Since the recent tipping post, I have to ask....

[teddie]

2 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We tip for drinks in the CL and at bars, usually a $1 per drink.  In the past when we knew we would have the same servers in the CL we would tip a couple of times during the week.  We've been with couples who were not Americans and they did not tip at all.   The servers were always appreciative and remembered our favorites. 

We also tipped with $1-2 bucks even with our Diamond voucher drink orders.  It was definitely appreciated.

Thanks for responding.

[teddie]

1 hour ago, joeyancho said:

You're fine.  They were over the top. 

Thanks.  I was like, "are we cheapskates, or what?"

Teddie

[teddie]

1 hour ago, Rusty_lock said:

$20 a night in the MDR is over the top.  Your tips were more than generous and more than adequate and would have been gratefully received.  I typically tip just like you have and have no intention of going much beyond that.  The only way I do things differently than you is generally give $20 to the cabin steward up front when I meet him/her on day 1 and let them know my special needs.

Also I tend to tip my bartenders or servers in the bar.  I'm probably overly generous there but that is for selfish reasons.  I tend to get good return on investment when doing that.

Thanks--I forgot to mention that we did leave extra on the pillow the following morning a few times when the steward met our requested extras. 

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

If someone only elects for prepaid or daily gratuities as defined by the cruise line and doesn't tip a single dollar extra, is that person cheap?

No. 

[Longford]

22 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We tip for drinks in the CL and at bars, usually a $1 per drink.  In the past when we knew we would have the same servers in the CL we would tip a couple of times during the week.  We've been with couples who were not Americans and they did not tip at all.   The servers were always appreciative and remembered our favorites. 

 

I was on Serenade 11/5/2022 for a 7 nighter, solo.  I brought 2 bottles of wine with me and I didn't drink but several times at one of the bars.  I ordered a total of 3 Pina Coladas at a bar above the pool deck.  I tipped an additional $2 cash the first drink.  The female bartender double poured, maybe triple ... the rum.  The next 2 drinks I gave her $5 each time.  Yes, I paid the automatic gratuity added to the check, but the $5 cash was worth the spectacular drink, IMO.  Of course, I was feeling pretty good.  By the way, when the second, male, bartender showed up to work with her she poured only the prescribed amount.  😁

[BennyandBo]

2 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

You're not even obligated to pay the included gratuities.

Yes, remember the automatic gratuities can be totally removed at guest services at any time for any reason.

 

Yes, for those who don't want to tip at all.

 

Or those who prefer to tip in cash to the servers they come in personal contact with only. (AKA Old school tipping). Always a tempting option. Face to face tipping those who directly served you. As for the rest of the crew, I never feel it's my personal responsibility to supplement their income. But everyone should do what they find is best for them. 

 

 

[zanydoc]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Beat me too it...

At least someone got me! 😅

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Just to be the first write it and hopefully the highest claimed amount, we give $12,000 per meal in the MDR as a gratuity each night. 

 

But that has to be shared with 2,000+ crew members so it works out to a little less than $5 each.

 

Cheapskate! 😉

[teddie]

3 hours ago, soremekun said:

If someone only elects for prepaid or daily gratuities as defined by the cruise line and doesn't tip a single dollar extra, is that person cheap?

Not my style, but at least the autograts were paid. When I hear about people cancelling them on the final day, tI think THAT'S cheap. I was feeling OK about my tipping but when I heard talk about the $20/day extra, I was wondering if I missed something. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by teddie

[KansasK]

We always left the prepaid gratuities in place and tipped extra with cash if the service we received warranted the extra tip, and it usually did. With our cabin being cleaned once a day instead of twice, and with the gratuity we pay still being based on the twice a day amount, I doubt we will tip extra for the cabin attendant this time. In this case, it is fair to give the set amount. 

 

 

[Jasukkie]

I do the auto-gratuities and tip on voucher drinks. I'm 50/50 now on leaving the room steward a little extra, and no longer tip dining room waiters extra because I'm more often not there often.

 

I did the ultimate dining package and only tipped extra when we ordered something that was an upcharge (Chops), or on the drinks, so essentially not at lunch. I really hope I wasn't wrong but I thought gratuities were included in that. 

[Merion_Mom]

6 hours ago, zanydoc said:

We usually do the autogratuities and then give extra to the cabin steward, waiter and assistant waiter at the end….If they did a great job. If not, just the autograts. We had a cruise last year where the Waiter was terrible, the assistant waiter was person non grata and then the waiter had the nerve to come and ask for 5’s on the survey the last night. I did not tip extra and I considered removing the autograt it was so bad…but I didn’t. Maybe they just were off for that week? I did not give a good review, tho.
 

I agree that $20 per night is over the top and your tipping is more than generous. 

 

It sounds like they earned 5s.  The survey goes up to 10.  😉 

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, teddie said:

I hear you.  But ya know, there are those out there who leave a 10% tip for what they deem to be good service and feel good about themselves.  I suppose they are entitled to do as they wish, but I do not want to be that person!

10 to 15% is absolutely the norm in the UK. And only in full service restaurants, hairdressers or taxis.  Often nothing in cafes.  In pubs maybe you might say 'keep the change' but often nothing especially as no-one uses cash anymore.   In Europe it use to be just a few cents rounded up to the next euro in cafes, not sure if that's still the case. 

Cruising anywhere in the world is different. Especially on American line like Royal Caribbean. We would always auto tip daily gratuities and add a little extra at the end if warranted. Also give a dollar or so a drink for Diamond drinks as no 18% auto gratuities on those. 

When in Rome.....etc etc 

Edited February 23, 2023 by sgmn

[teddie]

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

It sounds like they earned 5s.  The survey goes up to 10.  😉 

Interestingly, after reading about "survey harrassment" by waitstaff here on CC, I was fearing the worst.  Not one waitstaff approached us about the survey!

teddie

[cruiseboy89130]

7 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

You're not even obligated to pay the included gratuities.

Tipping is 100% optional - this includes removing auto grats!

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, Longford said:

 

I was on Serenade 11/5/2022 for a 7 nighter, solo.  I brought 2 bottles of wine with me and I didn't drink but several times at one of the bars.  I ordered a total of 3 Pina Coladas at a bar above the pool deck.  I tipped an additional $2 cash the first drink.  The female bartender double poured, maybe triple ... the rum.  The next 2 drinks I gave her $5 each time.  Yes, I paid the automatic gratuity added to the check, but the $5 cash was worth the spectacular drink, IMO.  Of course, I was feeling pretty good.  By the way, when the second, male, bartender showed up to work with her she poured only the prescribed amount.  😁

Non drinker here, but my Family and Friends said they dislike the extra pour as wrecks the taste of the drink. Was a Bar/Restaurant MGR in the 80's, guarantee we made all our costs. Shoot when I Managed a few Burger King's had inventory all food in the store every nite. Included saving and counted all food waste right down to every slice of cheese. Anything off by 5, recount the item. 12625 Whopper Patties, 6001 Burger Buns, 1271 Eggs, 756.2 Gallons Shake Mix, ect. This every nite. Like the Bar my count, Liquor Cost and Food cost was always right on. Got my Bonus every time

[ScottishRobbie]

8 hours ago, soremekun said:

If someone only elects for prepaid or daily gratuities as defined by the cruise line and doesn't tip a single dollar extra, is that person cheap?

If a cruise line doesn't pay their crew proper wages and expects their paying customers to top up the crew members wages, is that cruise line cheap?

[Cherries Jubilee]

I think you’re probably tipping more than most people. Honestly I have a feeling most people aren’t tipping outside of the automatic gratuities so the staff probably appreciates every extra tip. 

 

I have to admit I never thought of tipping the MDR hostess or the maitre’d. 😳

[TexasRon]

I have prepaid the gratuities for our coming trip.

 

Now that someone has mentioned it, I do feel a little cheated by the move to once a day service because I enjoyed the luxury of having it twice a day…and I could say no to any time that I wanted to pass on it.

 

Not that I will do anything about the service change as far as auto tips go…

 

I leave decent tips for wait staff and room steward whenever I feel they have done a great job.  I don’t think about their salaries; I consider their level of service.

[teddie]

1 hour ago, Cherries Jubilee said:

I think you’re probably tipping more than most people. Honestly I have a feeling most people aren’t tipping outside of the automatic gratuities so the staff probably appreciates every extra tip. 

 

I have to admit I never thought of tipping the MDR hostess or the maitre’d. 😳

The hostess (Aura) was lovely, and made sure we received our requested seating each night  I had never felt the need to tip a MTD host/hostess, and she deserved it.

teddie

[ramja96]

11 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

I say BS.

 

💯

[S.A.M.J.R.]

10 hours ago, Longford said:

 

"entitled:?  Really?  Well, that's your perspective.  For an AI vacation where most people pay cruise line determined gratuities in advance ... an additional 10% for restaurant waitstaff seems appropriate to me ... unless the service was spectacular and a higher tip is warranted.  I subscribe to the belief that tips are for service rendered over and above what the staff is already being paid to do the job.  Some people view tips as a sort of charity for what they believe is low wages paid to restaurant staff / crew - so they over-tip.  Not me.  And I've been in the hospitality business.  When tipping, I oftentimes deduct the liquor portion of the check when tipping ... because drink prices inflate the check and it's the bartenders who do the work, and waitstaff just carries the drink to my table.  Others can do as they wish, it's their money ... but I'm not subscribing to some sort of guilt trip when tipping (not that it's what you do).

I don't understand a couple of things in your post... first, you mention "an additional 10% for restaurant waitstaff" at an AI.  But how do you know what the bill is?  What AI delivers an itemized bill after a meal?  Without the bill, how do you know how much 10% is?

 

Regarding taking the liquor off the bill because the "waitstaff just carries the drink"... doesn't the "waitstaff just carry your food"?  What's different between the drink and the food?  

 

Regarding the OP, maybe the others ARE tipping $20/night at the MDR... BECAUSE they removed auto tips.  Even if they didn't, who cares how much anyone else tips?  Anyone who, unprompted, says "I tip $x" or y% is just virtue signaling IMO.  I guarantee you're tipping more than others and less than some.  And that's OK.

[Longford]

2 hours ago, ScottishRobbie said:

If a cruise line doesn't pay their crew proper wages and expects their paying customers to top up the crew members wages, is that cruise line cheap?

 

Yes, the cruise lines are cheap ... and take advantage of many of the crew who are from poor countries because those individuals can earn more onboard than they would doing jobs back home.  In the USA, restaurant owners are notoriously and abusively cheap ... well, not all but most.  Rather than raise wages on the price of a cruise or a meal in a land-side restaurant in order to pay a better wage we're pressured to leave a big tip.  In the USA 20% is being pushed as the norm.

[PamelaHunt]

For us, I think our tipping is starting to evolve a bit.  We have always prepaid grats (I like to leave the ship owing nothing) and our typical tipping is $1/ drink - we buy the DBP and I know I've paid 18% on it, but that really awesome server who always remembers what I want surely isn't getting that 18%.  Our tip to stewards has varied - one we only left $20 - he was unfriendly and just weird, another we left $150 - he spoiled us like crazy all week. 

 

We've only done the MDR on one cruise, it will be our last.  I think we gave the head waiter $60 and the assistant $40, but that was only because we felt we had to.  I really wish we hadn't left anything - the service was subpar - we waited very long periods of time between courses and we were reminded every single night to leave 10's - so over the top annoying.

 

Specialty dining - we usually for 2 of us leave $20.  

 

Going forward with all of the changes that are happening, we have been discussing if our tipping will remain the same or be decreased going forward.  Our next cruise is in a junior suite - we will still have twice a day service, but our next cruise after that is in a regular balcony and we will not.  We are not at all messy and we make our own beds, etc.  I just feel that overall we are going to be getting a lot less and paying a lot more for our vacations.  

 

 

[sgmn]

11 minutes ago, PamelaHunt said:

 

We've only done the MDR on one cruise, it will be our last.  I think we gave the head waiter $60 and the assistant $40, but that was only because we felt we had to.  I really wish we hadn't left anything - the service was subpar - we waited very long periods of time between courses and we were reminded every single night to leave 10's - so over the top annoying.

 

Specialty dining - we usually for 2 of us leave $20.  

 

Going forward with all of the changes that are happening, we have been discussing if our tipping will remain the same or be decreased going forward.  Our next cruise is in a junior suite - we will still have twice a day service, but our next cruise after that is in a regular balcony and we will not.  We are not at all messy and we make our own beds, etc.  I just feel that overall we are going to be getting a lot less and paying a lot more for our vacations.  

 

 

Your tips for a bad service in MDR was very generous (presume it was on top of the auto gratuities).  If people are tipping for bad service where is the incentive for the staff to do a good job?

In fact people's pride in a good job done well should be enough (along with a decent wage).   Its almost as if we have to bribe them to do their jobs