If kids don't eat in dining room.... do we tip?

[kimberpc]

This is our 2nd cruise... but first taking our children with us. I'm trying to calculate our tips (6 of us total in 2 cabins) and I wanted to know would we tip for the kids to the Dining room waiter ($14.00 per guest for the cruise) Asst Waiter ($8.00 per guest for the cruise) and Headwaiter ($3.00 per guest for the cruise). If our kids do NOT eat in the main dining room we'd still pay them $25 in tips for each child.... 3 kids total. Should we pay them tips if our children do not utilize their services?

[paul929207]

I guess the questions is: Will the children eat food prepared and served by the staff? of will you bring, prepare, serve and cleanup all their meals? If the children will be eating at the buffet then these are the same people who work in the dining rooms. Often children make a bigger mess than adults.

[cb at sea]

I wouldn't tip the head-waiter for the kids, if they don't use the dining room, but I would tip the recommended amount to the waiters....

Since the kids will be eating somewhere, and you won't be tipping individually at that time, just do the recommended tips, and you're covered.

[kimberpc]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table. I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

[psbtrvlr]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table. I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

 

Not all cruise lines handle tips this way. You should ask your question on the Royal Caribbean board too.

[cruisemom42]

Does Royal Caribbean not use the "auto tip" system?

[Sheffie]

I am wondering why you would eat in the main dining room and your children are eating somewhere else? We have traveled w/ other families and their children and the usually eat in the MDR and love it. Just a question.

[mafig]

Do you really want us to answer your question or do you, instead, want us to say don't tip, because that's how your posts are coming across.

 

I think you should tip the recommended amount. Your children will be eating somewhere.

[WhansaMi]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table. I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

 

Can your kids teach me without leaving a mess? Because, at 48, I seem to always leave behind crumbs, napkins, and a lot of messy plates! ;-)

 

I've never cruised Royal Carribean, so I don't know how they handle tips. But, it seems to me that you should make sure that they tip *someone*, because someone prepare their food, and cleaned up behind them. This is why I like the autotips from Carnival and HAL; it makes sure that everyone, from head waiter in the main dining room to the busboy on the lido deck gets their cuts.

 

I understand that, in today's economy, everyone is looking for places they can cut waste. But, the crew on most ships get a very, very minimal wage (plus room and board). The bulk of their income comes from tips, and they certainly do not become wealthy from them. Personally, I think it is wrong to take a vacation, or go out to eat, or purchase any of a number of "luxury" items, unless you can afford to (and are willing to), pay the tips.

 

Think about it. These folks are in the middle. The employers say "We get to pay you virtually nothing, because you will get tips," and the consumer says "The employer pays you, so why should we have to supplement that?".

[wdw1972]

You absolutely should tip - it doesn't matter that your kids don't eat there. What matters is there are chairs at your table sitting empty because your kids are elsewhere. Those crew members rely on tips for most of their wages, so they'd be "stiffed" unfairly if you didn't tip them. The only way to appropriately avoid the tips would be leave the kids at home! Otherwise, budget the cost in to your trip budget.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[G'ma]

This is our 2nd cruise... but first taking our children with us. I'm trying to calculate our tips (6 of us total in 2 cabins) and I wanted to know would we tip for the kids to the Dining room waiter ($14.00 per guest for the cruise) Asst Waiter ($8.00 per guest for the cruise) and Headwaiter ($3.00 per guest for the cruise). If our kids do NOT eat in the main dining room we'd still pay them $25 in tips for each child.... 3 kids total. Should we pay them tips if our children do not utilize their services?

 

Well, your kids eat somewhere....

 

Tips are PER PERSON, including children.

[julieanne]

They are utilizing their services. You will see your waiter and busboy along with the headwaiter on the buffet during the day. As others have said, they are indeed utilizing the services. We have always tipped the full amount for our son, regardless of his age. Our waiters in the MDR always made sure he had his meal right away and would always get him something special if he asked (he has eaten bagels and lox for dinner, grilled cheese, etc). The only time we didn't tip the full amount was when we sailed on Celebrity and they recommended half the amount for children. I don't believe they do this anymore.

[travelntreats]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table. I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

Dare ya to put post this question on the Royal Caribbean Boards... :eek:

[RoofingPrincess]

Does Royal Caribbean not use the "auto tip" system?

Not really.

You can pre-pay the suggested amount for tips, or you can have them added to your onboard account, or you can tip in cash.

Regardless of which method you use, you will receive tip envelopes in your cabin. If you use one of the first two methods, you will also receive printed vouchers to put inside the envelopes (and if I've received exceptional service, I put additional cash in as well).

 

The way I've heard it explained is:

The staff you see at dinner in the Main Dining Room can also be found during breakfast and lunch in both the MDR and in the Windjammer (buffet).

However, they rotate (over the course of different cruises, not during your particular cruise) having dinner duty in the WJ. For example, they might have to work WJ dinner one out of every four cruises.

They generally don't directly get tips for the cruise they work in the WJ, but since this rotates around, they would get tips for three of the four cruises. And since it works that way for all the waitstaff, it's pretty fair.

So if you decide not to tip your MDR waiter "because I didn't eat there", not only is he not getting tips for the week he's working in the Windjammer, he's not getting any for the week he's your MDR waiter as well.

 

This is why I prefer the way other cruiselines do it with the auto-tip (distributed however they deem fair).

[cruisemom42]

Not really.

You can pre-pay the suggested amount for tips, or you can have them added to your onboard account, or you can tip in cash.

Regardless of which method you use, you will receive tip envelopes in your cabin. If you use one of the first two methods, you will also receive printed vouchers to put inside the envelopes (and if I've received exceptional service, I put additional cash in as well).

 

The way I've heard it explained is:

The staff you see at dinner in the Main Dining Room can also be found during breakfast and lunch in both the MDR and in the Windjammer (buffet).

However, they rotate (over the course of different cruises, not during your particular cruise) having dinner duty in the WJ. For example, they might have to work WJ dinner one out of every four cruises.

They generally don't directly get tips for the cruise they work in the WJ, but since this rotates around, they would get tips for three of the four cruises. And since it works that way for all the waitstaff, it's pretty fair.

So if you decide not to tip your MDR waiter "because I didn't eat there", not only is he not getting tips for the week he's working in the Windjammer, he's not getting any for the week he's your MDR waiter as well.

 

Thanks for explaining that. On Princess (only line I've cruised recently) they only have two options: the daily charge (which is the default) or you can remove it and pay yourself at the end of the cruise -- however, I don't think I've ever seen envelopes left for that purpose.

[mafig]

Dare ya to put post this question on the Royal Caribbean Boards... :eek:

 

 

Or ask the question on your roll call. How come you didn't ask the question there? LOL

[travelntreats]

Or ask the question on your roll call. How come you didn't ask the question there? LOL

Probably knew they would get attacked for the rationale behind not tipping for the kids ! :eek:

[waiting4acruise]

I would leave the auto tips on for the children. If you want to tip the Lido staff more, Remove the tips from the dining room staff and apply it to the Lido staff.

[kitty9]

Where are your kids going to eat every night--or every day for that matter? No matter where they eat, someone is doing some kind of serving for all three meals they will eat every day, regardless of where they eat.

[PattyG12]

Everyone leaves a mess. Dishes to wash. Hey, I tipped for my 1 year old grandson! Yes, you need to tip for EVERYONE. Same staff in the MDR and the Windjammer. Someone is cooking, cleaning, serving (and it's not mom or dad for a whole trip)

[daisysheridan]

...I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

 

We have cruised and opted to ONLY go to the Windjammer. On the last night, any tip we would have given ou waiter in the formal dining room, we handed to the head waiter in the Wind jammer.

[daisysheridan]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table.

 

At least not while you are sitting there.

[paul929207]

We have cruised and opted to ONLY go to the Windjammer. On the last night, any tip we would have given ou waiter in the formal dining room, we handed to the head waiter in the Wind jammer.

Does the head waiter share with the waiters , assistant waiters, cooks, dishwashers, etc. ?

[blindrid]

My kids are 8, 10 & 15 and they do NOT leave messes at the dinner table. I know that you personally hand the head waiter, asst waiter & dining room waiter the gratuities the last night... so IF they only eat in the windjammer... WHY would we give money to people that never served them or cleaned up after them? It just doesn't make sense to me I guess.

 

Let auto-tip do it's think and quit worrying about it. Don't make it hard as others will take care of your children and it really makes no difference - that is also what tip sharing is for.

[daisysheridan]

Does the head waiter share with the waiters , assistant waiters, cooks, dishwashers, etc. ?

 

After talking to a waiter in the Windjammer he explained that ALL tips go into a 'pool' and are shared by all waiters (MDR and WJ). Since we only at at the Windjammer we wanted to hand the tip to them to let them know what great service we had received and to thank them.