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Anybody Tip in Chops Grille?

cjdixon4

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cjdixon4

cjdixon4

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We're looking to make dinner reservations for Chops Grille on the Enchantment in May. Since it will be our first experience in one of the specialty restaurants, can anybody with previous experience eating there tell me whether they tipped the waiter?

 

I'm fully aware that gratuities are included in the $30 pp fee, and I also know that we're not OBLIGATED to tip anything additional. I'm just curious to know what others have done.

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ticktoneer

ticktoneer

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We're looking to make dinner reservations for Chops Grille on the Enchantment in May. Since it will be our first experience in one of the specialty restaurants, can anybody with previous experience eating there tell me whether they tipped the waiter?

 

I'm fully aware that gratuities are included in the $30 pp fee, and I also know that we're not OBLIGATED to tip anything additional. I'm just curious to know what others have done.

No, we wouldn't leave any additional tip as the $30 per person covers it.

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skiiergirl

skiiergirl

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We always leave additional gratuity. Amount varies depending on how "great" service was that evening. The only way we would not leave additional is if service was lacking.....and that very rarely happens in the specialty restaurants. These folks work too hard not to receive additional gratuity!

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Mark_K

Mark_K

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We always have. According to reports, the amount of the charge for dining that goes to gratuities is quie small. An extra $5 or $10 means a lot more to them than it does to me.

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Georgeny

Georgeny

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I am a bit surprised at the majority of answers so far indicating that they would indeed tip in speciality restaurant. Being honest I would never have even considered it after paying an additional fee. I would reason that staff in those venues were selected based upon performance and rewarded for that by the line versus the patron. That a portion of the added fee went to them.

 

I admit I am not a fan of speciality restaurants simply because corporate human nature being what it is now the dumbing down of MDR's can but follow. And it has! Service in many main dining rooms becomes less each sailing it seems as lines eliminate staff and place more burden on remaining staff.

 

Seems the lines now follow what I consider the NY City business model, give them less, charge them more and they will love it. Remember the restaurant danslenoir in NY where you eat in the dark? Wow it's wonderful, exciting, unique, yada, yada. No it's just stupid! But hey visitors to NY City love paying $15 for $3 drink, makes them feel special.

 

I admit I am just one of those dummies that started cruising in 1984 before they started charging extra for everything that used to be included. I have dined in specialty restaurants a couple times, sometimes because included as a freebie with a suite or because friends traveling together had to try it. I was not impressed except that on Celebrity Summit the steak and lobster better than most. It was as good as such was in 80's in the MDR. Service was also as good as MDR in 80's.

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spookwife

spookwife

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We always leave additional gratuity. Amount varies depending on how "great" service was that evening. The only way we would not leave additional is if service was lacking.....and that very rarely happens in the specialty restaurants. These folks work too hard not to receive additional gratuity!

 

just this once when it concerns the whole 'service' thing, I disagree.

 

the percentage of the fee that covers the tip is perfectly adequate unless you get completely WOWED from start to finish.

 

our last venture( and to be honest it was our first visit to Chops as well).. not only were we NOT blown away by the service, we found the food to be no better than the MDR.

 

in fact I would go so far as to say our MDR team was BETTER overall in terms of friendliness, attentiveness and anticipation of our preferences. in fact we have not been back to chips on EN at all since that first visit. I am willing to try GR when she arrives in Baltimore.

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

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I am a bit surprised at the majority of answers so far indicating that they would indeed tip in speciality restaurant. Being honest I would never have even considered it after paying an additional fee. I would reason that staff in those venues were selected based upon performance and rewarded for that by the line versus the patron. That a portion of the added fee went to them.

 

A portion DOES go to them, but apparently not much.

 

Yes, they are eager for this job. They do NOT get paid more, but have the opportunity to earn good tips, as evidenced by this thread.

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BekkaW

BekkaW

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DH and I have only eaten once at chops. The meal was nice however the service was unfortunately less than ideal, requiring the Maitre D to step in. On this occasion we did not tip extra. The kicker? The waiter actually went so far as to suggest that "you might leave some extra money for me".

 

Er, no, I won't actually. I did leave $20 additional at 150CP where the service was excellent.

 

Hoping the chops experience was an anomaly and will be improved next time we go :)

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gerif

gerif

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We usually leave $5-10 pp depending on service which is normally terrific.

 

George, back in 1984, what percentage of your income did you pay for your cruise fare? A lot less than you are paying now I would venture. The lines are keeping the fares really low but need to make up the income somewhere. This is one of those places and eating there is strictly optional.

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dc67

dc67

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I posted in another thread that when we dined at Chops on Enchantment last week, we were not charged the corkage fee, so I left the waiter the $25 I had expected to pay.

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