Additional Tip Charge for Specialty Restaurants

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

Not sure why you feel the need to be rude.

 

Why don’t you complain to Celebrity, you know, the company that actually sets the policies and is in charge of marketing?

 

I did not sign up for a Cruise only rate:  I signed up for All Included.  

I understand the difference between marketing and generosity. Those that point to a company's Service Mark are just making excuses to feel like they're "pretty generous".

[RichYak]

57 minutes ago, josh1324342 said:

Tips were already included in the specialty restaurants' cover charge and/or your prepaid gratuities.  I believe this is just a way of increasing the cover charge without it looking bad.  On our last cruise, I tried to tip our server and he literally wouldn't print me up a bill so that I could sign additional gratuity when I asked.  We were in a premium suite so the cover charge was free for us.  He said even if he gave me a bill and I added gratuity he wouldn't see much if any of it. 

I can assure you, your server would have accepted a crisp $20 bill.

 

But this brings up a good question. Does the new auto-gratuity stay with the specialty restaurant or particular server? Or does it go to the overall dining pool like the added gratuity in the past? If it's the latter, that's unfortunate for the specific server as it makes very little difference to him/her.

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

I understand the difference between marketing and generosity. Those that point to a company's Service Mark are just making excuses to feel like they're "pretty generous".

You haven’t even answered the question.  Who sets the policy about tips onboard?  
 

If you think All Included does not include tips when Celebrity says it does then please say so.

 

I would ask you to explain the difference between gratuity and tip.  But I don’t think you would.

 

I’m not going to tell you how much I tip people and how often because that would be making excuses, as you say.

[RichYak]

10 minutes ago, zitsky said:

You haven’t even answered the question.  Who sets the policy about tips onboard?  
 

If you think All Included does not include tips when Celebrity says it does then please say so.

 

I would ask you to explain the difference between gratuity and tip.  But I don’t think you would.

 

I’m not going to tell you how much I tip people and how often because that would be making excuses, as you say.

Gratuities are $15.50 pp/pd. Lets say half that ($8) goes to dining staff. Lets say half that ($4) is for breakfast/lunch/buffet service and the other half is for dinner. That leaves a $4 pp tip on the $55 upcharge you spent on the specialty restaurant. Is there a tip included? Sure, if you want to make excuses. Is a $4 tip/gratuity (call it what you will) on a $55 upcharge "pretty generous"? You tell me.

[zitsky]

15 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Gratuities are $15.50 pp/pd. Lets say half that ($8) goes to dining staff. Lets say half that ($4) is for breakfast/lunch/buffet service and the other half is for dinner. That leaves a $4 pp tip on the $55 upcharge you spent on the specialty restaurant. Is there a tip included? Sure, if you want to make excuses. Is a $4 tip/gratuity (call it what you will) on a $55 upcharge "pretty generous"? You tell me.

Thank you for answering the question.  As VP of Marketing for Celebrity, I want to apologize for all this confusion this All Included program has created.  We never thought people would take us seriously.  /s

 

[LGW59]

38 minutes ago, zitsky said:

You haven’t even answered the question.  Who sets the policy about tips onboard?  
 

If you think All Included does not include tips when Celebrity says it does then please say so.

 

I would ask you to explain the difference between gratuity and tip.  But I don’t think you would.

 

I’m not going to tell you how much I tip people and how often because that would be making excuses, as you say.

What you tip, if you do, is your business, for the sake of argument, I’ll go out on a limb and assume you do, why are you continuing to belabor this topic on and on

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

What you tip, if you do, is your business, for the sake of argument, I’ll go out on a limb and assume you do, why are you continuing to belabor this topic on and on

I didn’t start this thread.  I just commented on it. Maybe ask Rich why he has a problem with someone having a different opinion about tipping.  I’m starting to understand why people complain about All Included.

 

There are lots of things to read here if you don’t care for this thread.

[RichYak]

32 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Maybe ask Rich why he has a problem with someone having a different opinion about tipping.

I don't have a problem with those who have a different cultural opinion regarding tipping. They have a legitimate beef but should still tip according to local cultures.

 

My issue is with those who simply look for excuses not to tip. Always Included℠ and Journey WonderFULL℠ are Celebrity's marketing Service Marks. To stiff the staff and blame being duped by marketing is not a "different opinion", it's an excuse.

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I don't have a problem with those who have a different cultural opinion regarding tipping. They have a legitimate beef but should still tip according to local cultures.

 

My issue is with those who simply look for excuses not to tip. Always Included℠ and Journey WonderFULL℠ are Celebrity's marketing Service Marks. To stiff the staff and blame being duped by marketing is not a "different opinion", it's an excuse.

And it’s also cheap 

[Mark_T]

5 hours ago, RichYak said:

But this brings up a good question. Does the new auto-gratuity stay with the specialty restaurant or particular server? Or does it go to the overall dining pool like the added gratuity in the past? If it's the latter, that's unfortunate for the specific server as it makes very little difference to him/her.

This is my concern, ignoring much of what was posted above, this was never about the 'always included' stuff, the speciality up-charge used to state that it included the gratuity, and due to the excellent service we would tip on top of that.

 

With the disguised price increase of adding the gratuity to the price, I fear that the staff are going to get less than they were before, not more, as many who might have tipped on top of the up-charge may no longer do so... ... and what is gathered with the billed gratuity will be spread thin across the staff, and not specific to the table served.

[mfs2k]

9 hours ago, zitsky said:

I would ask you to explain the difference between gratuity and tip.  But I don’t think you would.

I think gratuity and tip are the same thing. 
In NY State both are considered “gratuitous” and discretionary and are not subject to sales tax. 
A “Service charge” is not optional or discretionary and is added to a bill. (These are subject to sales tax in NY State) 

Since added gratuities are not gratuitous or optional I think Celebrity is actually now adding a service charge to the specialty dining charges. 
 

I will likely leave an additional tip (discretionary and gratuitous) for my server but it won’t be 20% since they are likely sharing in  most or all of the service charges added to my invoice. 

[zitsky]

On land I tip 20% to 30% for good service.  30% or more for great service.  
 

If there is mandatory 18% charge on the ship I might tip more but I am asking myself how much more and why.  
 

Food is not cold?

I get an extra appetizer?

Server calls me by name?

 

I guess I could also tip the host if I get a quiet seat at the window.

 

I am trying to decide if I should also tip the sommelier if he brings me a glass of wine.

 

 

[Ride-The-Waves]

Dined in specialty restaurants three times on our just completed Reflection cruise: Lawn Grill first night discount and twice in Tuscan.  Lawn Grill was great with excellent service despite to heat in the outdoor setting.  Second time in Tuscan was unsatisfactory from a food perspective.  We were Retreat guests and believe the food in Luminae was better than Tuscan and definitely Tuscan was not worth the $106 charge for the meal.  We did tip the server $20 cash.  Next cruise on Reflection we will likely avoid specially restaurants and stick with Luninae.

[zitsky]

20 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Dined in specialty restaurants three times on our just completed Reflection cruise: Lawn Grill first night discount and twice in Tuscan.  Lawn Grill was great with excellent service despite to heat in the outdoor setting.  Second time in Tuscan was unsatisfactory from a food perspective.  We were Retreat guests and believe the food in Luminae was better than Tuscan and definitely Tuscan was not worth the $106 charge for the meal.  We did tip the server $20 cash.  Next cruise on Reflection we will likely avoid specially restaurants and stick with Luninae.

Interesting.  How much do you tip in Luminae, if I may ask?

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just a datapoint, the Infinity is charging $59 flat (no additional gratuity) for Le Petit

 

[zitsky]

This becomes important if you do a meal like Boulud or Veuve Clicquot that are hundreds of dollars.  Before you all start piling on I do normally tip in a place like that at 20% or more if service is good.  I just don’t go to restaurants that advertise “all included”.

 

Do I sit there while everyone gets an entree?  Is the wine good or swill?  Is there any description of the food and wine?

 

For a wine dinner like these two I am guessing most people tip the waiters and the sommelier.  Who else do you tip at a wine dinner?

 

 

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

This becomes important if you do a meal like Boulud or Veuve Clicquot that are hundreds of dollars.  Before you all start piling on I do normally tip in a place like that at 20% or more if service is good.  I just don’t go to restaurants that advertise “all included”.

 

Do I sit there while everyone gets an entree?  Is the wine good or swill?  Is there any description of the food and wine?

 

For a wine dinner like these two I am guessing most people tip the waiters and the sommelier.  Who else do you tip at a wine dinner?

 

 

I tip based on the service.  Whether the wine is good or swill or if there any descriptions of food/wine, has nothing to do with the server.

[Loracpin2]

What I've learned from this entire thread is....DO NOT EAT IN THE SPECIALTY RESTARANTS. NOT WORTH THE DIFFERECES AND ANGST IN BOTH QUALITY FROM SHIP TO SHIP OR FROM RESTAURANT TO RESTAURANT. 

 

Instead, we will now be very happy to eat all our dinners in BLU during our January back to backs. 

 

[zitsky]

6 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I tip based on the service.  Whether the wine is good or swill or if there any descriptions of food/wine, has nothing to do with the server.

 

Thank you.

 

I do not expect the server to control everything.  I tip server based on performance of server.  I tip sommelier based on performance of sommelier.  If food is bad I raise the issue with server or maitre’d.
 

Would you tip a sommelier more or less if the wine was bad and they didn’t fix it?

 

Would you tip the server more or less if everyone at the table got their entrees and you had to wait 15 minutes?  Now you could say it’s not the server’s fault.  Did server at least check on you and say “food is on the way”?

[markeb]

21 minutes ago, zitsky said:

For a wine dinner like these two I am guessing most people tip the waiters and the sommelier.  Who else do you tip at a wine dinner?

 

 

Serious question. How would you tip at a shoreside restaurant? 

 

I typically tip on the total bill. They can figure out how to tax me differently on alcohol versus food. I assume they have a system for distributing tips. I've never seen anyone in a Midtown restaurant tracking down a sommelier to hand them cash.

 

I have bought a bottle of wine in Blu once, which gave me the opportunity to directly tip a very good sommelier. On shore, my understanding is their percentage is usually based on alcohol sales to the table. Distribution of gratuities on packages is (intentionally?) unclear.

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, markeb said:

 

Serious question. How would you tip at a shoreside restaurant? 

 

I typically tip on the total bill. They can figure out how to tax me differently on alcohol versus food. I assume they have a system for distributing tips. I've never seen anyone in a Midtown restaurant tracking down a sommelier to hand them cash.

 

I have bought a bottle of wine in Blu once, which gave me the opportunity to directly tip a very good sommelier. On shore, my understanding is their percentage is usually based on alcohol sales to the table. Distribution of gratuities on packages is (intentionally?) unclear.

 

If I go to a restaurant I tip starting at 20%.  I do not tip the sommelier if he never comes to my table and all I do is point to the wine list and tell the waiter/waitress “could I PLEASE have this glass of wine”.  Is that wrong?  Should I tip the bartender or whoever pours the glass of wine?

 

Only been on one X cruise.  In Blu sommelier wasn’t that helpful.  Didn’t get much of their time, 5 min max.  Had better experience on NCL.

 

If I am paying $400 for a Veuve Clicquot wine dinner I expect good wine and food service.  Now wine is fixed ahead of time and I like VC anyway.  But there are maybe two non champagne wines.  I hope they will be good and not from the Classic list.

 

Let’s say I tip 20% to the server.  Still not sure how much to tip the sommelier?  Another 20%?
 

For a wine dinner, as you know, it’s not just my table as it would be in Blu.  There might be 5 or 10 other people.  So wine and food service is important.

[Pinboy]

On 7/8/2022 at 7:51 AM, zitsky said:

1--On land I tip 20% to 30% for good service.  30% or more for great service.  

2--Server calls me by name

1-- What's the difference if you are being served on land or at sea ? Oh yea, I remember -- You are on the AI so you don't have to tip . 

From what you say you tip to Porters for bags, and what you tip ( see above ) you " appear " to be very generous--- So, why the BS about the AI ??

2-- " Server calls me by name "--- Really ? That makes a difference whether to tip or not ?

So, what d'ya do if the Server on board calls you by name ?

Ya tell him/her " I would give you a tip-- but, it's already included --- because I'm on the AI ?

 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just a datapoint, the Infinity is charging $59 flat (no additional gratuity) for Le Petit

 

When they made the change at the end of April on some ships the increase was shown as a 18% gratuity and on other , like the above the price is increased not as a gratuity.  Either way a $50 dinner is now $59.  The $59 makes sense on cruises sailing from Southampton and Australia as posted prices  must reflect the total cost.  
 

The gratuity covered  by AI is the daily amount that covers the things included with your cruise fare.  That gratuity goes to your cabin attendant, butler (for suites) dining staff, and other housekeeping staff ( like laundry).  .  
There have always been other optional items that have a gratuity added, spa services,  wine tastings, fitness classes, beverage package upgrades come to mind.

Edited July 11, 2022 by jelayne
Typo

[zitsky]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

When they made the change at the end of April on some ships the increase was shown as a 18% gratuity and on other , like the above the price is increased not as a gratuity.  Either way a $50 dinner is now $59.  The $59 makes sense on cruises sailing from Southampton and Australia as posted prices  must reflect the total cost.  
 

The gratuity covered  by AI is the daily amount that covers the things included with your cruise fare.  That gratuity goes to your cabin attendant, butler (for suites) dining staff, and other housekeeping staff ( like laundry).  .  
There have always been other optional items that have a gratuity added, spa services,  wine tastings, fitness classes, beverage package upgrades come to mind.

You say All Included includes gratuity for Dining staff?  That is what?  Waiter?  Sommelier?  Maitre’D?

 

There doesn’t seem to be agreement about All Included.

[LGW59]

14 minutes ago, zitsky said:

You say All Included includes gratuity for Dining staff?  That is what?  Waiter?  Sommelier?  Maitre’D?

 

There doesn’t seem to be agreement about All Included.

Why do you need agreement or to know what anyone else would do in a certain situation?!  Just tip when you want and how you want.