Speciality Dining Gratuity

[unfdoug]

When you book, sometimes they will include a night or two at the Pinnacle Grill or other speciality dining on the ship.

Is the tip already included and factored in when you have a complimentary dining voucher or should you extend a gratuity to your server?

I have always extended the extra $ but I'm wondering if I'm double tipping.

[photomikey]

It is cruise critic lore that you must tip everyone that you come into contact with between leaving your house and returning to it. Therefore, everyone after me who posts on this thread will insist they tip somewhere between $20 and $100.

In all the times I have eaten at sea in an extra charge restaurant, I have never seen someone leave a tip - never. When the folio comes to the table at the end of the meal (which I don't understand - the charge is direct, who needs a folio?), there is no line for a tip or a total - just the bill. HAL has gone out of their way to make a cashless society, from the shops to shore excursions to the bar to the Pinnacle, and I put my wallet in the safe the moment I step aboard the ship.

So no, I don't leave a tip, and I don't think most others do either. If you'd like to leave one, you are quite welcome to.

It is my impression that none of the $20/pp goes to your server, it all goes to the ship's coffers. I am led to believe that part of the $11/day service charge goes to the Pinnacle waiters. It is probably pennies. But pennies times thousands of people is a pretty good chunk of change.

[sail7seas]

We always tip when we go to Pinnacle. A tiny percentage of the hotel service charge goes to Pinnacle stewards but by the time it gets to them, there isn't must for them.... is what we have been told.

The $20 upcharge is not a gratuity. It is for the higher level of menu.

One does not need a line on the check that is delivered to the table in order to tip. Tips above the automatic billed amount are cash. Just because someone doesn't see people tipping does not mean it doesn't happen. They certainly can leave cash in the bill folio or hand to server with a polite handshake and thank you.

[SwissMyst]

It is cruise critic lore that you must tip everyone that you come into contact with between leaving your house and returning to it. Therefore, everyone after me who posts on this thread will insist they tip somewhere between $20 and $100.

In all the times I have eaten at sea in an extra charge restaurant, I have never seen someone leave a tip - never. When the folio comes to the table at the end of the meal (which I don't understand - the charge is direct, who needs a folio?), there is no line for a tip or a total - just the bill. HAL has gone out of their way to make a cashless society, from the shops to shore excursions to the bar to the Pinnacle, and I put my wallet in the safe the moment I step aboard the ship.

So no, I don't leave a tip, and I don't think most others do either. If you'd like to leave one, you are quite welcome to.

It is my impression that none of the $20/pp goes to your server, it all goes to the ship's coffers. I am led to believe that part of the $11/day service charge goes to the Pinnacle waiters. It is probably pennies. But pennies times thousands of people is a pretty good chunk of change.

Well stated. There is no reason to leave a trail of cash during the lenght of the cruise. You pay your admission charge when you come on board and you may leave extra amounts according to your own wishes at the end. But the passenger bought a service contract for room and board and set prices for optional extras. You already paid for room service meal delivery because that was offered in the initial contract.

Ship board life is unique. You come on board after payment for a package of services. You reward special treatment at the end. But during your time on board, you are merely enjoying the "cashless" services you already agreed to pay for up front when you made your reservation.

In the competitive world of cruising a cruise line who offers exceptional service will be rewarded with more reservations and remain competitive when a passenger makes their cruising choice. But to expect the passenger once they made that choice to now pay extra to actually get the promised level of services or else have to get in line behind those who demand extra services because they are now willing to pay extra for them undermines the value of ever choosing that cruise line again. That would be "bait and switch" ethic and I would feel betrayed by HAL marketing if this in fact is the real operating ethic that exists behind its upfront public contract.

We find the value added by HAL ships is not glitzy, trendy decor, lavish entertainment, eye-popping public spaces, fake "gourmet" meals or high levels of obsequious attention.

HAL's value added for us are very good cabin basics, excellent itineraries, consistently good dining options and a level of courteous service and hospitality ethics that make spending our travel money for HAL our cruise travel dollar choice.

[RuthC]

The staff in the Pinnacle Grill (also the Tamarind and Canaletto) are included in the $11.00 per person per day service charge.

Personal opinions aside, you are allowed to tip beyond that, if you choose. You are not required to tip beyond that, if that is what you choose.

[tangerinebunny]

"Personal opinions aside, you are allowed to tip beyond that, if you choose. You are not required to tip beyond that, if that is what you choose."

Now we should all have that made into a sampler and put an end to the tipping issue.

[Gunther1]

Ruth, you always give just the facts and keep opinions to a minimum. I love it :).

[tcook052]

Ship board life is unique. You come on board after payment for a package of services. You reward special treatment at the end. But during your time on board, you are merely enjoying the "cashless" services you already agreed to pay for up front when you made your reservation.

Agree completely and I have booked specialty dining for sea days and appreciate being able to enjoy the ship without having to worry about cash and/or my wallet.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are aware that the Pinnacle staff gets some pennies from the $11 Hotel Service Charge as they are considered part of the crew -- your cabin stewards receive $3.50 between them and your dining room staff split $3.50. That leaves $4 to be divided among all the other crew like the Pinnacle staff, the laundry people, the kitchen staff, etc -- quite a big list.

So we do tip the staff in the Pinnacle when we eat there -- just a good hand shake as all we do to pass over the tip. If we have had a good wine steward we also give him/her a little extra beyond the 15% that is on the bar bill.

Also since we are either in the Penthouse or an SA we eat breakfast there as well and do tip that staff at the end of cruise.

That is just us -- others can do whatever they wish to do.

[jtl513]

While CDs like to toss out numbers like "35% to your room steward, 35% to your MDR wait team, and 30% to the back of the house", it really doesn't work that way, and those numbers are averages at best. The amount money each person gets from the pool is determined by their position and seniority, and all waiters get the same amount from the pool every day, whether you eat in the MDR or the PG or the Lido or in your room. Even if you never eat in the PG you are still contributing to what the waiters there get from the pool.

I do leave cash when we eat in the PG.

[KirkNC]

It depends on the service we receive.

Kirk

[RuthC]

Ruth, you always give just the facts and keep opinions to a minimum. I love it :).
Well, not always. ;) But sometimes a poster is just looking for facts simply put, and not a lot of pontificating.

[unfdoug]

Thank you for the all the informative replies. I didnt know it all worked on seniority. Good to know and quite interesting.

[CaliforniaAC]

It's nice, the good feeling we experience for rewarding someone and telling them that they did a good job and we appreciate everything they have done for us. Not just in good word, but in a way that there's actual value. I'm sure that we get more out of knowing these folks in the Pinnacle Grill for a happy evening or two (or four like the cruise in November 2009) than they get out of the tip we leave at the end of the evening.

We would do the same here in San Diego, on dry land, without a second thought:).

[Hawaiidan]

Since you have to pay a whole lot more to eat in the special places...I rfeel its is included....

[sapper1]

It is cruise critic lore that you must tip everyone that you come into contact with between leaving your house and returning to it. Therefore, everyone after me who posts on this thread will insist they tip somewhere between $20 and $100.

In all the times I have eaten at sea in an extra charge restaurant, I have never seen someone leave a tip - never. When the folio comes to the table at the end of the meal (which I don't understand - the charge is direct, who needs a folio?), there is no line for a tip or a total - just the bill. HAL has gone out of their way to make a cashless society, from the shops to shore excursions to the bar to the Pinnacle, and I put my wallet in the safe the moment I step aboard the ship.

So no, I don't leave a tip, and I don't think most others do either. If you'd like to leave one, you are quite welcome to.

It is my impression that none of the $20/pp goes to your server, it all goes to the ship's coffers. I am led to believe that part of the $11/day service charge goes to the Pinnacle waiters. It is probably pennies. But pennies times thousands of people is a pretty good chunk of change.
You will never see me tip in the Pinnacle because I do it very unobtrusively. I slip a bill out of my evening purse and slide it, folded, under my coffee saucer. Most people do not make a big splash when they tip, so just because you do not observe it happening, it does not mean there is no tipping.
Since our wallets are in the safe in our room and since I have a mind like a sieve, it is a running joke that I always have to run back to the cabin just before dessert is served to retrieve the tip money. Never fails.:)

[excruisestaff]

It depends on the service we receive.

Kirk

I agree :)

MH

[VermeulT]

Since you have to pay a whole lot more to eat in the special places...I feel it is included....

Sorry but that's a ludicrous statement. If you dine at a nice restaurant at home - do you not tip because it's pricy?


And I agree that excellent service deserves compensation... even $5-10 per couple says "Thank you"

[Cinder Again]

The waiter passes a portfolio because if you drink anything not included, (Cocktail or wine) there certainly will be an extra charge for that for you to review/sign.
Personally, with regard to tipping, I don't know any of my cruise friends that wouldn't tip at a speciality restaurant. I wouldn't assume because you don't notice tipping that it isn't happening. People see what they expect to see. I try to treat people as I would wish to be treated. Since I never remove my service fees, they are free to keep whatever I decide to bestow for excellent service, or just plain kindness. It pleases me to please them.
As Ruth pointed out, tipping is optional. To each his own.

[RuthC]

Since our wallets are in the safe in our room and since I have a mind like a sieve, it is a running joke that I always have to run back to the cabin just before dessert is served to retrieve the tip money. Never fails.:)
You too, eh? ;)

When I dined alone I did remember to put the tip $ in my purse. :) Then I forgot to take it out and leave it on the table. :rolleyes:

[SwissMyst]

One does wonder now if those of us who have had such a negative experience with the Pinnacle Grill from the moment we walked in the door, to sitting there waiting endlessly to even get the menus in an almost empty restaurant only to observe fawning, obsequious attention given to a later arrival, were we in fact observing the results of a PG service culture in the that floats now only on tips, and not a generally applied customer service ethic.

I will save others from writing "I get what I deserve" when I get poor service, because the key here is how many others have also report the poor service in the PG that had also often started the moment they walked in the door (when the first missed tipping opportunity in our innocence was passed by).

We certainly arrived dressed up with cheerful expectations for our first PG experience (6/10 Zuiderdam - Eastern European staff) because of all the rave reviews we read here, and it so quickly went down hill immediately so could the only significant factor in this immediately disappointing experience have been that we did not initially slip the Maitre d' a $20 to "ensure we had an enjoyable evening"?

Is that why the waiters fell all over some very casually dressed guy couple who showed up late and got full attention immediately with effusive greetings, while ignoring all the rest of the diners? Had that gentleman "bought" his way into getting this exceptional service to the detriment of others?

Comments made here cause me to wonder about all of this now. The PG experience was alien time spent in an alternate HAL universe, antithetical to anything we had ever experienced on any other HAL ship (4 of them) in any MDR or Lido dining venues.

[RuthC]

I really doubt that that's it. I've never tipped the Pinnacle Maitre d' at all, and certainly would not ever do that on the way in if I were planning to tip him. And I've never noticed anyone in my party tipping the Maitre d' on the way in, either.

Do others tip on the way in????? :confused:

[jtl513]

could the only significant factor in this immediately disappointing experience have been that we did not initially slip the Maitre d' a $20 to "ensure we had an enjoyable evening"?We have never slipped the maitre d' money before or after a PG meal, and we have had both excellent (usually) and bad (once) service experiences there.

It could well be that the table that apparently diverted the staff's attention from you were known from prior visits.

[DougandEric]

We never slip anyone any money in advance for better service. We do tip $20 for the Pinnacle when we dine there - I figure the meal would cost us $100 (with wine and cocktails) out on land so we tip based on that - assuming the service is there.