Tipping the Matre'D

[Ripper4]

OK...

 

I see on several FAQ sites that on Carnival the drink and other daily tips are already billed or included in the price.

 

Porters get $1-2 per bag.

 

For room service, it looks like a couple of bucks per order depending on the size of the order is appropriate.

 

But what do you tip the Matre'D? Also, do you tip him/her each meal or at the end of the cruise? What do you tip him/her for exactly?

 

Any other folks I need to consider tipping? I have no problems tipping folks but I just don't want to be a cheapskate or a sucker when it comes to distributing out the bucks.

[cb at sea]

The Maitre"D is not a tipped employee! If he should perform some service for you, (like re-seating your, or arranging a group table) then you could slip him a few bucks, but he is not on the list of folks you SHOULD tip!

[Ripper4]

The Maitre"D is not a tipped employee! If he should perform some service for you, (like re-seating your, or arranging a group table) then you could slip him a few bucks, but he is not on the list of folks you SHOULD tip!

 

That's sort of what I figured and that's why I found it a bit odd that the Maitre'D is specifically mentioned on the Carnival "FAQ" link on Tipping.

 

Frankly, I'm not sure if I've even eaten in a real "fancy-schmancy" place with a Maitre'D (although I've been in some real nice and expensive places in Vegas, e.g. Top of the World, Spago, Neros, etc... and I don't recall a Maitre'D providing any special services that warrented a tip, just being sat by a "hostess") so I was a bit unsure of exactly what the "SOP" for dealing with the Maitre'D was, especially since we'll be eating regularly at the same place.

 

I just don't want to end up being seated by the trash can or behind a pilar because I didn't slip the Maitre'D a fiver or something.

 

Anyone else have an opinion or experience they can enlighten me with regarding this topic?

[PurpleCow]

On most lines, if you auto pay your tips, the Maitre 'D gets something like 50 or 75 cents a day pp. If you tip with cash, then it's up to you. As far as I've experienced, the Maitre 'D stops by your table a few times to ask if everything is OK, just, I imagine to justify the tip. He's not an employee we've ever tipped extra.

[RoofingPrincess]

On RCCL, there is a small amount of tip built into the standard tipping for the Head Waiter, not the Maitre D' (these are two different people). The Head Waiter is responsible for a group of tables and makes sure everything runs smoothly. He will even step in to assist with serving if necessary. He's also the person responsible for special dietary requests. I have no problem leaving the standard tip for the Head Waiter in place, and would probably even add to it if I had special needs that he took care of.

 

By the way, Ripper4, if you have traditional dining, your table is determined before you ever get onboard. The Maitre D' is the person who can arrange for a change of table if necessary, though - and in that case, you might want to tip. I've never had to change tables, so I don't know what's usual or customary.

[ChBoxers800]

I would agree with all of the other posters EXCEPT if you are given exceptional service/attention by the Maitre'd.

 

On our recent cruise, we were a party of 12 and a 9 month old baby. Since we were cruising NCL, there was not a set dinner time. On our first day, we made a reservation for one of the main dining rooms so that we could all sit together. We met the Matre'd that night and from that moment on, all of our needs were met.

 

We never had to make another reservation again, our table was always set up, ready and waiting for us.

 

Specially chopped fresh fruit, pureed veggies, etc were made for the baby every night

 

One night when we were doing the Murder Mystery dinner instead of our regular dinner time, dinner was sent down to the cabin for the baby where my DH was babysitting him.

 

One evening when the service was a tad bit slow, he jumped right in refilling drinks, replenishing bread, etc and we saw him pull the waiters aside and speak to them. The service greatly improved that evening and we never had those 2 waiters again.

 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

 

And all of this was done, without us requesting it, by the fabulous Maitre'd. Needless to say at the end of the week, we all chipped in to tip him. It really wasn't all that much money....$10 per person but when we gave him that $130 you would have thought that we'd given him a fortune. I suppose that he is just used to doing his job in a first class manner and wasn't expecting any financial gain from it.

[cv322]

Very interesting, :p

 

Years ago, when we were mostly cruising with Celebrity, and when the "envelope system" (as opposed to the "auto-generated tip system") was still in place...there was an envelope specifically for the Maitre'd. We'd get our envelopes delivered to the cabin prior to the day of disembarkation, for distribution generally the last night at sea. We'd get an envelope printed with the titles: waiter, assistant waiter, cabin steward, AND Maitre'd. There were also a few "blank" envelopes for anyone else not specifically named. We always prepared one of the blank envelopes for the sommelier...because we ordered wine with dinner every night.

 

And while we were always very generous with the cabin steward, sommelier & waiters, I remember only putting a $20 in the Maitre'd envelope because we could never figure out what he did for us other than say "good evening" as we entered the dining room every night!

 

But we didn't want to stiff him, because it was apparently expected lol.

[GaryWT]

I have only tipped one or two on our 5 cruises. The first cruise with the kids he was great, almost like a 3rd waiter. He helped cut the kids food each night etc., everything was great so we tipped him nicely. A couple cruises we never even met him and on one cruise he went table to table the last night only.

 

So as others have said tip if you receive a service if you wish.

 

Enjoy.

[martinimadam]

I thought the Maitre D' was more like an officer, got a much higher salary, and didn't expect tips! Have I been wrong all this time!

 

p.s. Let's make sure we're talking about the Maitre D', and not the Head Waiter. What happened on the NCL cruise sounds more like something the Head Waiter would see to.

[lady_cruiser]

The RCL guidelines we used said the Matre'D should get .75 cents a day. We tipped him extra, at the end of the cruise, much more than that. He was highly visible, came by our table every night to make sure we had everything we needed and helped the wait staff with their servings when things seem to get backed up.

[Putterdude]

If you use the auto-tip program the Matre'D does get tipped but like most on this board I am not sure why? I agree if he aranged a reseating or something fine, but I really can see paying a person that we see a couple of times during the cruise and asks if everthing is ok? That's my rant....and we do use auto-tip.

[ChBoxers800]

I thought the Maitre D' was more like an officer, got a much higher salary, and didn't expect tips! Have I been wrong all this time!

 

p.s. Let's make sure we're talking about the Maitre D', and not the Head Waiter. What happened on the NCL cruise sounds more like something the Head Waiter would see to.

 

Nope, he was the Maitre'd

[Ethel5]

If the Maitre'D does anything special for you, then you should tip extra. We have asked for special dishes etc and at the end of the cruise, we gave him and extra $25 per couple.

[onceagain]

We've tipped a Matre'D a couple times. Once when our grandchild was quite young (maybe 3) and he was just wonderful, kept coming over and talking to her, really made her feel special. He had young children and I think he missed them so he had fun relating to a little one. Last cruise our Matre'D was great. We weren't pleased with our wait staff the first night and talked with him about it, he said to give it one more night and if it didn't improve, he make a change. As it turned out, she worked out just fine, but he kept coming and talking with us to be sure that we were please with our service and just to chat, so he got a nice tip from everyone at our table.

[GaryWT]

My situation was most likely the head waiter helping out which means I tipped the head waiter a couple times and never the matre'd.

[Wilba]

I was on my first Carnival a few seasons back, & decided to go to the ‘Disembarkation’ talk given in the main theatre as ‘Embarkation’ was the worst I had ever experienced on any Cruise Line and had concerns about my flight times. The Cruise Director spent ten minutes on departure procedures & then spent the next twenty minutes telling everyone how much the tipping was important the staff. After ten minutes of talking about tipping the regular staff, he then went on to the Maitre De and how he is often a forgotten man. He then ‘encouraged’ everyone to have a ten dollar bill in their hand as they left the restaurant on final dinner, and continued for a further ten minutes talking of the fantastic work this man does and how ten dollars from every passenger would be a wonderful gesture & would cause little or no hardship to anyone onboard.

That night the said Maitre De stood outside the entrance to/from the Dining Room, against the handrail overlooking the Atrium to maximize his visibility to as many as possible, giving everyone the gracious smile & slight bow forward as they came by.

 

This ship was on a seven night cruise for the whole of the year, so $10 x 2500 passengers = $25,000 a week. Most staff work say, 40 weeks per year so that equates to a cool $1,000,000 (yes 1 million dollars per season).

I can only assume they were in collusion on this ‘scam’ as it was obviously a well practiced routine. Needless to say I didn’t participate. Sorry if I offend some of you , but this is when tipping becomes obscene.

[cathyz]

If the Maitre'd hasn't done anything for us except to greet us at the door each night, then we don't tip him. If he has done something for us such as move our seating arrangement that we've requested, then we tip him on the last night of the cruise in the envelope they leave in your cabin on the last day. Last week we requested a table change and ended up at a great table with a waiter that we had on the Paradise in 2006 and loved. We were so happy about that situation that we tipped the Ante, the Maitre'd $20 on the last night.

[Cruisesquatch]

I think you're making a big leap assuming that every passenger will tip them 10$, especially since there are stories of people who dont even go to dinner on the last night to avoid paying out the service tip. I think the more likely scenario would be 10$ per couple.

As for my personal experience, on my first cruise I slipped the Maitre D(OMAR on Carnivals DESTINY) a 20$ on the last night. He made it a point to stop by our table every night and would ask each of us (a table of 10) about our days experience, a very personable and seemingly genuine person. He would even give suggestions for the next day's port and also assisted the wait staff as needed. Of course, I forgot the tip envelopes on the last night and had to do the mafioso pass-off to the staff.

On the second cruise, without making a short story long, it was pretty much the same, but he assisted the wait staff even moreso, cracking lobster shells for passengers on formal nights. His name was Krishna on the RCCL EMPRESS.:)

[Wilba]

I think you're making a big leap assuming that every passenger will tip them 10$, especially since there are stories of people who dont even go to dinner on the last night to avoid paying out the service tip. I think the more likely scenario would be 10$ per couple.

As for my personal experience, on my first cruise I slipped the Maitre D(OMAR on Carnivals DESTINY) a 20$ on the last night. He made it a point to stop by our table every night and would ask each of us (a table of 10) about our days experience, a very personable and seemingly genuine person. He would even give suggestions for the next day's port and also assisted the wait staff as needed. Of course, I forgot the tip envelopes on the last night and had to do the mafioso pass-off to the staff.

On the second cruise, without making a short story long, it was pretty much the same, but he assisted the wait staff even moreso, cracking lobster shells for passengers on formal nights. His name was Krishna on the RCCL EMPRESS.:)

 

 

Ok so that still equates to $500,000 (half a mill) Still obscene in my book

[Cruisesquatch]

Having worked in the service industry for several years both on the floor and in the kitchen I guess I just have a more liberal view of tipping.

And again, you're counting that EVERY couple was going to do that, when in fact I'd wager its less than one third. JMO

[TanIslandGirl]

I have cruised 5 times with Carnival and my last cruise on the Legend was the first and only time the Matre D EVER came to our table. Yusef spoke to us each night and also fixed a seating issue for us the very first day. So Yes he did get a tip.:)

[Bollinge]

Having worked in the service industry for several years both on the floor and in the kitchen I guess I just have a more liberal view of tipping.

And again, you're counting that EVERY couple was going to do that, when in fact I'd wager its less than one third. JMO

 

So that's $333,000 cash then, tax free, plus his salary..........

 

I must be in the wrong job.

 

I don't tip the Maitre d' these days, but I once gave the Maitre d' on the QE2 £50 ($100) on the first night. I told him I liked caviar. I was egg bound with the stuff all cruise.

 

Everyday he sent a waiter to the cabin with the lunch and dinner menus, with a note saying "If you would like anything different, please ask".

 

I ordered Beef Wellington one night as a special, but that turned up on the regular menu the next night anyway.......

[pj-n-bob]

On our last few Carnival cruises there was an envelope left on our bed with the daily newsletter, specifically for the Maitre d' tip. He stood at the main entrance of the dining room greeting everyone and collecting his envelopes. I don't mind giving extra to someone who actually did something extra. The Maitre d' is introduced with all the other officers, so I feel he is probably making a salary not dependent of tips. Now, a waiter who goes out of his way to make my son feel special, learn our drink preferences from day 1, entertain us, as well as perform good service, will get extra every time.

[LoveBruns]

The maitre d' is responsible for your seating assignment and that's it, unless he entertains (a few do). I was a waiter for Carnival for a year, and I saw repeatedly the maitre d's making a pile of money at the end of every cruise, sometimes deserved, sometimes not... all on top of a salary. They hold a lot of authority on a ship, and that is why they are mentioned frequently as being so important. After all, the dining experience is a huge part of any happy cruise. Their lives are not tough, believe me. The credit should be given to the waiters who perform miracles despite the maitre d'. If you have an extra few bucks at the end of the cruise, the maitre d' is not necessarily the best place for them. All that being said, give your money to whomever makes you happy, right? I think you'll find the waiters more deserving.

[kmavb]

YES...we tipped our Assistant Maitre d at the end of the cruise to show how much we appreciated his assistance. I don't think he expected anything from us. And thats what makes tipping more satisfying for me.

 

We were so lucky to have met him on the first day of our cruise. We could have eaten anywhere. But this particular Assistant Maitre d jokingly said that he looked forward to seeing us "EVERY" evening for dinner...and that we didn't need to go anywhere else. We really enjoyed our dinner. But at first...we thought..."there's no way that we'll be eating at the same resturant every night". And THUS...the following evening...our family ended up trying one of the other main dining rooms...and we were sooooooooooooooooooooo disappointed with the service. And we wished that we were at the other dinning room.

 

As a result of our unfortunate experience at the OTHER dining room...we returned to the original dining room for the remaining dinners...and were once again so well treated by the staff/waiters and the Assistant Maitre d. But I don't think we ever met the "head" Maitre d if there was one.

 

But in the end...this particular Assistant Maitre d...made our family's vacation a special one!!! He always went out of his way!!! From making sure that we had a table in the same area (by a window) every night...to remembering our drink preferences...to not having to wait in line ups for dinner...to simply taking the time to come over to our table numerous times during our dinner service, and chit/chat with us on a more personal level. And every night he surprised us with a "special" dish (chosen/created by him)...that was not on the regular dinner menu...and arranged with the chefs to make us these special dishes. And every night we were excited to find out (and taste) what he selected for us.

 

Overall...his actions...helped make our cruise experience a special/memorable one.

 

Maitre d's deserve tips too.....!!!! :)