A gratuitous thread on tipping...

Those who charter crewed yachts are manifestly made aware by the charter brokers/agents that they're expected to "reward the crew for good service" by paying the equivalent of anywhere between 10 and 20% of the charter fee as a "tip".

So, I was kind of wondering, just how are these tips actually paid and distributed...?!

I mean, if I could have afforded a week's charter (M.Y.B.A. terms) on an American-owned 42m motor yacht in Greece / Croatia this summer costing $185,000 plus an advance provisioning fee of $55,500 (total $240,000), and I'd been very happy and was looking forward to rewarding those who'd made my charter "unforgettable" with say a $36,000 (15%) tip, it would probably be all in cash and distributed personally as follows:

1) Captain - 10%
2) Chief Engineer - 7.5%
3) Chief Stewardess - 7.5%
4) the steward "who was always there" and satisfied my merest whim - 15%
5) the 2nd engineer, electrical / electronics guy "who got my PC to work with the internet, sorted out my son's 110V games machine, and unblocked the wc after my wife inadvertently threw whatever ladies usually throw down the toilet" - 15%
6) the deckhand "who didn't mind picking up my decrepit younger brother at 4am after his nights out, whilst always being there for us when we wanted to have a little tour in the tender..." - 15%
7) the chandlers "who managed to supply the floating trampoline for the kids 3 days into the charter, even though we'd specifically asked for one when we booked the charter months ago..." - 2.5%
8) the other yacht supplier "who was able to source and deliver a vital pump part for the vacuum toilet system rapidly, which had supposedly failed as a direct result of my wife thowing stuff into the wc inadvertently (how come they don't carry spares aboard?)..." - 2.5%
9) the office staff, well, everyone else behind the scene as it were, "the ones who ensured that the charter went as planned" - 2.5%
10) the stewardess "who ensured that my bed was always made up, I like to have a snooze after lunch..." - 2.5%
11) the chef "who ensured that our every whim including my request for sliced cucumbers and onions marinated in fresh limes and Thai chillies was available whenever aperitifs were served and the time I had a sudden urge for Tibetan momos..." - 20%

Anyone I might have overlooked directly, should expect a "cut" out of their department head's tips...!




But how are the tips really distributed...?!

Those are scary stories Garry and K1W1...

The best-ever tip to a charter yacht crew that I know of firsthand was one where an elderly Californian gentleman and his family chartered an ageing 58m Panamanian-flagged motor yacht for 2 weeks in the Mediterranean during 2001 or 2002. Every single one of the 20+ crew was personally handed an envelope containing $6,000 in cash by the charterer! Can you imagine the smiles that gave the predominantly Greek / Filipino crew?!

I'm getting to the best part though: for the cruise, he'd ordered over $250,000 worth of the finest wines. Well, under a half of this was actually consummed. His instructions were that the remaining wine be divided into 3 parts. Two parts were to be sent to friends of his in Europe. The remaining third was to go towards the captain's UK cellar as his special bonus. I believe that "the company" allowed him to keep half of that...