Who tips the maitre 'd ??

[adamsfly]

Nope...saw him walk by the first night and on the last night he was out front waiting for those envelopes. IMO, no service deserves no tip.

[zoncom]

Once last year on Celebrity. We both ordered veal at dinner. 29 minutes later it had not arrived, neither had waiter. Went up to Lido. 10 minutes later MaitreD arrives with out 2 veal entrees. We told him we didnt want them. I then took him aside, told him how ticked we were and wanted 2 comp dinners at Murano. Got certificates on our bed next day. We were Elite and he knew it. Well handled by Celebrity. We tipped.

[SMSACE6]

I did it on my first cruise, just because there was an envelope for the maitre'd left in my cabin. I thought it was expected, but he did actually visit our table once.

 

Second cruise, on Carnival Sensation, I was seated at a large table with very nice people ( with one exception ) That one woman was disruptive and extremely annoying to everyone at the table, and our Maitre'd noticed it and rectified the problem quickly and quietly. He came by our table every dinner time and spent a moment or two, and I thought he was a class act, so yes I tipped him.

 

The only other times I tipped the maitre'd was when he or she provided a service, or at least visited the table regularly to see if everythng was good.

 

Last cruise on the Liberty, we had a great dining room waiter and assistant, but never saw the maitre'd, nor needed him for anything, so no I did not tip the maitre'd that time.:)

[JohnStevenGordon]

Just curious how many people actually tip the Maitre 'd in the dining room?? I have not been on one cruise in my adult life (the last 5 cruises) where a maitre 'd has done ANYTHING to warrant a tip. He comes out the first day and addresses the entire dining room (then leaves) ... then comes out the last night and sings to say goodbye. Where does he (or Carnival) get off thinking he deserves one ?? It is also annoying to me that they provide an envelope for it like it's expected to give him one ... yet they don't provide one to use for our room steward who work 100 times harder.

 

I agree I have never met the Maitre 'd on any of my cruises, I'm new to Carnival though (only one trip on the Freedom last year) and another coming up soon on a the Dream. I understand they train the servers but do you tip them in a normal restaurant? No of course not! Nobody at my table tipped him or her and all the people I asked said no except one but they were concerned with getting bad service on a future trip.

 

Bottom line to me is they are management and management should not be tipped. In fact many in such situations would be insulted to get a tip.

 

My guess is this is the cruise lines way of keeping their salaries down.

 

I can be a very nice tipper but I can be the worst tipper in the world too. I tip solely based on service me and my family receive.

 

I do understand many will disagree - thats good new for the most likely low paid Maitre 'd but never a tip they will get out of me unless possibly they do something for me. I mean u want a tip from me, maybe come say hello, how is your food, can I help you with anything at least once during a cruise...... OK enough!

[MustardMan]

I have only been on one cruise and gave the M'd a small tip. I thought he was very friendly and was there at every seating greeting us and walked around to most tables checking on things. Probably not "deserving" of a tip as far as service goes but I think he trains the waitstaff and they were very good! It was Yusef on Carnival Legend.

[GlendaleCruiser]

It depends upon whether or not I feel a tip is warranted. Sometimes not, and at times I have asked for table changes, early/late changes and they have been very helpful. Last cruise we saw him almost every night as he would come by and ask how things were and if we were getting everything we needed and being treated well.

[snowman]

Never!!!

[peanutJMV]

No tip for him.

 

Just think how much he'd make (note I didn't say earn) if everyone gave $5.00!

.

 

I was going to say the same thing. I tipped a couple times but stopped.

Wish I could get 5.00 PP once week--nice amt of money..

[rbiggie1]

I really liked Omur from Oklahoma on the Liberty. He came by my table and spoke to us for some time each night. He was very entertaining and very funny. Heloooo, I said helooooo. We gave him $5.

[mali06]

We have had a mixed bag of experiences with Maitre'ds. Some have never even acknowledged us, others have entertained the whole room, some have been very personable visiting our table every night, and ONE was the most amazaing man! Mario on the Star Princess to Alaska . . . brought the ladies at our table flowers . . . made us special dishes himself in the kitchen just for us . . . made special desserts at our table that no one else got! He was fabulous and he was tipped VERY well. It was the best service we have ever had on board any ship and we have always had great service on every ship we've sailed. The rest varied from some tip to no tip depending on the amount of service received.

[AQW]

I have tipped the maitre'd twice in ten cruises, both times for going above and beyond to make sure my daughter's food allergies were properly handled.

[kerrytens]

We tip the maitre d' on every cruise because they make special arrangements for our son before we come onboard.

Funny you mentioned this because I was going to say that I tipped the maitre 'd on my last cruise for the exact same reason.

 

He went above and beyond to make sure my daughter got whatever she wanted, when she wanted it - including from room service. We just had to mention his name and we could order anything, not just from the room service menu. He would call our stateroom daily to see if there was anything we needed.

 

Fantastic service and worthy of a tip, just for him.

[tripeee]

Yes, I know our room stewards already have the automatic tip but it would be nice to be provided with something to put a little extra in at the end of the cruise. Next one I'm bringing my own envelopes :-)

 

You can get additional blank envelopes from the guest service desk. I always do for the room steward, and others that go the extra mile. The maitre-d gets a tip if he had done something extra as well.

[Megnolia]

I understand the job the maitre d' does in training the wait staff etc. However I don't tip the hotel manager, and I'm always thrilled with the service of the room service teams, I don't tip the head chef, whose team makes or breaks the dining experience, I don't tip the captain, and I'm always happy with his navigation, I don't tip the cruise director because the entertainment staff did a good job.

 

There are lots of people who work very hard on the ship, behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly. I figure there's no reason to tip the Maitre d' if I am not tipping all the rest of them. I don't like getting the envelopes, and wish if they insist on a tip for him that they would just add it to the auto-tips.

[Liffey]

We didn't do it on our first cruise. We didn't even know who the maitre d' was, nor did we eat in the MDR that last night, and what the heck, we thought the gratuities were included? Boggles!

 

The second cruise, we figured "When in Rome..." Plus, our MD (Miguel on Splendor) was very funny and agreeable. We wanted to tell him this in person, but on the last night, he was nowhere to be found. We didn't want to just leave an envelope with an assistant, not when we were grumbly about the practice of this "surprise" gratuity. (I don't mind tipping people extra, but I thought the days of Little Envelopes and Guessing How Much To Tip were over?) So, we wrote a glowing review on the comment card.

 

For the third cruise, we'd asked John Heald (with lots of pleases and thank yous and no worries if it can't be done) if he could help with a table for two. I know that's a contentious issue, but there's already another hot thread/poll (or fifty) about it. Anyway, John and Mr. V on Spirit came through. We tipped Mr. V. because he performed a special service beyond his usual duties.

 

Next cruise, we'll tip if anything extraordinary happens, but the current system (prepay gratuities then surprise guests with an envelope) needs to be shot down. I'd rather they just built in a service charge if the MD will be underpaid otherwise. (And I wish they'd let us pay extra instead of jockeying on Embarkation Day to get in a table request - but that's also another thread!)

[pnjkeith]

Where does he (or Carnival) get off thinking he deserves one ?? It is also annoying to me that they provide an envelope for it like it's expected to give him one.

 

Well said!

[Liffey]

By the way, does anyone else wonder what they do with the stateroom information on the MD tipping envelope? I can't think of why your stateroom number would be on the envelope if not to keep track for some reason... and it's not so the maitre d' can write little thank-you notes later... so, what's the reason? Hmmm! :)

[stay_or_go]

Have to agree with most of the posts here...

 

On four cruises with Carnival, met him only once and he was really great. The other three did not get anything, because they added little or no value to the mdr experience.

[sweetlouise]

I really liked Omur from Oklahoma on the Liberty. He came by my table and spoke to us for some time each night. He was very entertaining and very funny. Heloooo, I said helooooo. We gave him $5.

 

Omur is who we had in the Silver DR a few weeks ago ... and that helllooooooooooooooo got really irritating. hahaha He said it like 20 times LOL. But never once did he even walk by our table. I'm glad to see that I'm in the majority of people who don't tip the maitre 'd.

[dominichunter]

Hellooooooo everybody this is Omur from Oklahoma!

He was on the Splendor. Funny guy. That envelope got misplaced when packing that last night. Sorry Omur

[Chief Cruiser]

I did on my first cruise and haven't done it since.

 

I finshed my latest cruise a couple of days ago. On the last night, he was standing outside the MDR. I'm sure he was there to collect his tips, because I never saw his greet anyone. I did not see one person stop and give him anything.

 

Maybe we're missing something, but I'm not sure what he does to warrant a tip.:confused:

 

The Matire D' is responsible for assigning all guests to a table, trying to match age, couples, singles, teens, etc with the same. They also are responsible for all the training and overseeing of all the waiters and dining room operations, as well as many other things. They also are supposed to take care of any issues that arise, changing dining times, tables, etc for those who request them. If you have dinner in the MDR, you receive good service, food is delivered on time, and you have no issues, then the Matire D has done their done.

 

Hope this helps. :)

[carncruiser1964]

Here's a good one - My husband & I got married on the Spirit and the first night at dinner (we were still in our wedding attire) the Matre d, Manuel, walked by our table several times and never even acknowledged us. We thought...Ummmm, hello...we just got married on your ship - how about a congratulations or something - anything? Nope. The entire cruise he never once came to our table and then on the last night, there he was, right at the entrance to the MDR basically with his hand out to everyone. Envelope? I think not.

A few years later, we were on the Triumph and the first night at dinner we heard a voice on the microphone..."Hello, this is Manuel your Matre d." OMG!!! We just looked at each other and said "No way"! But yes, indeed, it was the same Matre d. Again, he never came to our table and again we did not tip him.

[golfadj]

Here's a good one - My husband & I got married on the Spirit and the first night at dinner (we were still in our wedding attire) the Matre d, Manuel, walked by our table several times and never even acknowledged us. We thought...Ummmm, hello...we just got married on your ship - how about a congratulations or something - anything? Nope. The entire cruise he never once came to our table and then on the last night, there he was, right at the entrance to the MDR basically with his hand out to everyone. Envelope? I think not.

A few years later, we were on the Triumph and the first night at dinner we heard a voice on the microphone..."Hello, this is Manuel your Matre d." OMG!!! We just looked at each other and said "No way"! But yes, indeed, it was the same Matre d. Again, he never came to our table and again we did not tip him.

 

At least he is consistant.

[viaggi_per_mare]

We always do

[elcuchio24]

Nope, never never. Honestly, I can barely remember even seeing him on the last cruise....