Tip Question

[rowmcvie]

Hi All - I have a tipping question that seems almost embarrassing to ask but, nevertheless, here goes. I've read the posts regarding how much to tip, when to tip, and have checked out the lovely tip calculator by TPKeller, but my predicament is who do I give the tips to? OK, before you all start laughing, let me also say I've never cruised X before - only Princess. On Princess the tips go on the final account and one has the option of increasing or decreasing them depending on service. But you don't hand something over to a live person if you don't want to.

 

So, I'm pretty sure I'll know who our waiter is, but what about the assistant maitre'd? Does the asst chief housekeeper introduce themselves as well? Any of you following my drift? On Princess, I only knew who our room attendant was and that was it (we did anytime dining...so not the same staff each time).

 

My understanding is that we give out the tips the evening prior to disembarking. Is that correct? Do they all come by to collect - like trick or treat? (Sorry - couldn't resist that one...:) )

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Pam

[canderson]

Hi All - I have a tipping question that seems almost embarrassing to ask but, nevertheless, here goes. I've read the posts regarding how much to tip, when to tip, and have checked out the lovely tip calculator by TPKeller, but my predicament is who do I give the tips to?

Your Cabin Steward will take care of making sure that the cabin-related tips get to the right place, and your waiter will be able assure that the dining room tips get to the right place -- although we've always given the Asst Maitre d' his tip directly.

 

Nobody will come around looking for these, but you'll be running across each of these folks on your last night and you can hand any direct tips to them then.

 

You'll have a choice of billing these tips to your shipboard account, too.

If you bill to the shipboard account, you can specify any "over and above" on that same form.

You can also give the "over and above" directly to the people mentioned above.

You can give the whole thing personally to the people mentioned above.

 

Lots of choices.

[maquezcat]

While a good Asst Maitre d' makes themselves visible the entire cruise, often it's almost comical how they will only make the rounds on the last night, as if to say "Here I am, tip me". The 2nd to last night your cabin steward should leave envelopes for you and as rowmcvie stated, your steward can take care of the hotel related tips. I assure you that you will have no trouble getting a hold of the dinning room staff on the last night. Remember, tipping is still an optional thing. While I have always received great service from Celebrity staff, if you don't think the Maitre d' did anything for you, you don't have to tip them. I've just about always had some sort of request for them during the cruise which they have helped me with so I've always left a tip, but understandably some people don't know who they are or what they do since they may not really need any of their services directly. I understand they do a lot of things behind the scenes, but that is typically their normal job function and not something I see as requiring an extra tip.

[Barry ATL]

Our furst cruise was last year on Princess. Princess does automatically add the tip unless you go to the guest services desk. It was a bit of a hassle to have them remove all of the tips from my bill. I wanted to hand all of my tips personally to the people that gave us good service. The dining room staff went so far above the call of duty during our trip that not only did we tip them, we bought some gifts for them. It is important to me to reward people who offer good hospitality. My mama brought me up to not only tip, but to be gracious and say thank you. So, no matter what or how much trouble, I will always offer tips personally.

 

By the way... the reason for the huge tip and presents was a very special meal requirement of one of our travel companions. He has MS and cannot have meat, fish, chicken, dairy, wheat, and high fat (I think I have that right). The head waiter, waiter, and asst. waiter worked really hard to create something for our friend each day. Our head waiter used to be a chef in Italy. One of the days the head waiter was not happy with the special meal the chef had prepared so, he rolled up a cart with a small hot plate. He got some pasta out of the kitchen with some ingredients and cooked a non-dairy garlic sauce for the pasta. It was so good that all eight of us at our table had some. The folks at the neighboring tables could smell it cooking and were asking for some too. This was just one of the many things they did that week to accomodate our friend. For that, they all got huge tips and presents. The presents were liquor. I asked if it was okay for staff to have liquor in their rooms and I was told yes as long as it was sealed when given to them and they had the receipt. I then asked other staff what each of these guys liked to drink and bought accordingly.

 

So, bottom line... I will always tip those that offer good service and I will do it personally... including the hotel staff.

[meyer4two]

I have a question regarding how much to give over & above the normal tippping amount.

We had a wonderful waiter & steward on the Constellation 12 nite & gave more than the normal amount required. What do most people give for an extra amount? 20, 50 or 100.? Always wondered what is the norm for great service. Any comments would be appreciated.

[Two@Sea]

We have always given our tips in cash, but are considering allowing them to be added to our onboard account in the future. How does the staff know that you have not "slighted" them? I would feel awkward handing our dining steward an additional $20 and have him wonder if that was all he was getting! Does one say something like, "Your gratuity has been added to our account, but we wanted to thank you additionally for your excellent service?"

[Dick in Falls Church]

You get a statement which you can (and probably should) give in an envelope to your waiter. You can add anything in cash to that.

[negc]

We have always given our tips in cash, but are considering allowing them to be added to our onboard account in the future. How does the staff know that you have not "slighted" them? I would feel awkward handing our dining steward an additional $20 and have him wonder if that was all he was getting! Does one say something like, "Your gratuity has been added to our account, but we wanted to thank you additionally for your excellent service?"

 

If Celebrity handles things the way that RCI does, you will get vouchers and envelopes to give your waiters, room stewards etc. You can add cash to the envelopes to those whom you determine deserve extra. I much prefer to have the ability to choose to have my tips added to my account rather than have them added automatically as so many other lines do. It is a small thing but something that I feel is a nice touch since the decision of how to tip is mine not the cruiseline's.

[rowmcvie]

Hi All,

 

I wanted to thank you for your quick responses and help. The folks on these boards are truly fabulous people who want to help others. I promise a review of the Millie 12/2 to Nowhere and the 12/4 Eastern Caribbean when I get back. Thanks again!

 

Pam (rowmcvie)

[shofer]

I have read on another site that all the tips are pooled and that each service sector, i.e. waiter, asst waiter, maitre'd, ect are given a percentage of the total. This would kind of put a damper on any extra you wanted to give them for exemplary service.

 

It was also mentioned on the other site that the best way for them to achieve recognition was when the passenger mentioned them on the comment card. It went into their file and that was how they got promoted. I know my DH always tips extra and will seek out others (like a bar server) who was especially attentive. From now on, I will also make sure I mention their name when I fill out my card.

 

Sue

[Two@Sea]

Thank you all for advising me about the "voucher" system. Your wealth of information and assistance has (once again!) eased my concerns!

[Lois R]

Hi,:) I guess I have been quite lucky. Every

cruise I have been on with X I have met the Asst Maitr'd every time

(from early on in the cruise)

On our SUMMIT Cruise last month our Maitr'd was wonderful. He

actually came down to Normandie and said hello us on the night

we ate there:) How nice is that?

 

On Constellation, we had Ruby from South Africa and she was wonderful.

We had a problem with our Sommelier and Ruby took care of it pronto:)

[Tricia724]

In September on Summit we put tips on our shipboard account but we didn't receive any vouchers. What we received was a rather generic note that basically said "thank you" from the staff. In addition, there was a set of envelopes, and we used several of them for extra tips. We asked our stewards if they knew we had charged the standard tips, and they all said yes. I like the option of putting tips on your account, but I want to make sure the people actually get them.

[Petert]

Someone above suggested that the waiter could distribute his tip envelopes for the assistant waiter and head waiter. It is never a good idea to allow another person to handle your tips. You should personally hand them to the recipient, to be sure that they actually recieve the tip, but also to prevent hard feelings if some one thinks that the wrong person has pocketed their tips.

 

petert

[kstro135]

good info