Tipping in Specialty Restaurants?

[Pinboy]

56 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

Since the first day that Celebrity had Specialty restaurants, the service charge has always been the tip, anything else is up to the cruiser.   If you buy a drink and don't have a drink package which of course now is rare, then you pay the price of the drink and a tip which last I saw was 18%, no different than if you went to one of the bars to get a drink.  

"  the service charge has always been the tip "

Who's going to tip $ 30-50 per person to eat in a Specialty Restaurant ???

Kindly read #'s 19 and 24 --- Easy to understand.

[RICCruisers]

3 hours ago, oneputt18 said:

From additional term: All cover charges are per person. Restaurant reservations are subject to availability, and reservations are non-transferable. Additional items such as beverages, menu supplements, food and wine pairings and gratuities are not included.

There are a couple of ways to read decipher this. It could be that gratuities are not included on the cover charges OR gratuities are not included on the additional items mentioned - beverages, menu supplements, food and wine pairings. I know they add the 20% gratuity to any drinks if you don’t have a beverage package or if you exceed the maximum allowed in the package. Read the description however you want. It can go either way IMHO. 
 

Celebrity could have cleared this up if the changed the description to ALL COVER CHARGES ARE PER PERSON AND DO/ORDO NOT INCLUDE GRATUITY. 
 

The way it is written leaves it open to interpretation. 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by RICCruisers

[RICCruisers]

3 hours ago, oneputt18 said:

Double Post

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by RICCruisers

[sanger727]

4 hours ago, oneputt18 said:

From additional term: All cover charges are per person. Restaurant reservations are subject to availability, and reservations are non-transferable. Additional items such as beverages, menu supplements, food and wine pairings and gratuities are not included.

 

I would read this to mean that gratuities are on the additional items are not included. Not that gratuities are not included in the cover charge. More importantly, everything else on that list will be added to your bill, including gratuities on all of those items. Gratuities are not added to your bill. 

[dkjretired]

3 hours ago, Pinboy said:

"  the service charge has always been the tip "

Who's going to tip $ 30-50 per person to eat in a Specialty Restaurant ???

Kindly read #'s 19 and 24 --- Easy to understand.

I stand behind my comment 150%, that is the way it has always been from the first Specialty restaurants.  I know because I was there 20 years ago...Celebrity at the time very clearly stated it was the tip.  .Your reference to other posts means nothing. ..

Edited August 20, 2021 by dkjretired

[RICCruisers]

17 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

I stand behind my comment 150%, that is the way it has always been from the first Specialty restaurants.  I know because I was there 20 years ago...Celebrity at the time very clearly stated it was the tip.  .Your reference to other posts means nothing. ..

While I agree that the $50 per person charge includes at least a portion for gratuity, I sincerely doubt that 100% of the cover charge is put into the “tip” pool. That would be a $100 tip/gratuity for a couple eating dinner at Murano. A $100 tip/gratuity would be the equivalent of a 20% tip/gratuity on a $500 check at a land based restaurant. While I enjoy the food at Murano, it is definitively not a $500 meal. Even the 5 Senses option is only $89.00 in addition to the $50 cover charge and it includes a wine pairing. 

 

[dkjretired]

14 minutes ago, RICCruisers said:

While I agree that the $50 per person charge includes at least a portion for gratuity, I sincerely doubt that 100% of the cover charge is put into the “tip” pool. That would be a $100 tip/gratuity for a couple eating dinner at Murano. A $100 tip/gratuity would be the equivalent of a 20% tip/gratuity on a $500 check at a land based restaurant. While I enjoy the food at Murano, it is definitively not a $500 meal. Even the 5 Senses option is only $89.00 in addition to the $50 cover charge and it includes a wine pairing. 

 

I agree with you, I never said that the full amount went towards the tip.

[LGW59]

55 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

I stand behind my comment 150%, that is the way it has always been from the first Specialty restaurants.  I know because I was there 20 years ago...Celebrity at the time very clearly stated it was the tip.  .Your reference to other posts means nothing. ..

Are you saying it has not changed in 20 years?

 

[RICCruisers]

17 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

I agree with you, I never said that the full amount went towards the tip.

I must have misinterpreted your post. It seemed to indicate the cover charge was the tip. 

[keesar]

34 minutes ago, RICCruisers said:

While I agree that the $50 per person charge includes at least a portion for gratuity, I sincerely doubt that 100% of the cover charge is put into the “tip” pool. That would be a $100 tip/gratuity for a couple eating dinner at Murano. A $100 tip/gratuity would be the equivalent of a 20% tip/gratuity on a $500 check at a land based restaurant. While I enjoy the food at Murano, it is definitively not a $500 meal. Even the 5 Senses option is only $89.00 in addition to the $50 cover charge and it includes a wine pairing. 

 

 

If a couple paid a total of $100 to eat at a Specialty Restaurant, the 18%  tip is  included in the $100.  So an $18 tip  is included in your meal price.   It has been stated at the bottom of the receipt.  (Now the tip is probably 20%)  

[cantstopingcruising]

Many years ago, we were told by staff that the price included the tip.

I don't see why that would have changed without notification.

Personally, I think the powers- that- be leave it vague because they don't want to tell pax to tip on top of their extra charges,, but they figure that if they leave it questionable, some will tip and that's OK with them.

Was this clear????

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

Your reference to other posts means nothing. ..

" Your reference to other posts means nothing " ---- to you.

Ok, that's fair.

How about this:

Let's ALL be friends, tip what we think is appropriate based on the service and food we enjoyed.

My post ( # 19 ) is exactly what we were told by Servers, Maitre'Ds and also a Hotel Manager.

Therefore, we always felt comfortable tipping our Server directly --- ( but, not $100 ). 

In fact, usually the same Server invited us to return to their table another night -- at a reduced rate.

I assume they were happy with our tip. 

 

[LGW59]

12 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

" Your reference to other posts means nothing " ---- to you.

Ok, that's fair.

How about this:

Let's ALL be friends, tip what we think is appropriate based on the service and food we enjoyed.

My post ( # 19 ) is exactly what we were told by Servers, Maitre'Ds and also a Hotel Manager.

Therefore, we always felt comfortable tipping our Server directly --- ( but, not $100 ). 

In fact, usually the same Server invited us to return to their table another night -- at a reduced rate.

I assume they were happy with our tip. 

 

Agree, tip anything additional if/when you feel it is warranted.  Just don't let me see you in the Gratuity Removal Line, please and thank you!

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

I must have misinterpreted your post. It seemed to indicate the cover charge was the tip. 

Sorry for the confusion. 

[homedepot124]

We were just on RCCL Adventure OTS last week and they add an 18% tip to the price of the dinner at Chops.

[markeb]

24 minutes ago, homedepot124 said:

We were just on RCCL Adventure OTS last week and they add an 18% tip to the price of the dinner at Chops.

That’s interesting. Chops used to be a flat fee, including gratuities, with no additional tip.  But I think we were last on RCCL in 2015. And that’s where the confusion occurs for me on this question. We always struggled with tipping in Chops. (our two Celebrity cruises were Aqua and a Sky Suite, so we didn’t eat in a specialty restaurant). 
 

We always added some additional gratuity on RCCL, but since they did include something in the upcharge, it was always guess work on what to tip. 
 

 

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, homedepot124 said:

We were just on RCCL Adventure OTS last week and they add an 18% tip to the price of the dinner at Chops.

I think this is a new thing, the upcharge for specialise restaurants use to include gratuities but I think it's changed recently 🤔 

[Redtravel]

Tips are always a topic of discussion.  When a cruise includes tips and tips are pooled, no extra tip is mandatory.  Putting a statement saying that “gratuities are not included” often makes guests unsure of what they should do.  Presenting a bill even with $0 on can be problematic for some guests. It also can make guests uncomfortable, annoyed, etc.  it puts an uncertain end to an otherwise pleasant experience.  To be fair, on upscale cruises that include tips, a check is never presented unless you buy extras like drinks not regularly included. Maybe then, offer a tip. Not requested or expected. Just a nice gesture.  Otherwise, at the end of a meal, everyone smiles and says thank you.  What a lovely end to a great dinner.  

[Esprit]

We ate twice in Murano’s during our Silhouette cruise two weeks ago. Absolutely fantastic service and food.

Never gave it a thought to tip extra and on the second visit we were treated like royalty with the same table assigned to us as requested.

Obviously I gave them a 10 and mentioned the servers names in our cruise questionnaire.

[NMTraveller]

I stayed at the Broadmoor this weekend.  At that resort it was obvious what was being done.  They add 20% to the bill and allow you to make a Discretionary Tip if you so desire.  Anyways it was very obvious that 20% was being taken out and you could tip more if you wanted.

 

If would be nice if Celebrity made it obvious.

[Pinboy]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

If would be nice if Celebrity made it obvious.

If I remember correctly , in the Specialty Restaurants Celebrity gives you a bill and on the bottom there is a line that reads " Additional Gratuity " , indicating that there already is a gratuity included in the price.

However, if you add a tip to the bill, it is shared in the tip pool. If you hand $US ( No $Can please ) to your Server, they keep it for themselves. 

 

 

[kevanmia]

The Specialty Restaurant cover charge absolutely includes the gratuities.  Think of it just like AI.  If you want to leave more for exceptional service, by all means do so, but no additional tipping is expected.

[keesar]

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I stayed at the Broadmoor this weekend.  At that resort it was obvious what was being done.  They add 20% to the bill and allow you to make a Discretionary Tip if you so desire.  Anyways it was very obvious that 20% was being taken out and you could tip more if you wanted.

 

If would be nice if Celebrity made it obvious.

 

It is obvious as a statement can be seen at the bottom of the check.  Something to the effect that a gratuity of 18% has already been included.

[Esprit]

6 hours ago, Pinboy said:

If I remember correctly , in the Specialty Restaurants Celebrity gives you a bill and on the bottom there is a line that reads " Additional Gratuity " , indicating that there already is a gratuity included in the price.

However, if you add a tip to the bill, it is shared in the tip pool. If you hand $US ( No $Can please ) to your Server, they keep it for themselves. 

 

 

We never got a bill in Murano's on the two occasions we dined there the other week on Silhouette.

[Pinboy]

3 hours ago, Esprit said:

We never got a bill in Murano's on the two occasions we dined there the other week on Silhouette.

Excellent-- I assume they changed their policy and eliminated the confusion.

Over the years we were in most Specialty Restaurants on all the S class ships and I can't remember not receiving a bill. We always handed our Server a gratuity for them to keep.

Food, service always excellent.