If you don't eaet in the main dining room, are you still obligated to tip?

[Travelalot2]

I will be travelling with my young daughter on the Sovereign and I am expecting that she will want to eat our meals in the Windjammer. Just curious how this is handled... If you do not eat in the main dining room, are you still obligated to tip?

[Fury1995]

I will be travelling with my young daughter on the Sovereign and I am expecting that she will want to eat our meals in the Windjammer. Just curious how this is handled... If you do not eat in the main dining room, are you still obligated to tip?

 

I have been on both sides of this debate. Not required, but if it were me..... I would go to the dining room on the first day, let them know you will not be there to eat so your table can be freed up for someone else (and I still would tip something to the waiter and asst. waiter on the last night, but that's me).

[pcur]

Yes, you should tip, because your waiter and ass't waiter work in the Windjammer, also. All the dining staff rotate duties in the Windjammer.

 

They also work the buffets that are held poolside, the chocolate buffet, and the late night munchies. They work all over the ship.

 

Most people still tip their assigned waiter / ass't waiter even though they eat in the Windjammer, to give them the appropriate tip for all their efforts.

[texancruzer]

This is just my opinion....but why wouldnt you eat in the main dining room at least once - if for no other reason but to get the total experience of what your cruise has to offer. You didnt say how young your daughter is but perhaps she might enjoy it.

 

Yes I agree with above poster regarding a tip..... they do work all over the ship and work very hard too.

[HurricaneSally]

In a word, yes, you still have to tip them.

[cb at sea]

If your daughter is too young to handle a 2 hour meal, you can leave her in the childcare area (Adventure Ocean??) and do the dining room on your own! Don't worry about not having someone to talk to--it's the most social time of day!!!

[mstr824]

This is just my opinion....but why wouldnt you eat in the main dining room at least once -

 

Perhaps they don't like being told what time they have to eat dinner and what they can / cannot wear.

[MargaritaPlease]

In a word, yes, you still have to tip them.

 

You don't "have to" tip anyone. Tips are a reward for good service. If you eat only in the Windjammer and enjoy the service you get there, tip the waitstaff there!! You are not obligated to tip anyone that didn't serve you and serve you well. If more people realized and embraced this, there would be better service.

[zantedeschia]

You don't "have to" tip anyone. Tips are a reward for good service.

This isn't true. On the cruise ships, the tips are these people's incomes. Aside from tips, they essentially get room and board and work 15 to 17 hour days.

[BobBeaSea]

Yes you are required to tip. You are tipping for the sailing, not the dining room. Your waiter, asst. waiter and headwaiter also work the other venues. I would think the only exception would be if you considered your service to be unusually terrible or you didn't eat in any dining area on your entire cruise. BTW, I think the tips are pooled on RCI.

[zotzer]

You don't "have to" tip anyone. Tips are a reward for good service. If you eat only in the Windjammer and enjoy the service you get there, tip the waitstaff there!! You are not obligated to tip anyone that didn't serve you and serve you well. If more people realized and embraced this, there would be better service.

 

It's true that you don't have to tip anyone. However, it is only curteous to make a visit to the dining room and let them know you won't be there. Otherwise, those seats will go empty all week, and the server won't even have the *opportunity* to get tipped for those seats.

 

The OP was polite enough to ask what the etiquette is for this situation, so I imagine they will be polite and inform the dining room of their plans.

 

Tracy

[Ohunion Cruzers]

I have been on some cruises where the main dining is the only choice on the last night. Typically, the last night is gratuities night.

[Travelalot2]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. My daughter (who is 14) just happens to like all that is offered in the Windjammer and being on her own time schedule so I did not know for sure if we would make it the dining room. However, I will try to make it at least once (we're only on a 3 night cruise) because I agree it is a nice dining experience. I agree with the posters above who said that you should tip anyway because the same people work in the Windajmmer during other meals. I've just never had the situation happen before where I didn't make it to the dining room and wondered what the "politically correct" thing to do was.

[TPKeller]

For reasons that may or may not be obvious, I try to read all the

tipping threads. :)

 

I find the subject of this thread very interesting! If you

don't eat in the main dining room, are you still obligated to tip?

 

That is a leading question, because it asserts that if you do

eat in the dining room that you are obligated to tip. Which

technically is not true, at least according to the letter of the law, but

I would suggest is true in spirit.

 

The question is much easier to answer when we remember:

 

It's not a tip, it's a salary...

 

Theron

[OliverTheCat]

I will be travelling with my young daughter on the Sovereign and I am expecting that she will want to eat our meals in the Windjammer. Just curious how this is handled... If you do not eat in the main dining room, are you still obligated to tip?

 

We just did this on our 7 night cruise. We never once ate in dining room. What WE did was once we were on ship, we went right over to the dining changes area and talked to the head waiter and told him that this cruise we are opting to eat in Windjammer and to please give our table to someone that would like it in second seating. There were tons trying to switch to late seating, so this probably came in handy for someone in need. Anyway, we did not tip any dining waiters because we never got their services. We DID tip our Windjammer waiter each night (we ended up having same guy each night thankfully) and the amount at the end ended up equalling what our waiter would have gotten for a week, with a little bonus on the last day. We have no regrets on that. We gave money where money was due and where service was rendered to us. On my past Navigator cruise, I even tipped the host at the entrance to Windjammer because we always made me enter or leave with a smile on my face. Great guy.

[FlorenceItaly]

I just got off the Oosterdam, and did not dine in the dining room at all. I left the auto tips ON. My thinking is why should the servers be financially penalized for me not dining in the dining room. They depend on these tips. Imo, compared to the cost of the cruise, the tips are minimal.

 

Marie

[MargaritaPlease]

This isn't true.

 

Is too. :p

 

On the cruise ships, the tips are these people's incomes. Aside from tips, they essentially get room and board and work 15 to 17 hour days.

 

And they accepted their jobs with full awareness of the compensation plan. I tip generously when I receive good service. I also adjust my tips for the quality of the service, reducing the amount when it is poor - which is the entire intent of a compensation structure that includes tips. Otherwise, the cruise lines would just pay a fixed salary and raise the cruise cost to cover it. They WANT the staff to have an incentive to perform well. If you tip blindly regardless of the quality of service you receive, you undermine the incentive.

[zantedeschia]

 

And they accepted their jobs with full awareness of the compensation plan.

You really should chat with your waitpersons, get to know them. See them as people, not for someone who's there to serve you. My very first cruise, we were curious about it and spent a lot of time chatting with our primary waitress about her job, hours, wages, return, why she did it, etc. One of the questions we asked were why weren't there any Americans employed as waiters and stewards? She said Americans would not put up with crap wages and putting up with the crap from the passengers in exchange for 18 hour days, very little time off and grueling work. Her main reason for doing it was for the experience, so she would have valuable work experience on her resume to help her get the job she wanted in her home country.

 

Don't compare the workers on a cruise ship with the same jobs they'd have in the US. You're comparing apples and oranges.

 

To reiterate, they work for NOTHING but tips. If you don't tip them, you're screwing them out of their livlihood. If that sits well on your conscience, whatever. I'm not quite that heartless, I always tip.

[FitzLA]

The tips are handed out in the dining room so as to have 1 place to tip the wait staff. But those tips are pooled with everyone in the dining room, kitchen, windjammer and other places food is served on the ship. So, yes, you should still tip.

[TPKeller]

Hi John,

 

Thank you for posting this.

 

... I also adjust my tips for the quality of the service, reducing the amount when it is poor - which is the entire intent of a compensation structure that includes tips. Otherwise, the cruise lines would just pay a fixed salary and raise the cruise cost to cover it. They WANT the staff to have an incentive to perform well. If you tip blindly regardless of the quality of service you receive, you undermine the incentive.

It is a point which is often overlooked. I am the first to say that tips are not "tips" but salary. But as you point out, there is incentive built in to the current system, which is not often discussed.

 

It may be a worthwhile part of the system, but I think it is also important to remember that a tip is not a "bonus" but a "salary", so if you wish to adjust the amout that you tip, it should be based on the fact that you are indeed, docking someone's pay, not just denying them a bonus.

 

Theron

[MargaritaPlease]

You really should chat with your waitpersons, get to know them. See them as people, not for someone who's there to serve you. My very first cruise, we were curious about it and spent a lot of time chatting with our primary waitress about her job, hours, wages, return, why she did it, etc. One of the questions we asked were why weren't there any Americans employed as waiters and stewards? She said Americans would not put up with crap wages and putting up with the crap from the passengers in exchange for 18 hour days, very little time off and grueling work. Her main reason for doing it was for the experience, so she would have valuable work experience on her resume to help her get the job she wanted in her home country.

 

Don't compare the workers on a cruise ship with the same jobs they'd have in the US. You're comparing apples and oranges.

 

To reiterate, they work for NOTHING but tips. If you don't tip them, you're screwing them out of their livlihood. If that sits well on your conscience, whatever. I'm not quite that heartless, I always tip.

 

Oh please...

 

If you wish to view your cruise ship vacation as some sort of charitable mission where you endeavor to lift the poor waitstaff from poverty, then, in your word, "whatever". But spare me the glurge. They've chosen jobs in the SERVICE industry where compensation is based on performance. I'm not suggesting anyone deprive them of a deserved tip - but they are entitled only to what their performance merits.

 

(Sorry OP, done here.)

[MargaritaPlease]

[Doh! Posted twice. Sorry.]

[trishalee]

I'm confused here. Some are saying that they pool all tips. Why, then, would I give my wonderful waiter a double tip for fantastic service if he's only going to have to share it with those who DON'T give that level of service? A tip "pool" just doesn't make any sense to me; how would they even know if the waiters, etc. turned in all their tips?

 

Also, according to our waiter, they are working on the ships because, after 12 or 15 years, they have saved enough money to retire in style in their own countries where the standard of living is much lower. Doesn't sound like that bad a deal to me, and the ones who stick it out and, by great service, make it to the top of the ranks seem thrilled with the prospect.:D

[FitzLA]

I'm confused here. Some are saying that they pool all tips. Why, then, would I give my wonderful waiter a double tip for fantastic service if he's only going to have to share it with those who DON'T give that level of service? A tip "pool" just doesn't make any sense to me; how would they even know if the waiters, etc. turned in all their tips?

 

Also, according to our waiter, they are working on the ships because, after 12 or 15 years, they have saved enough money to retire in style in their own countries where the standard of living is much lower. Doesn't sound like that bad a deal to me, and the ones who stick it out and, by great service, make it to the top of the ranks seem thrilled with the prospect.:D

 

It is just like a land based restaurant...Tips are shared between the server, bus boy and cooks. It doesn't give any guarantee that the wait staff is going to be honest about the amount they receive in tips. Just the same cfor cruise ships. But most of the tips are put on the sea pass account, and therefore they know how much was received in tips.

[OliverTheCat]

The tips are handed out in the dining room so as to have 1 place to tip the wait staff. But those tips are pooled with everyone in the dining room, kitchen, windjammer and other places food is served on the ship. So, yes, you should still tip.

 

That is interesting. I asked this question to my waiter on Navigator and he told me that they do not pool tips whatsoever. Either he lied to me, or not all the ships follow same procedure. Hmm:confused: