Tipping in specialty restaurants

[blueridgemama]

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I can't locate it. Is the 18% tip added to specialty restaurants or are you responsible for tipping?

[Merion_Mom]

If you book the reservation in your Cruise Planner, no gratuity is added.  If you make the reservation on board, 18% is added to your check.

 

In either case, adding more is at your discretion.

[Cruisegirl6]

When we have gotten the dining package we always tip at least $10 extra a person, the same with the drink package, we tip an additional $1 per drink.

[blueridgemama]

Thanks all.

[grneyes]

Always tip extra

 

[dplusd]

We only eat at specialty restaurants when purchased pre-cruise at a discounted price when no gratuity is added at checkout.  So we always do tip additional...typically $20 cash for the two of us.  But, if we ever purchased on board at full price with 18% gratuity added, we would not tip additional.

[mickeygirl78]

When I booked the unlimited dining package it said in my checkout that the service charge was included. I do plan to tip extra however it seems like a fee is already included? 

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, mickeygirl78 said:

When I booked the unlimited dining package it said in my checkout that the service charge was included. I do plan to tip extra however it seems like a fee is already included? 

 

If they say the tip is included, then I'd take that into account when you tip extra. 

[twangster]

When using UDP the check presented shows the service charge and the 18% amount.  There is a line to add more gratuity but that’s optional. Often 18% is light for great service so I add more.  

 

When using a BOGO the 2nd check is zero so I add 20% or so of the normal charge.  

[George C]

We also always tip extra ten to twenty depending on service 

[cured]

3 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

If you book the reservation in your Cruise Planner, no gratuity is added.  If you make the reservation on board, 18% is added to your check.

 

In either case, adding more is at your discretion.

We just got off the Oasis on Thursday. We at at Chops one night. Booked and paid through the planner months ago. When we received the bill, which was just a breakdown of the charges that were already paid, it definitely had a line item that the 18% had been added and was included in the payment we made in the cruise planner. There was an area to add an additional tip, which we did.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, cured said:

We just got off the Oasis on Thursday. We at at Chops one night. Booked and paid through the planner months ago. When we received the bill, which was just a breakdown of the charges that were already paid, it definitely had a line item that the 18% had been added and was included in the payment we made in the cruise planner. There was an area to add an additional tip, which we did.

What Carol was referring to was that if you book and pay in the cruise planner and the price was $50 per person then your total would be $100.  On board if it is $50 per person then your total will be $100 plus $18 gratuity for a total of $118.  

 

Whether or not they show you the breakdown of what you paid in advance is irrelevant to the actual amount that you paid. 

[vacationlover_mn]

We did UDP, and regretfully only did $5-$10 a night.  In the future, we will do more 😞

[cured]

47 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

What Carol was referring to was that if you book and pay in the cruise planner and the price was $50 per person then your total would be $100.  On board if it is $50 per person then your total will be $100 plus $18 gratuity for a total of $118.  

 

Whether or not they show you the breakdown of what you paid in advance is irrelevant to the actual amount that you paid. 

I am new at this so maybe am misunderstanding. But we were charged the per person amount + the 18% gratuity when we paid through the cruise planner. Our total per person charged to our credit card when we purchased the dinners was $43.38, which was the price of the dinner in the cruise planner + the 18% charge.  So it was not just the $35 or something that was listed in the cruise planner.

 

I apologize if this is redundant and not what was being asked. As I said, this was only our second cruise and our first with RCCL, which was spectacular by the way 🙂

 

This is from our receipt when we paid on during Black Friday, almost 9 months before the cruise.

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by cured

[Ourusualbeach]

39 minutes ago, cured said:

I am new at this so maybe am misunderstanding. But we were charged the per person amount + the 18% gratuity when we paid through the cruise planner. Our total per person charged to our credit card when we purchased the dinners was $43.38, which was the price of the dinner in the cruise planner + the 18% charge.  So it was not just the $35 or something that was listed in the cruise planner.

 

I apologize if this is redundant and not what was being asked. As I said, this was only our second cruise and our first with RCCL, which was spectacular by the way 🙂

 

This is from our receipt when we paid on during Black Friday, almost 9 months before the cruise.

 

 

 

What you are showing is not the gratuity.  If you said the regular price was $35 and you were charged $43.38 then that is 24% more.  Since your cruise was in Europe perhaps you were charged the VAT but it wasn’t the gratuity.

 

edit. VAT in Spain is 21%

 

 

I just did a booking for Chops.

 

Cruise planner lists it as $49.99 pp.  the total that I am charged is $99.98. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[dswallow]

Your daily gratuities are collected either way and distributed to the service staff that served you, be they in the main dining room or a specialty restaurant, or just general dining staff should you eat in the Windjammer or elsewhere/nowhere.

 

Tip extra accordingly as you desire, but don't feel your explicit additional tips are their only gratuity income.

[cruisegus]

Anytime you pay for specialty dinning on Royal, be it pre-cruise or on board the gratuity has been covered in that cost.

[grapau27]

20 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

If you book the reservation in your Cruise Planner, no gratuity is added.  If you make the reservation on board, 18% is added to your check.

 

In either case, adding more is at your discretion.

On Independence in May we booked on board and our Giovanni's bill showed no gratuity added.

I always give $10 minimum cash tip regardless because the service deserves it.

[cruzsnooze]

I don't tip again, it's already included in the upcharge. 

[katiel53]

20 hours ago, mickeygirl78 said:

When I booked the unlimited dining package it said in my checkout that the service charge was included. I do plan to tip extra however it seems like a fee is already included? 

That is true, but who knows how much is the tip?  No where does it state the amount included, so we tip $10 per person for dinners and $5 per person for lunches.  We do get the UDP so we have lots of meals in the specialty restaurants.

 

We also tip at least $1 per drink except if we just get a bottle of water.  We get the alcohol package and even though 18% is added, the tip comes to less than $1 a drink for us as we drink specialty coffee, fresh juice, bottled water, perhaps an alcoholic drink during the day, wine with dinner and an after dinner drink or 2.

 

[bananawindnj]

20 hours ago, grneyes said:

Always tip extra

 

Sure, tip three times for the same meal.  

[AnnaNicole]

34 minutes ago, bananawindnj said:

Sure, tip three times for the same meal.  

Agree.   Triple - daily gratuity, cruiseplanner purchase gratuity, and dinnertime gratuity.  Yikes.

 

What is the point of RCI adding the gratuity on the purchase (my cruiseplanner purchase said gratuity included) if you are expected to tip again at the restaurant?    

 

(I am not concerned about double tipping (daily gratuity) because I feel the weekly gratuity goes to the MDR staff and not the specialty restaurant staff.  I don't want the MDR staff to suffer if I chose not to eat there.)

 

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by AnnaNicole

[Sea Dog]

We do pre paid gratuity.  If we eat at a specialty restaurant say for our BOGO dining, does the restaurant see that our gratuities are prepaid? I would hate if I did not leave a tip that they would think I'm stiffing them completely.

[AnnaNicole]

11 minutes ago, Swank Pad G said:

We do pre paid gratuity.  If we eat at a specialty restaurant say for our BOGO dining, does the restaurant see that our gratuities are prepaid? I would hate if I did not leave a tip that they would think I'm stiffing them completely.

I believe  Pre-paid daily gratuity would go to MDR staff.

 

Check your cruiseplanner to see if BOGO includes gratuity for specialty dining wait staff.  If not, then you should tip specialty dining wait staff.

Edited August 18, 2019 by AnnaNicole

[Oxo]

Tipping is different around the world. Some countries consider it impolite to tip, others do not tip. Americans have a tendency to over tip. So,  do what you think is proper. It is your money. Your decision.