Tipping in Specialty restaurants

[bayli3]

Not sure if we go overboard, no pun intended, when adding 20% tip. Wondering if most tip in specialty restaurants or consider it "included" in the prepaid gratuities

[cruzsnooze]

You have tipped already for that meal in the auto tips assuming you left them intact, then you tipped a second time in the up charge for the specialty restaurant. If you want to leave a third tip for the same meal nobody will stop you but I feel enough is enough and do not leave extra.

[rajones007]

Not sure if we go overboard, no pun intended, when adding 20% tip. Wondering if most tip in specialty restaurants or consider it "included" in the prepaid gratuities

We generally tip in the specialty restaurants. The amount depends on the service, as it should be.

 

We pay it in cash directly to the server so it goes to him/her and stays there. If we write the tip on the bill, I've been told it's divided up among everybody in the restaurant. At that point, sitting in the restaurant feeling stuffed, I feel I'm tipping only for the service provided by the server inside that imaginary bubble surrounding our dining table while we're sitting there. I'm not tipping the busboy or the dishwasher or the guy standing at the door pretending he's doing something important. So the server gets cash. The others can take their cut of the DSC I pay.

 

EDIT....

 

....then you tipped a second time in the up charge for the specialty restaurant...

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Is there an obvious typo that I can't see?

Edited August 21, 2014 by rajones007
tried to make it more understandable...

[triptolemus]

Hooray! Another tipping thread!

[Hikini]

The wait staff in the specialty restaurants are included in the general tip pool. Many of them also work in the MDR's or even the buffet.

 

We have only tipped the wait staff (in any of the dining venues) extra if someone did something extraordinary for us, which could be considered above and beyond.

[njhorseman]

You have tipped already for that meal in the auto tips assuming you left them intact, then you tipped a second time in the up charge for the specialty restaurant. If you want to leave a third tip for the same meal nobody will stop you but I feel enough is enough and do not leave extra.

 

 

 

The upcharge for the specialty restaurants on NCL does not include any additional tip, so your comment is incorrect. Please see this Cruise Critic article on specialty restaurant tipping:

 

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/

[nbsjcruiser]

We generally tip in the specialty restaurants. The amount depends on the service, as it should be.

 

We pay it in cash directly to the server so it goes to him/her and stays there. If we write the tip on the bill, I've been told it's divided up among everybody in the restaurant. At that point, sitting in the restaurant feeling stuffed, I feel I'm tipping only for the service provided by the server inside that imaginary bubble surrounding our dining table while we're sitting there. I'm not tipping the busboy or the dishwasher or the guy standing at the door pretending he's doing something important. So the server gets cash. The others can take their cut of the DSC I pay.

 

EDIT....

You have tipped already for that meal in the auto tips assuming you left them intact, then you tipped a second time in the up charge for the specialty restaurant. If you want to leave a third tip for the same meal nobody will stop you but I feel enough is enough and do not leave extra.

 

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Is there an obvious typo that I can't see?

 

On RCI (it may be different on NCL) when they brought out specialty dining, the fee you pay to get into the restaurant is the tip. So I think what cruzsnooze is saying is that you'd be tipping the tip if you add any more money to your bill.

[LrgPizza]

I don't tip any differently than I would in a MDR. If the service is excellent, I might give more than what was already covered by the DSC. Or I might not. I see absolutely no reason to automatically treat servers in Specialty restaurants any differently than servers in included restaurants. The service is sometimes better and sometimes worse. Tip accordingly.

Edited August 21, 2014 by LrgPizza

[sjbdtz]

On RCI (it may be different on NCL) when they brought out specialty dining, the fee you pay to get into the restaurant is the tip. So I think what cruzsnooze is saying is that you'd be tipping the tip if you add any more money to your bill.

 

It is different on NCL.

 

 

The upcharge is for the smaller venue and the more expensive food. The servers rotate between venues (you may have a server one day in the MDR, and then have the same server the next day in Le Bistro), and they are compensated by the DSC.

 

 

 

.

[don't-use-real-name]

Wouldn't the server in the specialty restaurant be tipped more out of the pool

than that of a MDR server - relative to seniority and position ? A higher degree

of service is expected from the PAID specialty restaurant server than the new

first time MDR apprentice ?

I don't now how NCL divides up the Tip Pool - if is done equally without respect

for the server and position or if a senior more experienced server gets a fraction

of a percentage more for his tenure ?

 

If more of the facts about tipping were revealed the guilty feeling of tipping too

little or too much (overkill) could be made more comfortable.

 

Probably the best way is to tip the person who performed the personal service

to you if you felt that it was warranted. All the other employees in the service

chain are provided for under the DSC (Daily Service Charge) !

[Hikini]

Last time we were on NCL, one day we were in the buffet having a snack and there was an employee cleaning up tables. It was fairly quiet in there and we struck up a conversation with this employee and had a great visit with him.

 

Later that evening we went to Le Bistro and who was our waiter? That same employee who had been cleaning tables in the buffet.

 

So, I'm not sure how it's determined who works in the specialty restaurants, how they base tips on seniority or anything like that.

 

He was a great waiter for us that night and we had another great visit with him.

[sjbdtz]

Wouldn't the server in the specialty restaurant be tipped more out of the pool

than that of a MDR server - relative to seniority and position ? A higher degree

of service is expected from the PAID specialty restaurant server than the new

first time MDR apprentice ?

I don't now how NCL divides up the Tip Pool - if is done equally without respect

for the server and position or if a senior more experienced server gets a fraction

of a percentage more for his tenure ?

 

If more of the facts about tipping were revealed the guilty feeling of tipping too

little or too much (overkill) could be made more comfortable.

 

Probably the best way is to tip the person who performed the personal service

to you if you felt that it was warranted. All the other employees in the service

chain are provided for under the DSC (Daily Service Charge) !

 

Seniority and 'ranking' affects the percentage share of the DSC pool which is allocated.

 

.

[rochelle_s]

Seniority and 'ranking' affects the percentage share of the DSC pool which is allocated.

 

.

 

I would like to think it plays a part in who rotates through serving in the specialty restaurants as well. When you upgrade to a specialty restaurant it should include the service of the upper staff. Similarly the same should hold true for the Haven. The higher rate paid upfront by Haven guests should include the services of the very best of the staff. These assignments should be something that the employees can work towards achieving and rewarded with for excellence in whatever their department.

 

 

Rochelle