Specialty Restaurant Tipping Guidelines from Cruise critic

[cruzsnooze]

Here's the answer to the hotly debated question

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1393&src=tocc

[ColinIllinois]

.......and here we go again. :rolleyes:

 

That's just one person's opinion.

[njhorseman]

.......and here we go again. :rolleyes:

 

That's just one person's opinion.

 

If the OP wanted to direct people to a specialty restaurant tipping guideline article, as stated in the thread title, this is the link that should have been given:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2011/07/25/tipping-points-ive-already-paid-30-do-i-have-to-tip-at-the-for-fee-alternative-restaurant/

 

If you read that article as least as regards NCL, it provides factual information provided by an NCL spokesperson, confirming what many of us already knew...that specialty restaurant wait staff participate in the daily service charge pool, making additional tipping in the specialty restaurants strictly optional at the discretion of the passenger. So...no need for any wild discussions, because we have the facts at hand:

 

"So if you’re spending $30 for a porterhouse and some buttery asparagus at the alternative steakhouse, should you tip the customary 15 to 20 percent on top?

The answer is almost always no … unless you really want to.

According to spokespeople from Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line, tips for the alternative restaurant wait staff are drawn from the auto-gratuity pool (HAL charges $11 per person, per day; Norwegian charges $12.)."

[boopsahoy]

According to spokespeople from Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line, tips for the alternative restaurant wait staff are drawn from the auto-gratuity pool (HAL charges $11 per person, per day; Norwegian charges $12.).

Does that mean if I get just ok service in a specialty restaurant, even if it is a free meal (say comped by the casino or part of platinum perks) I dont have to tip? Also if I want to tip and theres no bill to charge it to the room do I have to use cash?

[njhorseman]

According to spokespeople from Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line, tips for the alternative restaurant wait staff are drawn from the auto-gratuity pool (HAL charges $11 per person, per day; Norwegian charges $12.).

Does that mean if I get just ok service in a specialty restaurant, even if it is a free meal (say comped by the casino or part of platinum perks) I dont have to tip? Also if I want to tip and theres no bill to charge it to the room do I have to use cash?

 

As I said in my prior post: "...specialty restaurant wait staff participate in the daily service charge pool, making additional tipping in the specialty restaurants strictly optional at the discretion of the passenger. "

 

Since you are not presented with a bill for a comped meal, if you wish to tip, leave cash.

[boopsahoy]

As I said in my prior post: "...specialty restaurant wait staff participate in the daily service charge pool, making additional tipping in the specialty restaurants strictly optional at the discretion of the passenger. "

 

Since you are not presented with a bill for a comped meal, if you wish to tip, leave cash.

 

 

Thanks for the info!

[RareBird]

Here's the answer to the hotly debated question

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1393&src=tocc

 

Oh boy!

 

I tip at specialty restaurants when I feel the service was incredible, which is 90% of the time! To me 5 to 10 bucks is a good tip. We eat at specialty restaurants every night, I love to enhance my cruise experience with a great meal.

[meglet]

A week ago was my first time "freestyling" and my mom asked me an interesting question after her experience of eating in the MDR almost every night. She noticed that the maitre d' would ask for her cabin number before seating them and wondered if people in the suites got better tables in the MDR. It occured to me that NCL might know where every passenger eats dinner or other meals every day and sends the tips to that particular pool. My companion and I ate at three specialty restaurants which we prebooked, so the cruise line knew where we were for dinner and if the computer system doesn't have your cabin number checked in my a maitre d' then you must have eaten buffet because they'd have a record of room service.

 

Don't know this for certain, just my wonderings.

[njhorseman]

A week ago was my first time "freestyling" and my mom asked me an interesting question after her experience of eating in the MDR almost every night. She noticed that the maitre d' would ask for her cabin number before seating them and wondered if people in the suites got better tables in the MDR. It occured to me that NCL might know where every passenger eats dinner or other meals every day and sends the tips to that particular pool. My companion and I ate at three specialty restaurants which we prebooked, so the cruise line knew where we were for dinner and if the computer system doesn't have your cabin number checked in my a maitre d' then you must have eaten buffet because they'd have a record of room service.

 

Don't know this for certain, just my wonderings.

 

They're not keeping track of anything like that. When we have dinner with traveling companions who obviously have a different cabin, the reservation is made under only one of the cabin numbers (or if you are just going to the MDR, you only give one cabin number when being seated regardless of how many people from other cabins are in your party...you could have 6 couples from 6 different cabins at a table for 12). So you can see they are not keeping track of where everyone is eating for purposes of allocating the service charge pool because they don't know where everyone is eating. For that matter you can also eat at more than one restaurant...if you want to eat three dinners...once at each of the MDRs and once in the buffet, you can.

[pcreek]

So, why do they ask in MDR for your cabin #?