Sorry..another tipping thread...specialty restaurants?

[pugsammy]

When we had dinner in the steakhouse on Carnival, we left the waiter a $20 only because we weren't sure what to tip.......

 

We purchased the UDP on our upcoming sail on the Epic and plan to dine in all of the specialty restaurants....So my question is..

 

What do you leave for gratuity at the specialty restaurants..if anything?

 

When we dined in the main dining rooms, we always slipped the dining staff an extra envelope at the end of the cruise.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

You do not have to leave a tip at any restaurant specialty or MDR. However my last cruise on the breakaway there were 3 of us and we left $6 for every dinner we had anywhere and breakfast or lunch $3/4. The DSC covers the servers. But this is just me you will get many people who don't leave anything. I just feel funny getting up not leaving anything.

[Ilovesailing]

We only eat in the specialty restaurants, y'll find the service is top notch and you will probably have more than one server.

We tip each dinner service $5.00 for the two of us. For lunch $3 to $5 and for Cagney's breakfast $2.

[roger001]

None required or expected. However, we tip $5 for dinner in a specialty restaurant or the MDR (occasionally $5 for each of two servers if two used). For breakfast or lunch in an MDR, usually $3.

[russianmom]

We also tip $5 when we eat dinner in specialty restaurants. We also tip extra for Cagney's breakfast and lunch because they go above and beyond.

[Rudyard]

We tipped $5 for the servers, and in Teppenyaki an extra $5 for the chef.

[jackson bernard]

Its included in the charge for the restaurant. No need to tip if you dont want to. Your dsc will be tipping the waitstaff at the free restaurant that you will not be using.

 

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[rvsullivan]

Its included in the charge for the restaurant. No need to tip if you dont want to. Your dsc will be tipping the waitstaff at the free restaurant that you will not be using.

 

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The charge for the restaurant has nothing to do with it. The waitstaff in the specialty restaurants is part of the DSC. Serving staff rotate around, you mind one serving breakfast in the MDR and dinner in Cagney's. All participate in DSC. Any tip would be for extra or special service.

[cb at sea]

The tip is included in the fee....no need for additional tips, unless you want to.

[Donny007]

Just off the Dawn and we ate at Cagneys one night. We left a 20 percent tip which was about $12.00. I felt the service and food were great, Still cheaper than a comparable meal in Boston!

[Love my butler]

When we had dinner in the steakhouse on Carnival, we left the waiter a $20 only because we weren't sure what to tip.......

 

We purchased the UDP on our upcoming sail on the Epic and plan to dine in all of the specialty restaurants....So my question is..

 

What do you leave for gratuity at the specialty restaurants..if anything?

 

When we dined in the main dining rooms, we always slipped the dining staff an extra envelope at the end of the cruise.

 

All restaurant staff in ALL dining venues are covered by the Discretionary Service Charge, aka, prepaid gratuity. No additional tips are necessary or expected.

[Da-Painter]

The old days of rushing around at the end of a cruise trying to find people who helped you all week to give a tip to are over. That was not a very efficient way to do things.

 

I like that I can go eat, and use a variety of services, without having to carry money with me passing out tips to everyone who opens a door for me, or fills my water glass. I am on vacation, with the understanding I am not required to pass out tips continuously. With the DSC it is all taken care of, I let NCL do this for me, they have a system, works for most folks.

 

We will usually give an additional gratuity of thanks to our cabin stewards, as they always do a great job, as well as butlers, etc.

 

We will also write up the comment card with employee names and information, these are available at the pursers desk, and can really benefit the employee more then giving them a few more dollars. They can get additional off time, get more acknowledgement from NCL, etc., which they appreciate more.

 

This system works for me.

[C-line]

We got the UDP last spring and we tipped each evening in the specialty restaurants. I just pulled out our trip binder and we tipped between $5 and $10 per meal. DH did the tipping so I'm not sure why the range - maybe he actually based it on the service instead of just picking a set number for every evening.

[NLH Arizona]

I usually leave $5 per person at the specialty restaurants, but there is no expectations from the wait staff and many diners don't leave anything.

[Ilovesailing]

As a side note if you are wanting to tip but don't have cash and not getting a bill for additional things such as drinks you can request the waiter to make up a bill that will show zero balance so that you can add on tip which will then be posted to your on board acct.

[pe4all]

We tipped $10 for each specialty restaurant we ate in.:)

[dalgirl]

If we get extra special service in a specialty restaurant, we will leave a tip. But for any service you get that goes out of the way beyond what is normally expected, always try to do a comment card - these really do have an impact for those working onboard with additional rewards.

[DaisyGoldberg]

Be sure to check your onboard statement -- we added $20 for our waiter in Cagney's one night and it did not show up on our bill. I went back and asked them to look into it and they added it back in.

 

The tip was that big because this waiter was also our waiter every morning and most lunches in Cagneys, and we were not tipping for breakfast and lunch.