room service tipping

[kool77]

Could anyone offer any info on tipping for room service? We are planning on having breakfast in the cabin a few times. Our kids will probably order a few times also in their cabin, and we want to tip what is customary. Thanks

[smeyer418]

for just coffee a buck. For a full continetal breakfast a couple of bucks(if its for more than two I would make it a few bucks more). For a sandwich etc a buck or two. Just be nice and smile and have singles available.

Proud charter member of the PPS-Passport Pusher Society

Mother's Day on the Dawn
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[email]smeyer418@yahoo.com[/email]
Celebrity, NCL, Overnight Ferry, hydrofoil between countries, car ferries and river cruise and of course the Staten Island Ferry

[jbl1510]

doesnt your automatic tip charge per day cover that

[smeyer418]

no. This is in my opinion an extra service. Also its normally different people. If it is your steward its something extra in my view.

[Zeno]

Sooo - it's Ok to punish room service people if the dining room is closed - makes sense to me

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[eric-n-beth]

IMHO you should always tip for room service. Then again we are very generous tippers. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Eric and Beth

Seaward (Norwegian Sea) - Southern Caribbean - 1995
Norway - Eastern Caribbean - 2001
Sea Princess - Mexican Riviera - 2002
Norwegian Sun - Western Caribbean - 2004

Hoping our next cruise is in:

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[vijoge]

I agree. We always tip for room service also. It never occurred to me not to.

RCI Majesty of the Seas 06/05/2000
RCI Enchantment of the Seas 12/09/2001
Carnival Conquest 12/01/2002
Norwegian Dawn 11/30/2003
Norwegian Star to Alaska 6/26/05

Life is too short to be unhappy!

[vijoge]

Can't say what I'd do, Nina. I've never had that happen. Was the buffet closed, too? Or just the dining rooms? We usually eat lunch at the buffet so I suppose if the dining rooms have ever been closed I wouldn't have noticed. If EVERYTHING was closed, well, I guess I'd be a bit upset.

RCI Majesty of the Seas 06/05/2000
RCI Enchantment of the Seas 12/09/2001
Carnival Conquest 12/01/2002
Norwegian Dawn 11/30/2003
Norwegian Star to Alaska 6/26/05

Life is too short to be unhappy!

[ninafromct]

That's what I thought vijoge, thanks for being honest.

The buffet was open, but with a baby in a stroller and a mom with mobility problems, on top of the fact that the kids (or us really), couldn't find a thing we liked to eat at the buffet for lunch, going there would have been a last resort.

We always try to eat in the dining room, it's one of the reasons we cruise, so we can get table service and not self-service, (I can get that everyday, 3X a day). We were very disappointed that they chose to close the dining room on those days. I've never had that happen on any other cruise we've been on.

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[cruisecrasy]

Hi all - suggest those who want dining rooms open for their convenience each meal pay more and travel the more upscale cruiselines - can't pay lower fares and expect (or can you?) regular service...sorry but don't penalize the room service 'fellas' because of this. They still perform the service and u asked for it correct whether or not the cruiseline is 'cheating u or not as you see it'!! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] Happy cruisin'!

[vijoge]

As far as I know, having the dining rooms open at lunch is not something reserved for the "upscale" lines. This is the first instance that I've ever heard of there being no dining room service for lunch. Breakfast is also served in the dining roo. It's normal, expected, etc. Nothing to do with how expensive the cruise was.

RCI Majesty of the Seas 06/05/2000
RCI Enchantment of the Seas 12/09/2001
Carnival Conquest 12/01/2002
Norwegian Dawn 11/30/2003
Norwegian Star to Alaska 6/26/05

Life is too short to be unhappy!

[cruisecrasy]

We are talking about NCL here right as I consider HAL, Celebrity, Princess etc, as do many others, more upscale than NCL... that said even HAL closes its dining room on certain days (Volendam and Zaandam last yr) and I gather it will become more common on all cruiselines as time rolls on. On NCLs Pride of Aloha it is clearly stated that the dining room will be closed etc....

[sydsmom]

What is stated about the dining rooms being closed and where is it stated? Thanks

[ron46936]

It's not just an NCL thing to close the dining rooms for lunch on port days. Celebrity usually closes them as does HAL.

We do not expect to reduce the tip because of closed dining rooms. We tip $1-$2 for room service coffee.

[Tomct]

Sorry, but I can't buy not tipping room service personnel, unless I can be shown they do not ever share in the tip pool, or if their tips go into the tip pool.

For those who feel they've paid for the room service delivery in those unique closed dining room occasions, have you tried to figure out the impact? Lets say your $10 tip breaks down to $2, $3, and $5. Then take the $3 you paid for lunch and split it between the staff that may have helped you in the dining room. Let's see, that would be the hostess, maybe two waitpersons working your table, and say only one other to cover water and bussing. My accounting would bring that to under a buck.

Now, you call room service, someone answers the phone, someone prepares the cooked or assembled food for delivery, and someone brings it to your room. You bascially tell them that you already gave the lunch room staff your dollar, so thanks for carrying it up here on time, as ordered, and with a smile, but I feel good about my logic.

Just my two cents

Tom/Connecticut

[tortoni]

We always tip $2-3 for room service and usually this is greatly appreciated by the room service wait staff.

TF

[eric-n-beth]

Thanks for your 2 cents ron46936, Tomct and tortoni. When we traveled Princess the dinning rooms were closed certain days. And as for Princess being upscale my DH and I did not think so. We had a Penthouse Suite and thought service was far superior on NCL. That being said we booked with NCL again for our cruise this past spring. We had a wonderful cruise. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Eric and Beth

Seaward (Norwegian Sea) - Southern Caribbean - 1995
Norway - Eastern Caribbean - 2001
Sea Princess - Mexican Riviera - 2002
Norwegian Sun - Western Caribbean - 2004

Hoping our next cruise is in:

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[zimmerjulie]

I usually tip $2 for a regular sized tray, continental breakfast, for example.

I much enjoyed my lunches served in the dining room on the Norwegian Sun last year, and have also experienced a closed dining room on a more "upscale" line. I agree that paying more does not [I]necessarily[/I] get you better food service, or even (as in our case) a better cruise.

[Host CMLA]

Cruise lines close all the dining rooms on some days? That has to be a new thing. In 12 cruises I've never not been able to eat every meal in a dining room unless, of course, we slept in too late to get breakfast. Where do you find the information that dining rooms will be closed? Thanks.

Cecilia

I can be contacted at [email]ladyndnver@aol.com[/email]

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My Wedding!

[ron46936]

Quote from the Century Daily (Celebrity Cruise Lines Century) Tuesday 10/27/1998 a port day in St. Thomas.

"The Grand Restaurant will be closed for lunch today in order that we may present an Expanded Buffet luncheon in the Islands Cafe."

I realize that's more than a couple of years ago and maybe they've changed since.

Generally I prefer the buffet for lunch on NCL because they offer Indian food. That's a treat for me.

[ninafromct]

I'm with Cecilia, I've have never encountered a closed dining room (unless it was outside of service hours). I have always been able to eat every meal at the dining room on every cruise I've ever been on, and these were mainstream cruiselines like Disney, RCCL and Celebrity. Closing dining rooms and leaving pax with only the option of buffet or room service is NOT a trend I like to see, but I suppose it's just another in a series of cost cutting measures for cruiselines.

Cecelia when they closed the dining room they didn't really publish it anywhere, they merely omitted the main dining room service hours on the Freestyle Daily for those days when lunch wasn't served in the dining room. You really had to pay attention to realize it.

Just another reason why I prefer traditional tipping, you can tip for services you use, ie the room service attendent without the hassle of going down and reallocating your tips or getting money back so that you can tip traditionally.

And it was confirmed to us by James Deering that ALL tips are pooled, so your room service waiter is getting tipped out of those pooled tips, as is the maitre'd, head room steward, etc.

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ninafromct:
And it was confirmed to us by James Deering that ALL tips are pooled, so your room service waiter is getting tipped out of those pooled tips, as is the maitre'd, head room steward, etc.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>This is so frustrating! When I was on the Star I specifically asked the officer in charge of distributing tipping if the bell box people (room service, luggage handlers, etc) were included in the auto tips. She flat out told me no. Those people are not part of the tip pool.

As for the dining rooms being closed, this really bothers me. I don't enjoy eating at a buffet. On our January RCI cruise on the Mariner of the Seas we did eat at the buffet a few times because the dining room food was so bad and the service was so slow but I've never had to eat at a buffet. I like the choice being there. Hmmm....This issue is definitely something that would effect my cruising choices.

[ninafromct]

Cecilia,

We actually had a long discussion with James Deering regarding the tips because my mom offered the opinion that perhaps the automatic tips had something to do with the poor service. We thought that people would be more motivated to perform well if they were tipped directly, but he assured us that even on cruises with traditional tipping, that all tips are pooled.

This really surprised us. I always thought that the people you handed money to kept it all, but he insisted that wasn't so. He said all employees were required to bring their tip envelopes to the head waiter or head housekeeper and they would divvy them up according to some prearranged formula. He maintained that staff still went out of their way to perform well because their bosses knew who was bringing in the good tips and who wasn't. He said those who didn't get good tips would eventually would get weeded out.

It was actually pretty interesting and very eye opening.

No tagline, on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

[zimmerjulie]

Zeno,
you hit the nail on the head.

[Tomct]

Since kool77 asked about tipping for room service, and because this is an NCL board, everyone is focused on their NCL experiences.

What about the basic question, forgetting whether it's NCL or not? Our three cruises have been limited to NCL, so we have nothing else to go by, and have only used it three times total, and then only for breakfast. As I recall, I think our tip was in the $2 - $3 range, depending on what was ordered. Once it was only a coffee and a couple of muffins, but my understanding has been that room service is not in the tip pool. If my memory is correct, the cruise director on the Dawn last year mentioned it during one of the shows, as he referred to one particlular staff member who appreciated those tips since she was not in the tip pool.

I know kool77 would be interested in more advice, and I'd be interested in other experiences, too.

Tom/Connecticut