Tipping for waiter and maitre d

[satxdiver]

Oh no... not that!!??!!! <Running for the exits>:loudcry:

 

Agreed. However I believe the poster is trying to be funny.

[Loonbeam]

Because this was verified a long time ago as Princess policy (though individual ships have some discretion). If autotip is removed, any cash tips received by staff from the removing parties is used to make up the shortfall if it can. The staff does not have to make up the difference from their pocket. This is to prevent the others in the pool from getting screwed over (like if you have anytime dining).

 

 

What was never quite clear was if this was cabin specific or pooled. I.e. if you take off the tip per day and give steward $5, he turns that in, and if another cabin gives him $10 over the auto tip, does the $10 get reduced too.. Never could confirm that.

 

Also, I spoke to someone at Princess. The MDs ARE in the tip pool, technically, but a very small amount compared to others.

 

Tipping above and beyond is a personal decision. The hotel charge however, while technically optional for business reasons that benefit crew, ship and pax, is effectively part of the cruise fare and a big part of staff compensation. It should not be removed except in cases of bad service that cannot be otherwise addressed. *To avoid pounding on dead equines, no it does not make sense to raise the cruise fare and pay them more, it would not resolve the issue just increase ancillary costs for passengers and crew..

 

 

 

Like it or not, this is the system under which most cruise ships operate, including all main lines out of the US.

 

I'd love to know where you got the idea that if I take off autotips and give my steward $5/day that he has to "make up" the difference between the autotip amount and the $5 for every day. You really believe that the steward is going to have to make up the $8.95 difference every day? That is one very weird interpretation of what you posted!

 

 

And, before you ask, no I do not remove autotips and usually we do tip extra.

 

 

Tom

[Pierlesscruisers]

Because this was verified a long time ago as Princess policy (though individual ships have some discretion). If autotip is removed, any cash tips received by staff from the removing parties is used to make up the shortfall if it can. The staff does not have to make up the difference from their pocket. This is to prevent the others in the pool from getting screwed over (like if you have anytime dining).

 

 

What was never quite clear was if this was cabin specific or pooled. I.e. if you take off the tip per day and give steward $5, he turns that in, and if another cabin gives him $10 over the auto tip, does the $10 get reduced too.. Never could confirm that.

 

Also, I spoke to someone at Princess. The MDs ARE in the tip pool, technically, but a very small amount compared to others.

 

Tipping above and beyond is a personal decision. The hotel charge however, while technically optional for business reasons that benefit crew, ship and pax, is effectively part of the cruise fare and a big part of staff compensation. It should not be removed except in cases of bad service that cannot be otherwise addressed. *To avoid pounding on dead equines, no it does not make sense to raise the cruise fare and pay them more, it would not resolve the issue just increase ancillary costs for passengers and crew..

 

 

 

Like it or not, this is the system under which most cruise ships operate, including all main lines out of the US.

 

I agree with the policy as you have stated it. However, that was not what the person said that I quoted. At least it was not as I read it.

 

Tom

[keithm]

We have a great waiter and maiter d and was wondering what is a good amount to tip on top of the gratuity. We have three people at the table?

Here's where the fun starts! I'll use us as an example. We only tip the Maître D if he did something for us..special table/special food that sort of thing. They are well paid, compared to the rest of the DR staff. We usually tip about $20. As to our waiter, I'm using a 14 day trip(or B2B) We normally tip about $80. We then tip $40 to the asst. waiter. On our Regal trip some time ago, the asst. waiter left after the first week. The replacement was really pretty poor(sorry, it happens)We tipped him $30. Our waitress, Flora was outstanding. One of the best we ever had on any cruise. We tipped her about $150. This may seem high to some. On the QM2 years back we tipped $100 to our waiter. We got pretty friendly with this couple from NJ. Charlie was a hoot! Looked like Jackie Mason. He & his wife were among the nicest pax we ever had the privilege of meeting. He tipped his waiter $500. Now THAT was a generous guy!

[keithm]

You didn't tip me.. :(

Ok, here's your tip: Look both ways before crossing the street & ALWAYS make sure you're wearing clean underwear! Now that's a tip from virtually EVERY mother across the country.

[RocketMan275]

You didn't tip me.. :(

 

You want a tip? Thunderbolt in the third.

[Colo Cruiser]

You want a tip? Thunderbolt in the third.

 

 

I will stick with the Thunderbird MD 2020 at the half. :cool:

[Thrak]

I will stick with the Thunderbird MD 2020 at the half. :cool:

 

Wow. No way. Thunderbird and MD 20/20 are not the same fine wine. Very different. Thunderbird is a single flavor whereas Mad Dog comes in a variety of flavors. I can see your "fine wine" education is lacking. Back in the day it was, "What's the word? Thunderbird! What's the price? Fifty twice!" I notice you didn't even mention Gallo White Port. There was an old song that said, "White Port and Lemon Juice. Sure tastes good to me!"

 

So many horrid fortified wines. <shudder>

[satxdiver]

You are all missing the 2 buck chuck. I have heard it is great wine and certainly better than what I had to drink back in college as a poor student.

[elfinmagic]

You are all missing the 2 buck chuck. I have heard it is great wine and certainly better than what I had to drink back in college as a poor student.

 

It is now three buck chuck

[Steelers36]

It is now three buck chuck

 

Would they dare charge corkage on that stuff?

[elfinmagic]

I will stick with the Thunderbird MD 2020 at the half. :cool:

 

If you like a medium sweet red (not Moscato) try Jam Jar sweet shiraz - hard to find - it is from S Africa.

[elfinmagic]

Would they dare charge corkage on that stuff?

 

It is not bad but only comes in about five varieties - only at Trader Joes Markets

[Itchy&Scratchy]

That's not actually what their contract says, it says all cash tips must be handed in, (it doesn't say if any is returned after checking on auto tips or whatever so that becomes speculation) but it is clear that all cash tips must be handed in.

the waiters don't get to keep their personally earned additional cash tips???????? :o

 

 

With anytime and often having different waitstaff every evening there was no way at the end of the cruise to track down who served you and give a tip.

yes, there is. We always do AD, and we got the same waitress twice in one week. She was fabulous! We kept requesting her table, but it was always full because everyone wanted her. On our last night on the ship, I went over to her table and thanked her in person (now I wish I gave her extra tip) and filled out a card singing her praise. Anna (it's been a year, and I still remember her name) went above and beyond, especially considering our kid who was being a little picky with his choices. Edited September 1, 2017 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Loonbeam]

Asked and answered above. They have to hand them in. If the person who gave the tip removed the autocharge, the cash is taken to put into the pool up to the autocharge.

 

 

So, for example, on a 7 day cruise the autocharge for one person, rounded, is $84. You take off the autocharge and hand your steward $40 and give nothing to the dining staff. That $40 does not go back to the steward it goes into the pool to make up part of the $84.

 

If you keep the autocharge on and hand them $40, they turn it in and get it back in their account in the next cruise.

 

If they take money without noting cabin number and turning it in, their contract is terminated.

 

the waiters don't get to keep their personally earned additional cash tips???????? :o

 

 

.

[kruisey]

I have always tipped above the auto tip.

In the MDR, TRAD, give the Head Waiter (Gluten passenger) and Waiter a generous tip,the Assistant waiter half of that and the generous tip to my cabin steward.Also fill in the commendation cards if service is great for others as well.:)

[AZbeachboy]

Wow. No way. Thunderbird and MD 20/20 are not the same fine wine. Very different. Thunderbird is a single flavor whereas Mad Dog comes in a variety of flavors. I can see your "fine wine" education is lacking. Back in the day it was, "What's the word? Thunderbird! What's the price? Fifty twice!" I notice you didn't even mention Gallo White Port. There was an old song that said, "White Port and Lemon Juice. Sure tastes good to me!"

 

So many horrid fortified wines. <shudder>

 

We all know that the people who drink wine wither MD or Thunderbird were pretentious snobs. Give me an Old Milwaukee or PBR any time. :D

[Itchy&Scratchy]

If you keep the autocharge on and hand them $40, they turn it in and get it back in their account in the next cruise.

I guess I was still confused about that. So, they do keep it if I don't cancel the autocharge?

We never cancel the autocharged tips. I guess one day I might, if the service is truly horrendous, but we've never experienced truly bad service before. Less than stellar? Yes. Underwhelming? Yes. Annoyingly slow? Yes. Truly bad? Nope.

 

But then - we've never tipped additionally... Somebody above said that some cruiser left a $500 tip to the waiter. That's more than some cruises cost us per person... We've been on $258pp 7 night Royal Caribbean cruises...

 

If they take money without noting cabin number and turning it in, their contract is terminated.

what if the envelope was blank? Can they just make up a cabin number as long as they turn it in? My friend left cash tips for the waiters in plain blank envelopes. Boy, I hope their contracts didn't get terminated. She thought she was doing a good thing.

[Loonbeam]

I guess I was still confused about that. So, they do keep it if I don't cancel the autocharge?

We never cancel the autocharged tips. I guess one day I might, if the service is truly horrendous, but we've never experienced truly bad service before. Less than stellar? Yes. Underwhelming? Yes. Annoyingly slow? Yes. Truly bad? Nope. - That's how its supposed to work...

 

 

what if the envelope was blank? Can they just make up a cabin number as long as they turn it in? My friend left cash tips for the waiters in plain blank envelopes. Boy, I hope their contracts didn't get terminated. She thought she was doing a good thing. - They are supposed to ask if they don't know (and if you have traditional dining they know your cabin number)

 

Lets be blunt, of course some staff are happy to take a palmed tip without asking, but if caught, its bye bye. But the last time on Princess I handed a server we particular liked and requested $40 and the first thing they did was write our cabin number on each bill before putting it away (I had also given him a comment card which had our cabin number). It's not an exact system, but probably as close as can be gotten without draconian measures.

[floridalover5623]

I guess I was still confused about that. So, they do keep it if I don't cancel the autocharge?

We never cancel the autocharged tips. I guess one day I might, if the service is truly horrendous, but we've never experienced truly bad service before. Less than stellar? Yes. Underwhelming? Yes. Annoyingly slow? Yes. Truly bad? Nope.

 

But then - we've never tipped additionally... Somebody above said that some cruiser left a $500 tip to the waiter. That's more than some cruises cost us per person... We've been on $258pp 7 night Royal Caribbean cruises...

 

what if the envelope was blank? Can they just make up a cabin number as long as they turn it in? My friend left cash tips for the waiters in plain blank envelopes. Boy, I hope their contracts didn't get terminated. She thought she was doing a good thing.

If you're going to tip someone extra & you wanted only them to keep all of it, I would do it on the side when there's no one else around. (such as bartenders).

There suppose to pool their tips but I have a few friends that I always give extra to & I know for a fact they they just pocket the tips for themselves.

[Colo Cruiser]

If you're going to tip someone extra & you wanted only them to keep all of it, I would do it on the side when there's no one else around. (such as bartenders).

There suppose to pool their tips but I have a few friends that I always give extra to & I know for a fact they they just pocket the tips for themselves.

 

 

 

They don't have to declare trinkets.

[kruisey]

If you pay full tips on your account them any extras can be pocketed.:)

[pablo222]

If you're going to tip someone extra & you wanted only them to keep all of it, I would do it on the side when there's no one else around. (such as bartenders).

 

I would try and do it off the ship.

[elfinmagic]

I know how the auto tip and extra tip system works but will refrain from commenting

[Pierlesscruisers]

Lets be blunt, of course some staff are happy to take a palmed tip without asking, but if caught, its bye bye. But the last time on Princess I handed a server we particular liked and requested $40 and the first thing they did was write our cabin number on each bill before putting it away (I had also given him a comment card which had our cabin number). It's not an exact system, but probably as close as can be gotten without draconian measures.

 

My wife and I have been asked for our room number a couple of times when we've forgotten to put it on the envelope also. The written comment card is helpful toward promotion and the cash tips are helpful for survival!

 

Tom