Legend Dec 21 2004 -Has this happened to anyone else?

[Canadiancruiserboy]

Hi Folks, just back from our Legends cruise and I have a question for everyone.

 

Have you ever had your main dining room server charge you for the previous corkage fees on the last night. We expected to be charged on each night and were pleasantly surprised that he did not charge us. We brought a opened bottle of wine to the table. We gave him a great tip because of this. Our feeling was we'd rather he get the money then the CL. This occurred on 4 other occassions along with the increased tipping. On the final night he asked for our sail and sign card and proceeded to charge us for all of the accumulated corkage fees. Lets just say my wife and I were shocked and disappointed by this action. In the future we will request the corkage fee as per policy.

 

FYI - We signed up for the pre gratuity charges prior to the start of the cruise.

In conclusion they got the pre gratuity, plus an additional extra $ each night for good service (ie an extra entre'), plus an extra amount for not charging us the corkage fee, plus THEN charging us for the corkage fee on the last night.

Guess we learned our lesson

 

Thumbs down to you Abraham :mad:

 

Other then that the cruise was fantastic :)

[Cruising89143]

Not sure I understand where you are coming from. It is clear that Carnival charges for this and you were charged. Just at the end of the cruise in place of having you sign the bill each evening. It was your assumption that you were not going to have to pay the bill. Carnival nor the waiter did anything wrong IMHO.

[MyImagination]

Yes, I have to agree your waiter Abraham followed the rules. At times the waiter wont charge the corkage fee, if you thought you were paying him off...then I agree you did learn a valuable lesson.

[GoinCruisin]

You know what they say when you ASS U ME.... ;) You made an assumption and it turned out to be wrong... I'm sorry you thought you would not be charged, but rather than tipping him extra (how was he to know you were tipping him extra because of the corkage fee? He assumed you knew about the charge)... Maybe next time you should just ask... and save yourself the grief. Lessons learned... sorry it happened.

[Canadiancruiserboy]

Thanks for your replies folks,

 

I should clarify... we did discuss the fee with Abraham on the first night and he told us not to worry about it.

 

How can you say that the policy for CCL is to charge you when its a hit or miss situation. Why did we not pay a corkage fee at the Supper Club for 3 nights?

So this tells me that it is at the discretion of the server if they charge you or not. :( The funny thing is - IF we did not go to the dining room on the last night we would not have been charged for the corkage fees.

 

 

I didn't appreciate the fact that he told us not to worry about it and then collected the fee into his pocket each night.... and then charged us on the final night anyway.:mad: I'm sure the corkage fee must go into the waiters pocket also???

 

I don't think we were paying him off!!!We found out from him on the first night that CCL does not pay their dining staff a salary - they get their money from tips and the automatic gratuity charges ( @ 1000 - 1500 month). This was one of the reasons why we gave him the $10 corkage fee each night as well as a $10 tip. We thought that it would be better that he got the money instead of the corkage fee going to CCL. If he charged us the corkage fee each night we still would have given him a tip of $10 each night. Pretty good considering most people don't tip extra.Either way we were still paying the corkage fee indirectly.

 

He complained that he wasn't making much money, so we decided to slip the corkage fee his way, which he accepted quite readily.

 

To get a final bill on the last night was a surprise, after all we were actually giving it to HIM each night in the form of a extra tip.

 

In total he got the pre arranged gratuity ($X's- I think @ $10/night ) plus 5 nights of $20 tips plus the extra corkage fee at the end $50. Total of @ 200.00 us

 

To MyImagination... you mention that "at times the waiter won't charge the fee", why is this.?

 

As you mentioned GoInCruisin... we learned our lesson. Don't fall for the " we don't make much money pleas " Stick to the rules folks and don't get burned for the extra $'s

 

Besides that, I would go on the Legend again in a second. :):):)

[GoinCruisin]

Hmmmm, you mentioned nothing about discussing this with him in your original post. You mentioned nothing other than you were pleasantly surprised that he didn't charge you. Why would you leave something so important out?

[Canadiancruiserboy]

Goincruisin, read my first post.

 

We were pleasantly surprised because he did not ask for the corkage fee when we arrived at the table. We thought that it was policy on CCL. In other words he was not going to charge us for it. Pretty clear stuff. Either way all the CCL info we received indicated that there was a fee and we were prepared to pay it - and did to him directly. We were surprised that we got a bill at the end - thats all

 

Despite you questioning my intentions.... I'm just stating the facts. So don't get so defensive!!!

 

As I already mentioned, the post was to see if it happened to others. Not to bitch about the ship , its staff or anything else. Just one little incident, that would not prevent me from taking a cruise on the Legend again

[MyImagination]

In other words he was not going to charge us for it. Pretty clear stuff.

Evidently it was just clear to YOU. Maybe he let it slide the first night. You thought he was letting it slide for the other nights. Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

[GoinCruisin]

Goincruisin, read my first post.

 

We were pleasantly surprised because he did not ask for the corkage fee when we arrived at the table. We thought that it was policy on CCL. In other words he was not going to charge us for it. Pretty clear stuff. Either way all the CCL info we received indicated that there was a fee and we were prepared to pay it - and did to him directly. We were surprised that we got a bill at the end - thats all

 

Despite you questioning my intentions.... I'm just stating the facts. So don't get so defensive!!!

 

As I already mentioned, the post was to see if it happened to others. Not to bitch about the ship , its staff or anything else. Just one little incident, that would not prevent me from taking a cruise on the Legend again

Cruiserboy, first of all... my post was not at all "defensive", I simply asked why you would leave something so important out. It was a valid question. And even now, in your post above, you still do not state that you discussed the $10 you gave him was for the corkage fee. Or where this was discussed at all. You said you "paid it directly to him", but did he KNOW this or did he think this was a tip? MANY people tip the waiters... how would he have known if you were tipping or paying the corkage fee? The corkage fee is typically paid by your S&S, so he had no way of knowing this. If you had questions, you should have asked him or when you handed him the $10 said "this is for the corkage fee", then he would have known not to charge you. Even if he DID let it slide on the first night, it is a big assumption to think they will do that every night... Either way, you stated that you discussed this with him and he still charged you, that is an issue you should have taken up with the Maitre'D, he would have gotten your money back since you paid twice and obviously the waiter was not honest with you.

 

I think you were the one getting defensive if you thought my question was so out of line. I thought it was a pretty clear question... I was not "questioning your intentions", I was asking a simple question.

[Canadiancruiserboy]

I don't mean to offend anyone with me posts. :)Just looking to gain some experience- our first cruising experience!:confused:

 

- We are out-going people and had a good discussion with our waiter on the first night.

- He mentioned - he's from India, he works for 8 months and gets 2 off, his family is back in India, just been married for 2 years, no children,

- He does not get a salary, just tips and the pre gratuity charges, most people do not tip extra, makes @ 1000-1500/month

- He was surprised that we gave him 20 each night and we mentioned that we were expecting the corkage fee and that we would prefer that he receive the corkage fee plus the extra 10 for his great service. He was quite thankful for this arrangement

- We had 3 dinners at the Supper Club and did not have to pay the corkage fee ( champagne for XMas, etc) We did tip very well, in recognition of this (as well as the service.)

- We are first time cruisers and did not know the ins and outs of the dining room procedures

 

In closing , we thought that our server was accepting the corkage fee for himself each night (instead of having it on a sail and sign receipt- not sure if he gets it or CCL), and were happy with the situation. They are not making much money!!!. We just felt a bit taken when we got the fee at the last night when we thought we were already giving it to Abraham.

 

Question for all???? Based on your past experiences - Does your server charge you right away for the corkage fee(each night) or do they accumulate it for the last night?

 

Good for us to know for our next cruise

 

:)

 

 

[BigDoug]

On our cruises, we have brought wine or champagne to the table about 2 - 3 times each cruise. We have NEVER been charged the corkage fee by our waiters. The fee is at the discretion of the waiter. I think your waiter felt that you were a soft touch and hit you for the fee even though you tipped him every night.:( A word of advice, tip your waiter/room steward a small amount the first night with the promise of more later. This works for us and we seem to get great service each cruise.:)

[MyImagination]

On our cruises, we have brought wine or champagne to the table about 2 - 3 times each cruise. We have NEVER been charged the corkage fee by our waiters. The fee is at the discretion of the waiter. I think your waiter felt that you were a soft touch and hit you for the fee even though you tipped him every night.:( A word of advice, tip your waiter/room steward a small amount the first night with the promise of more later. This works for us and we seem to get great service each cruise.:)

Yeah I have the same feeling. He found out you were on you first cruise and gave you the poor ship employee line. Im curious how many other people were at the table when he was telling you about his sad life.

[steveaaaa]

- He mentioned - he's from India, he works for 8 months and gets 2 off, his family is back in India, just been married for 2 years, no children,

 

- He does not get a salary, just tips and the pre gratuity charges, most people do not tip extra, makes @ 1000-1500/month

 

. They are not making much money!!!.

 

Actually they are loaded.His 1 month salary is a years salary in his home in India.For all practical purposes he is rich. Compared to US standards that is still not a bad wage.He saw you as new and exploited you.Just like GC stated,the Maitre'd would have cleared it up.

Steve

[Canadiancruiserboy]

Thanks for the replies, Your responses will help us with our next cruise

 

 

We sat at the early dining session - 5:45, Truffles lower level, Table 193. We were at a table by ourselves

 

Just a couple of questions:

 

1. Do the waiters normally charge the corkage fee each night or at the last dinner?

 

2. We had two people serve us , one was Abraham and another fellow(not sure of name). Abraham seemed to be the main person. What are their official titles and who does what? ie Maitre'D /waiter?

 

3. Is it better to forget the pre boarding gratuity charges and just pay tips based on service(as you use them). We had 3 dinners at the Supper Club (therefore the staff at truffles got a tip even if we weren't there- (pre gratuities). Does this seem correct?

 

Thanks for all your help

 

Expecting 20cm (@10inchs) of snow today in Ottawa- god I miss that week in the sun!!!

[palmtre2]

How do you know - maybe the head waiter caught on and TOLD him he had to do it??? He certainly wasn't gaining anything by it. BTW, I have never been charged either.

[GoinCruisin]

You have a waiter and an assistant waiter. The Maitre'D is the guy that is generally standing at the door, and speaking (and some of them are getting on peoples nerves, LOL)I personally would NOT take off the tips... if you take them off, and pay them in cash, that cash has to go to a pool to be distributed. If you leave them ON and pay additional in cash, they can keep anything additional they receive. It does not work out best for them if you take the tips off... this goes for the steward as well. We pay our steward and dining team an additional tip on the first day, in adddition to the S&S tips. We have only been charged a corkage fee once, and it was the last night...

[nrdsb4]

Goincruisin, read my first post.

 

We were pleasantly surprised because he did not ask for the corkage fee when we arrived at the table. We thought that it was policy on CCL. In other words he was not going to charge us for it. Pretty clear stuff. QUOTE]

 

 

I'm sorry, based on your first post, it was not at all clear to me that you and the waiter had discussed the corkage fee, agreed that it would not be added to your bill, and understood that the tip would serve as a private compensation for said corkage fee.

 

I don't think the first posters were out of line to ask for clarification, nor did they sound defensive at all, but that's just MHO.

 

What I have learned from your situation is what I am often confronted with in my own life all too frequently: Lack of communication is the cause of most conflicts. I guess we could all do better to avoid assumptions and always confirm our interpretations of events verbally just to be sure. Especially when dealing with money issues.

[dutchess43]

The majority of cruise lines charge a corkage fee. This was implemented many years ago so that when cruiser's see the corkage fee's they figure why pay that so we will just buy the wine from them. Some cruise lines are up to 10.00 on corkage fee's. I realize that mark up on the wine at dinner is 3-4 times more then you pay at home, but I refuse to pay those corkege fee's! We order a bottle of wine every night with dinner, & would rather pay for the wine not my own cork. If we bring bottles on board we usually drink them in our cabin with our friend's usually sitting on the balcony. I was also told that the corkage fee's go straight to the cruise lines pockets & not to the waiter's. Unfortunately it's another way for the cruise lines to nickel & dime us.

This is the same way that the majority of cruise lines charge you if you want to eat at specialized restaurants, ice cream places, coffee bars, etc.

What happened to expecting good food & good service & not having to pay additional monies for it?

Dutchess

[mafig]

Cruiserboy - Sometime we were charged corkage fees, sometimes not. However, if we had not been charged all week, we probably would give the waiter an extra tip at the end and we would have been very surprised, as you were, to be charged at the end of the cruise. What if you hadn't shown up the last night? What if there was a discrepancy between how many bottles were consumed during the week You didn't sign anything every evening, did you?

 

 

I don't blame you for being annoyed. I would have been also.

[scubaRN]

Thanks for the info, I've learned something from your experience. Another question, was the embarkation as bad as we've heard? What time did you get to the dock?

[Canadiancruiserboy]

What if you hadn't shown up the last night? What if there was a discrepancy between how many bottles were consumed during the week You didn't sign anything every evening, did you?

 

 

I don't blame you for being annoyed. I would have been also.

 

Thanks for your comment!!!

 

Its great to hear all the different experiences that cruisers have come across. I guess its best to make sure that all charges are understood before you assume anything. Watch out for servers that plead poor so that you will give them more tips. Tip on service, and don't assume that "don't worry its on the house" means free!!!

 

Every other employee on the Legend was outstanding.

 

FYI....The service and etiquette at the Golden Fleece (Supper Club) was the best we're ever come across.

 

Happy cruising :)

[Canadiancruiserboy]

Thanks for the info, I've learned something from your experience. Another question, was the embarkation as bad as we've heard? What time did you get to the dock?

 

We never thought the embark delay was much of an inconvenience. Delays do happen. Originally CCL said that we would be able to debark by 6:30 and I think we were off before then. How can you be upset when you're heading off on a wonderful cruise.:) If it would have been delayed for 6-10 hrs, it might have been a different story.

 

We arrived at 2:30 - we figured that most people turn up early and end up standing around or waiting in line-ups. Personal choice I guess.

A lot of people just sat in the check- in building - which was very cramped. We went for a walk @ the port area.

 

Cheers