Tipping main waiter and room attendant

[KB Cruisin]

Will those of you who have cruised before please tell me what a good extra (on top of prepaid) tip would be for an excellent room attendant and waiter? We are on harmony now and have had the best service. I am gluten free and our main waiter has gone out of his way to make sure I have the food I want but gluten free. Our room attendant has worked so hard. This is our first cruise and I have no concept of what would be considered a good tip for each of them. I would like to leave a good tip because they have gone out of their way to serve us. Any help appreciated!

[Wine-O]

For a 7-night cruise, $20-30 each.  Don't forget the Asst Waiter if he also excels.

[motheroftwocats814]

We gave our waiter/Asst waiter $50 each and our room steward the same. But it is whatever you feel comfortable with. They do work hard and it is nice to reward them. I also give them excellent reviews on the comment cards. Those comment cards help in getting them promotions, raises, extra time off etc. 

[DonnaK]

We don't usually give anything extra outside of the tips that are automatically added to our account, unless someone does something specific that is above and beyond the expected duties of their job.   Most stewards and waiters provide excellent service, and that's what the auto-tips cover.  Quite frankly, it is very unusual for anyone to do something outside the normal realm of their duties for us.  

Edited May 24, 2019 by DonnaK

[Mikew0805]

Agree. Auto grats are in place, and I do not ask for anything out of the ordinary that would require an extra gratuity.

[KB Cruisin]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am gluten free and that has required above extra.  Because I get very sick when I have gluten, my waiter's care made it possible for me to enjoy my cruise rather than be in bed in pain. For me, that is huge.  

 

One question, you dont just tip the main waiter and he shares with the assistant waiter? You tip them separately? 

 

Thanks again for the help!

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, KB Cruisin said:

 ...

One question, you dont just tip the main waiter and he shares with the assistant waiter? You tip them separately? 

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

We tip them seperately.

[KB Cruisin]

32 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

We tip them seperately.

Thank you!

[cft8]

For a 7-night cruise, when we tip the room steward extra, we do $40 (for two). Same for the main waiter, and $20 for the assistant. 

[Cru1s1ng2009]

8 hours ago, cft8 said:

For a 7-night cruise, when we tip the room steward extra, we do $40 (for two). Same for the main waiter, and $20 for the assistant. 

this is what we do also.

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, KB Cruisin said:

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am gluten free and that has required above extra.  Because I get very sick when I have gluten, my waiter's care made it possible for me to enjoy my cruise rather than be in bed in pain. For me, that is huge.  

 

One question, you dont just tip the main waiter and he shares with the assistant waiter? You tip them separately? 

 

Thanks again for the help!

I always write "headwaiter's name and team" on the envelope. If he doesn't share it then that's between him and his team.

[KB Cruisin]

One more question. At our table, we have a head waiter and his assistant. There is also a gentleman over the entire main dining room.  I think they call him a head waiter too but he seems to oversee it all. He has visited my table every single night and breakfast to check on my gluten free. Is it appropriate to tip him or is that considered tacky since he is over all the main dining room? I dont want to insult by tipping incorrectly but truly appreciate the care and attention he has provided so I dont get sick. Thanks again for helping a newbie!

[cb at sea]

You may tip the headwaiter, too.  He is part of the "pre-paid" or "daily" tips.

 

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, KB Cruisin said:

One more question. At our table, we have a head waiter and his assistant. There is also a gentleman over the entire main dining room.  I think they call him a head waiter too but he seems to oversee it all. He has visited my table every single night and breakfast to check on my gluten free. Is it appropriate to tip him or is that considered tacky since he is over all the main dining room? I dont want to insult by tipping incorrectly but truly appreciate the care and attention he has provided so I dont get sick. Thanks again for helping a newbie!

 

Go ahead and tip the headwaiter, he is already part of your dining staff tips, and will be happy to accept an additional tip.

[KB Cruisin]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Go ahead and tip the headwaiter, he is already part of your dining staff tips, and will be happy to accept an additional tip.

Thanks again!

[time4u2go]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I always write "headwaiter's name and team" on the envelope. If he doesn't share it then that's between him and his team.

If he bothers to tell his team 😉

[sparks1093]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

If he bothers to tell his team 😉

As I said, that's between them. When I leave a tip in a land based restaurant I don't worry that everyone who's supposed to get a cut of it does.

[molsonschooner]

3 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

As I said, that's between them. When I leave a tip in a land based restaurant I don't worry that everyone who's supposed to get a cut of it does.

Personally, I prefer to hand the waiters/assistant waiters the extra tip. This way you can see their appreciation and you know that they get what you want them to get. Maybe I am just not a very trusting person.

[brentconn]

Though we have only cruised three times, We have decided the most important person to tip above and beyond is the one person who enters your room beside you.😉

[sparks1093]

16 minutes ago, molsonschooner said:

Personally, I prefer to hand the waiters/assistant waiters the extra tip. This way you can see their appreciation and you know that they get what you want them to get. Maybe I am just not a very trusting person.

Do you leave the auto tips in place? You are trusting the cruise line to make the distribution the way that they are supposed to. I tip extra to show my appreciation, I don't need to see theirs.🙂 

[KelSny1011]

Typically its $50/$50 but we have had some cruises where they've went above and beyond and my husband will tip more.  Our assistant waiter one time was so awesome and such good times my husband gave him $100.  Also there was another assistant waiter (on that same cruise) who would come over and make our kids go dance with her and he even gave her $25 just because she made our nightly dinners so much fun by her dancing and getting the kids at the table involved.  

Edited May 24, 2019 by KelSny1011

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, molsonschooner said:

Personally, I prefer to hand the waiters/assistant waiters the extra tip. This way you can see their appreciation and you know that they get what you want them to get. Maybe I am just not a very trusting person.

That's what I was thinking.  I want to make sure the people I intend the tip to go to actually get the tip.

[molsonschooner]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Do you leave the auto tips in place? You are trusting the cruise line to make the distribution the way that they are supposed to. I tip extra to show my appreciation, I don't need to see theirs.🙂 

we always leave the auto tips in place. I sure hope the cruise line does the right thing for their employees

[SantaFeFan]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Do you leave the auto tips in place? You are trusting the cruise line to make the distribution the way that they are supposed to. I tip extra to show my appreciation, I don't need to see theirs.🙂 

 

31 minutes ago, molsonschooner said:

we always leave the auto tips in place. I sure hope the cruise line does the right thing for their employees

 

Some people doubt that the cruise lines will do as they say with tip distribution, but I trust them to it they way they promise. Simply put, if I can't trust them to do that simple thing, then I certainly shouldn't be trusting them to run the ship safely. 

 

The way most cruise lines handle cash tips is to require the crew member receiving that tip to turn it into accounting for safekeeping until the end of the cruise, with a record of who gave them the tip and when. If they don't do this they risk being fired and will have to find their on way home and pay for it out of their own pocket.

 

After the cruise has ended, all gratuities, automatic and cash, will be reconciled. Passengers who remove or reduce the tips, even on the last day, will be accounted for and any cash tips given to the crew members by those passengers will be applied to the pooled tips to be distributed to all appropriate crew. Only if the passenger leaves the recommended tip amounts in place will the crew member have the cash tip deposited into their account. This process has been documented on CC by several past and present cruise line employees, some of whom were involved with the accounting processes. 

 

Bottom line, don't remove the recommended tips and the people you want to reward for better than expected service will get those cash tips you give them. Remove the tips and they won't. 

[SantaFeFan]

 

3 hours ago, molsonschooner said:

Personally, I prefer to hand the waiters/assistant waiters the extra tip. This way you can see their appreciation and you know that they get what you want them to get. Maybe I am just not a very trusting person.

 

The reason for giving them additional tips is for YOU to show THEM appreciation for a job well done, not for them to appreciate you.  🙁

Edited May 24, 2019 by SantaFeFan