Poll:Tipping in the Pinnacle...Auto or not?

[SakeDad]

Do you tip in the Pinnicale Grill above what they charge or do you think it's covered in the general auto-tip onboard?

Would you like to see an auto tip added to the PG charge just for PG servers?

[sail7seas]

It is my understanding that PG stewards share in the automatic tip but the amount that trickles down to them after all the cabin stewards, dining stewards, assistant dining stewards, and who know who else gets a share is so little that we feel it appropriate to tip additional when we dine there.

 

We have been told enough times by enough people there is no tip included in the $30 pp charge that we believe them. Maybe it's the biggest conspiracy in the history of the world that PG stewards actually get a share of the $30 but no one is supposed to tell us cruisers??? I don't know and really don't care. We choose to tip

[jtl513]

We've tried the P.G. twice and tipped cash both times. I definitely don't want an auto-tip applied for them because we won't be going back again ... unless we get a freebie.

 

Or are you suggesting an automatic % added to the $30, like the "15% for parties of 8 or more" in land restaurants? That would be okay with me, because I still won't be paying it. :)

[RuthC]

I don't dine in the Pinnacle often, but when I do I leave a tip. I can't imagine not leaving a tip after such a wonderful meal with attentive service.

I realize that the stewards receive a tiny portion of the $10 per day service charge; I even realize that the portion can add up because not everyone on board is dining there. But I would feel like I was "stiffing" the stewards to leave nothing additional behind.

btw---I think your poll should have been set up as two separate polls, as the answers aren't mutually exclusive. There is plenty of room to choose between the first two selections AND also choose between the last two selections.

[localady]

We will always leave a cash tip in the Pinnacle when we have lunch or dinner there. We have never added it to the auto-tip but I suppose it would work.:D

As suite pax, we dined there for breakfast a time or two and did not tip.

Now I wonder whether we should have??

[jtl513]

I can't imagine not leaving a tip after such a wonderful meal with attentive service. ... But I would feel like I was "stiffing" the stewards to leave nothing additional behind.

On the Westerdam ($20 pp at the time) we had so-so food and poor service. I left a small tip anyway at DW's insistence. We decided to try a second time, on the Noordam. It was decidedly better, but not enough to bring us back again at $30 pp. :mad:

 

btw---I think your poll should have been set up as two separate polls, as the answers aren't mutually exclusive. There is plenty of room to choose between the first two selections AND also choose between the last two selections.

I voted for (a) and (d) and it seemed to like that just fine. :)

[sail7seas]

We will always leave a cash tip in the Pinnacle when we have lunch or dinner there. We have never added it to the auto-tip but I suppose it would work.:D

As suite pax, we dined there for breakfast a time or two and did not tip.

Now I wonder whether we should have??

 

As Suite guests, we almost never have our breakfast in Pinnacle but we almost always dine there at least twice a cruise. We Always tip when we dine there.

 

Last August we cruised with another couple (which we almost never do). They liked Pinnacle for breakfast so we joined them once or twice. We did not specifically tip at those one or two breakfasts but our friends gave the stewards an envelope on their last morning. We were back-to-back and our friends were leaving after the first week. DH and I didn't feel it necessary for any more tips at that point.

 

When we dined the following week in Pinnacle, we again tipped the stewards.

[SakeDad]

btw---I think your poll should have been set up as two separate polls, as the answers aren't mutually exclusive. There is plenty of room to choose between the first two selections AND also choose between the last two selections.

 

You can vote multiple choice.

 

When I say "auto-tip" I meant it should be a part of the $30 charge already in place. Of course, if they added it now I guess it would probably go up to $35 a person:eek:

 

I don't go to alot of steakhouses on land as it is, so maybe that's why it doesn't have a huge appeal to me. But if I'm paying an additional $30 per person for a meal that has ALREADY been paid for in the main dining room, whether I eat it or not, in my cruise fare, it just seems to be too much to spend and NOT already have the tips included when they add all the other tips to your bill. (sorry-run on sentence I know:rolleyes:) What I'm saying is the meal in the dining room isn't refunded when I eat in the PG yet my $10 a day still goes to the dining room waiters. So aren't I now DOUBLE TIPPING if I tip the PG waiters as well as the dining room waiter???:confused: It's all so confusing:p

[island lady]

Oh my gosh...that's awful :(

 

This will be my first HAL cruise. I was looking forward to dining, (and still will) in the PG. I am so glad I now know that the servers don't really get a tip worth anything, and will now know to tip them directly.

 

So, the 60.00 per couple just goes into the "general fund"...that's really a shame.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Cheers! :)

[sail7seas]

You can vote multiple choice.

 

But if I'm paying an additional $30 per person for a meal that has ALREADY been paid for in the main dining room, whether I eat it or not, in my cruise fare, it just seems to be too much to spend and NOT already have the tips included when they add all the other tips to your bill. (sorry-run on sentence I know:rolleyes:) What I'm saying is the meal in the dining room isn't refunded when I eat in the PG yet my $10 a day still goes to the dining room waiters. So aren't I now DOUBLE TIPPING if I tip the PG waiters as well as the dining room waiter???:confused: It's all so confusing:p

 

 

I know what you are saying and do not mean to be flip or arrogant or anything other than........plain and simple.

 

No one makes us go to Pinnacle Grill. Dinner in the dining room is wonderful.

 

Anyone who objects to any part of the Pinnacle Grill experience has the great choice of not going.

 

I know that can sound like I'm being antagonistic but I'm not. I really mean it. Just Say No. ;)

[Jade13]

Sail7Seas may have a good point. I would not be surprised if the $30 or part of it actually went to that staff. And no, they would not tell you.

 

I worked in retail many years ago and was always told to tell everyone that we were not on commission.

[hammybee]

I know what you are saying and do not mean to be flip or arrogant or anything other than........plain and simple.

 

No one makes us go to Pinnacle Grill. Dinner in the dining room is wonderful.

 

Anyone who objects to any part of the Pinnacle Grill experience has the great choice of not going.

 

I know that can sound like I'm being antagonistic but I'm not. I really mean it. Just Say No. ;)

 

You are on the money, my dear. None of us have to go to the PG and when we do, it makes sense to me, to tip. If the tip puts the cost of the experience over the top, we can continue to enjoy our dinner in the dining room.

[RuthC]

I would not be surprised if the $30 or part of it actually went to that staff. And no, they would not tell you.

I would be very surprised it any of the surcharge went to the Pinnacle stewards. The surcharge in that restaurant started long before there was a service charge added to anyone's bill; it was still "tipping not required" when it was introduced.

Since then there have been any number of official pronouncements that all of the surcharge goes to HAL, and the stewards in the Pinnacle Dining Room are part of the $10 per person, per day service charge.

There is no evidence whatsoever that any of the $30 Pinnacle charge goes to the stewards and there is testimony that it doesn't.

[sail7seas]

I don't think it matters to us one way or the other, does it?

 

We pay the $30 pp, have a wonderful meal, a lovely evening, tip the steward and go on our way.

 

If they are getting a piece of the $30 as some gratuity, so be it. It isn't really any of my concern.

 

I happen to feel it truly is going for additional cost for a high quality dinner. I believe the many people who have told me there is no tip included in the $30 pp.

 

They don't want all of us trying to dine in Pinnacle. The restaurants can't handle that many people. If it takes continuously raising the price of the dinner in order to keep reservation requests to manageable levels, seems to me a reasonable thing to do.

 

Supply and demand and all that.

If people are willing to pay $30 pp to dine there and they still receive more requests for reservations than they can handle.....maybe the price will be raised to $40?? I don't know. I just know we like it; we go; we enjoy; we tip; we leave.

 

[Old As Dirt Mom]

For what it's worth, and maybe this has no bearing on any of the above, anyway, but the Pinnacle Grill staff wear many hats. In addition to serving dinner, they also serve breakfast to the Suite pax, whether it be in the Pinnacle Grill or a section of the main dining room, they serve lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on sea days, they serve as butlers for the Half Moon Cay cabanas, and the beautiful meals served in the cabanas when you order the butler service is prepared by the Pinnacle Grill kitchen.

[Schplinky]

I asked very pointedly if any of the $30 charge constitutes a tip or if an additional tip was required. I was told that the waiters do not receive any of the thirty dollars and that a tip is never required but always appreciated.

 

I did not feel the service was as good as the main dining room and our waiter took a part of our meal to try to sell us the deluxe wine tasting they were doing the next day. The steak is fine but no better than a steak house on land. We really regretted missing the lobster in the main room for PG. We did not realise that the lobster on our sailing was on a casual night.

 

We both agreed that compared to specialty rooms on other lines, PG was not worth the higher price, to which one ought to add a tip if one wants the waiter to be taken care of. For $30, we expected a meal more akin to the Celebrity specialty room (which is full of "ta-da" flourishes) whereas we got a meal comparable to Chops on RCL (which costs $20 and they tell you that includes the tip).

[NHCruisr]

We've had mixed experiences in the PG, ranging from very good to poor in terms of food and service. It seems that our best experiences were a while ago (1-4 years ago), and our worst experiences were recently. I doubt we'll be dining in the PG again anytime soon. When service and food were good, we tipped additionally. When service was poor and food was poor (as it was on the Westerdam in February) we were less inclined to tip. Personally, I think the PG needs to be completely revamped. Menu choices could be improved and service could be much, much better and far less arrogant.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I said this before in another thread. The staff in the Pinnacle Grill get only pennies from the $10 auto tip.

 

We always tip each person who waits on us -- usually 2 in the Pinnacle.

 

Nothing from the $30 charge goes to the wait staff.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our recent Maasdam cruises (20 days) there were many nights when there was hardly anyone dining there.

[hammybee]

For what it's worth, and maybe this has no bearing on any of the above, anyway, but the Pinnacle Grill staff wear many hats. In addition to serving dinner, they also serve breakfast to the Suite pax, whether it be in the Pinnacle Grill or a section of the main dining room, they serve lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on sea days, they serve as butlers for the Half Moon Cay cabanas, and the beautiful meals served in the cabanas when you order the butler service is prepared by the Pinnacle Grill kitchen.

 

Love the editing logic.

[hammybee]

We pay the $30 pp, have a wonderful meal, a lovely evening, tip the steward and go on our way.

 

This really says all that can be said.

[peaches from georgia]

For what it's worth, and maybe this has no bearing on any of the above, anyway, but the Pinnacle Grill staff wear many hats. In addition to serving dinner, they also serve breakfast to the Suite pax, whether it be in the Pinnacle Grill or a section of the main dining room, they serve lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on sea days, they serve as butlers for the Half Moon Cay cabanas, and the beautiful meals served in the cabanas when you order the butler service is prepared by the Pinnacle Grill kitchen.

And they also prepare and serve the food in the Neptune Lounge all day starting with the breakfast items and ending with late afternoon hors d'ouevres.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

And they also prepare and serve the food in the Neptune Lounge all day starting with the breakfast items and ending with late afternoon hors d'ouevres.

 

You're right; I'd forgotten about that (darn middle-age!!), so the Pinnacle Grill staff certainly put in a full day's work, don't they? I say "tip 'em!":)

 

Karin

[CanuckCurlers]

What if your dinner is a gift or package perk? When I wasn't footing the bill I never thought to tip. Oops.