Tipping the dining staff

[footzz]

9 hours ago, island lady said:

We always have prepaid gratuities.    In addition we leave a 5 dollar bill on the table after every meal, including breakfast.  On fancier dinner nights, or extra service provided...a 10 dollar bill.  

 

Specialty restaurants...20 bucks usually.  

Not trying to pick a fight here but, compared to the hectic nature of dinner service in the MDR, the Specialty restaurant servers have a much easier job. Why such a disproportionate difference in the tip? Is it because you visit them less frequently?

[topnole]

1 hour ago, footzz said:

Not trying to pick a fight here but, compared to the hectic nature of dinner service in the MDR, the Specialty restaurant servers have a much easier job. Why such a disproportionate difference in the tip? Is it because you visit them less frequently?

Why do you say they have an easier job?   Expectations are often higher when folks pay extra.  Is the work load that much less?  

[LobsterStalker]

10 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

We put money into a thank you card and sign it "To our waitstaff team" from "The _____family, room 1234..." then hand it to the primary Waiter or Waitress for our table. 

They may say its the thought that counts but in this instance I believe you should rethink your approach . If you are only handing an envelope to your 'primary' waiter , I would say more often than not the assistant waiter is likely left empty handed as more than likely it would not be shared . Best to give 1 envelope per person.

... IMO

[SeattleAl]

4 hours ago, UnregisteredUser said:

Exactly, several times the bartender "forgot" to charge for coke, mineral water or other non alcoholic drinks for my wife when I tipped a $5 each time when ordering beer for myself. I have also been given a free beer in the casino bar when tipping $5 or $10 on my precious order. Not always but it happens sometimes.

I've never been in an RC casino, but in every casino I have ever been in, while playing a machine, a waitress has brought around a free beer on a regular basis (and got tipped for it). I guess that's not the practice on a cruise ship.

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, LobsterStalker said:

They may say its the thought that counts but in this instance I believe you should rethink your approach . If you are only handing an envelope to your 'primary' waiter , I would say more often than not the assistant waiter is likely left empty handed as more than likely it would not be shared . Best to give 1 envelope per person.

... IMO

That's possible.

[lenquixote66]

On 7/30/2022 at 11:45 PM, SeattleAl said:

Quick question for a person who hasn't cruised in 20 years, I understand that most tables in the MDR have a waiter and an assistant. When tipping, do you tip both, or only the waiter. If both, do you tend to tip the same?  Thanks!

I tip both but not the same amount .

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, SeattleAl said:

I've never been in an RC casino, but in every casino I have ever been in, while playing a machine, a waitress has brought around a free beer on a regular basis (and got tipped for it). I guess that's not the practice on a cruise ship.

Drinks are free in casino for club royale prime or higher members.

[Airbear232]

We usually tip extra on last day, in addition to daily prepaid amounts.  We usually tip assistant waiter, waiter and head waiter.  We have been fortunate and have always had great service.  They work hard and it is just a show of appreciation. My DW has allergies and the head waiter always looks after her orders.

[gmerick]

My tipping dogma -- Don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.  If I want to, I do --- silently, discretely, and unacknowledged.  No one else ever need know that someone got a tip.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, gmerick said:

My tipping dogma -- Don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.  If I want to, I do --- silently, discretely, and unacknowledged.  No one else ever need know that someone got a tip.

I've learned that every server in the MDR is quite adept at the "last night of the cruise" handshake-and-hand-in-pocket-right-after move.  

[DirtyDawg]

7 hours ago, gmerick said:

My tipping dogma -- Don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.  If I want to, I do --- silently, discretely, and unacknowledged.  No one else ever need know that someone got a tip.

That's my tipping dogma too! But it's for receiving tips. I encourage all my students to tip their kind, wonderful, and omniscient professor "silently, discretely, and unacknowledged" at the end of each semester. "No one else ever need know that someone got a tip." 😁

[island lady]

14 hours ago, footzz said:

Not trying to pick a fight here but, compared to the hectic nature of dinner service in the MDR, the Specialty restaurant servers have a much easier job. Why such a disproportionate difference in the tip? Is it because you visit them less frequently?

 

Much more personalized service.   Longer time between "turning" the tables.  Smaller number of tables equals less pax per night for those servers.  And they don't usually have assistant waiters, or head waiters to help them.  

 

Another big one:  They don't share from the prepaid grats you are charged per day... not everyone goes to specialty restaurants.  

 

[topnole]

14 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

They may say its the thought that counts but in this instance I believe you should rethink your approach . If you are only handing an envelope to your 'primary' waiter , I would say more often than not the assistant waiter is likely left empty handed as more than likely it would not be shared . Best to give 1 envelope per person.

... IMO

Yes.  I would never tip a person assuming they will share it.  Always separate envelopes.  You just never know.  Some might might, others definitely won’t share.  

[topnole]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Much more personalized service.   Longer time between "turning" the tables.  Smaller number of tables equals less pax per night for those servers.  And they don't usually have assistant waiters, or head waiters to help them.  

 

Another big one:  They don't share from the prepaid grats you are charged per day... not everyone goes to specialty restaurants.  

 

I’ve read on CC that if you go to a specialty restaurant your auto tip goes to that server for that meal.  Of course I have no idea on the facts here.  Are you speculating or are saying that with certainty of knowing exactly how the tips are divided up?   
 

What does smaller number of tables have to do with it.  The issue would be ratio of server to tables/passengers.  Do you know the difference between MDR and specialty restaurants?   Do you know the real difference is work load, stress, etc.  I sure don’t and I would feel comfortable saying one is definitely harder than another.  Both are very hard jobs.  I think most people tip higher because they view it as a higher tier restaurant.  Most clearly tip more at a high end steak house than they do at an Outback Steakhouse.  Same for a ship.  

[Tree_skier]

I tend not to overthink tipping.  I always keep autograts on and tip a little extra to MDR waiters, cabin attendant and bartenders/barwaiters.

 

For MDR I have always tipped the same amount for both W and AW and it usually is just slipped into their hand at the end of the last night.  For HW I have had mixed results.  When traveling with my grand daughter who has many different food allergies (soy, dairy and gluten) We interacted with her every night as she helped custom craft an excellent meal for her all through the cruise. She received the same tip as the W and AW.  Other cruises I have never even seen the HW.  He/she received nothing.

 

Cabin attendant gets half of what I intend to tip him on day one when he introduces himself and I get him to get my CPAP water and extension cord and the second half on the last night at turn down.  My last cruise, Feb 2022, on Odyssey my cabin attendant was good and did so many small extra little things I doubled that amount.

 

Bar staff typically gotten $1 with every drink I order.  That was when I had the DBP.  We are diamond on the next cruise and, as an experiment, I'm forgoing the DBP just to see how I fair cost wise and will tip $2 with each diamond drink and $1 with every other drink.  If I have a great bartender/server that I interacted with more than others (typical) I'll slip them a twenty on the last night.

 

In every case the amounts vary depending on how feel at the moment.  The amounts are often commensurate with how many drinks I have had when distributing the tips 🥃 

[island lady]

Serves me right for getting involved with one of the dreaded "tipping" threads.  😖

[Robo1098]

On a seven day cruise if the service is good I usually tip $40 to the waiter and $20 to the assitant waiter. And yes  I leave the auto gratuity also. I also make sure to mention them by name in the survey. 

[topnole]

17 minutes ago, island lady said:

Serves me right for getting involved with one of the dreaded "tipping" threads.  😖

Serves you right?   What does that mean.  Are you suggesting that if people don’t 100% agree with you, then somehow you’ve been wronged.  If you knew what I asked about I’m sure you would’ve answered and/or corrected me.  I certainly don’t know if one job is harder than the other, but I’m also not going to claim I know when I don’t.   Again,

I’ve read on CC that auto tips go to the specialty restaurants where you eat.  You said the opposite in your above post.  Do you know this for sure or are you just speculating?   I personally have no idea how or where they send these tips.  But I’m not going to be upset if I hear something that differs from my experience.  

[island lady]

34 minutes ago, topnole said:

Serves you right?   What does that mean.  Are you suggesting that if people don’t 100% agree with you, then somehow you’ve been wronged.  If you knew what I asked about I’m sure you would’ve answered and/or corrected me.  I certainly don’t know if one job is harder than the other, but I’m also not going to claim I know when I don’t.   Again,

I’ve read on CC that auto tips go to the specialty restaurants where you eat.  You said the opposite in your above post.  Do you know this for sure or are you just speculating?   I personally have no idea how or where they send these tips.  But I’m not going to be upset if I hear something that differs from my experience.  

 

I was quoting footzz who asked a curious and polite question.  Never once...did I quote you.  What exactly is your problem?  🤔

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, Robo1098 said:

I also make sure to mention them by name in the survey. 

Spot on!  The waiters really appreciate this as it can affect their promotions.

[zap99]

On 8/1/2022 at 12:24 AM, UnregisteredUser said:

Depending on service I usually tip the waitor and assistant waitor a $20  each a few times during the cruise. Not every night but atleast 2-3 times in a 7 day cruise. If service was really bad 

I don't tip extra outside the prepaid tips.

 

We have prepaid tips. The cabin steward may get a bit extra. We have already paid 18% on top for drinks and speciality restaurants.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

I’ve read on CC that auto tips go to the specialty restaurants where you eat.  You said the opposite in your above post.  Do you know this for sure or are you just speculating?   I personally have no idea how or where they send these tips.  But I’m not going to be upset if I hear something that differs from my experience.  

What are you calling "auto tips" in this context?  The 18% that gets tacked onto your specialty dining charge, or the Daily Service Charge?  Because they are two very different things.

[topnole]

44 minutes ago, brillohead said:

What are you calling "auto tips" in this context?  The 18% that gets tacked onto your specialty dining charge, or the Daily Service Charge?  Because they are two very different things.

The auto tips for everything (not the 18%).  Again, I have no idea, but that is what I’ve read on here before.  

[brillohead]

51 minutes ago, topnole said:

The auto tips for everything (not the 18%).  Again, I have no idea, but that is what I’ve read on here before.  

I've never heard that before. 

One would assume (you know what they say about that word!) that the specialty servers get paid from the specialty charges.  

I thought that the idea behind the Daily Service Charge is that it compensates the food staff in the "public/common" areas (Cafe Promenade, Windjammer, MDR, etc.) so people don't need to individually tip those personnel.  Those places that are open to all passengers for "free" would make sense to give some of the DSC money from all passengers to the servers there, because they are available to serve all of the passengers so the tip should come from all the passengers.

But with the specialty restaurants, those servers are only available to the few who reserved and paid for a spot, so it would make sense that they are tipped from the money generated from the people that patronize that restaurant.  

Then again, those same servers often also end up working in the Windjammer, etc., for some meals, so it might be a situation where the source of their gratuities is linked to which venue they worked at each shift.  In other words, they may get a small bit of money from the DSC for working breakfast in the 'Jammer and another small bit for working lunch in Park Cafe, but then at dinner they get their money from the Chops gratuity.  

Interesting to think about.  I might ask someone on one of my upcoming cruises if they have enough downtime to chit-chat.  I'm hopeful that staffing will be better this fall than it was this spring.
 

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

4 hours ago, zap99 said:

We have prepaid tips. The cabin steward may get a bit extra. We have already paid 18% on top for drinks and speciality restaurants.

Same here, always prepaid tips. This is me tipping extra in the MDR if the service is good.