I have a sincere question re: tipping

[HookLine&Sinker]

We will be taking our 2nd cruise in a few weeks and I have a sincere tipping question. I know the topic has be discussed repeatedly but I'd really like some input from those more experienced they we are.

 

When we took our first cruise I gained so much valuable information from these boards and understood that the recommended tipping amount could be added to to reflect superior service.

 

My question is this . . . and I respect that it's a rather personal question . . . if for example your waiter was terrific, how much more than the standard amount would be considered by him/her to be a nice addition?

 

We put the standard amount on our seapass and added extra cash to all the envelopes but I'm just not sure how to determine amount? Would it be an extra 20% of the suggested amount, a flat dollar amount over and above?

 

Again, I know this is a personal question so I thank in advance those that reply. I just want to make sure that our appreciation is accurately reflected to those that have made our vacation so wonderful and I just don't have a frame of reference for determining the amount like one would if you were eating at a restaurant.

[superjerryw]

As you said, this is a personal question. If you stop to think about it, the recommended tip for the waiter is $3.50 per person per day. An extra 20% would only be 70 cents, doesn't seem like very much, does it. If you ate in a restaurant and the bill was $40 per person the standard 15% tip would be $6.00. If you enjoyed the service in the restaurant and upped the tip to 20% you would add an extra $2.00. It would seem that if your waiter on the ship was terrific something more than 20% would be in order since that 20% would be less than a dollar each day.

[takeatrip]

I think one time we paid the amount over that equalled another person. Another time I think we gave $40 over. Whatever you give will really be so appreciated. They will be so thankful to have such a nice person at their table.:)

[mrsd2fan]

On our cruise last week (AOS) our waiter in the main dining room was Basil....he was absolutley the best! We saw him in the Windjammer working breakfast one morning and my husband asked if they had any grapefruit juice,but they didn't, so what did Basil do? He went and got some grapefruits and cut them up for him. Also, the last day we cruised we went for breakfast in the main dining room and Basil was a gain working, but he had a different table than ours. He saw us, came over to say hello and noticed that my hubby and I had a cartons of milk, so Basil opened them for him and me and went out of his way to find us glasses to drink them out of.

He was an exceptional waiter and we tipped him $35 extra ...

[HookLine&Sinker]

Thanks so much for answering my question. As Superjerry said, the standard 20% just doesn't work and I was really struggling with some kind of jumping off point.

 

We put an extra $20 in our headwaiters envelope as she was just charming and we really enjoyed her. I can't remember what we did for the others but it's been on my mind since then that perhaps we didn't accurately reflect how much we enjoyed her but we just didn't know what was the "norm".

 

Now I can go on our next adventure feeling better prepared to show our appreciation :)

[on board]

WE gave our recommended tip to every ne except our room atten. Which we tipped 20.00 the first day and got basicly nada from him. We did tip out waiter, assis. waiter and the Matr'D an extra 25.00 because they were nothing less than fabulous. Just do what you want to do and feel ok about it. We only tip extra if they have gone out of their way one time or another.