OK, I've seen a post or two that kind of mentions this vaguely but here is the question. Where do you keep the USD cash while you are at the pool? I was wondering if the tips all go in a bucket and the servers split it or is it individual. Wonder if I could just throw a $50 in a bucket one time and be good the rest of the day or should I tip each trip to the bar? Need to figure out how I'm going to have tip money available when in swim trucks at the pool. 10 days!!!
I usually bring a small bag to keep our sunscreen & cover ups in. I put it in there. In all seriousness though, if you are going to give the bartenders a $10/$20/$50 do it right away in the morning. Then you minimize any potential losses if you were to have your tip money disappear. I always still have a handful of dollars in my bag to cover lunch and in case we order a bunch of shots or use the waiter/waitress walking around the pool. I just replenish the supply from the safe every morning.
Convert to peso's at the front desk. A 20 peso note is like $1.35 and 50 about $3.50. They are plastic bills so you can keep them in your pocket in the water all day with no worries about them getting wet like dollar bills.
After some liquor in me, I might get confused with the amount I'm tipping if I have to do math for converting back to USD :biggrinbandit:
We've been there 4 times now in the past 2 years and on our last trip in May what I found out to work the best is to tip like $20 in the morning (and make sure the bartender sees you put the tip in there)...we're semi-early morning people so it's pretty quiet which helps so your tip doesn't get "lost in the crowd"... The rest of the day I always got great service and never really had to wait...
I just keep money in my wife's beach/bag, and that just gets thrown under a chair with our floppers and her towel and coverup. This way if we go to lunch, I have money for that without going back to the room. But as far as tipping the bartenders, I pretty much will figure out who is working where, and then decide where I am going to spend the bulk of my ordering from. Then I just put a $10 or $20 under my mugs on the first round. They will obviously see that, and stick it in their bowl.
Just get pesos at the bank atm your first day. They are better when wet and you don't get screwed by the shops and cabs on conversion rates.
Maybe they hate me for this, but I just take a wad of $1's, keep them in the pockets of my trunks and tip soggy bills with each trip to the bar. The bills are cloth and dry out quickly and I feel better tipping what I know (dollars) than what I think I know (pesos), especially after a few Bubbas.
Us Brits seem to be a different when it comes to tipping ,,, we usually tip at the end of our stay ,,,,, find who ever has done you well and say thank and pass over what ever you feel is worthy ,,,,, saves worrying about carrying money all day long although always kept a couple of dollars in the beach bag just in case
I went to WalMart, before we left for Cancun ,in the camping section and got a small waterproof cell phone/money holder. Cost about 5 bucks and works great. Fits well in swimsuit pocket.
