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Are "Tipping Guidelines" different if you only eat in the Main Dining room 2-3 nights??


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I know this may cause debate but I'm still curious. Yes, I do believe in tipping in full for my 4 children so.. now with that said. With regards to the ages of my children (2,3,7,12) I for see us only eating in the main dining room 2 maybe 3 times tops(1 of those times minus the children) I think I will be tipping Room service personal on a daily basis and extra to the room stewards. With all that said do I adjust the other tips based on how many times we eat in the Main Dining room or not??

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The tips from the main dining room also filter to the wait staff in the Windjammer by the pool. You will probably eat most meals there. Tip the recommended amount no matter where you eat.

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Just curious if you don't eat in the dining room at all (and let them know that ahead of time) should you tip as you would normally or should we give the tip to the people who serve us in the evening at the windjammer?

 

Diane

Legend of the Sea 9/12/04

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almost everyone who is a waiter and assistant waiter in the dining room also work in the Windjammer at other times during the week. By tipping your waiter for the week for dining room service, you are also tipping everyone who works in the windjammer. It all works out in the end if everyone does the right thing. If you only pay for the 2-3 times you use the diningroom, you are taking away a large percentage of the tip that your waiter and assistant are expecting. Your tip is most of their pay.

 

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Ditto on what cruisinfanatic said.. The wait staff works not only in the dining room, but also the windjammer, the pizza place.. etc..

 

That being said, proper ettique is to tip the daily rate regardless of the days you using the dining room for dinner. They depend on your tips as part of their salary.

 

Maureen

 

Princess Sun 2/27/2005

Mariner of the Seas 10/16/2005

 

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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by beachgirl55:

I thought they automatically added the recommended tip amount to your final bill. Is this the case? (First time on RCCL.)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

No, on RCI it isn't automatically added, but you can request it, the deadline will be posted on the compass.

 

Hope you enjoy your first RCI cruise icon_smile.gif

 

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[This message was edited by rascalious on 05-30-04 at 11:22 PM.]

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Royal Caribbean does NOT automatically add the tips to your account. You can request that they add the recommended amount up to the next to last day of the cruise. You will get a voucher to put in the envelopes. We have been doing that so we don't have to carry so much cash. However, we also generally add some extra cash in the envelopes for very good service. We have found the service to be mostly exceptional on 16 cruises with RCI. As in all things, some of the staff will provide extra service while others will do just enough to get by. We always reward the ones that go beyond the norm.

 

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Just to be redundant here: if you tip the full amount to your dining room staff, then you are also tipping them for the job they do in the other eating areas of the ship. The other passengers doing the same thing are making sure the other staff get their fair share, so whomever waited on you gets their tips.

 

Yes, make it easy and have it added to your shipboard charge. It's easy and they give you plenty of notice to do it. You won't have to give the tips personally in the dining room, and they are notified which of their passengers are tipping on their accounts.

 

Peggy - RCI since 1973

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So we should tip the full 7 day amount to the wait staff in the dining room even if we don't eat there every night and not tip in the Windjammer, etc. when we eat there instead because they are already covered. Is this correct? First Time Cruiser

 

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It's unfortunate that the cruise lines even refer to suggested "tipping" or "gratuities" when, indeed, the "tip" is really the base pay for most of the "tipped" crew members.

 

The reality is that you are assigned steward and wait staff and they are your employees for the week. If you decide not to use their services they are still your employees, standing by, waiting to work. Not tipping them is the equivalent of docking their pay. Tipping extra is the equal of a bonus for a job well done.

 

On our first cruise we just left the tips in place (the cruise line had auto tips added to your final bill). Since then we have adjusted our tipping habits to additionally reward staff that makes our cruise experience memorable.

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pcur, They notifiy the staff to which passengers are tipping automatically? I assume this would remove the chance of the awkwardness of the staff "looking" for their tips at the end of the cruise. If I add the recommended tip to my final bill, I don't need to tell the staff that I have done this?

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This is an interesting thread. We generally take full advantage of the dining room, so tipping is not a problem for us and generally will tip beyond the tipping guidelines.

 

What I find curious.... I understand that the servers are working all areas of the ship, and our tip will take into consideration all of the places that they work. But what about the servers that do not work in the dining room. Would our server share his/her tip with these people that say just work the buffet or poolside?? And do you think when you purchase drinks at say the pool, that the server gets that tip, or are all the tips going into a pool of some sort.

 

I think I would be kind of disappointed to know that the tip that I gave our server (for a great week of service to us) would have to be shared.

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Last Nov. when we were on the Splendour of the Seas, they would not give us vouchers after we had the tips put on our account so we had nothing to give the staff on the final night. I did give our waiter something extra but in an envelopeI had brought from home with a thank-you card. Was this just the policy of the Splendour or is it the same with all RCCL ships? Personally, I like handing the staff the envelope and thanking them.

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Hi mohendry,

We were also on Splendour in April and were very surprised not to receive vouchers. They instead post a list with all the tips paid in the various service areas. Like yourselves we gave additional envelopes (we asked the pursers desk to provide) as it seemed odd not to personally hand them something. We have been on other RCCL ships and this was the first time we encounted this way of tipping. Can't say we liked it....... We usually eat dinner in the main dining room, and other meals in the Windjammer, and often saw our Assist. Waiter there, but not our Waiter.

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My kids (aged 13 and 16) only ate with us in the Dining room once on one of the formal nights. I think they might have been having a good time somewhere else icon_wink.gif

 

Anyway, we tipped the full amount as I'm sure they were not tipping anywhere they ate themselves.

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Psulzer - Yes, you should tip the full amount to the dining room wait staff. They also work in the Windjammer during breakfast and lunch. Only part of the staff is assigned to the dining room during those times.

 

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We usually eat dinner in the main dining room most nights but on our next cruise we intend to eat in the specialty restaurants(Navigator) and the buffet when we are late back from port. We intend to tip the staff the full amount but don't we also have to tip the waiter in the dinner buffet? We've never eaten there and just wondered.

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We always tip the full amount regardless of the number of times we eat or do not eat in the dining room. I,however, do not add the tips to my account. I have often wondered if they (the waiters and stewards, etc) get the full amount of tip if one puts it on their credit card. I know that Visa, MC, American Express all charge the vendors (RCCL in this case) a percentage fee. So for the sake of arguments here, say I tipped $100, and the AMEX charges RCCL 5% for the privilege of accepintg AMEX, then my $100 suddenly becomes 5% less and I seriously doubt that RCI will make the difference up. I know the amount is minimal but if everyone lets the tips ride on their account it does add up to less tips for the crew. And that is why I prefer to tip in cash. And no matter what cruise line I go on, I refuse to let them add it automatically. Because I also think that if they know they are going to get a certain amount regardless of the service they give, then why should they try to give really good service?

 

Annieeee

 

 

 

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Mohendry: We were on the Splendor this past March, and I was put in an "awkward" situation because we pre-paid our tips and they did not give us a voucher. At dinner on the last night, everyone else was giving them their tip envelopes, and I didn't have anything to give to them. I did assure them that we DID pay our tips. I was frustrated with RCL because they assured me that we would get a voucher and that our steward and waiters WOULD be informed as to who pre-paid their tips!! So, needless to say, we will be taking cash on our next cruise, because I don't want to be put in the embarrasing situation again.

 

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16

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If you don't want to bring the cash on the ship, you can always get cash against your sea pass at the casino and/or the purser's desk. We did this in the afternoon before our last dinner and it was great! Especially because you get double points on your RCCL Visa for anything spent with RCCL!!!

 

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