Main Dinning Room Tips?

[FerretMom]

How much cash do folks usually tip after dinner in the dining room?

 

I know this is super subjective/personal but I'm looking for some guidelines. I've cruised twice before this, but my late partner was the one who always carried the cash, so I never needed to think about it ( I hate carrying cash lol). 

 

I'm traveling on Explorer out of San Juan on the 27th. This will be my third cruise, but my first cruise solo.

Thanks!

[Biker19]

🍿 worrhy?

[shipgeeks]

I don't know what post #2 means....but we just leave the automatic tips in place on our account, and then if service is especially good, we usually give our server (assuming same table and waiters every night) some extra $$ at the end of the cruise.

[neverbeenhere]

My tip for the Dinning room is: Bring some ear plugs.   See shipgeeks for a usable answer.

[takeabreath3]

Depending on the above and beyond on service I will tip anywhere from $20 to $40 for the week.  I always cruise solo.  

[taglovestocruise]

Auto tips and be done. 

[Biker19]

59 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

 

I don't know what post #2 means...

 

Some of these tipping threads sometimes turn to entertainment- hence the popcorn. 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, FerretMom said:

How much cash do folks usually tip after dinner in the dining room?

 

I know this is super subjective/personal but I'm looking for some guidelines. I've cruised twice before this, but my late partner was the one who always carried the cash, so I never needed to think about it ( I hate carrying cash lol). 

 

I'm traveling on Explorer out of San Juan on the 27th. This will be my third cruise, but my first cruise solo.

Thanks!

If you are seated at the same table each night, you will most likely have the same servers for the cruise.  In addition t pre-paid grats, we always give them $10 the first night and $30 at the end of the cruise.  That's just us, but sit back and enjoy Biker19's popcorn, this could be an entertaining show

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, takeabreath3 said:

Depending on the above and beyond on service I will tip anywhere from $20 to $40 for the week.  I always cruise solo.  

Exactly the same for me, other than I'm not solo about half the time.

[cargopilot]

On our Anthem 1/31/22 cruise, we were able to secure the early 5:30 seating, and our head waiter was the most attentive that we ever had in many cruises.

[Ptroxx]

I do 5.00 a night for each.   On explorer 2 weeks ago I did 35.00 for the week.  We had a great assistant waiter but our waiter wasn’t as great. But still did the same for both.    
 

say high to Louiegee on the Explorer. Tell him Sir George says hello.   
He has some great magic tricks.    

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, cargopilot said:

On our Anthem 1/31/22 cruise, we were able to secure the early 5:30 seating, and our head waiter was the most attentive that we ever had in many cruises.

Welcome to CC.

[Hutcha]

I don't do an assigned dinner time anymore, so I'd likely have different staff every night. The tip would depend on the individual service. If in the MDR, and the service was attentive and on point, $5-10/pp. If it was just ok (food got to me, but nothing special), I'd let the auto tips take care of it. In a specialty restaurant, $10-15/pp. 

[smokeybandit]

There's no expectation that you tip nightly (or at all really) in the MDR.

 

But if you want to, you have every right to.

[FerretMom]

Thanks for the feedback folks!

 

I personally feel like it's important to leave a "real" tip above the auto gratuities because there are so many people who take care of you. Plus I'm sure it improves the service! My last cruise, we were a group of 6 with my time dining, but we ended up with the same wait staff & table every night anyway. They were fantastic! We left cash each night, but I don't know how much! 

 

[smokeybandit]

20 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

My tip for the Dinning room is: Bring some ear plugs.   See shipgeeks for a usable answer.

 

Amazing how just one letter totally changes the literal context of the question

Edited February 19, 2022 by smokeybandit

[DonnaK]

We just stick with the autotips.  

[Sunshine3601]

We will tip $20 to $50 to both the head waiter and their assistant, depending on their service as well as the length of the cruise.     Specialty restaurant usually give a $10 to $20 depending if it's lunch or dinner and their service. 

[vacationlover_mn]

We sometimes tip the waiters extra (like the last time we did MDR instead of the UDP, and my friend’s fiancé was awful to them, so we’d give $10 each night), but always tip drink guy (when they have them) $5 first night in addition to $1-$2 a drink.

[Shiraus82]

Just the autotips.

[SG65CB]

I guess I'm an over-tipper and need to dial it back.

 

We always use traditional dining with the same waiter and assistant the entire week. On the last night I give the waiter $100 and the assistant $50. I suppose we'd get even better service if they somehow knew this in advance.

 

The exception was our last cruise we ate at Coastal Kitchen every night and they rotated the waiters so we had different ones each night, four different waiters during the week. I was at a loss what to do, not accustomed to tipping each night and I didn't know they rotated until the second night. Ended up with just auto-gratuities instead of trying to track down each waiter on the last night. I suppose MTD would be similar, no assurance of having the same staff every night. 

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, SG65CB said:

I guess I'm an over-tipper and need to dial it back.

Why?  

If you're happy and comfortable giving that amount, why not just continue to make the employees happy?  

[BirdTravels]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:00 PM, FerretMom said:

How much cash do folks usually tip after dinner in the dining room?

So,,, you really don't have to tip anything. On the final night, the waiters will be giving you their "pitch" on surveys, etc. 

 

Tipping is subjective and if it makes you feel better, get an envelope and tip your waiter and assistant waiter whatever you want. 

 

On our 7-night on the Adventure last year, we tipped our waiter and assistant waiter $50 each on the final night (that's $7/night each). 

[SRF]

Funny, I always get great and attentive service without tipping above the auto grats.

 

If the service is SUPER good, then I might tip a bit extra.   Like the one waiter that brought us 3 lobster tails EACH to get started. 😄

 

[SeattleAl]

I'm not a huge fan of tipping in general. I think you should pay someone a fair wage and they should do their job conscientiously. I am a little flummoxed by the cruise ship gratuity thing. I have a set gratuity to pay (yes, I know I can adjust it, but I'm OK with the standard amount), but then it seems normal or expected to still tip beyond that. When I eat out with a group and a tip is automatically added to the bill, I don't tip beyond that.

 

I wish they'd just pick a lane. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect tipping on both ends.

 

PS-I feel the same way about excursions. I have an excursion booked for this summer in Alaska that will cost me $1000 for my family. That's a week's wages for me. I then need to tip the staff? Not sure I find that reasonable.