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Room Service - Gratuities

first_state101

By first_state101,
in Celebrity Cruises

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lucinjo

lucinjo

Posted
Posted
We have never done room service on any cruise. Just wondering what is appropriate in the way of gratuities. Also could you tell us about your experiences with room service. Thanks

 

We use room service primarily for breakfast and less often for snacks (cheese plate, shrimp cocktail) in the afternoon. Breakfast is great, fill out the card the night before, specifying time frame and they give you a call a couple of minutes before the delivery. Order is generally correct, food is warm although not piping hot.

If our cabin attendant delivers our order (about 50% of the time), we don't tip at delivery, just keep a running total in our head for the end of the cruise. If someone from room service delivers we usually tip, $1 for coffee, $2 for continental breakfast or snacks and more if we have a lot of food. Just try to have the money ready, since they are really running, especially in the morning.

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first_state101

first_state101

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We usually tip $2.00, for morning coffee; and, $5.00, for breakfast. We have never done dinner, but if we did; and, if the server set up the dinner on the table on the balcony, we would probably tip $10.00.

 

Were you happy with the speed of service? Were the food and bevages hot?

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CathyCruises

CathyCruises

Posted
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We usually tip $2.00, for morning coffee; and, $5.00, for breakfast. We have never done dinner, but if we did; and, if the server set up the dinner on the table on the balcony, we would probably tip $10.00.

 

 

This is exactly what we do. I start collecting dollar bills a month or two before we leave home and bring them with me. We usually tip the waiters $5/evening for Elite cocktails too, so I need to start bringing more of those, and we throw in a $20 from time to time.

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spookwife

spookwife

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It seems you will always get two answers when it comes to tipping.

 

1) Gratuities are already included so there is no requirement to tip.

 

2) Tip if you feel you received excellent service.

 

room service IS NOT part of the daily charges. the daily charges.. regardless of what it is called.. covers the room attendant and meals in no fee venues( buffet, Main dining room) not private dining in your cabin

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Cruising89143

Cruising89143

Posted
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Depends on the size of the order. We had no issues with using room service. Food arrived on time. Hot items were hot and cold items were delivered cold. If you have a suite your Butler will deliver and we take care of him at the end of the cruise.

 

Here is what we give.

 

Small snack -$2.00

Breakfast or lunch -$5.00

Dinner - $10.00

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jackdiamond

jackdiamond

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Depends on the size of the order. We had no issues with using room service. Food arrived on time. Hot items were hot and cold items were delivered cold. If you have a suite your Butler will deliver and we take care of him at the end of the cruise.

 

Here is what we give.

 

Small snack -$2.00

Breakfast or lunch -$5.00

Dinner - $10.00

That is fair.

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jakers

jakers

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My daughters like to get up late in the morning. They didn't like getting dressed for breakfast. They would order room service and tip $5 the first morning. That way whoever brought the food would make sure to wake them up and not leave it in the hallway.

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Umbarger

Umbarger

Posted
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room service IS NOT part of the daily charges. the daily charges.. regardless of what it is called.. covers the room attendant and meals in no fee venues( buffet, Main dining room) not private dining in your cabin

 

I asked this question on board and was assured that room service tipping WAS included in the daily gratuities that are put on your account. However, by evidence of this thread it seems people do tip for it.

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Lsimon

Lsimon

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I've confirmed twice over the years that the room service staff are included in the daily tip pool covered by the basic daily gratuities that you either prepay or which are auto charged to your account. So no one should feel they need to tip extra as an "obligation" nor that they are stiffing the staff if they don't tip extra.

 

With that said, we personally provide an additional gratuity when the room service staff deliver our order. But that is a personal decision of ours and everyone should make their own decision based on their own budget and preferences. We typically tip a couple of dollars for a quick breakfast delivery or an afternoon snack. We've found that the staff is sometimes in and out so quick you have to act fast to give them the tip so we have some cash in hand before we answer the door! They don't stand around waiting for a tip like the room service staff in US Hotels do.

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fleckle

fleckle

Posted
Posted
My daughters like to get up late in the morning. They didn't like getting dressed for breakfast. They would order room service and tip $5 the first morning. That way whoever brought the food would make sure to wake them up and not leave it in the hallway.

They always make a wake-up call to the room to let you know when room service breakfast is on the way. It has nothing to do with tipping.

 

Also, we find it better to tip the delivery person each time when the food is delivered because the room service order may be delivered by someone else the next time.

That is why we keep a stash of small bills in a convenient drawer close to the door, easy to reach.

 

The exception is when our own stateroom attendant delivers our room service order. Then we just increase the extra tip to him/her at the end of the cruise instead of tipping separately for each delivery.

 

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scotslizzy

scotslizzy

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I have tried on a number of occasions to order hot dishes from room service or the main dining room menu and on each occasion I have been disappointed about the temp of the food.

 

Certainly its nice for a quick continental breakfast if you want to leave the ship early for a tour etc but I would not order "hot" food again from room service .

 

As to tipping we have always given a couple of dollars on the assumption that this extra and even although I now know from reading these posts that this was incorrect I will still tip.

 

Scotslizzy

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spookwife

spookwife

Posted
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I have tried on a number of occasions to order hot dishes from room service or the main dining room menu and on each occasion I have been disappointed about the temp of the food.

 

Certainly its nice for a quick continental breakfast if you want to leave the ship early for a tour etc but I would not order "hot" food again from room service .

 

As to tipping we have always given a couple of dollars on the assumption that this extra and even although I now know from reading these posts that this was incorrect I will still tip.

 

Scotslizzy

 

I just got off a Royal ship on Friday, and I used RS twice for 'hot' food.

 

it was no worse than getting fast food via drive thru and then waiting until getting home to eat it.

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chamima

chamima

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Posted
This is exactly what we do. I start collecting dollar bills a month or two before we leave home and bring them with me. We usually tip the waiters $5/evening for Elite cocktails too, so I need to start bringing more of those, and we throw in a $20 from time to time.

 

 

I'm always amazed at posts like this.

We bring a couple of singles to start out the cruise and then go to Guest Relations and change a large bill into singles and fives to have for tips.

MUCH less bulky for traveling!

I also figure the waiters are doing the opposite with my singles.

It's just like in the beauty shop where I actually see it happen!

;)

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CathyCruises

CathyCruises

Posted
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I'm always amazed at posts like this.

We bring a couple of singles to start out the cruise and then go to Guest Relations and change a large bill into singles and fives to have for tips.

MUCH less bulky for traveling!

I also figure the waiters are doing the opposite with my singles.

It's just like in the beauty shop where I actually see it happen!

;)

 

LOL! I know we can do that, and we do from time to time. It's just a cruising tradition for us, and believe me, I never take so much that the bulk is an issue. I keep our travel documents, and my tip money, in a lovely zippered document case I got from our one and only cruise on Crystal, so it's not taking up any extra room, not like it's bulging out of my wallet!

 

We had our first ever yard sale right before our last cruise and I had a huge bundle of $1 bills, so that was a perfect use for them.

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chamima

chamima

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LOL! I know we can do that, and we do from time to time. It's just a cruising tradition for us, and believe me, I never take so much that the bulk is an issue. I keep our travel documents, and my tip money, in a lovely zippered document case I got from our one and only cruise on Crystal, so it's not taking up any extra room, not like it's bulging out of my wallet!

We had our first ever yard sale right before our last cruise and I had a huge bundle of $1 bills, so that was a perfect use for them.

 

In that case it's almost like the tips being free!

I save my Costco rebate for trip money! ;)

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