tipping the Maitre D

[kazbar]

I was just reading facebook and there was a question about tipping the Maitre D and many were saying that they never see him/her until the last night when they are standing at the door with their hand out :eek:

 

They don't really do that, do they?

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Happened to me! Sailed the Dream last June & never saw the Maitre D.. Just the assistant. But I sure did see the Maitre D when he came around for his $20 :confused:

[The4Cruisers]

There are various Maitre D' behaviors across the fleet. Some work the room every meal and others happen to appear at envelope time.

 

I think a popular concensus is that the MD is a well-compensated, salaried employee of the cruise line. Thus, tipping the MD would be appropriate if he/she does something in particular to handle your dining room needs / requests or to make your cruise better.

[idraconis]

I have always seen the Martie and yes they do stand at there station with there hand out. They even place envelopes is your cabin for said person. Unless he does something for me he gets a smile and a hello every night. I op out to pre tip $10 a day covers your room steward and waiters,but I always give them something extra, they work and hustle! The Martie stands there.

[Lady Arwen]

Never see the Maitre D and never tip him.

[pattyfresh]

I'm not sure exactly what the maitre d' does?? Going on my first cruise in May and was planning on doing auto tips and then tipping the waiters/room stewards extra that I think do a fantastic job. They ask for tips the last night at dinner? That's going to make me feel akward...

[H82seaUgo]

never tip him unless he does something for me.

[tak81288]

quote=pattyfresh]They ask for tips the last night at dinner? That's going to make me feel akward...

 

No, they won't literally ask for tips, but in my experience I do see the Maitre D roaming around, standing at the door...etc..more than usual on the last night when tips are being handed out to everyone else. It is almost like he is "waiting" to see if someone will give him something extra.

 

I personally have never tipped the Maitre D. since I rarely (if ever) see him. If he fulfills some special requests for me or something, then maybe I would, but that has yet to happen.

[imacruiser2]

If the Maitre D is very visible at out table and if he tries to enfore the dress code, then he will receive a tip from us. When I walk into the dinning room on Elegant night and see men in shorts (not even dressy) and wrinkled t-shirts, I figure he isn't doing his job. It doesn't ruin my dining experience, but I figure if there is a rule, and it isn't enforced, then he isn't doing his job. I know that is another can of worms entirely.

[H82seaUgo]

If the Maitre D is very visible at out table and if he tries to enfore the dress code, then he will receive a tip from us. When I walk into the dinning room on Elegant night and see men in shorts (not even dressy) and wrinkled t-shirts, I figure he isn't doing his job. It doesn't ruin my dining experience, but I figure if there is a rule, and it isn't enforced, then he isn't doing his job. I know that is another can of worms entirely.

 

make sure you throw a note into his tip envelop instead of that cash.

 

we are remided that he is the one making things happening in the mdr. if he's not doing that, he should get nothing.

[TracyL]

The first time we cruised, we never saw the Maitre D until time to hand out tips. Not knowing any better we tipped him. However, all our other (3) cruises the Maitre D has stopped by our table almost every night to see how service was and to ask if he could do anything for us. I've never had a problem tipping the Maitre D.

[illinois yukon girl]

This is the one tip that bugs me. I have no problem tipping the hard working waiters but I hardly ever see the MaitreD. So I just take the envlope they give me for him & put $1 in it.Works for us.

[ekatiel]

Was on the Ecstasy a few weeks ago, and they are now showing a video in the stateroom on the last day about how important it is to tip him :confused:. DH and I never had tipped him before (I was on this cruise with my mom and sister, and they had never cruised before). He did not come to our table at all during the cruise-- not even on the last night. If he got just a dollar from every passenger, that'd be more than $2000 per cruise! We called down to the customer service desk and asked for a suggestion on how much we should tip him. They refused to give us a number. We ended up tipping him like $5. In the future I don't think I'll tip him unless I see him during the cruise. It does really urk me that Carnival wouldn't even give us a suggestion on how much to tip-- they have suggested tip amounts for everyone else on board that you should tip. --Katie

[NavarreCruiser]

In 45 cruises, we've only tipped the maitre d once. That was when we were cruising with our then 9 and 7 year old grandsons and my dd single mom. We were at a table for 8 the first night. Thank god no one else showed up that night. The oldest has really bad adhd and asperberger. We nicely asked the maitre d for a table for just the five of us. We didn't want to ruin anyone's meal. He put us in a booth with a chair at the end. End of problem.

[serene56]

Up til my last cruise we never tipped the Marte de because I always thought he was the guy sitting at the podium doing really night.

 

This past cruise we saw a few people all dressed and seating people. Talking to the diners at the door etc. These are Asst Maitre de and they do share in the tip envelopes.

 

On our cruise we were asked to leave the envelopes at the podium. He did not come around that last night but did come around twice during our week.

[PA Dutchman]

make sure you throw a note into his tip envelop instead of that cash.

 

we are remided that he is the one making things happening in the mdr. if he's not doing that, he should get nothing.

 

Well lets see should we tip the Capt of the ship, he makes things happen ???

[elcuchio24]

They usually just hand out the 'tip envelopes' on the last day for the MD. I don't tip them. They can come to the door if they want, in fact I encourage it, but I'm still not tipping.

[ATL2LAS]

I have only tipped once and that was on my last cruise on the Imagination. The Maitre'd for the Anytime dining section was everywhere. She talked to each table and took pictures for some. She would spend close to 5 minutes with each table. Thats alot of time. She did this each day and often made suggestions on the menu for the evening. This was the only reason I tipped. She was fun and personable and made dining entertaining.

[KruznKel]

Well lets see should we tip the Capt of the ship, he makes things happen ???

 

LOL How funny I just posted on John's FB page the samething.. also why aren't CD's tipped... because they are all on salary...

[AlycLiz]

Well lets see should we tip the Capt of the ship, he makes things happen ???

 

The captain makes sure you get from point A to point's B, C, etc. and back to point A. --- that is "his job." I'm can't say as that is necessarily "making things happen."

 

I also do not think that making sure my family has a table/booth to sit at in the dining room is "making things happen" - however, if I would like to change my late seating to early and the maitre d' can and does "make this happen" I consider that so. Likewise, if my husband and I would rather sit at an intimate table for two or at a table with cruisers more to our age group and the maitre d' "makes that happen" I also consider that so.

 

His "job" is only to make sure that I have an initial table, make sure that things run smoothly and enforce the rules. Anything above that - he is making things happen.

 

If the captain wants to swing us by an extra port or keep us out an extra day and let us see an extra port just for the heck of it --- sure! I'll tip him too! Though, I predict that is never going to happen. However, I suspect any instance I described with the maitre d' just may.

[KruznKel]

The captain makes sure you get from point A to point's B, C, etc. and back to point A. --- that is "his job." I'm can't say as that is necessarily "making things happen."

 

I also do not think that making sure my family has a table/booth to sit at in the dining room is "making things happen" - however, if I would like to change my late seating to early and the maitre d' can and does "make this happen" I consider that so. Likewise, if my husband and I would rather sit at an intimate table for two or at a table with cruisers more to our age group and the maitre d' "makes that happen" I also consider that so.

 

His "job" is only to make sure that I have an initial table, make sure that things run smoothly and enforce the rules. Anything above that - he is making things happen.

 

If the captain wants to swing us by an extra port or keep us out an extra day and let us see an extra port just for the heck of it --- sure! I'll tip him too! Though, I predict that is never going to happen. However, I suspect any instance I described with the maitre d' just may.

 

I also posted the same thing.. if the M'd does something over and above like changing tables sure I will tip him.. but I will not tip him for coming by my table to say hello:(

[golfadj]

If the MD does something to enhance our experience we tip him. On last one his asst did not want to change our dining time and discouraged us from talking to the MD and we had to go to guest services to have it done. So much for training the staff

 

Never came to our table once during the entire 8 day cruise so no tip.

 

One of the asst's though helped my wife with her dinner choices as she has many food allergies, and she was well tipped.

[allenee]

On the Miracle in Feb. we tipped him. He was excellent, all over the dinning room talking to people and keeping the crew on their toes. He was singing Happy Birthdays every night and Happy Anniversary. He was a very people person and made you feel welcome in the dinning room. My hubby and I would love to sail any ship he was on. Best dinning experience we've had so far.

[AlycLiz]

Also, it is really a personal opinion. I don't really care what anyone else does with their money. I used to work as a waitress. It was a crappy wage job though it was MUCH better than some waitress positions. I made really good tips. In fact, I probably made more in that job that some of the other blue collar jobs I had after it.

 

I also would like to note that I may feel differently because I was an Assistant Manager of a restaurant and occasionally our guests would leave tips for our different people in the establishment. These tips would include chef's, hostesses, and management. Even as a manager, I have received a few tips. It was nice to me because it told me that people really appreciated what I was doing and they recognized that I was doing an exceptional job.

 

So, while I certainly would not tip someone for simply doing their job if they were salary - if they went above and beyond the parameters of what I felt their job consisted of...I definitely would compensate them for this. Would I be upset if others did not? Nope. I don't pay your bills, work your jobs, or manage your bank accounts.

 

I have no right, authority, or place to tell you what to do or what I think you should do with your money! I only control what I do with mine ;)

[deadmoney]

....I have no right, authority, or place to tell you what to do or what I think you should do with your money! I only control what I do with mine ;)

 

I really like that line, you don't mind if I steal it do you:)