question: tipping the dock master

When you are out on a cruise and pull into a marina for the night and the dock master meets you at your assigned slip and helps you tie up, are you supposed to tip the dock master, or do you consider that service part of the overnight marina fee? I confess that, up to now, I have always considered it as part of the overnight fee.

Transient slip and fuel dock help, we tip. When we go on a cruise, for example to the Bahamas, we take our cash in 20s, with a hundred in fives for tips.

Yup, always tip!

Oh no, here we go again. ;-) Not trying to retain good information from you or dismiss your question, but I'd recommend you do a quick forum search as there are several LONG threads from the past about tipping. There are very passionate feelings around here regarding tipping for services like you mentioned. I won't state my position on it as it is well-documented (like everyone else's), but needless to say, tipping threads tend to get kinda heated and I'd hate to go back and recover that ground.



Tipping is a personal decision and you should do what you feel is comfortable.

I always tip service folks. I have great respect for the working people that are the life-blood of capitalism.

Usually a $20. May be a bit much but I figure it helps make up for those who don't tip at all.

Last year I asked this question and it turned in to pages of the value of peoples lives or something.

I tip non management types always....

Not so much dockmasters unless it was truly a greater effort than walking down and catching a line or two.

Then again, I try to dock so there is no effort on anyones part and I do my own electric and water.

90 percent of the time I have to redo docklines after even dockmasters.

Yep tipping is personal and often based upon personal experience on both sides of tipping and or in the industry in question.

Steve91T said:

Last year I asked this question and it turned in to pages of the value of peoples lives or something.

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Pages? Huh. I just do what I feel I need to do. Honestly? Don’t care what others do.

We give a $5 tip when the dock help comes out with a good attitude and is pleasant. Which is 99% of the time.

Same here. Usually tip $5.

Must be a east coast thing?
I have never seen it done on the West Coast

Although it is rare that a marina has dock help to tie you up on arrival here.

On my recent trip to Mexico the dock help ran a long way to help tie up the boat on arrival.. at least a couple hundred yards.. I did tip them as they really showed effort

HOLLYWOOD

A couple of years ago I was chatting with the captain (not the owner) of a super yacht about berthing fees. He told me when they arrived in Italy the probable berthing fee for one night would be $3000 and he would be expected to tip the marinaros the same in cash for finding him the berth. Wish I had been a marinaros in Italy !!!

Whats the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?
Canoes tip.
Tipping is an American custom that fortunately the rest of the world does not embrace.

stanfromhell said:

Whats the difference between a Canadian and a canoe?
Canoes tip.
Tipping is an American custom that fortunately the rest of the world does not embrace.

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The American custom is to not pay employees a living wage forcing customers to make up the difference.

I tip anyone who helps me with anything. The title might be 'Dockmaster', but if he/she is down on the dock tossing/grabbing lines, their role is now "Dockhand". Some places are so small it is one person who wears many hats. It is their right to refuse tip.

You have the right to NOT tip as well. You can tell the difference. Two boats come into a gas dock at the same time. Everyone runs to one boat until someone is told to go help the other boat. Guess who tips and who doesn't.

I tip the pumpout boat heavily. I rarely wait. I've watched them pass other boats hailing them to take care of us first. I talk to other people who don't have the same experience. I wonder why.

For Service Above and Beyond

If someone really goes out of their way to help, when I could use it, I will tip them gladly, but for routine stuff, like grabbing dock lines at the fuel dock, that is routine and part of their job, why is tipping necessary?

It depends....

Some places employ seasonal dock help and they work for barely minimum wage.

Other places are family owned and pay well, as municipal marinas that pay a given level pay commensurate with experience and job demands.

Hard to always guess what might be fair or a decent thing (here in the US)....all you can do is take the time to guess...or strike up a conversation and learn a bit about whose who.

Having a hard and fast rule or amount to meflies in the face of the concept of tipping, unless a known industry based on tipping.... which the marine industry really isnt.

KenM said:

If someone really goes out of their way to help, when I could use it, I will tip them gladly, but for routine stuff, like grabbing dock lines at the fuel dock, that is routine and part of their job, why is tipping necessary?

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I agree.

There is no right or wrong amount to tip. It is a personal choice.

I agree with Ken too. If I get really good service I hand over a $20.00 tip if not just a thanks. Last year at Ft. Pierce for the get together, we had two deckhands help us, really didn’t need it because Larry was there but we gave each dude a $20.00. We got beautiful greetings from then on.

Always tip the dockhands - some places more than others. In a small town or dock the Dockmaster is the same as a dockhand so same with them.

The city-owned marina here is operated by government employees. I don't tip them but pay berthing fees and property taxes.

Donna said:

Pages? Huh. I just do what I feel I need to do. Honestly? Don’t care what others do.

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I agree!!! I don’t and I don’t care what others do

smitty477 said:

Always tip the dockhands - some places more than others. In a small town or dock the Dockmaster is the same as a dockhand so same with them.

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The only dockhands in this area work at fuel docks. I don't tip people fueling my automobile or my boat.

markpierce said:

The only dockhands in this area work at fuel docks. I don't tip people fueling my automobile or my boat.

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The dock hands in our small town dock as well as many of the towns around us are typically seasonal college kids trying to make money during the summer. These town docks have no long term customers at all just transient boaters - Northport, Norwalk .Milford, etc. Similar with many marinas that are mainly serving transients and staffed by college kids - Mystic, Greenwich, BI, Pt Jeff, Greenport, etc etc.

If you ever go to Italy and berth in a marina do not let the marinaro's touch your lines at all no matter how much they insist because the moment they do they demand a tip for 'assistance'.
Politely say no thank you, as long as they insist keep offering a polite no thank you.Eventually they will give up.

I put $2300 worth of diesel in today. The fuel dock attendant caught the lines, and tied us up and then chatted with my wife for the hour or so it took to fuel up, moved the fuel line between the three tank fills, then helped us off. Really, given what I slapped my credit card down for, a tip is reasonable.

I tip people for great service in low income 3rd world countries.
First world countries pay sufficient wages so tipping is not necessary.

Simi 60 said:

I tip people for great service in low income 3rd world countries.
First world countries pay sufficient wages so tipping is not necessary.

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So no tips from you in Australia for taxi drivers, restaurant wait staff, or hotel porters and chambermaids.

Interesting.

menzies said:

So no tips from you in Australia for taxi drivers, restaurant wait staff, or hotel porters and chambermaids.

Interesting.

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Hotel staff no, but then I can't justify staying in Australian hotels, its cheaper for us to fly to south east Asia and rent a pool villa and even then in the vast majority of cases, tips have been refused. I have been chased out of restaurants, hotels and bars when leaving small money behind and that small money has been returned.

Different story now in tourist areas, Americans giving tips has now made it almost expected to tip, I suspect staff may have had wages cut in these areas.

Taxis? Don't catch them in australia,always use uber and no actual transaction takes place.


Restaurants? I can cook a far better meal onboard in most instances but if I do eat out and pay by card there is no facility here for tipping.
If paying cash I'll round up, but more as I don't want a pocket full of coin.


Most of my life in trade and service industry, never received or expected a tip.
Like I said, first world countries pay a proper wage.