 20%, 25%, etc.
You do what you deem appropriate to the service you received.
We have taken two Viking river cruises. That was enough. Then we took an AMAWaterways river cruise which was so far superior in every category that we won’t ever take another cruise with Viking. They tried to keep us from leaving the ship on our own to walk around the river towns as if we were children. No toiletries were provided so we had to shop on shore without being able to read German, etc.
We took 2 Viking cruises last year and toiletries were in the bathroom and had no issues coming and going off the boat by ourselves. You have the option to pay by credit card ahead of time (I think up to week before the cruise) if you want to pay in $. If you want to pay in Euros then do on the boat. I look to see what the conversion rate is to see what is better. On our second cruise last summer the Euro was so much lower that it was better to pay in Euros on the boat but in the spring the rate was almost equal so we payed in $ ahead of time. We gave more of a tip to those people that really helped us on the boat. I think by having it this way you get options to tip or not to tip , $ versus Euros ect. Versus just having it in the price of the trip. We love Viking.
We had soap, shampoo, conditioner and lotion in our bathroom in quite generous sizes. I wished they had a magnifying mirror, but that's just me. Maybe Suki's cruise was during COVID? I had looked into a Viking Cruise during COVID and for certain countries they were not letting people explore on their own given the COVID risk perceived. Also, I know you can not explore Russia independently unless you obtain a visa or some similar type of document.
I should add that I think the tip was $200/couple which is small in comparison to the total cost of the cruise. I do recall we tipped an extraordinary local guide in Strasbourg. I would rather tip the local guides for great service than be essentially mandated to pay a group tip. Viking, just pay the employees a bit more! We would have tipped a few people that were particularly helpful on the ship if we hadn't been a little annoyed with the whole thing and the extended conversation by the cruise director, how we were absolutely allowed to tip certain folks extra with lots of comments in terms of who those folks might be.
“They tried to keep us from leaving the ship on our own to walk around the river towns as if we were children. No toiletries were provided”
Suki, when was your cruise? We’ve never experienced anything like that with Viking. If we don’t have a specific excursion booked, we jump off as soon as the ship docks. You do need to check in and out with your room card but it’s no problem as long as you return by ‘back on board’ time. There’s always a full line of Freyja toiletries which are replenished daily. I’m sorry you had this experience.
I’ve never cruised with AMA. What did you find to be “far superior” to Viking?
I’ve been on 3 Viking trips, two river and one ocean, and have always had toiletries. And the only trip we have been on when we couldn’t just get off the ship on our own was in the fall of 2021 during Covid and it was due to Covid. It was a wonderful ocean trip to Malta/Greece/Croatia. If the country was classified as a category 4 by the state dept., as was Malta and Greece, we could not go off on our own. If it was a category 3, like Croatia, we could and did. I was grateful to Viking for keeping us safe.
"Tip" is a misused word in cruising. Better to think of it as a surcharge. Just how much choice the customer enjoys will vary from line to line. On CroisiEurope, a large French-operated river line, the amount to pay per day was suggested, to be delivered at the end of the trip in an envelope. I suppose the secrecy would allow some choice. My bet is that few customers would give back an empty envelope. With all food and drink being included in the fare, tipping a server at the table or bar was rare. (All passengers except me were European and I've spent enough time travelling to not automatically follow North American ways.)
