? about tipping if you don't use the dining room?

[TNT1981]

When we sailed the first time it was with RCCL and they gave you guidelines for tipping and you placed them in envelopes to pass out on your last night. In all of my reading with carnival it is automatically added to your account. We will be traveling with our 2 teenage girls and it is up to them where we eat (except on the formal night).

 

Let me say right now I want to be fair but at the same time I don't want to pay for something that I only used once.

 

What is the right thing to do? Should we leave the entire amount on our charge account? Do we adjust it for the nights that we don't eat in the dining room? Is it a problem to adjust it? Someone please give me some advice!

[Nitemare]

When you don't eat in the dining room, I assume you're eating in the buffet or casual dining areas? The same people work in both places, and your auto dining tips go to the folks who work in those other places as well.

 

If you ask this question on the Carnival board you'll get a much more specific reply, but I think the bottom line will be basically the same.

[DFritz]

Nitemare is correct. No matter whether you are on RCI or Carnival the tips are all pooled together and divided amongst the wait staff. If you eat anyplace onboard you are virtually being served by the same team of workers. If you really figure out the value of the food you ate on a ship in a day and base it the same way you would at a home restaurant you would find that your tip is lower per person on a ship than it would be at a home restaurant. I basically ask myself; do I consume about $18 to $20 worth of food on a ship each day including all of my free beverages and desserts, appetizers, snacks and entrees? You bet I do. That's the equivalent of my $3.50 per day tip .

 

'Til my next cruise

 

[DFritz]

I should also have said that adjusting the amount is not difficult to do. Stop by the customer service desk if you felt service was poor and they will assist you in adjusting it.

 

'Til my next cruise

 

[TNT1981]

I meant to say something about seeing the waiters in the buffet lines and serving drinks on the private island before but somehow forgot. Am I to understand that if I give the head waiter and servers extra tips they have to pool that money also? I know in all fairness that everyone gets paid but it is kindof unfair to the ones who put so much effort into making sure the clients are satisfied! We are just leaving the dollar amount on our account and will decide after our service who gets extras.

[Nitemare]

For more specific info as to what money goes where, you might want to check the board here at Cruise Critic dedicated to the specific cruiseline you're traveling on. There's sure to already be some discussion on this popular topic, or you can start a new one.

[serene56]

A lot of people think the monies are pooled.

A Lot of people dont think the monies are pooled. And when you ask the server you are told no they dont share. On ROyal and Carnival I asked my servers that very question. The waiter, asst waiter and cabin steward do NOT share your tip.s If these people hire ship crew to help them out (ex-is the cabin steward will get a kitchen worker to help him with his cabins- he then shares his tip money.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

 

 

[want2cruisenow]

We had this same dilemma last year on Carnival's Pride. We ate only at the buffet and wondered what to do with the tip. We finally decided that we would play it by ear. If the buffet service was good, then we would either leave the tips on the account or take them off the account and tip those who served us in the buffet personnally. However, as it turned out, service at the buffet was non-existent. Most nights we would eat the entire meal without so much as seeing an employee! So we ended up taking the tips off the account and tipping noone.

[TNT1981]

I DECIDED TO TAKE YOUR ADVICE AND PUT THIS ON THE CARNIVAL BOARD!

[cruzincurt]

How about the waiter and assn't waiter at the table you never showed up at?

 

13 cruises so far - RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, HAL (we were on the last cruise of the wonderful Norway, still have my room key)

 

Caribbean Princess 5/15/04 next

 

Be brave...live free!

[serene56]

You never saw an employee?? all week?

who put the food on the buffet line or who dished it out? wow

If you dont want to eat in the dining room let your agent know so they can give your seat away. When you have a reserved seating in the dining room that seat is served only to you.

I would have tipped the servers in the dining room something even if they didnt wait on me. THose people get paid by tips only.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

 

 

[want2cruisenow]

We occassionally saw someone refill the buffet, but not often enough because several times there were empty items and we had to do without because noone was there to fill them.

 

The food was really bad, the worse I've ever had on a cruise (again, I'm only talking about the buffet here). If we didn't have so many children with us we would of dined in the traditional dining room after seeing how bad the food and service were the first night. As it was, on most nights we had to order room service afterwards because we could not find enough good at the buffet to eat.

 

Another thing that was really annoying was having to do a nightly hunt for silverware. The problem was that they had no central place to get silverware, but instead set each table ahead of time. This would have worked well except that during the day people would take the silverware to use by the pool and by dinnertime it was quite a challenge to find enough for our family of nine. Of course, there was noone around to help!

 

As I said, we started out with full intentions of either tipping the buffet staff personally or leaving the tips on the account (we weren't sure which method was best and was going to decide at the end of the cruise). But as it was, food and service was so bad that we couldn't find anyone deserving of the tips.

 

As for the waiter and asst. waiter in the main dining room, I do realize that they work on tips, but I don't feel obligated to tip people I never met for a service I didn't use.

 

The room service people did make a hefty sum off of us, though, since we had to order room service so often to make up for the poor buffet food.

[serene56]

That really sucks as the food is a big thing on a cruise lines. Did you complain to someone about that mess? (who would you complain to)

What cruise lines and which ship was that you sailed on with that kind of service?

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

[TNT1981]

Can I ask what ship you were on?

[Cotton]

Most interesting thread. I'd also like to know which ship you were on.

 

Sorry y'all didn't give the dining room a chance. It far exceeds the buffet dining; there's really no comparison. Buffet is buffet, no matter where you are.

 

You said you removed all tips from your account. Does this mean your cabin steward was also stiffed by you?

 

Did y'all have pizza and all the other little extras like soft serve ice cream? Salad bar? Who do you think puts all that food out and keeps it coming? The food fairy? Geez.

 

This is the reason Carnival automatically places tips on your account. Too many folks in the past have not tipped at all - like you. You should be ashamed.

 

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

[cwc]

To want2cruisenow,

 

May I ask what is the reason you don't want to eat in the dinning room? Is it the kids? Or the dress-up part?

 

As I know of, most cruiseline offer children program during meal time or even offer to feed the kids, so parents can have a nice dinner and kid don't need to fall asleep during the "long" dinning room service. Actually, the kids are more pamper than parent n the dinning room. The waiter will cut up food, and make special desert just for them

 

As for dressing up, jeans are accepted in Carnival on their causal night I think.

 

Maybe you can give the dinning room a try for one night on your next cruise. You will see what you have been missing so far.

 

Happy cruising!

[Happy ks]

Not enough food at the buffet??? How much food do you need?

 

I only eat at the buffet when I am forced to, never would it be an alternative choice for me. As for no one working the buffet, that's rubbish, how do you think the food gets there to begin with? I think this family must have gone to eat way too early (not set up yet) or very late.

 

I'm always mystified why anyone would spend so much money for a cruise, then not partake in the finer points of cruising. There are many more vacation options available that would be more suitable to their lifestyle. I guess I don't think of a cruise as just a mode of transportation.

 

Your children would have been very welcome in the dining room. Mine always have been. (I have to think maybe they did their fellow diners a favor?)

 

I won't argue anyones decision not to tip the staff, that's personal choice. But, do think of it this way, you show up for work, your boss says there is nothing for you to do this week, so you're not getting paid, but you still have to stay here. Or, you do show up for work, you do the job and still do not get paid for it. I truely wish the cruise lines would increase the staffs pay and raise the cost of cruising. Then, gratuity could be an optional reward, what it should be to begin with. Fortunately, we have never gotten such bad service as to warrant no gratuity on our part.

 

Happy cruising, no matter what your choices are!

 

Kathy

[luv2cruise99]

Cotton: It was the Carnival Pride last September. I'm sure the food in the dining room did far exceed the buffet. It certainly couldn't have been any worse! However, we have tried traditional dining many times in the past and we just don't like it. The long, multi-course meals are just not our style. We always opt for alternative dining and have always been quite pleased with the buffet offered on other cruises. We have also always tipped the buffet staff very well for their service (well beyond the measly .75 per day that Carnival allocates to the lido deck staff if you leave the tips on account). But on this cruise, both the quality and service were substantard enough to effect the enjoyment of our cruise and, therefore, not worthy of a tip. We did order room service almost every night, however, and tipped the room service staff very well. Basically, they received the tips that should have want to the others. And isn't that how it should be since they were the ones who provided us with good service? By the way, I did try to use the pizzeria, but after twice being told that there was a 30 minute wait for a chicken caesar salad, I gave up on it.

 

cwc: Actually, it was really neither the kids or the dressing up that made us not want to dine traditional. We did dress for formal nights even though we ate at the buffet because we went to the shows and the casino afterwards and wanted to "fit in". If the kids were not with us, we may have tried to salvage the situation by switching to traditional after finding out how poor the alternative dining was, however we would have done so begrudgingly since we have tried traditional many times in the past (both with and without kids) and have always disliked it. As I said above, the long, multi-course meals just aren't what we enjoy.

 

Happy ks: The problem was a lack of variety and poor preparation of what was available. There was usually only a choice of chicken (always overcooked and dry) or one other meat as a main dish and 2 or 3 awful side dishes. Also, there was a real shortage of staff working the buffet, so we often had to wait several minutes to get the meat sliced or skip side dishes because the bowls were empty. And as I mentioned in a previous post, the nightly hunt for silverware was enough to drive me mad! By the way, we tried at several different times of the night and always had the same experience, so it wasn't that they were just setting up or getting ready to close.

 

I think the problem is that Carnival has themself in a real catch-22. The quality and service at the buffet is poor because so few people use it, but so few people use it because the quality and service is so poor. On other lines I have been on (Princess comes to mind) the alternative dining buffets have been quite popular because they offered better service and a more varied selection.

 

In my opinion, if Carnival can't provide a quality alternative dining experience that people will actually want to use, then I think they should stop advertising that they have alternative dining so that at least people will know what to expect. Again, this was on the Carnival Pride last September. Other Carnival ships may do alternative dining better or the situation may have improved since then.

 

We will be trying the Princess Sapphire next October because we think that their Personal Choice dining might be more to our liking and because we have heard good things about their 24-hour Horizon Court buffet. I guess we will have to wait and see!

[want2cruisenow]

Oops! Just noticed that I posted last night under the wrong name (luv2cruise99). I helped my sister setup a CruiseCritic account yesterday and forgot to log her off when we were done.

[serene56]

Thanks for clarifying that for us.

 

I, too would like to try out the Golden Princess to try the alternative seatings. I like early and late is just uh too late for us. A time in between would be perfect.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

 

 

[seattle]

I think if the service was as poor as the cruiser states, then they are justified in removing the tips. As he also stated he did tip for room service etc. so it is not a "being" cheap thing, but tips are for good service.

 

When service is poor so are the tips. If you get a good tip for bad service why would you work to improve the quality of the service you provide. It would be like paying BMW prices for Kia, sure they both get you where your going but one does it with more style and class. And no I don't drive a BMW but, people pay/tip for services provided and if they weren't provided with the desired services they should not be tipping for them.

 

Yes avg. gets a tip, good gets a better tip and outstanding service gets a tremendous tip.

[Flintstone]

On the question of pooled tips or not...what we do is leave the automatic tips charged to our account and hand additional "cash" to those we felt gave us extra good service (including barstaff). Its my hope that they can keep this for themselves...but who knows!

Luvtocruise...it is definately your choice to tip or not based on the services you used. But if you absolutely have no plans on using the traditional dining rooms, then please inform your TA or the maitre'd so they don't assign you a table. These servers make a very small weekly wage and a table of 9 for a week that never showed up or tipped would greatly impact their financial situation.

 

9/2000 Carnival Tropicale

12/2001 NCL Norway

9/2002 NCL Norway

10/2003 Disney Wonder

2005...Alaska

[serene56]

I would recommend that when service is that bad..then a complaint should be lodged with the matre d. He cant correct a situation if its a situation he knows nothing about.

 

Going NOWHERE

 

 

Miracle, February 13, 2005

Legend, October 22,2004

Voyager August 31,2003

Victory September 22,2002

Regal Empress,June 2001

Sensation,August 2000

[TNT1981]

Our head waiter Ivan was just ok and very hard to understand. norman our assistant waiter was friendly, hard working and hardly said a word. We left the tips charged to our account as is and even brought the matre d a tip on the last night even though he never assisted us and was unable to arrange anything for our daughters graduations. My feeling was these people work very hard (even if things were perfect) and deserve the tip!

[lahore]

We are Australian and have only been on one cruise before (well in my case since I was a teenager)- on NCL out of Singapore to Hong Kong.

I posted similar questions about tipping before we went on that cruise and got a total LAMBASTING on this board. I won't go into it all again, but suffice to say I realised that tipping is a total way of life in USA whereas it absolutely is not in Australia. IMHO it's a cultural as well as and labour law/wage parity issue. I think people who say things like - as above - 'you should be ashamed of youself' are overly judgemental and somewhat sanctimonious.

 

In the end I decide who I tip - not somebody else and especially not the cruise line who rely on tipping to offset the fact that they pay the staff on ships piss poor salaries.

 

So, to answer the original question, we cancelled all our automatic tipping on NCL. We went to the Purser's office and did this and they did not say anything nor give us a nasty look (to their credit). I did not venture to give them a reason, I didn't see that I had to. However, we did personally tip the people who we felt gave us good service. I prefer that to an anonymous or a 'fait accompli' system.

 

I think a 'gratuity' shouldn't be 'gratuitous' - it should have meaning.