Who tips the maitre 'd ??

[gog]

The only maitre D worth tipping is Joseph (ITS SHOWTIME) He rules. He was a joy at dinner but he was the only one I ever saw at the deck party hanging out with guests and taking pics with them. I just found out he will be on our October cruise aboard the Inspiration. Good guy.

[rwdtgb]

we do if he helps out and does more than he is expected to to.

[Poohdewoop]

He was very wonderful and accomodating to my sister and myself and the other 4 solo women at our table in May.

My sister swooned everytime he sang so he made a point to come over and sing directly to her every night.

She's still talking about him

[VickiD59]

I have never cruised before (will be soon), but based upon what I have read on here, I plan to check out our dining room assignment when we first board and see where we are seated. I will tip the maitre 'd if I request a table change, but other then that, I see no need to tip them.

Although I've read hundreds of posts regarding checking your seating arrangements, I did not :(. We had a group of 12 and we were all just so happy to be assigned the same table that we never thought to see exactly where that table would be. We were tucked into a back corner.. not a nice location at all. When we asked about possibly moving or maybe separating into 2 tables of 6 in a better spot we were told by the Maitre'D that the cruise was overbooked (?) and therefore he couldn't help us. I didn't think he would be able to anyway.. we hadn't asked for a change until the second day. But to your original questions.. other than that one time.. I never laid eyes on him again. I heard him.. he would announce when our waitstaff was about to dance for us, but there was nothing about his service that would've warranted a tip, even if he had somehow accommodated our table request.

Can a cruise be.... overbooked?? That reason puzzled me :confused:

[funny1]

Twice. Once when the maitre'd came to our table almost every night and did magic tricks for our three year old granddaughter. And years ago, when the maitre'd prepared a dish tableside for our group.

[Liffey]

Can a cruise be.... overbooked?? That reason puzzled me :confused:

 

Maybe that was just his sloppy way of saying, "We have more people than usual"? Like, maybe all of the cabins that can sleep four+ actually did have four or five people in them instead of two or three? Still, yeah, it's a weird way to put it.

[Sargent_Schultz]

If everyone wants early seating, yes, it can be overbooked. Maybe switch to a different dining time?

 

{or a specific dining room}

[bptex]

Yes, if they've earned it. On my last cruise he was great, stopped by the table just about every night. Also seeing him don a pair of blinking glasses and leading the wait staff to a rendition of Get Low by Lil Jon was worth $10 by itself.

[TMWTim]

Wow....I am not a hardcore cruiser but with a handfull under our belts, mostly out of Galveston on the Conquest, the only time we knew who the MD was was when someone was making a fuss of those entering the MDR like they were going to the beach. They caught him right at the front door to the MDR... older folks who were brutal. Never thought of tipping the guy as we only saw him briefly each time. So no, we have never tipped extra. I would question why any of our tips would go to him/her either way. Not saying anything bad but not saying anything good. Maybe I shouldn't have replied at all? LOL. I guess we have lucked out when it comes to the MD...good or bad. Not sure.

[flyingb]

I was merely answering the question the poster asked as to what did the MD do that would warrant a tip. Tips are geared towards postions classified in the "service" industry. The MD is such a classification and is entitled to consideration of a tip. They are not there to take up space. They do serve a purpose. Whether you tip or not is up to you, but at least be informed enough to make a decision.

 

Do you tip the engineer, the captain, the security folks? Do you tip the janitor who cleans the floors at night at your local restaruant, the cooks, etc? No, because those are not service classification positions, they are considered hourly, contract, or salaried. Some service positions, such as the waiters and MD's, are considered contract plus tip.

 

People can find justification to tip the MD as much as those who find justification not too. I'm just surprised by some of the attitudes on this board regarding the MD.

 

IMOP this people are tipped when I purchase a cruise ticket! :rolleyes:

Luv's Crusin'

[tiggerman101]

I just got off the Fascination and I have to say that Dessi went above and beyond for us. We had registered for the Chef's Table prior to getting on the ship so I am sure that had something to do with it. Regardless, she certainly enhanced our dining experience. The minute we walked in the door the first night she knew who we were and came around to greet us. Every night she would personally seat us (next to a window...we had anytime). She came by our table a few times a night to check on us, pre-bused our table if needed, gave us anything we might possibly need, etc. Her service was outstanding and we took good care of her in return. She truly made our cruise that much better.

[crusinpsychRN]

Ken, on the Legend, is the only Maitre d' I've tipped. He was so entertaining and sang every night. He is really good, not just goofy. No others ever did a thing but come around on the last night for his tip.

[Sargent_Schultz]

He was very wonderful and accomodating to my sister and myself and the other 4 solo women at our table in May.

My sister swooned everytime he sang so he made a point to come over and sing directly to her every night.

She's still talking about him

 

We've known Konstantin for a while - he used to be very shy but is getting over that. :p

 

[MrPete]

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 did it once when I was gullible enough to listen to the CD.

 

Then I found out it was a salaried position.

[Heavy T]

When I was younger (long time ago) my father used to tip the M'd at the beginning of the cruise. He would come by our table every night and we were always ordering special items that were not on the menu. These days, those "special" items are few are far between, but on our cruise last August on the Splendor, we tipped him and we saw him almost every night making sure we were getting what we asked for.