Tipping - Yes, another post...

[mapman_2004]

Hi,

 

I have read the policy in my cruise docs. If we do not use the main dining room half the time, how do we handle tipping the waiters? (We are boked on the Mercury). Also, if we use the other restaurant, I hear there is a $2.00 charge. Is that the tip for the waiter there? Do we tip in cash in that restaurant at the end of dinner?

 

Thanks!

[Lsimon]

Hi,

 

I have read the policy in my cruise docs. If we do not use the main dining room half the time, how do we handle tipping the waiters? (We are boked on the Mercury). Also, if we use the other restaurant, I hear there is a $2.00 charge. Is that the tip for the waiter there? Do we tip in cash in that restaurant at the end of dinner?

 

Thanks!

 

I've seen this debated, but...I think you still tip at least the recommend tip.

 

While you might not be using the waiters all the time for dinner, they are still there doing all sorts of jobs from early in the morning until dinner time, and then from after dinner to late at night. From serving up the toast in the buffet, to carrying trays there and busing tables. Serving hors d’oeuvres the bars after dinner, and working the after dinner buffets. We generally see our waiters and assistants all over the place both before and after dinner. So it isn't just at dinner that they are working hard to serve you.

 

Also, They are there waiting to give you great service in the dining room, saving a spot for you at your table, whether you come for dinner each night or not.

[salty dingo]

Tipping the wait staff must cover all your meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight buffet, and snacks.

 

Throughout the day, your waiters are reassigned to other areas, taking care of casual diners at breakfast and lunch.

 

So, even if you do not eat in the main dining room, you do eat somewhere, and that service deserves the tips. Your $2 charge is not a tip, IMHO. It is a service charge to cover the extra staffing and service brought in an alternate venue.

 

I think you should tip the wait staff as if you ate there each night; you really can't tip the casual staff the last night, so if you like to think of it that way, some of your tips are redistributed a bit.

 

I think the important thing is that you pay the recommended amount (or more if you think it is warranted) and allocate as you feel appropriate. I do not think it is fair to tip the dining room staff less because you eat there less... they need to earn a living, and dinner in the main dining room is only a portion of your meal service.

[Rev22:17]

mapman_2004,

 

I have read the policy in my cruise docs. If we do not use the main dining room half the time, how do we handle tipping the waiters? (We are boked on the Mercury). Also, if we use the other restaurant, I hear there is a $2.00 charge. Is that the tip for the waiter there? Do we tip in cash in that restaurant at the end of dinner?

 

The accepted practice is to tip the waitstaff based upon the length of the cruise regardless of how many evenings you actually eat in the dining room. Historically, in the early days of cruising, one ate all meals at one's assigned table and seating in the main dining room, so the tip covered all meals. The original buffets were on the ship's Lido Deck (usually by the pool), but topside (that is, outdoors). IIRC, the indoor Lido Cafe was one of the many significant innovations of the original MV Royal Princess when she entered service in 1984, and it originally served only breakfast and lunch. When the buffets became popular for those meals, the main dining rooms went to open seating for breakfast and lunch, with greatly reduced waitstaff, because there were too few passengers to do otherwise and the ships needed the rest of the waitstaff in the buffet areas. Nonetheless, the tips for the waitstaff still cover all meals, regardless of where you elect to eat.

 

I should also mention that the tips are handled differently on different cruise lines.

 

>> Some cruise lines pool all of the tips that the staff receive, but may use the amount of tips given to individual staff members as a factor in their evaluations.

 

>> Some cruise lines pool a percentage of the tips and allow waitstaff to keep the rest.

 

>> Some cruise lines pool the "suggested" tips for waitstaff, but allow individual waitstaff to keep whatever that they receive in excess of the "suggested" amount.

 

>> Some ships don't bother with pooling. Rather, they figure that the amounts received by individual servers average out over the duration of a contract.

 

But however they divide the tips, the tips are in fact covering all service provided by the waitstaff at all meals and including the buffet area.

 

Norm.

[jaynak]

Mapmann - I don't think your intention is to be cheap here so don't misread me, but I think when you see how hard your waitstaff ...works all day long... you won't mind paying him/her the full tip.

 

Somedays we have drug ourselves out of bed at 10 to be met by a very cheery omelete maker at the buffet who in fact was our waiter the night before until 10:30 pm and then he worked on the midnight buffet until who knows when?? In the meant time we had had a good night sleep.

 

These waiters do double duty serving you all over the ship - you'd be amazed! Jayna k

[mapman_2004]

Definetely not trying to be cheap, I worked my way through college earning tips. What I don't do though is tip people that don't do anything for me. If I walk by a restaurant downtown I don't go in and tip the waiters there beacuse they are working hard.

 

I'm wondering how I tip the waiters in the alternate dining room if I go there instead of main dining room? Won't I be getting different waiters each night/lunch/breakfast there? Maybe I'm still confused on the whole way of doling out the tips. I'll have an envelope for the "waiter" and "assistant waiter". Is that two distinct people, or all the different waiters I had over the cruise?

 

And really, if all I'm tipping is about $9.00 a day for my family of three, I think that is pretty cheap. If I went to three restaurants that day with similiar meals it would add up to a lot more!

 

I just want to make sure everyone is getting their cut, and others aren't getting a cut they don't deserve...

[caviargal]

Brian, I have a different opinion.

 

On a week cruise last December on a different line, we did not go to the dining room for any meal, nor did we use the buffet. We had dinner in the specialty restaurants every evening and had breakfast in the Concierge Lounge which we prefer. Lunch was in port or once via room service.

 

We tipped the concierge at the end of the week for his services, tipped room service as rendered and tipped the servers at dinner each night; we also tippe d the dining room managers at both specialty restaurants since they were the ones who served our wine and also honored requests for window side tables.

 

We tipped our room steward very well and also our favorite bartender.

 

We spent far more on tips than the recommended amounts and tipped where we felt it was deserved.

 

This is the way we prefer to cruise in general, utilizing alternative areas dor dining and paying the premium if there is one. Tipping just for the sake of doing so simply does not make sense to me. If we do use the dining room on occasion, we will use autotip and adjust the amount.

 

The buffet is something we both dislike and do not use. Room service on the balcony is much preferred!

[lvtotrvl1]

As another poster mentioned...the dining room staff are working for you all day, even if you do not see them.It is completely different than your scenario of walking by a restaurant and tipping the waiter even though you did not go in. It doesn't sound like you have cruised much..hopefully when you see how hard these people work to make your vacation a good one, you will soften a bit...

[Sky Sweet]

A few years ago I went to a spa resort in Lenox, Massachusetts that had a very strict policy about tipping. It was that all tips are included in their package rate and that none of their employees were permitted to accept additional tips. In fact, when I tried to tip a few people, they told me they were not allowed to accept additional tips. The management's rationale is that a spa is a place to relax and they didn't want their guests agonizing over whether they tipped too much or not enough. Even though their staff knew that no one was allowed to give additional tips it did not compromise the quality of their services. That spa resort was amazing and about the most service oriented place I ever experienced.

 

I wish cruise lines would adopt a similar policy. Keep in mind I am not referring to services, such as spa treatments, where tips are included but you can give more, because that can be even more confusing to the end user.

[wvufan]

We always tip at least the recommended amount regardless of whether or not we are at every meal.

 

Let's think of it this way. Those folks work their butts off to help us have a great cruise. They sacrifice being with their loved ones and at their homes for extended periods of time simply to try to support their families.

 

They are assigned a certain number of tables and diners, and depend on tips from that many passengers. If several don't tip for whatever reason it significantly affects their income and ability to provide for their families.

 

As others have mentioned, we are compensating the wait staff for their service throughout the cruise, not just in the main dining room at supper. It is tradition and more convenient to offer the tip to one's assigned dining room staff rather than piecemeal throughout the cruise. Of course, this does not preclude additional tipping as desired at other times.

 

So, while on the surface there seem to be justifications for doing otherwise, please accept the suggested amount of tipping as a fixed expense of cruising and as an appreciation of the totality of service.

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[mapman_2004]

All of your arguments are great and well-founded.

 

My main question is: how are you tipping the other waiters? A lot of you say the waiters are working hard all day... True, but not for me directly. At breakfast and lunch I probably won't have my evening waiter, someone else might.

 

If you do tip at lunch or breakfast, how much? We don't know the cost of the meal, so you can't calculate 20% of nothing.....

 

I'm not looking for reasons why I should tip anyone, that is very clear to most people. What I want to know is how to properly allocate for those times I do not use the main room...

[lvtotrvl1]

As others have tried to explain..it doesn't matter that you are not eating in the main dining room,. your waiter may be behind the scenes when you are eating lunch etc. It seems clear that no matter what anyone says, your poor waiters will not be tipped...I think it is time to drop the subject.

[woodofpine]

What I don't do though is tip people that don't do anything for me. If I walk by a restaurant downtown I don't go in and tip the waiters there beacuse they are working hard.

 

And really, if all I'm tipping is about $9.00 a day for my family of three, I think that is pretty cheap. If I went to three restaurants that day with similiar meals it would add up to a lot more!

 

I just want to make sure everyone is getting their cut, and others aren't getting a cut they don't deserve...

 

 

I agree that the tipping procedure is confusing. Passengers will debate the nuances untile we're blue in the face. Absent a truly all inclusive fare (which some - generally lux - lines have) I'd prefer the line just putting it on the shipboard account; mentally, I'd prefer not being drawn into the economics of employee evaluation while on vacation - just MHO.

 

But as to your notes above:

 

If I walk by a restaurant downtown I don't go in and tip the waiters there beacuse they are working hard.

 

Generally speaking, you're holed up in the hull to enjoy yourself and the crew conversely to work. If you enjoy yourself then its due to their collective work.

 

If all I'm tipping is about $9.00 a day for my family of three, I think that is pretty cheap. If I went to three restaurants that day with similiar meals it would add up to a lot more!

 

You're absolutely right!

 

I just want to make sure everyone is getting their cut, and others aren't getting a cut they don't deserve...

 

I think the most we can do to assure this is to be generous - at least in the manner and amount suggested by the management that knows the operational circumstances best. Thereafter, we just have to rely on the crew sort it out amongst themselves. To do otherwise just raises our own limited perspective to a position where it's more likely to fail blindly than to do what's right.

[lvtotrvl1]

and this is another reason your waiter will deserve a tip..from one of your earlier posts:

I've read a few times the dining room gets a little loud. Is that true? I hope so. We will have our 11 month old DD with us on our first cruise, and it will be nice to know it won't be funeral home quiet. Bad choice of words...I know average age is higher than most lines...

 

another one of your post you want to know if you can change your dining time for formal night to accomodate your 11 month twins.

 

Please..just tip your waiters.

[kelmac]

All of your arguments are great and well-founded.

 

My main question is: how are you tipping the other waiters? A lot of you say the waiters are working hard all day... True, but not for me directly. At breakfast and lunch I probably won't have my evening waiter, someone else might.

 

If you do tip at lunch or breakfast, how much? We don't know the cost of the meal, so you can't calculate 20% of nothing.....

 

I'm not looking for reasons why I should tip anyone, that is very clear to most people. What I want to know is how to properly allocate for those times I do not use the main room...

 

The bottom line: 90% of the wages your cabin person, waiter, and asst' waiter receive come from passengers' tips. You pay additional service charges eating in alternative restaurants, and this covers the basic salary of these additional workers. I look at it as though I rented my table space in the main dining room; when I'm not there no one else is using my rented space. I always tip above the recommended amount, no matter how often I visit the main dining room. I've never had anything but wonderful service, so that is never an issue. In the alternative restaurants, I usually add an additional tip above the service charge to cover the great service I received.

To me, tips are part of my total cruise costs.

On cruise lines that pool tips or offer a form of personal choice cruising, I just let the auto tipping system take care of things. To me, the service seems to drop off on cruise lines that practice free-style and open seating.

Have a great cruise!:)

 

Kel

[caviargal]

I forgot to mention that we gave up our coveted table for two in the dining room on the first day of the cruise as soon as we decided not to dine there so that another couple could enjoy it. Keeping it would have been a waste and this way the waiter has his section filled and someone gets to enjoy a private table.

[AuntieStorm]

All of your arguments are great and well-founded.

 

My main question is: how are you tipping the other waiters? A lot of you say the waiters are working hard all day... True, but not for me directly. At breakfast and lunch I probably won't have my evening waiter, someone else might.

 

If you do tip at lunch or breakfast, how much? We don't know the cost of the meal, so you can't calculate 20% of nothing.....

 

I'm not looking for reasons why I should tip anyone, that is very clear to most people. What I want to know is how to properly allocate for those times I do not use the main room... Brian

 

I think what Brian is asking is how and should he tip the servers who serve him breakfast and lunch if they are NOT his evening dining room servers. The answer is easier than you think Brian...You tip the entire recommended amount (at least) even if you don't eat in the dining room every evening and so does everyone else. The results are that your tip to your waiter and assistant waiter compensates them for their time in the other areas of the ship where they served breakfast and lunch to others, such as me. This is also true for me tipping my waiter and assistant waiter the entire amount (if not more), because they served you breakfast and lunch. You DO NOT need to tip for breakfast and lunch seperately.

Hope this answers your question and I'm sorry this thread seemed to take such a downward spiral before you got an answer. Tipping is a very touchy topic on here.

[mapman_2004]

and this is another reason your waiter will deserve a tip..from one of your earlier posts:

I've read a few times the dining room gets a little loud. Is that true? I hope so. We will have our 11 month old DD with us on our first cruise, and it will be nice to know it won't be funeral home quiet. Bad choice of words...I know average age is higher than most lines...

 

another one of your post you want to know if you can change your dining time for formal night to accomodate your 11 month twins.

 

Please..just tip your waiters.

 

As others have tried to explain..it doesn't matter that you are not eating in the main dining room,. your waiter may be behind the scenes when you are eating lunch etc. It seems clear that no matter what anyone says, your poor waiters will not be tipped...I think it is time to drop the subject.

 

So if you are reading my other posts (thanks for keeping up on my posting by the way), you will see I am trying to be fair. Auntie Storm saw what I was trying to ask and answered my question directly and nicely. You however seemed to think there was something else on my mind. Weird. Do you behave like this to other's as well? SHAME ON YOU! Yes, I have a daughter that will take more time from the waiters sometimes. I don't have the twins, that's another poster. I was asking if changing times a few nights was okay, or if it is offensive to my tablemates...One of the cruisers on my cruise saw it and complimented me on my thoughtfullness. I'm just a first-time cruiser trying (obsessively) to figure out what goes on on the ship.

 

Like I said before, I used to live by tips, so I'm not trying to get out of tipping. Auntie Storm finally was able to do what most others couldn't in this post: answer the question I was getting at. If I, and everyone else, tip the dining room waiter the full amount, I/we will have essentially tipped the breakfast and lunch waiters as well. That's it, that's all I needed to know. I generally tip at least 20%, more if the bill is smaller, so I was essentially trying to figure out how to get money to the breakfast and lunch folks.

 

Like others have said here, there probably is no easeist way for the cruise lines to handle this. They could charge a lot more and have gratuities be included, but that makes the price look worse when they are trying to sell out ships. No easy way...

[Rev22:17]

mapman_2004,

 

So if you are reading my other posts (thanks for keeping up on my posting by the way), you will see I am trying to be fair. Auntie Storm saw what I was trying to ask and answered my question directly and nicely. You however seemed to think there was something else on my mind. Weird. Do you behave like this to other's as well? SHAME ON YOU! Yes, I have a daughter that will take more time from the waiters sometimes. I don't have the twins, that's another poster. I was asking if changing times a few nights was okay, or if it is offensive to my tablemates...One of the cruisers on my cruise saw it and complimented me on my thoughtfullness. I'm just a first-time cruiser trying (obsessively) to figure out what goes on on the ship.

 

Like I said before, I used to live by tips, so I'm not trying to get out of tipping. Auntie Storm finally was able to do what most others couldn't in this post: answer the question I was getting at. If I, and everyone else, tip the dining room waiter the full amount, I/we will have essentially tipped the breakfast and lunch waiters as well. That's it, that's all I needed to know. I generally tip at least 20%, more if the bill is smaller, so I was essentially trying to figure out how to get money to the breakfast and lunch folks.

 

Like others have said here, there probably is no easeist way for the cruise lines to handle this. They could charge a lot more and have gratuities be included, but that makes the price look worse when they are trying to sell out ships. No easy way...

 

Apparently you did not read my previous post on this board in its entirity, as it answered your question in more detail. The bottom line is that you give gratuities your waiter ($3.50 per passenger per day) and your assistant waiter ($2.00 per passenger per day) on the last evening of the cruise to cover all of the dining service throughout the ship. The cruise lines use various methods of dividing out these tips, summarized in my previous post, but the effect is the same. In one way or another, all of the waitstaff who serve you during the cruise get their share of the tips.

 

Norm.

[mapman_2004]

mapman_2004,

 

 

 

Apparently you did not read my previous post on this board in its entirity, as it answered your question in more detail. The bottom line is that you give gratuities your waiter ($3.50 per passenger per day) and your assistant waiter ($2.00 per passenger per day) on the last evening of the cruise to cover all of the dining service throughout the ship. The cruise lines use various methods of dividing out these tips, summarized in my previous post, but the effect is the same. In one way or another, all of the waitstaff who serve you during the cruise get their share of the tips.

 

Norm.

 

Oops, sorry, you did attempt to set me straight. It was right there at the end of your lecture about historical cruising trends.

[hcat]

for those who do not go the the dining room at all, do you let the dining room know that so they can book others at your table.. ? some may be on a waiting list & want the places, if you don't let them kow, your table mates will be short of company & your wait staff short on tips for the entire trip--would make sense to let them know. if we miss a dinnner or two we still tip the suggestd amt & tip extra elsewhere as suggested..

[B4andAFT]

My TA informed us yesterday that our group of 13 will be doing Round Robin seating, and because of this our gratuities must be automatically put on our shipboard account. Has anyone else here had this experience?

[Ma Bell]

Brian, I think you may be confused about the total amount as well. The suggested tips are per person, not per family. If there are three of you it would be $31.50 per day in a regular cabin. If you are in CC it would be another $1.50 per day and if you have a butler another $10.50 per day. This would take care of all your tips. There would still be a $2.00 per person charge for the casual dining area and a $30.00 per person charge for the specialty restaurant.

[mapman_2004]

Brian, I think you may be confused about the total amount as well. The suggested tips are per person, not per family. If there are three of you it would be $31.50 per day in a regular cabin. If you are in CC it would be another $1.50 per day and if you have a butler another $10.50 per day. This would take care of all your tips. There would still be a $2.00 per person charge for the casual dining area and a $30.00 per person charge for the specialty restaurant.

 

I was just referring to the waiter alone. I suppose dining related tips would add up to [$3.50 (waiter) + $2.00 (waiter asst.) + $.75 (Maitre d')]*2.5= $15.63/per day. This is the "restaurant service" quote from Celebrity, based on two adults and one baby. Yeah, yeah, "babies require more service than adults"...We'll see, and if she does, up goes the tip!

[caviargal]

My TA informed us yesterday that our group of 13 will be doing Round Robin seating, and because of this our gratuities must be automatically put on our shipboard account. Has anyone else here had this experience?

 

Yes, it is common with groups of many sizes.