Do you tip extra?

[luvbrady]

ICAM depends on service, individual and situation.

 

If it's me and hubby, we would typically not tip 'extra' for the room steward, however when we bring the 2 person wrecking crew known as our kids- yeah. I may tip more. Hey- while I'm not on vacation from parenting (like some folks we've heard about here) I AM on vaction from beds, picking up, dinner and dishes :p Plus one time my poor little guy threw up in his sleep as we were docking on departure day :( Left the poor cabin steward an extra $30.

 

One time on Liberty hung at casino bar while hubby gamed. Bartender was not only attentive with the service, but also telling jokes, entertaining me and hubby when he checked in- another ran out of my brand and went out to another venue to find it (and brought back a few extras just in case)... We also tipped them extra.

 

The guy taking the screw top off my beer at the pool bar- not so much.

[nbsjcruiser]

We did My Time Dining, so all of our gratuities were already paid out.

 

a) If you did pay extra, how much do you normally tip?

1. Stateroom attendant?

2. Head waiter?

3. Main waiter?

4. Assistant waiter?

 

b) Do you pay nightly or at the very end in the provided envelope? (I'm assuming you hand the wait staff the envelope personally after the meal?)

 

c) Do you tip when you're at (let's say...) Park Cafe or Windjammer, and a wait staff asks and then brings you coffee/tea?

 

A newbie Cruiser here...

 

If the stateroom attendant is doing a good job and I'm happy with his work then I'll slip him an extra $5 maybe $10. Do it when nobody is around so he can pocket it. With our waiter, if I'm happy then halfway through the cruise I'll go up and shake his hand and thank him. There will be a $10 bill in my hand. Again, do it on the sly when nobody is looking.

 

We have only ever tipped in the Windjammer once in our 13 cruises. We were constantly seeing a waiter from Brazil who would always stop and talk to us. He was very outgoing and pleasant. He was such a nice guy and working so hard that DW slipped him $10 as well - on the last day.

 

Other than that, we stick to the normal auto-tips.

[northcove]

We also did MTD.

 

But on our last cruise our cabin steward, the waiters at Portofinos (we ate their twice and had the same table), and one particular bartender that my husband really liked were all tipped extra.

 

Cabin Steward- was something like 50 I believe. Tipped at the end of the cruise.

Waiters at Portofinos- were tipped 10 each on the nights we ate there.

Bartender- don't know. hubby liked him and I know towards the end of the cruise he gave him something extra.

[slh182]

We do my time dining and we tipped everyone. We tipped them daily, but for some people we tipped at the end because we didn't have any cash on us. Anyone who provides service to us gets tipped.

[TBone2K]

We did My Time Dining, so all of our gratuities were already paid out.

c) Do you tip when you're at (let's say...) Park Cafe or Windjammer, and a wait staff asks and then brings you coffee/tea?

 

This question has been asked to death. Feel free to search the forum if you want to know more. To summarize: No. Why? The postions between MDR and other areas are rotated, so the people working in areas that don't receive tips still get their share.

[cjdixon4]

Although we knew that it wasn't NECESSARY to provide an additional tip, we chose to give extra on the final MDR night this past September. Our Head Waiter not only gave the customary expected service, but she actually had an uncanny sense of humor as well. She had us in stitches nightly with short stories about her funny experiences working for RCCL, all while remaining the consummate professional! Her extra gratuity was well-deserved in my opinion, however, no one is obligated to pay tips beyond the recommended standard.

[Boiled Dove]

however, no one is obligated to pay tips beyond the recommended standard.

 

 

Yeah, that is why I like the suggestions I've read on here of changing the terminology of the tips to a service charge and then tip what you feel is deserved, or not, above and beyond that.

[ctcruiser1721]

You can tip how much you want to whoever you want whenever you want. Listen to what folks say is customary, but ignore the inevitable overstated opinions that occur in tipping threads.

 

To answer your question, the first 4 people you mentioned are covered by your pre-paid tips. Any extra you give them is totally up to you.

 

Envelopes wil be provided in your stateroom on the last day, but you are not required to use them. Throw in some extra cash, or not, your call. If not, just throw them away.

 

Park Cafe, WJ, etc, are not places where tips are customary, nor expected. Again, your call. If you want to, go ahead. But in these places, you do not need to.

 

 

Well said.

[LAatl]

We did My Time Dining, so all of our gratuities were already paid out.

 

a) If you did pay extra, how much do you normally tip?

1. Stateroom attendant?

2. Head waiter?

3. Main waiter?

4. Assistant waiter?

 

b) Do you pay nightly or at the very end in the provided envelope? (I'm assuming you hand the wait staff the envelope personally after the meal?)

 

c) Do you tip when you're at (let's say...) Park Cafe or Windjammer, and a wait staff asks and then brings you coffee/tea?

 

A newbie Cruiser here...

I have no problem tipping a little more. However, I also like to get a little personal. My dad makes these beautiful wooden pens with gold inlays and each is different and unique. I usually give one to the cabin steward and the waiters and even the CD. They really seem to love them.

[undertaker1013]

On my first cruise, we also had the prepaid gratutities added in our package price; once on board, we ate only once in the dining hall (due to the fact we renewed our vows and the cake was being stored there) and that one time made me feel inferior or lower class like- here we are in wedding clothes and first made to wait 25 minutes for a time assigned due to the vow ceremony, then contnually seemed to be bothering the wait staff......we went to guest services station the next day and asked- and were accomodated, if you do prepaid, you can go to the desk and 'redesignate' tips as you wish.

 

example- 200 grats per person- 100 to dining hall, 50 to consigiere, 50 to bellhops/room staff/etc. we loved our room man so much we redesignated only 25 went to dining hall (why tip so much if we only used 1 in 7 days, and weren''t happy?) and moved the excess to our room man. we wrote a note thanking him for his service (duplicating it and giving it to the ship HQ) for excellent service and explained we rearranged the tips (so he would know we hadn't stifffed him and he could check for the funds)

 

when we booked our RC cruise yesterday, we asked could the same be done when we on board- we were told absoltuely, even up to th emorning of unboarding/returnign home...just for your info

[Mapleleafforever]

We usually put an extra 20 or so in the envelopes when service has been great. We don't add additional tips on the bar tabs though, 15% is the norm here in Canada and it's already added on. Found that out on our second cruise.....we way overtipped on our first one.

[Aquahound]

......we went to guest services station the next day and asked- and were accomodated, if you do prepaid, you can go to the desk and 'redesignate' tips as you wish.

 

What cruise line was that? I'm not sure that can be done on RCI.

 

I remember HAL had an odd tipping policy, wherein a portion of the daily pre-paid tips were allocated to other people not normally tipped, like laundry, etc. I'm not sure how it worked because I didn't do it, but I remember having the option to go in and change the daily amounts. But like I said, I do not believe it is an option on RCI.

[samj80]

I do MyTime dining as well. Even when I didn't, I always paid my gratuities in advance. One less thing to worry about!

 

We typically have requested a standing reservation in MTD and have asked to be assigned to a specific staff for the entire cruise. It make the experience more like traditional dining (waitstaff gets to know our preferences and we form a friendly relationship with them), so we usually tip extra at the END of the cruise. If you have a different server every night, then NIGHTLY tips for any exceptional service would be warranted. Yes, we give the tip directly to the staff member.

 

 

This is the same thing I typically do. I don't add any additional tip to bar service.

[Paulxyz2004]

What cruise line was that? I'm not sure that can be done on RCI.

 

I remember HAL had an odd tipping policy, wherein a portion of the daily pre-paid tips were allocated to other people not normally tipped, like laundry, etc. I'm not sure how it worked because I didn't do it, but I remember having the option to go in and change the daily amounts. But like I said, I do not believe it is an option on RCI.

 

According to their signature they sailed Carnival and I bet they will be surprised when it´s not possible on RCI next year despite the Information they got from the landlocked Folks.;)

[RavaRiles]

For any fellow Brits who recently watched the documentary of "dispatches" where people secretly gained employment and filmed the behind the scenes of the varying jobs of crew on a ship primarily stateroom attendants.

I found it appalling to see that some stateroom attendants were being paid 50 dollars a month. The documentary only made mention of celebrity and RCI. This seems that it is left to the customer to make up the differences in the wages and so now whilst it is not compulsory I certainly feel more obligated to give extra on top of per paid gratuities. I feel that a company as big as either of the fore mentioned should be paying a more generous wage to the workers as they do a fantastic job.

I am paying £ 3700 for a cruise in fourteen months and feel the ratio of what is paid back to the crew who provide service is far to minimal. In short I believe that tipping is more than necessary for the staff to attain a decent wage for which many support families around the world with and rely on. I love RCI and have had a great time on holidays but feel maybe that there staff could be looked after better by them before relying to heavily on passenger kindness.

[LarryL]

You would not be tipping twice. Think of the recommended amount as the bare minimum. If you feel you got service above the minimum (and there are times we don't), then that amount is sufficient. If you get what you feel is exceptional service, then you may wish to tip more. Like in a restaurant where if service is good instead of the minimal 15 percent, we will more often leave 20.

 

Don't forget that room service is not included in your prepaid tips.

 

I like your response and fully agree with you. In addition, we usually end up finding a lounge on a ship we frequent because the service staff is exceptional. In these cases, we provide them with an extra tip envelope at the end of the cruise and also complete a comment card so management can be aware of their great service.

 

Positive comment cards can add to the benefit of a tip for the cruise staff.

 

Larry

[Big_G]

This is a pretty tame tipping thread. I usually only read these for the fireworks.

[CatBelle]

I never do it as tips are mandatory... no extra tips. I know it would be nice for employees but I have not this habit and almost nobody else here do it even on earth.

[TBone2K]

For any fellow Brits who recently watched the documentary of "dispatches" where people secretly gained employment and filmed the behind the scenes of the varying jobs of crew on a ship primarily stateroom attendants.

 

If you search the forum, you will find that this so called "documentary" was full of misinformation and was relying on misdirecting the viewer. Since this is not the topic of this particluar thread, I won't go any further.

[TBone2K]

I never do it as tips are mandatory... no extra tips. I know it would be nice for employees but I have not this habit and almost nobody else here do it even on earth.

 

Tips are not mandatory, at least for your dinner and room services. The only times tips are added automatically is when you use my time dining and on bar service.

[alaskawdw12]

We did not tip beyond the mandatory amount we pre-paid (mandatory because we were in MTD, and we never ordered room service). We were very happy to get the tipping done with before getting on onboard. As far as I'm concerned, once we've given the recommended amounts, we're good to go, and that includes the 15% on every drink. We're a young couple, we're not made of money, and 15% is a nice tip.

We became really good friends with a lot of the staff onboard, and made sure to praise specific people (like our room attendant and a guy we loved who worked in the Windjammer) on the comment card, since that really makes a difference. Our room attendant told us that it's very important.

I think at the end of the day, do what feels right for you. If you've paid the recommended amounts, that means you're fine. From that point, it's totally up to you.

[SmokeOnTheWater71]

thank god people thought differintly about sandy and gave to red cross and other charities but your poor cabin servant just did his job oh god forbid he lives and needs a little money for his family I hope the people from sandy don't feel like you. Get off your high horse and give and ia'm a conservative. Just because they get grat.for their job dose not make ideal for them come on man give them what they deserve. I give them an extra 20% on top of the bill and i spend time talking to them about family job i would like to know what you do or what you did do.

[trev71]

Last server we had was really good and we tipped her a little extra. Ive been on 4 cruises and only had one semi bad experince and the assistant waiter wasnt very friendly at all, so we actually didnt tip her as much as the bare min only cause she didnt give us good service..

[Cigar King]

We usually tip extra if the service is good, and it usually is. FWIW, we also tip the waiters in the windjammer when they bring us coffee or the diamond lounge when they bring drinks. I would do the same on land. I don't see why I shouldn't do the same at sea. That being said, to each their own. I would say that if you can afford it, and you feel the service deserves it, the staff can use the extra money.

[knittinggirl]

Sometimes we tip extra, but most of the time we don't. Not sure about tipping with room service, I either feel cheap when I don't tip, or a fool when I do. If you tip once, will they expect it each time? If they just plop the tray down, maybe not. But if they put a tablecloth on the table, then yes. I've heard people comment they tip the first waiter a dollar, then for the rest of the cruise, the waiters are hunting them down for drink orders. I may feel obligated to order as the cruise progresses.

 

Always check the bill first, it may contain auto gratuity.