Gifts for Crew Members

[pascalspal]

If those are the Youth Activities CMs, I'd suggest more than a "little" gift bag. Any such tips/gratuities must be shared by the other YA CMs. A little bag of candies/snacks won't go very far.

In my case they are not youth activities CMs, but that is a good point that tips will be shared for those positions. In our experience when we have tipped youth activity counselors with cash they declined almost every time. There is the rare occasion that they called a supervisor over and I was informed that the tip would either be split between all workers or go into a “party” fund to celebrate the CMs work at a later date. With so many CMs working in youth activities it’s almost impossible to tip an appropriate amount to be split between everyone on staff, so we have avoided that in the past. Same goes for gift cards.. we tried that as well but have been told that they would be given out as prizes at said parties.

One of our friends on board this time is an engineer, which is a non tipped position. The candies and snacks are the best ideas that have been presented on here for those who cannot receive monetary gifts, so he will be getting that!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

In my case they are not youth activities CMs, but that is a good point that tips will be shared for those positions. In our experience when we have tipped youth activity counselors with cash they declined almost every time. There is the rare occasion that they called a supervisor over and I was informed that the tip would either be split between all workers or go into a “party” fund to celebrate the CMs work at a later date. With so many CMs working in youth activities it’s almost impossible to tip an appropriate amount to be split between everyone on staff, so we have avoided that in the past. Same goes for gift cards.. we tried that as well but have been told that they would be given out as prizes at said parties.

One of our friends on board this time is an engineer, which is a non tipped position. The candies and snacks are the best ideas that have been presented on here for those who cannot receive monetary gifts, so he will be getting that!

It seems to me that if anyone (Youth Activities or engineer) is in a NON-TIPPABLE position, any tips/gratuities/gifts they get would have to be shared. Are you sure your friend will be able to accept such a gift?

 

[pascalspal]

It seems to me that if anyone (Youth Activities or engineer) is in a NON-TIPPABLE position, any tips/gratuities/gifts they get would have to be shared. Are you sure your friend will be able to accept such a gift?

In my experiences in the past (on a recent cruise as well), non-tipped positions can receive gifts but not monetary items like cash or gift cards. A bag of candy is acceptable if it meets the standards to bring on the ship (pre packaged, not containing banned items, etc.) I’m trying to think of some good ideas outside of edible items to go along with it... maybe hand sanitizer/lotions/etc. ? I’m trying to get away from just candy, but I’m having a hard time coming up with new ideas.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Years ago I bought a bunch of cheap thimbles. I had hubby drill a hole through them, strung a green ribbon through, added a little “thank you” charm, and gave those as little tokens to CMs in parks. A thimble is a kiss. Remember in Peter Pan? I know it’s kinda cheesy but it’s an idea and I never remember anything other than beaming smiles in response.

 

[pascalspal]

Years ago I bought a bunch of cheap thimbles. I had hubby drill a hole through them, strung a green ribbon through, added a little “thank you” charm, and gave those as little tokens to CMs in parks. A thimble is a kiss. Remember in Peter Pan? I know it’s kinda cheesy but it’s an idea and I never remember anything other than beaming smiles in response.

That’s an awesome idea!! So creative! I may have to include something like that for our next trip! All of the walls in crew cabins are magnetic, so even adding a magnetic clip in there so they could hang it up would be great. Thanks for the idea!!

 

[DCL_Wonder]

Enough is relative for each person. They go above and beyond for our family, so we like to do the same!

You should give them some more money then. Everyone likes money. I know I do.

 

[pascalspal]

You should give them some more money then. Everyone likes money. I know I do.

In a previous post I said we always tip 3-4x the recommendation per CM who can be tipped! We are simply looking for ideas for extra goodies to package up and give to them as an added thank you, especially the ones who cannot receive cash/gift cards as a gift!

 

[Geomom]

Maybe something like a 'cold care' kit would be welcome--travel size tissues, cough drops/mints, tea bags?

 

[pascalspal]

What a good idea! We are sailing during winter so I’m sure that would come in handy at some point!!

 

[Girl of the South]

I asked a friend of mine who used to crew on a European ship and she, too, said cash. BUT on my recent East Bound TransAtlantic cruise the ship made a stop in Halifax, Canada and I needed some cough drops, cough syrup. I was directed to this giant store - mostly food, pharmacy but also stuff you'd find at a CVS. Anyway, I like walking around 'foreign' grocery stores. There were HEAPS of maple products. Maple salad dressing, maple popcorn, maple salt water taffy . . . . There was also a nice long aisle of 'international' foods that was very picked over due to the 3 colleges in the city that attract many foreign students.

BUT there was the biggest 'buzz' (by ship crew) in the 'junk food aisle'. Pringles and Doritos of every flavor were flying off the shelf. I happened to run into a store manager and asked him about it and he said yes, Doritos were a favorite of nearly everyone who worked on the ships and found his store. Think about it. In the little shop on the Magic there wasn't really anything like chips or pretzels. Wasn't an option in the buffet - I guess there are some potato chips on the Room Service menu?

Anyway, I bought my room steward (I asked him if there was anything he needed or wanted and he said no) some Doritos and Pringles and was really surprised at the smile on his face! Ship food gets old after a while. I really missed spicy things. Crunchy things. And Doritos have a lot of kicky flavors.

I also heard another crew member talking about some favorite potato chips from Canada called "Dressed" (which I think meant with a lot of flavors). So try a bag of Doritos!

 

[pascalspal]

That’s good to know! I’ll go for Doritos/Pringles/chip type snacks! Thanks so much!

 

[All about me]

I have spoken to a couple of people who have worked on cruise ships (not Disney, but P&O Princess pre-merger and Carnival post-merger) and the one thing they both suggested for a cabin steward, aside from tips, is a gift bag of necessities as these are not sold to them cheaply onboard (unlike booze) so they either have to pay ridiculous prices for them or waste part of their few precious hours in port purchasing them.

I also heard another crew member talking about some favorite potato chips from Canada called "Dressed" (which I think meant with a lot of flavors).

All-Dressed Ruffles. They are a combination of barbeque, ketchup, salt and vinegar, and sour cream and onion. Best chip ever! Now I want some.

https://www.ruffles.ca/products/ruffles®-all-dressed

 

[DCL_Wonder]

In a previous post I said we always tip 3-4x the recommendation per CM who can be tipped! We are simply looking for ideas for extra goodies to package up and give to them as an added thank you, especially the ones who cannot receive cash/gift cards as a gift!

How about condoms?

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

How about condoms?

That's probably a wee bit too personal of an item to give them.

 

[pascalspal]

I have spoken to a couple of people who have worked on cruise ships (not Disney, but P&O Princess pre-merger and Carnival post-merger) and the one thing they both suggested for a cabin steward, aside from tips, is a gift bag of necessities as these are not sold to them cheaply onboard (unlike booze) so they either have to pay ridiculous prices for them or waste part of their few precious hours in port purchasing them.


All-Dressed Ruffles. They are a combination of barbeque, ketchup, salt and vinegar, and sour cream and onion. Best chip ever! Now I want some.

https://www.ruffles.ca/products/ruffles®-all-dressed

Both good ideas, I could do a little care kit with the snacks!! Those chips sound really good, I might have to buy some for myself

 

[pascalspal]

How about condoms?

While that’s probably useful.. it’s just not my gifting style! If it’s your more power to ya! Hahaha

 

[gotomu212]

How about condoms?

I’m not sure if it’s still the case, but in the past free condoms were one of the things DCL provided to crew. There was a big bowl outside their health unit area. I guess there are a lot of Prince and Princesses that find each other.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I am sailing on the Magic again in January, and I know a few of the friends I made on the last cruise are still going to be working when I sail. I was thinking about getting them a few small gifts, fun things or maybe things they need, but I’m having a hard time coming up with ideas.

Does anyone have any good ideas for small things I could bring them? Does anyone have any experience working on a ship and want to share things they wanted or needed while working?

I was thinking some candies that wouldn’t melt in transit, lotion, etc.?

I just loved some of the CMs on our first cruise. When we sailed again the next year on the same ship, I hoped we would see them again. One was British and the other from Indonesia. Before we sailed, I went to an Intl market near me and bought some British and Indonesian snacks. I put them in fun, festive gift bags and searched out these employees once on board. I found them and was delighted to gift them some treats. Even if they couldn’t or didn’t want to eat them, I hope they at least felt special and appreciated that I tried to gift them something familar from home.

So! All of that to say, if your friends on board are from another country, maybe trying to gift them something familiar would be a fun idea.

Finally, I like to gift magazines! I read here they are appreciated. I have given them as well to the CMs in the kids clubs and to our room hostess.

 

[pascalspal]

I just loved some of the CMs on our first cruise. When we sailed again the next year on the same ship, I hoped we would see them again. One was British and the other from Indonesia. Before we sailed, I went to an Intl market near me and bought some British and Indonesian snacks. I put them in fun, festive gift bags and searched out these employees once on board. I found them and was delighted to gift them some treats. Even if they couldn’t or didn’t want to eat them, I hope they at least felt special and appreciated that I tried to gift them something familar from home.

So! All of that to say, if your friends on board are from another country, maybe trying to gift them something familiar would be a fun idea.

Finally, I like to gift magazines! I read here they are appreciated. I have given them as well to the CMs in the kids clubs and to our room hostess.

That’s a great idea to help them feel at home! I’ll have to look for some markets near me!

 

[Snowwhyt]

I’m not sure if it’s still the case, but in the past free condoms were one of the things DCL provided to crew. There was a big bowl outside their health unit area. I guess there are a lot of Prince and Princesses that find each other.

My husband somehow was near a cm when she was told she would have to leave her post at CC because she was pregnant. I can’t believe it was management that would have announced that outside the confines of an office. But perhaps a friend that was asked “where she was” by management. My husband said she sobbed heavily. She said “I don’t want to be sent home”.