Tipping on Northern European excursions

[adamreisinger]

I'm going on the Aug. 1 sailing from Copenhagen and I'm hoping that someone who has been on a past Northern European cruise can help answer this question: what do you do about tipping your tour guide on excursions? I ask because the cruise hits countries that all use different currencies (Danish Krone, Euro, Swedish Krona, Norwegian Krone), so it's not as simple as getting a bunch of USD converted to Euros before I leave for the trip. Do the tour guides accept any kind of electronic payment (cards, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, CashApp... I'm sure there's countless others I'm forgetting)? Any specific advice would be much appreciated here. Thanks in advance!

 

[RoseGold]

Everyone likes USD, which sounds like the obvious solution.

Edit to add: you can also get Euros in a bunch of denominations from your bank, which won't be hard for them to use either.

 

[o&smom]

I'm going on the Aug. 1 sailing from Copenhagen and I'm hoping that someone who has been on a past Northern European cruise can help answer this question: what do you do about tipping your tour guide on excursions? I ask because the cruise hits countries that all use different currencies (Danish Krone, Euro, Swedish Krona, Norwegian Krone), so it's not as simple as getting a bunch of USD converted to Euros before I leave for the trip. Do the tour guides accept any kind of electronic payment (cards, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, CashApp... I'm sure there's countless others I'm forgetting)? Any specific advice would be much appreciated here. Thanks in advance!

No electronic options, just cash.

 

[princesscinderella]

We are leaving for 10 night Iceland, Norway cruise this saturday and I just got a one or two hundred dollars in the local currency for each country depending on how many stops we have in that country from by bank before the trip as we won't have access to ATMs on excursions. I figure if we don't use it I'll just convert it back at the bank but I like having a bit of cash for each stop in case we need to get a snack or leave a tip and they don't take credit card. I have each currency in a bank envelope and I wrote the currency exchange of what each bill equals in US dollars so I know quickly how much I'm spending.

 

[Pens Fan]

When we took our Northern European cruise a few years ago, I got currency from each country ahead of time from my bank. We preferred tipping in the local currency instead of just assuming they'd be ok with USD or Euros and liked having some cash for various places that might not take credit cards (though most places did). On the last day of the cruise I went to guest services and paid down our onboard account with whatever foreign currency we had left over. I'm sure we got hosed on the exchange rate, but our hometown bank had pretty awful rates as well and this just seemed simpler. There wasn't that much left and it was an easy way to get rid of it.

 

[princesscinderella]

When we took our Northern European cruise a few years ago, I got currency from each country ahead of time from my bank. We preferred tipping in the local currency instead of just assuming they'd be ok with USD or Euros and liked having some cash for various places that might not take credit cards (though most places did). On the last day of the cruise I went to guest services and paid down our onboard account with whatever foreign currency we had left over. I'm sure we got hosed on the exchange rate, but our hometown bank had pretty awful rates as well and this just seemed simpler. There wasn't that much left and it was an easy way to get rid of it.

What a great idea about spending down the extra foreign money on the ship account it didn’t even occur to me. Thanks

 

[Kerry1957]

You're not in tip crazy America! Scandinavian workers are paid a living wage and pretty much only Americans tip more than 5%. Give the guide a few euros and they will be fine.

In restaurants, if there is not a service charge already on the bill, then just give a small amount of cash to your server if the service was great. Tips you pay for with a credit card generally go to the owner not the server.

Much of Scandinavia is approaching cashless, so you will not need much cash.

 

[cmph]

We just went on a Baltic (NCL). I researched this issue as well, and I figured that people would expect tips from a bunch of American tourists. I would not recommend getting Scandinavian countries' currency. They really are cashless, to the point that you can't even use it in the majority of Scandinavian places. Like, "no cash" was on signs in many places in Stockholm. They had zero expectation of tips, either.

We decided to just hit an ATM if the need arose, but it did not. Not sure what countries you are going to, but here was our experience:

• Sweden - didn't get cash, zero need for it. Stockholm was our embarkation point, and we did a couple nights pre-stay. We also had a port stop in Visby.
• Finland - didn't get cash, zero need for it. I noticed a couple people tip our tour guide in one port, but it was sort of awkwardly done b/c she didn't wasn't expecting it. We went to Kotka/Hamina and Helsinki.
• Estonia - didn't get cash, zero need for it. We did OYO in Tallinn, and this was one of the more "touristy" spots I'd say we went to. They had buskers in the old town, and even they had QR codes for tips.
• Latvia - didn't intend to get cash, zero need for it. We were overcharged 10 euros for a canal boat tour in Riga that I paid for with Apple Pay, but he didn't have a way to refund me electronically, so he gave me cash. This was the first place we saw cash used at all, actually, b/c some other people on the boat paid in cash. No formal long tour here, but the canal boat folks most definitely were not expecting tips. He was off in the back as we got off, so we had to wave at him from afar to say thanks.
• Lithuania - we had a long tour that included a meal, so we had no reason to pay for anything this day. We had a very engaging tour guide, so we gave him that 10 euro from the day before. Maybe half the people tipped? (It was a 6+ hour tour, offered in a few different languages, and practically everyone with our guide was American.)
• Poland - we had a tour in Gdansk with some OYO time, and we used Apple Pay in the stores and restaurants we went to during OYO time. I did see some British ladies use euros in a store, b/c they argued with the store workers about being overcharged. (Keep in mind euros are not Polish currency, so it was nice the store even took that.) This was the very first stop that a tour guide mentioned tips and stuck around to get them. I had no problem with that, as she was very knowledgeable (PhD specializing in dying traditions), and the Polish tours were all really cheap b/c everything is much cheaper there than elsewhere in the region. No joke, our tour there was almost 1/2 the cost of the port-to-city shuttles in Germany that had no guide! I'm guessing that means she makes a lot less than guides in neighboring countries. We tipped in American dollars, as I'd been advised elsewhere in advance that euros or dollars would be fine there.
• Germany - two stops here, used Apply Pay only, but they use more cash here than other countries we visited. We didn't have a tour one of the days, and on the other day, hardly anyone tipped. She wasn't as awkward as the one Finnish guide about getting tips, but definitely not expecting it like the Polish guide.

Hope that helps somewhat. It stressed me out in advance, definitely more than DH who partly grew up in Europe and said I was overthinking it.

Oh, and I saw no one use any electronic means to tip tour guides. None of our tours had a bucket at the front of the bus, signage, or any other obvious visual hint at tips.

 

[gilsan]

Our Northern European cruise had similar stops including Norway. We only got Euros and pounds at the bank, but I wish we had gotten some Norwegian Krone. They had outdoor markets, and they were not eager to take Euros and the electronic payment system was a bit glitchy.