tipping in pinaccle grill

[scwtraveler]

does anyone know the recommended tip for dining here?

[peaches from georgia]

Tipping is such a personal decision it really is up to you and depends, of course, on how you feel the service was. There is no 'recommended' tip and we go by what we would tip on land for a comparible meal (not based on the PG extra fee because we would spend more than this for the same meal in a restaurant).

We have always been happy with the service and find if you initiate a friendly conversation the Eastern European stewards are wonderful. They are just somewhat more reserved than the dining room stewards, which I think is a matter of their professional training and cultural differences. We have liked them very much and been very happy going to the PG several times each cruise. :)

[hammybee]

Like Peaches, we too tip, when in the PG.

Others feel the Auto-Tip covers them when they use the alternative dining venue.

There are hundreds of threads on this topic that get into a debate of tipping.


Everyone does what they are most comfortable doing.

[lawyerrose]

If you DO decide to tip the waiter in the Pinnacle, we found that we couldn't just add it to the charge slip. We had to tip in cash. It required a discreet trip up to the cabin to fetch some green stuff during our dinner. :o

[Krazy Kruizers]

What you tip is up to you - it really depends on how you liked the service.

We just call the waitstaff and wine steward over to table at the end of the meal and DH shakes their hand as he passes them their tips.

[earl_m]

On my last cruise ,We ate supper th ere for the first time.Its worth every cent.I didn't know how much to leave. so I figure how much would I have tip in any other restaurant with the service and quality of food, so I left
$20.00 on the table. it was well worth it.

[jtl513]

I was very unhappy with the poor service we received in the Westerdam P.G., but DW insisted that I leave $10 anyway. :(

[caviargal]

We dine there several nights of the cruise and also breakfast there when in a suite. We tip the waitstaff at breakfast and dinner, and the wine steward separately.

[sab490]

Like Peaches, we too tip, when in the PG.

Others feel the Auto-Tip covers them when they use the alternative dining venue.

There are hundreds of threads on this topic that get into a debate of tipping.


Everyone does what they are most comfortable doing.

I thought auto-tip covered them too, but an inquiry after our cruise to HAL let me know it does not. I would feel very guilty about not tipping our server, but he was not very good. So I only feel somewhat guilty. :o
I will not make that mistake next time. (Hope we don't get the same guy since HAL crew seems to always remember everone!)

- Steve

[serendipity1499]

I thought auto-tip covered them too, but an inquiry after our cruise to HAL let me know it does not. I would feel very guilty about not tipping our server, but he was not very good. So I only feel somewhat guilty. :o
I will not make that mistake next time. (Hope we don't get the same guy since HAL crew seems to always remember everone!) - Steve

Sorry Steve..Don't know who gave you this information,:confused: but the Auto-tip does cover the Pinnacle Servers..We've had over 100 days on HAL & have inquired about this many times..We have been told by the Front Desk Ladies that the Pinnacle Stewards share in the Auto tip..

However, many do tip extra & the amount is completely up to you, what you believe the service & the dinner was worth..:)

Our last dinner OB the Ryndam in the Pinnacle was wonderful & we did leave a tip, however we've also had poor service when we did not leave extra..

Betty

[SakeDad]

I thought auto-tip covered them too, but an inquiry after our cruise to HAL let me know it does not. I would feel very guilty about not tipping our server, but he was not very good. So I only feel somewhat guilty. :o
I will not make that mistake next time. (Hope we don't get the same guy since HAL crew seems to always remember everone!)

- Steve
That's actually a very good point. Many think "Oh, I'll never see this guy/gal again, why tip?" But what if you end up LOVING the ship and become a real regular. Do you want that server to always remember the 1st time they served you and recieved nothing back? Might as well put the good karma:) out there from the get-go, assuming the service is worthy of it.

[sab490]

Sorry Steve..Don't know who gave you this information,:confused: but the Auto-tip does cover the Pinnacle Servers..We've had over 100 days on HAL & have inquired about this many times..We have been told by the Front Desk Ladies that the Pinnacle Stewards share in the Auto tip..

Betty
:eek: Eeek! And just when I thought I had this tipping thing figured out! I got that info from an e-mail reply. I should have known better than believe it. It didn't make sense to me at the time. If they were not in the auto-tip pool I would think it would be added to the $30 charge like they do in the bars. Some day I'll learn that most of the folks on this board are more knowledgeable than the desk jockeys in Seattle (or wherever they are).;)

- Steve

[mamaofami]

When we ate in the Pinnacle on our recent Noordam cruise, it was paid for by our travel agent. We asked the hostess about the tip and she told us it was already included. I wonder if she meant by the auto tip or by the travel agent? We gave something extra anyway, but now I am curious.

[jtl513]

When we ate in the Pinnacle on our recent Noordam cruise, it was paid for by our travel agent. We asked the hostess about the tip and she told us it was already included. I wonder if she meant by the auto tip or by the travel agent? We gave something extra anyway, but now I am curious.Yes, the P.G. staff does share in the auto-tip pool, and they may only get a few pennies per actual customer - BUT since everyone on the ship who does not totally opt-out of the auto-tip is contributing to their tip, it could be substantial over time.

Someday I would like to learn how many of the crew share in the auto-tip pool. Using the Noordam as an example, 1918 pax times $3/person/day is $5754 per day. If there are 70 officers (just a guess) and all the 550 remaining crew share equally, then each one receives $10.46 per day ... triple what is allocated to each cabin or dining room steward!

[jtl513]

I forgot to subtract an estimate of the number of dining room and cabin stewards from the 550 crew sharing the $5754 ... so it's even more than $10.46 per day per "pool" sharer ...

[ElizabethxoNoel]

We tipped $10 per morning in the PG for breakfast. We had almost 3 people help us per day, so we thought that was a good amount. The crew in the PG were phenomenal (just like everyone else that worked on the ship:) ).

=]
Elizabeth

[newmexicoNita]

I was very unhappy with the poor service we received in the Westerdam P.G., but DW insisted that I leave $10 anyway. :(We did the same, we too were not thrilled with the service on the Amsterdam but still left $10.00. NMNita

[luvnorway]

Interesting to read a few others felt PG service was not great.
We just did 28 days on Veendam (B2B Tampa to Venice and RT Venice) - ate at the PG on each cruise (courtesy of our TA) and both times felt the service was nowhere near as good as in the DR (which we made a point of telling our regular DR steward, ass't steward and head waiter (or table captain - whatever HAL calls them) - DR Maitre d' made very little effort to visit tables (at least in our sitting and section) so he wasn't informed. We both felt that we wouldn't return to the PG anytime soon unless it was complimentary. BTW, it also was not very busy at 8pm the two evenings we were there.

(Apologies for digressing from the tipping focus of the thread - needless to say, we didn't tip.)

[jtl513]

Interesting to read a few others felt PG service was not great. (Apologies for digressing from the tipping focus of the thread - needless to say, we didn't tip.)Staying OT for one more: our service wasn't too bad at first, but once another couple was seated in the corner opposite us we were suddenly almost totally forgotten. No refills on bread or water offered until we flagged someone down, looooong waits between courses with used dishes sitting in front of us, no one coming around to ask "How is everything", etc, etc. Maybe the other couple were high-tipping "regulars", or maybe they ordered some expensive wine (we ordered just a glass each), but whatever tip the other couple gave was offset by what they lost from me! :)