Tipping wait staff extra - how much?

[Amberle3]

I'm sure this has been asked before, and a search revealed all kinds of debate on the merits of tipping etc, but I'm needing opinions on how much extra to tip.

 

I'm on Oasis right now with my BF - it's his first cruise.  He's fallen in love with cruising and is having a great time.  He's SUPER impressed with our wait staff, who have been giving the standard great service I've always experienced from wait staff in the MDR. 

 

BF really wants to tip the wait staff extra, which I agree with.  We're having a disagreement about how much.  He's going about it by trying to figure out the value of the meals (if they were at a land-based restaurant) and how much we'd be tipping for each meal, adding that up, then subtracting the $3ish per person they get from the auto gratuity. 

 

So he's figuring about $50 per person extra tip, which is considerably more than I was thinking. We're looking to see what the "standard" additional tip is.  Opinions?

[Biker19]

Tell him you'll have to deduct the extra tip from the budget on the next cruise.

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

It really is a personal choice. I tend to be an over tipper so, I may not be the best example. I always fall in love with those taking care of us & the mother comes out in me.😉 But I don't think there is a wrong amount!

[Tulsacoker]

is he just talking about MDR wait staff only?

[GUT2407]

Whatever you feel like, how about compromising, if your number was $39 and his $50 split the difference and make it $40.

 

surely every relationship can benefit from some compromise.

[Tulsacoker]

3 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

 if your number was $39 and his $50 split the difference and make it $40.

LOL, she wins

Edited February 21, 2019 by Tulsacoker

[erby2283]

For both of us, we usually tip between $30-$50 for head waiter, and slightly less for assistant waiter and then even slightly less for the drink waiter (as we are non-drinkers but still want to tip him something).  As for our room steward, we have tipped anywhere between $50-100 for the week depending on how good they were. My bf used to work off tips and so we tend to be an over-tipper. In restaurants he'll easily tip 50% of our meal total and not bat an eye. 

 

I also know a lot of others don't tip at all so I don't mind tipping a little more when I can afford it. 

[GUT2407]

6 minutes ago, Tulsacoker said:

LOL, she wins

Don’t She’s always win, I know Mrs G does

[MandyMooToo]

We gave $40 extra to the wait staff last cruise I think...then $40 extra to some bar staff also.  That's if memory serves??

[packercruising]

I would advise,  be careful to not tip more than you can reasonably afford. If $50 is within your budget, go ahead. If you just add 2% to their daily prepaid gratuity, that brings it up to 20%. So how much does 2% per person per day add up to.

[Biker19]

30 minutes ago, packercruising said:

 If you just add 2% to their daily prepaid gratuity, that brings it up to 20%. 

Daily grats are a fixed $14.50 pp pd, not a % - maybe you are thinking of drinks or other purchases which have an 18% grats.

[DfDinLA]

I think about the following things in regard to tipping on a cruise ship:

 

1. Tipping is an American custom and is not common in much of the world.

2. The cruise ship business is an international business with an international work force.

3. Americans tip in dollars and those dollars are converted by the recipients into their home country currencies worth fractions (sometimes small fractions) of a dollar.

4. Per 2017 data, a nurse in a Manilla hospital earns an average of 19,000 Philippines Pesos per month.  That converts to US $363 per month.

5. Cruise ship workers work hard.  So do nurses.

 

These are things I think about when tipping outside the USA.  

 

 

[CruiseGal999]

2 hours ago, Amberle3 said:

I'm sure this has been asked before, and a search revealed all kinds of debate on the merits of tipping etc, but I'm needing opinions on how much extra to tip.

 

I'm on Oasis right now with my BF - it's his first cruise.  He's fallen in love with cruising and is having a great time.  He's SUPER impressed with our wait staff, who have been giving the standard great service I've always experienced from wait staff in the MDR. 

 

BF really wants to tip the wait staff extra, which I agree with.  We're having a disagreement about how much.  He's going about it by trying to figure out the value of the meals (if they were at a land-based restaurant) and how much we'd be tipping for each meal, adding that up, then subtracting the $3ish per person they get from the auto gratuity. 

 

So he's figuring about $50 per person extra tip, which is considerably more than I was thinking. We're looking to see what the "standard" additional tip is.  Opinions?

please remember your room steward in your extra tips.

[packercruising]

27 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Daily grats are a fixed $14.50 pp pd, not a % - maybe you are thinking of drinks or other purchases which have an 18% grats.

I tend to think of wait staff the same way. When we tip extra, we don't get caught up in how much. Do I think $50 is too much? Yes, but who is to say without knowing more? The whole point is to acknowledge service above and beyond what is required. Our last two cruises, on HAL and NCL, didn't have wait staff that was worth any extra. We barely found a bartender to tip extra. Looking forward to that changing on our next cruise, which is RCI.

[packercruising]

10 minutes ago, CruiseGal999 said:

please remember your room steward in your extra tips.

Room steward gets the most in extra tips if he/she is really good. 🙂

[voyager70]

On top of the auto grats we generally tip each of our waiters an extra $20-30 on a 7 nighter.  Same for cabin attendant.  Glad your BF is loving his first cruise!

 

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

1 hour ago, DfDinLA said:

I think about the following things in regard to tipping on a cruise ship:

 

1. Tipping is an American custom and is not common in much of the world.

2. The cruise ship business is an international business with an international work force.

3. Americans tip in dollars and those dollars are converted by the recipients into their home country currencies worth fractions (sometimes small fractions) of a dollar.

4. Per 2017 data, a nurse in a Manilla hospital earns an average of 19,000 Philippines Pesos per month.  That converts to US $363 per month.

5. Cruise ship workers work hard.  So do nurses.

 

These are things I think about when tipping outside the USA.  

 

 

I believe in tipping what someone is worth, not what is customary in their country. They travel away from their families for prolonged periods of time to earn more money than they are able to in their own countries. To tip less because of the economic status of their own country seems to be unfair. IMHO But to each their own.

[knewcrewzr]

 

     We only tip extra for extra special service. The automatic tips are designed to adequately provide for whomever receives their cut of it. The servers and attendants know what their jobs entail and what the get paid for it. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't do it. I teach, and have been for 40 years.  Some say we are not compensated adequately for what we do, but I love my job. If I didn't, I wouldn't do it. 

 

     On our last cruise, in June, I had just finished chemo and my taste was way off. Our servers went out of their way to make sure I enjoyed everything they served to me every night. The asked me as soon as I tasted my meal if I liked it, if I wanted something different, could they suggest anything else.  You might think that would be bothersome, but it wasn't.

 

     I also empty my water glass at least 5 times at dinner (love the ship water!) and the assistant was there every time to fill it up. I don't drink soda or iced tea unless it is decaf (and the iced tea tastes terrible to me). We had a really nasty table mate who complained about everything the first night and was moved to other stations several times. Nothing and no one made him happy. I have no idea what his problem was, but both of our servers were wonderful. We tipped both of them an extra $50 on the last evening. We've never given that much extra before, if we do tip extra it's usually $20 to $30. The assistant server chased us out into the hallway on the last night when we finished dinner,  hugged us both and expressed his thanks with a very big smile. I hope to see them again when we cruise on the same ship next month. We got lucky and had extra great servers. We wanted to show our appreciation. Others might tip more or less. It's a personal decision.

 

 We will sometimes give an extra amount to our room steward as well because we ask for a full ice bucket every day, extra towels and fresh towels twice a day.  All they really have to do for us is make up the bed and clean and restock the the bathroom.  We've never been disappointed in the room service on the cruises we've taken. Of course, we keep our own room neat. Walking down the hallway, I've actually seen some room attendants hanging up or putting away people's clothing. Ridiculous! 

 

  To each, his own. Tip extra, or not. There is no standard amount. If the service was wonderful and you want to let them know,  leave a tip that you can afford. Just a handshake and "Thanks, you were wonderful!" is nice. A good review for them is appreciated too. Make sure you mention them by name. No one will grab you as you leave the ship about it. It's personal. Have a great cruise!

[suesnake2002]

I guess I'm a cheapie, I usually do $20 for the wait staff. And if i really enjoyed them i take picture of our table placard. And make sure to mention them very positively in my survey. 

[packercruising]

26 minutes ago, suesnake2002 said:

I guess I'm a cheapie, I usually do $20 for the wait staff. And if i really enjoyed them i take picture of our table placard. And make sure to mention them very positively in my survey. 

Not cheap. That is what we do a lot of time.

[brillohead]

I think the bigger question is, what is their service worth TO YOU (meaning you and your boyfriend both). 

If the wait staff caused your enjoyment of the cruise to be significantly increased, was it worth an extra $100 of enjoyment to you?  

Will giving those hard-working staff members a significant financial windfall in addition to the satisfaction of knowing that they contributed significantly to your cruise experience bring you enjoyment?  

As long as you keep the auto-tips in place, nothing more is "expected" of you.  Anything additional that you give is "above and beyond" what they would expect to receive.  Some people leave nothing more.  Some people leave $100/passenger for both the waiter and the assistant waiter.  

It all boils down to what you are comfortable with, what your finances can handle, and the message you want your tip to convey.  

And DEFINITELY take a photo of your table's placard that lists the table number and staff names, so you can mention them by name in the post-cruise survey.  The staff really does appreciate that, from what I've been told by staff on cruises I've been on.  



 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

6 hours ago, CruiseGal999 said:

please remember your room steward in your extra tips.

Why?

[PhoenixCruiser]

6 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Why?

 

Probably because they have access to toothbrushes and the toilet

[Sparkmeister]

We usually buy the drink package that has an 18 percent tip built in, but add an extra dollar to each order, which keeps our glasses full and service fast.  Not sure how much that ends up totaling by the end of the trip but probably a lot, lol. We always get the my time dining so we usually have a different wait staff at every dinner so it is harder to tip at the end of the voyage. We leave about $40 or so for the room steward.

[Saab4444]

3 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

Probably because they have access to toothbrushes and the toilet

So you tip extra because you are afraid of the staff?