Head waiter

[amajaa]

Is it the done thing to give the Head Waiter an extra gratuity on the last day? Our one has been so good with my diabetic diet that we were going to give him extra but not sure if it is considered not the done thing to tip head waiter or it might be beneath him.

[c-boy]

1 minute ago, amajaa said:

Is it the done thing to give the Head Waiter an extra gratuity on the last day? Our one has been so good with my diabetic diet that we were going to give him extra but not sure if it is considered not the done thing to tip head waiter or it might be beneath him.

monetary or a gift would probably go a long way.

[kywildcatfanone]

Money is never beneath anyone in the service industry, especially on a cruise ship.  If you feel the service deserves a gratuity above and beyond the auto gratuity, you should give one.

[geocruiser]

I all ways tip our head waiter.  I get a lot of help from him because I have a shell fish allergy.  Some times it is hidden in the way the food is made, ex sauces made from it.  

We had lots of great head waiters.  On one of my Regal cruises I ask Adrain  (head waiter) about what night should we pick to go to the specialty restaurant (so that we did not go on formal night).  My DH and I pick out the night.  Adrain ask what time we wanted.  He came back later at dinner and said he made our reservation and told them all about my allergy and they would be on top of it.  Great service.  All of them have been wonderful to me.

 

And yes, we do tip them with cash and also write out a card for them.  I have even E-mail Princess and told them how great they were.  

[Micahs Grandad]

DW has very unusual food allergies and the head waiter will take her dinner order each day and make sure the stuff used is ok for her to eat. Last cruise he also helped several days for lunches in DR.

 

When we get good service from the head waiter, we will give him a very nice tip as our way of saying thank you

[Micahs Grandad]

2 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I all ways tip our head waiter.  I get a lot of help from him because I have a shell fish allergy.  Some times it is hidden in the way the food is made, ex sauces made from it.  

We had lots of great head waiters.  On one of my Regal cruises I ask Adrain  (head waiter) about what night should we pick to go to the specialty restaurant (so that we did not go on formal night).  My DH and I pick out the night.  Adrain ask what time we wanted.  He came back later at dinner and said he made our reservation and told them all about my allergy and they would be on top of it.  Great service.  All of them have been wonderful to me.

 

And yes, we do tip them with cash and also write out a card for them.  I have even E-mail Princess and told them how great they were.  

Forgot about that we will do the same. Out of a dozen cruises only one head waiter did not get a tip. Basically everything she asked for he quickly came back and said not possible. We felt he was very shallowly going thru the motions

[geocruiser]

1 minute ago, Micah's Grandad said:

DW has very unusual food allergies and the head waiter will take her dinner order each day and make sure the stuff used is ok for her to eat. Last cruise he also helped several days for lunches in DR.

 

When we get good service from the head waiter, we will give him a very nice tip as our way of saying thank you

I agree.  The head waiters that I have had go out of their way to be helpful and kind.  Also for your DW, when at the buffet get one of the Chefs (big white hat), they will take your wife around to each dish of food and tell here what to take and not to take.  One of my Head waiter told me to do that.  There have been times that I would had eaten something not seeing the shellfish product in it.

[partybarbie]

If they provide an extra service for us, then we tip at the end.  On our recent Royal Princess cruise, we tipped two different head waiters for providing outstanding service in the anytime dining room, and the Wine Maker's dinner. 

[Micahs Grandad]

1 hour ago, geocruiser said:

I agree.  The head waiters that I have had go out of their way to be helpful and kind.  Also for your DW, when at the buffet get one of the Chefs (big white hat), they will take your wife around to each dish of food and tell here what to take and not to take.  One of my Head waiter told me to do that.  There have been times that I would had eaten something not seeing the shellfish product in it.

That reminds me. Last December on our first cruise on Pacific Princess got into a conversation with head chef of buffet about high fiber rolls not being available in the morning. Princess in the past has made some excellent very crusty ones.

Chef said no problem he arranged for a batch to be made for me and each morning went up to one of his people who got me 3-4 for breakfast. Didnt give him a tip as I recall but certainly he was featured in my comment card.

[cnd crsr]

I am another one with food allergies and have found the headwaiters have always gone above and beyond. Often this has involved having food specially prepared. We always tip the HW because of the extra care he has taken. 

[paul929207]

My wife is lactose intolerant and allergic to shell fish. We have the Head Waiter come by every evening to help my wife make safe choices for the next night. We tip him the last night.

[OCruisers]

It's always a good idea to tip the Head Waiter!  

[Steelers36]

I would at least do a staff write-up for outstanding HW so management can recognize him/her.  We had a fantastic HW on our S.A. trip (Nelson).  Our most recent trip on Majestic was 180+ the opposite.  Never even dropped around to introduce himself.  (We didn't care much as didn't need him, but pretty poor to not even do the basics).  Needless to say - no tip and no commendation.

[Times Prince]

With the special service given, it would be good to tip the head waiter.  We've also been informed on many cruises that the "You Made a Difference" cards and mention on the customer survey go a long way towards showing the company this is a valuable employee.

 

With normal service (minimal or no interaction) the head waiter is compensated by the tip pool.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Times Prince

[GuardCruisers]

This will start a firestorm...................I tip our headwaiter in the MDR on the first night, as well as his assistant.  Matter of fact, I quietly give the assistant a $50 bill because I know it will be him who is lugging all of my selections up all of those stairs.  I tend to try some of everything, and two of some things, so he has a lot of trays.

 

Some will call it a bribe, I call it To Insure Prompt/Proper Service.  Tip (s).

 

I also tip our room steward a $50 bill when we first meet him and explain that my wife is on vacation and that I prefer to never have her hear the word "no".  We have yet to ever be disappointed.

 

Heading to the bank now to get some $50 bills............we sail Sunday.

[Colo Cruiser]

Skip the trinkets and give some $$$.

In addition fill out the recognition card for them as well.

We never tip in advance.            At a minimum you should be insured proper service without prompting...........regardless.

[partybarbie]

We also tip at the end, however, on our recent B2B cruises, I tipped small amounts at the end of the first leg.  On the second and third legs we received (without asking) wine glasses, extra pool towels, spa robes, and window seats (at a table for two) every night in anytime dining.  I guess a lot of people aren't tipping extra at all.  The service was good before we tipped, but the tipping took it to another level.  

[Ep010835]

We are among those who offer a spif at the beginning then more (maybe) at the end if everything was extraordinary. Which it usually is. 

[rkacruiser]

Head Waiter:  To whom does this refer?  Is this the staff member who wears the Green Jacket in the MDR at dinner?  Or, is this your primary waiter in your MDR team?

 

If the "Head Waiter" is not the staff member in the Green Jacket, what is this individual's function?

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, GuardCruisers said:

This will start a firestorm...................I tip our headwaiter in the MDR on the first night, as well as his assistant.  Matter of fact, I quietly give the assistant a $50 bill because I know it will be him who is lugging all of my selections up all of those stairs.  I tend to try some of everything, and two of some things, so he has a lot of trays.

 

Some will call it a bribe, I call it To Insure Prompt/Proper Service.  Tip (s).

 

I also tip our room steward a $50 bill when we first meet him and explain that my wife is on vacation and that I prefer to never have her hear the word "no".  We have yet to ever be disappointed.

 

Heading to the bank now to get some $50 bills............we sail Sunday.

 

Have you ever tried not bribing the staff to see if the service is any different?

 

DON

[MauiLvrs]

When we have a bunch of special diet related requests ... which is most of the time ....

We almost always tip the Head Waiter

[Ep010835]

2 hours ago, GuardCruisers said:

This will start a firestorm...................

Some will call it a bribe, I call it To Insure Prompt/Proper Service.  Tip (s).

 

Yup. You were certainly right. And it didn’t take them long. 

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, GuardCruisers said:

This will start a firestorm...................I tip our headwaiter in the MDR on the first night, as well as his assistant.  Matter of fact, I quietly give the assistant a $50 bill because I know it will be him who is lugging all of my selections up all of those stairs.  I tend to try some of everything, and two of some things, so he has a lot of trays.

 

Some will call it a bribe, I call it To Insure Prompt/Proper Service.  Tip (s).

 

I also tip our room steward a $50 bill when we first meet him and explain that my wife is on vacation and that I prefer to never have her hear the word "no".  We have yet to ever be disappointed.

 

Heading to the bank now to get some $50 bills............we sail Sunday.

Wouldn’t it be better to bring $100 bills along with you, rip them in half then hand out one half at the beginning of the cruise with a promise to provide the other half at the end if all goes well?

[GuardCruisers]

1 hour ago, partybarbie said:

We also tip at the end, however, on our recent B2B cruises, I tipped small amounts at the end of the first leg.  On the second and third legs we received (without asking) wine glasses, extra pool towels, spa robes, and window seats (at a table for two) every night in anytime dining.  I guess a lot of people aren't tipping extra at all.  The service was good before we tipped, but the tipping took it to another level.  

Exactly.  We have been on many cruises, the service was good and on the first few we just tipped at the end.  When I started to tip part of it at the start, the service level went way up.  As it says "To INSURE" not "to hope".  I am happy with our arrangements.

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

Head Waiter:  To whom does this refer?  Is this the staff member who wears the Green Jacket in the MDR at dinner?  Or, is this your primary waiter in your MDR team?

 

If the "Head Waiter" is not the staff member in the Green Jacket, what is this individual's function?

I believe they are referring to the individual DR managers.

Each DR has 3-4 HW's who wear the green or white jackets. (depending on formal night)