Tipping etiquite in the "Specialty" resturants

[midwest917]

We are heading back to Alaska in September on the Infinity. We usually go to the "speciality" dining at least once while on the "M" class ships. What is the "proper" way to tip for the "speciality" dining venues, or does the cover charge cover the tip?

 

Help!?

[Fblack]

Regardless of whether the service charge includes a tip, I always give them an extra $10 if they do a good job. Which is nearly always. I know, some people will say they don't tip because the service charge covers the tip. But we are spending thousands of dollars on a trip and these waiters work very hard for little money. An extra $10 won't affect me, but they really appreciate it.

[Longboysfan]

Same here - at least $5 per person in the party then maybe a international phone card also.

[AJD]

We eat in the specialty restaurants several times per cruise and tip the wait staff about 20% of the food bill; less to the sommelier as there is already a 15% service charge on the wine bill. I usually give separately to the assistant maitre d' at the end of the trip if he has looked after us on each visit to the restaurant and in the Aqua Spa café.

[caudel]

My wife and I always eat once or twice in the specialty resturants on the ship. We always give an extra tip because the service is always outstanding. Usually we give $10 to $15 for the 2 of us.

 

Dick

[Gonzo70]

I generally tip an extra $5 per person at specailty restaurants; once I did $10 per person when the staff was particularly outstanding. My understanding is that some of the cover charge goes towards gratutity, but only a small portion.

[CaroleSP]

I was always told that the $30 was specifically to cover the tip for the staff. Has anyone else ever heard of that? We also tip, based on the service; and, we tip our regular wait staff for the missed evening in the dining room as well.

[Orator]

On a cruise program carried on the Travel Channel a cruisline spokesperson said"most" of the surcharge goes to the tip. Even if this statement is correct,I still leave extra for special service.

[nycglitter]

We enjoyed our meal at the Normandy very much and did pay a $30 pp fee to dine there. We tipped an additional $50 plus additional to the Sommelier.

[Brucen]

This is copied & pasted directly from the X web site:

 

What are the charges for the special dining options on Constellation, Millennium, Infinity and Summit?

Subject: Dining Information

There is a cover charge for dining in the specialty restaurants onboard Constellation, Millennium, Infinity, and Summit. This charge is a $30 per person charge that will be posted to your onboard signature account (This covers gratuities). Additional charges apply for wines and other beverages purchased as usual.

 

 

Just like everything else on board, you are certainly allowed to tip extra but the $30.00 charge is obviously supposed to cover the gratuities.

 

 

Best,

Bruce

[I Fly]

This is copied & pasted directly from the X web site:

 

What are the charges for the special dining options on Constellation, Millennium, Infinity and Summit?

Subject: Dining Information

There is a cover charge for dining in the specialty restaurants onboard Constellation, Millennium, Infinity, and Summit. This charge is a $30 per person charge that will be posted to your onboard signature account (This covers gratuities). Additional charges apply for wines and other beverages purchased as usual.

 

 

Just like everything else on board, you are certainly allowed to tip extra but the $30.00 charge is obviously supposed to cover the gratuities.

 

 

Best,

Bruce

 

The statement on the website is factually correct, but it gives the impression that the $30 goes solely toward gratuities. This is NOT the case. Only about $10 of the $30 goes to the staff at the restaurant. I found this out several years back and have always been bothered by the statement that Celebrity uses making it sound like the "service charge" is for the additional service that you receive. While there is absolutely no requirement to tip additionally, it is important to realize how much of the service charge is going for service.

 

Steve

[Blanco-Grande]

I usually eat in Murano on Century everynight, I extra tip everyone. They only get a small amt of that cover charge and it goes in a shared pot.

[Longboysfan]

The statement on the website is factually correct, but it gives the impression that the $30 goes solely toward gratuities. This is NOT the case. Only about $10 of the $30 goes to the staff at the restaurant. I found this out several years back and have always been bothered by the statement that Celebrity uses making it sound like the "service charge" is for the additional service that you receive. While there is absolutely no requirement to tip additionally, it is important to realize how much of the service charge is going for service.

 

Steve

 

Exactly. That is why the extra tip of at least $5 per person and something else also. I also always tip the wait staff in the regular resturant for the full week, even though we may not be there one or more nights.

[ginagirl]

The statement on the website is factually correct, but it gives the impression that the $30 goes solely toward gratuities. This is NOT the case. Only about $10 of the $30 goes to the staff at the restaurant. I found this out several years back and have always been bothered by the statement that Celebrity uses making it sound like the "service charge" is for the additional service that you receive. While there is absolutely no requirement to tip additionally, it is important to realize how much of the service charge is going for service.

 

Steve

Just wondering how you found this out because I met someone who claimed he had inside information too. He stated that the reason service is impeccable in the specialty restaurant is because the $30 charge per person goes completely to the wait staff. He claimed the Maitre D told him that. This was on the Summit only about 8 months ago.

[I Fly]

Just wondering how you found this out because I met someone who claimed he had inside information too. He stated that the reason service is impeccable in the specialty restaurant is because the $30 charge per person goes completely to the wait staff. He claimed the Maitre D told him that. This was on the Summit only about 8 months ago.

 

I had spoken to the Maitre D as well, but in a more social situation. At first he told me that he couldn't discuss this matter at all. I pressed him for an honest answer. He made me promise that I didn't hear this from him, but that only part of the service charge goes to the staff in the Specialty restaurant. It is pooled by everyone. I asked him how much of the Service charge went to the staff, and after trying to change the subject several times he told me 1/3 of the service charge goes to the staff and 2/3 goes to the restaurant budget.

[Leejnd4]

The statement on the website is factually correct, but it gives the impression that the $30 goes solely toward gratuities. This is NOT the case. Only about $10 of the $30 goes to the staff at the restaurant. I found this out several years back and have always been bothered by the statement that Celebrity uses making it sound like the "service charge" is for the additional service that you receive. While there is absolutely no requirement to tip additionally, it is important to realize how much of the service charge is going for service.

 

Steve

 

I disagree that the wording gives the impression that the entire $30 goes to gratuities. I certainly don't read it that way, and wouldn't have even had that thought if I hadn't read your post.

 

The wording says it "covers gratuities", meaning (IMO) that the gratuities are included. Nowhere does it say that gratuities are ALL that is covered. That's a real leap of logic.

 

I have always assumed that part of it covered the tip, and part of it covered the higher cost of the higher-quality food - and it's not really my concern what the split is. It makes sense to me - I mean, one of the main reasons I go to the specialty restaurants is because the food is better than the main dining room, not JUST the service. So I would expect that part of the fee goes to pay for that, as well as the enhanced service.

 

As for tipping extra, that's a personal choice, and should not be considered a requirement. I always find it interesting to see how many people claim to give these huge tips, and I would bet money that a large chunk of them who say they do, don't...or at least, not as much as they say.

 

I tip based on service, not guilt. In other words, I do not factor in things like how much the waitstaff is paid, or how bad their work conditions are, or how badly the cruise line treats them, or how many children they have to support at home. I am not on the cruise to act as a charity towards the cruise line employees. I am a customer, and I will pay what I am charged, and tip appropriately based solely on the service I recieve.

 

I donate a specific percentage of my income to the charitable organizations of my choice, completely separate from my vacation. I do not hand out extra cash to individuals I encounter as a customer, whether it's on a cruise ship, a restaurant, a hotel, a grocery store....whatever. I tip as is appropriate, and no more. I'm not a bazillionaire - perhaps if I was, I would be tossing around 50-dollar bills to strangers. But I'm not.

[nycglitter]

I disagree that the wording gives the impression that the entire $30 goes to gratuities. I certainly don't read it that way, and wouldn't have even had that thought if I hadn't read your post.

 

The wording says it "covers gratuities", meaning (IMO) that the gratuities are included. Nowhere does it say that gratuities are ALL that is covered. That's a real leap of logic.

 

I have always assumed that part of it covered the tip, and part of it covered the higher cost of the higher-quality food - and it's not really my concern what the split is. It makes sense to me - I mean, one of the main reasons I go to the specialty restaurants is because the food is better than the main dining room, not JUST the service. So I would expect that part of the fee goes to pay for that, as well as the enhanced service.

 

As for tipping extra, that's a personal choice, and should not be considered a requirement. I always find it interesting to see how many people claim to give these huge tips, and I would bet money that a large chunk of them who say they do, don't...or at least, not as much as they say.

 

I tip based on service, not guilt. In other words, I do not factor in things like how much the waitstaff is paid, or how bad their work conditions are, or how badly the cruise line treats them, or how many children they have to support at home. I am not on the cruise to act as a charity towards the cruise line employees. I am a customer, and I will pay what I am charged, and tip appropriately based solely on the service I recieve.

 

I donate a specific percentage of my income to the charitable organizations of my choice, completely separate from my vacation. I do not hand out extra cash to individuals I encounter as a customer, whether it's on a cruise ship, a restaurant, a hotel, a grocery store....whatever. I tip as is appropriate, and no more. I'm not a bazillionaire - perhaps if I was, I would be tossing around 50-dollar bills to strangers. But I'm not.

 

 

I too believe that tipping is an individual notion and should be based on the quality of the service received. For the record, the $50 we added was indeed the actual amount of the tip and was truly earned. I don't see the benefit of over inflating a tip amount as it is stated simply as a means to help others get an idea of what has been done by guests in the past. This a reference so that they may have an idea of what has been given. Obviously each guest has to make up their own mind as to what type of experience they had. I tip on a cruise ship as I would on land. Tipping by my standards has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of money I donate to charity as they are unrelated.

[Lou33]

To answer the OP question, the proper way to tip is to follow the guidelines that are published by Celebrity. From the guidelines, it is pretty clear that gratuities are covered by the $30/person charge. So all you have to do is pay the per person charge.

 

Some people may choose to tip extra, but under no circumstances should you feel obligated to tip extra.

[nycglitter]

To answer the OP question, the proper way to tip is to follow the guidelines that are published by Celebrity. From the guidelines, it is pretty clear that gratuities are covered by the $30/person charge. So all you have to do is pay the per person charge.

 

Some people may choose to tip extra, but under no circumstances should you feel obligated to tip extra.

 

 

Exactly. Tip only if you want to! Enjoy!

[Lou33]

Exactly. Tip only if you want to! Enjoy!

 

OK, but I think you meant to say "leave an extra tip" only if you want to. Since you are already leaving a tip when you pay the per/person charge.

[Leejnd4]

I tip on a cruise ship as I would on land. Tipping by my standards has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of money I donate to charity as they are unrelated.

Agreed. The only reason I mentioned the charity issue is that on these tipping threads, you always get a bunch of posts telling everyone they need to tip more because these waiters are so underpaid, and they work so hard, and they come from such deprived circumstances, and gosh darn it they DESERVE it. The issue of how hard they work and how little they get paid is always raised, as a reason for handing out extra tips. My feeling is, there are lots of people out there who come from deprived circumstances and don't make a lot of money, and I can't hand out cash to every one I encounter. I help people in need through legitimate charities.

 

On board a ship, I follow the tipping guidelines provided, which clearly state that no additional tip is necessary in the specialty restaurants.

[PurpleCow]

We ate in Muranos last year on the Century. We were with a group from our roll call and I think we each pitched in something extra for a tip, but I'm not sure. I'm sure that if one did, then we all did, though. Bill and I weren't overly impressed, under-developed palates I suppose, though the service was remarkable. However, we didn't feel we needed to spend an additional $60 when the food in the main dining room was so good. Because of that experience we didn't eat in the speacialty restaurants on our two recent cruises on HAL. Well be on the Connie next Spring. Should we try the specialty restaurant on that ship? The specialty restaurants on our upcoming cruise on the Regatta don't have an extra charge. We don't really care for Toscana, the Italian venue, but we will visit the Polo Grill several times, I'm sure. See, I told you our palates are uneducated! :o

[nycglitter]

OK, but I think you meant to say "leave an extra tip" only if you want to. Since you are already leaving a tip when you pay the per/person charge.

 

 

Let's not get bogged down with semantics.;)

[96740]

On our last 14 day cruise from Alaska to San Diego on the Summit, we dined at the Normandy every night. After the first night we made arrangements to have our table reserved every night at 7:00pm except for one night in the cellar room. By the end of the cruise, we were like family. So on the last night we exchanged e-mails and some gifts, and also left each person an envelope with a NICE tip.

 

When we got back home, we e-mailed our new friends and sent pictures that we had taken with them during the cruise. Never heard back from one single "Friend". We have come to the conclusion that the staff on the ship are alot like pets (maybe just cats). Their you best friend, just as long as your feeding them.

 

So for now on when the Limo company says that the price "Includes a 15% gratuity" And a cruise line adds fees for simlar purposes or even NOW adds a daily "Fuel surcharge" to the cost of the cruise, we are going to call them on it. Tips should not be AUTOMATIC. It defeats the whole purpose. Interferes with the natural selection within the service industry. To assume that the services to be rendered will be worthy of an extra amount of money is presumptuous and arrogant at best.

 

Sorry for the rant, but the way we are being forced to do things lately is really getting under our skins.

[Leejnd4]

When we got back home, we e-mailed our new friends and sent pictures that we had taken with them during the cruise. Never heard back from one single "Friend". We have come to the conclusion that the staff on the ship are alot like pets (maybe just cats). Their you best friend, just as long as your feeding them.

 

That's an important point to recognize. The fact is that our relationship with the crew on board a ship is, at its heart, one of service provider to customer. They are doing their job, for which they get paid. We pay them, through our cruise fares and gratuities, to provide us with a service. They are not there to make friends with us...they are there to earn a living. If they give us the illusion that they are our friends, that only means they are doing their job well - but we need to remember that it IS an illusion. Keep in mind that every week or two, they get a whole new set of customers. If they made friends with customers from every cruise, they'd have more friends than they'd know what to do with!

 

We are not their friends...and nor are we their benefactors. We are their customers. As such, I do not feel a need to give them any more money than they earn through the service they provide. I expect them to meet my expectations, and if they do, I don't see any reason to hand them more cash. If they go beyond the norm and exceed my expectations by a significant amount, I may add to the standard gratuity by a comparable margin.

 

I work hard for my money, and I'm not in the habit of handing it out to people I don't know, for no reason.