Tip reallocation?

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

1. You *can* do whatever you want.

2. I think that you should just leave them as they are.

3. Guest Services will give you a form to fill out. You can opt to have them NOT charged to your SeaPass account at all.

4. Guest Services also has a form (not sure if it's the same one or a different, additional form) that you can enter the name of specific people and specific $ amounts for tips.

5. Your standard charged gratuities included more than the main dining room servers. FAR more.

I would just leave them alone, I did prefer the old days when you tipped each person, but now every uses general pool tips, I would still leave tip for the people who bring the room service.

The tips to the "dining room staff" cover breakfast and lunch, too...unless you plan to eat EVERY meal in your cabin, then I'd leave the tips as they are, and tip the room service delivery person (who, by the way, is kitchen staff) separately.

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

unless you plan to eat Every. Single. Meal. and. Snack. in your cabin do NOT reallocate anything. but you do need to tip the room service people on top of this.

the gratuities for the dining staff covers ALL venues and meal times. not just MDR

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

I thought the only way to get dinner from the MDR is to be in the highest lever suite. The room service menu is not the MDR menu. So with that being said, why are you worried about a few dollars a day for the food staff?

I thought the only way to get dinner from the MDR is to be in the highest lever suite. The room service menu is not the MDR menu. So with that being said, why are you worried about a few dollars a day for the food staff?

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

Hubby and I will be in OS Liberty of the seas in a couple weeks. We will not be using the main dining room at any time (just not our thing). We will have dinners from the main dining room menu delivered nightly instead. My question is should I leave the automatic gratuities the way the cruise line sets it up (I will also be tipping the delivery person cash each evening) or should I stop by guest services and have them reallocated ( if so, how?)Thank you!

It is your decision and guest services is who you would speak to.

I thought the only way to get dinner from the MDR is to be in the highest lever suite. The room service menu is not the MDR menu. So with that being said, why are you worried about a few dollars a day for the food staff?

Grand suites and up. not just the highest level suites

We were on the Liberty in July in an OS with the exact situation you have. We ate every meal in our cabin. We ordered breakfast from the suite menu and dinner from the MDR menu every day. I did go up two or three times to the buffet for a mid-afternoon snack which I brought back to the cabin. I went to the main dinning room the first night to let the waiter know we would most likely not make it to dinner. We left the tips alone but as other said you can do what you are comfortable with. We tipped the room service people with each delivery.

Since it was a nine night cruise, we also developed a good rapport with the man who takes the orders and they sent the same room service waiters each day - one in the morning and one in the evening. For dinner, they set the table every night including a tablecloth. Sometimes they sent up extra treats. We really enjoyed the experience and make us feel special. I hope you have a great cruise and enjoy your meals as much as we did.

Happy cruising.

Mary

Just curious how much you would want to reallocate and how much did you pay for your OS?

Tough to advise if we don't know some specifics.

John

Just curious how much you would want to reallocate and how much did you pay for your OS?

 

Tough to advise if we don't know some specifics.

 

John

John, why do you need to know what she paid for her Owner's Suite?!?!?!?!? :confused:

John, why do you need to know what she paid for her Owner's Suite?!?!?!?!? :confused:

Just for a frame of reference.

Just for a frame of reference.

The highest percentage of gratuities relative to fare is almost always usually an inside room. But that's purely mathematical and not what I think you were going for[emoji57] . It really doesn't matter what anyone spends on their room if they are asking a question like this.

The answer is simple:

A. Decide for yourself what to do

B. Guest service is who you speak with in the event you want to deviate from status quo. Possibly the Concierge.

It's really hard to get information from this website sometimes when people only want to respond with opinion, or worse, pass off opinion as fact. Just give adults the actual facts, allow them to make their own decisions based on those facts.

The highest percentage of gratuities relative to fare is almost always usually an inside room. But that's purely mathematical and not what I think you were going for[emoji57] . It really doesn't matter what anyone spends on their room if they are asking a question like this.

 

The answer is simple:

A. Decide for yourself what to do

B. Guest service is who you speak with in the event you want to deviate from status quo. Possibly the Concierge.

 

It's really hard to get information from this website sometimes when people only want to respond with opinion, or worse, pass off opinion as fact. Just give adults the actual facts, allow them to make their own decisions based on those facts.

You're correct. I'm just sensitive to the people that have served us so well over the years and knowing how blessed we are to get to do what we do.

We pay $6000 for a cabin for a week, $800 for drink packages and on and on - then get concerned about $42 that would have gone to a staff member(s) with 2 kids at home they don't get to see for 9 months at a time.

My apologies if any were offended.

John

You're correct. I'm just sensitive to the people that have served us so well over the years and knowing how blessed we are to get to do what we do.

 

We pay $6000 for a cabin for a week, $800 for drink packages and on and on - then get concerned about $42 that would have gone to a staff member(s) with 2 kids at home they don't get to see for 9 months at a time.

 

My apologies to those I've offended here.

 

John

Sure; your point of view is understandable. I just feel like heavy handed opinions (by any member, on any topic, not to singleton out) dissuade people from asking for practical and actionable information.

I actually asked in a thread about a drink package if I'd still get a slip or should I carry some cash. Most replies were people telling me why they do or don't tip. That is all noise and didn't serve to educate me of what I would encounter. That's my point.

Sure; your point of view is understandable. I just feel like heavy handed opinions (by any member, on any topic, not to singleton out) dissuade people from asking for practical and actionable information.

 

I actually asked in a thread about a drink package if I'd still get a slip or should I carry some cash. Most replies were people telling me why they do or don't tip. That is all noise and didn't serve to educate me of what I would encounter. That's my point.

I totally agree, you come on here and ask a question, and you get some really good replies, but a lot of the time, concerning tipping you get people taking the higher road trying to push their opinion on you instead of answering the question. I see it a lot of the time and it makes you not even want to comment half the time

Sure; your point of view is understandable. I just feel like heavy handed opinions (by any member, on any topic, not to singleton out) dissuade people from asking for practical and actionable information.

 

I actually asked in a thread about a drink package if I'd still get a slip or should I carry some cash. Most replies were people telling me why they do or don't tip. That is all noise and didn't serve to educate me of what I would encounter. That's my point.

Well said, LMaxwell and heavy handed wasn't the intent. Valid question by the OP and again, I'll apologize.

I don't post often, but I know how hard the staff work for us and my wife and I have a deep appreciation for what these people do for us on behalf of their families. This post struck an unwarranted response.

John

Well said, LMaxwell and heavy handed wasn't the intent. Valid question by the OP and again, I'll apologize.

 

I don't post often, but I know how hard the staff work for us and my wife and I have a deep appreciation for what these people do for us on behalf of their families. This post struck an unwarranted response.

 

John

[emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji568]

This topic interests me, too. We will be in an OS on Navigator in October. I am not sure how much we will use room service, but we have booked MTD, and honestly, I can see us not eating more than one or two meals in the MDR. I know we will eat at least one meal in each of the premium restaurants, so that accounts for four out of seven evening meals. I figure that we might do Windjammer one night, so that leaves two at the most for the MDR. If one of those nights ends up being room service, well, I wonder how tips get allocated for that one MDR meal.

I have pre-paid gratuities included with my cruise, and given the at the cost of my gratuities are about 5% of the cost of my cruise, it's not a big deal. My concern, though, is if my dining room gratuities are assigned by default to some random waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter that spent one or two night serving me, then I am not going to be happy about that. Does anyone know really how this works? My last cruise on RCCL was 8 years ago, and back then, we handed envelopes to our servers on the last night. Now, with automatically and/or pre-paid gratuities and MTD, this just seems a bit confusing.

My concern, though, is if my dining room gratuities are assigned by default to some random waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter that spent one or two night serving me, then I am not going to be happy about that. Does anyone know really how this works?

Well, the thing that people are saying is that you can consider it to cover not just those dining room meals, but lunches and breakfasts etc. You might see your serving team (though you might not know they are yours) all over the ship.

That's why most say to just leave the tips alone.

We have always sailed in a full suite when sailing on the Oasis Class and have only eaten in the MDR one time. We have never changed our tip levels, as others across the ship benefit from the food tip aspect.

OP, do as you wish at guest services. At the end of the day it's your call to decrease or increase tip levels. I might suggest you wait a few days to see where you could/might benefit from the other crew members in food service assisting you (not just the waiters at the MDR) before making your final decision. You might will see these crew members at the buffet, the dog house, cafe promenade, Sorrento's, wipe out Cafe, JR at breakfast only and it might even include the individual who sets up the soft serve ice cream. These are free food locations that I thought of, there might be others.

It's my understanding that the gratuities are pooled and divided among the Staff as there are "behind-the-scenes" people that are part of the pool of tips. For this reason, I always leave tips in place. If I feel certain members of staff go above and beyond, we tip them extra in cash and a heartfelt thank you as we go throughout the cruise. I don't wish to spend my last day tracking down staff that I wished to give extra to.

As others have stated, it is up to you as to how you allocate your tips. It is a personal preference.

This topic interests me, too. We will be in an OS on Navigator in October. I am not sure how much we will use room service, but we have booked MTD, and honestly, I can see us not eating more than one or two meals in the MDR. I know we will eat at least one meal in each of the premium restaurants, so that accounts for four out of seven evening meals. I figure that we might do Windjammer one night, so that leaves two at the most for the MDR. If one of those nights ends up being room service, well, I wonder how tips get allocated for that one MDR meal.

 

I have pre-paid gratuities included with my cruise, and given the at the cost of my gratuities are about 5% of the cost of my cruise, it's not a big deal. My concern, though, is if my dining room gratuities are assigned by default to some random waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter that spent one or two night serving me, then I am not going to be happy about that. Does anyone know really how this works? My last cruise on RCCL was 8 years ago, and back then, we handed envelopes to our servers on the last night. Now, with automatically and/or pre-paid gratuities and MTD, this just seems a bit confusing.

The cruise line accounting system does not send your gratuities to the specific waiters that served you. Such a system would be a nightmare to administer.

In order to understand how your gratuities are allocated, it's important to realize that all guests pay the same amount in gratuities to the waitstaff. (Suites do pay a larger amount but that increase goes to the room stewards.) Instead of your gratuities going to a specific wait staff, your gratuities go into a pool that is allocated to the waitstaff. The amounts allocated vary by position, ie, assistant waiter, waiter, head waiter, etc. The net effect is that your waitstaff will receive the same amount as if your money was sent to your specific waiters.

Many say that this system does not reward good service and they often say they will remove the prepaid/automatic gratuities and tip the waiters in cash. When this is done, the waitstaff (and stewards) will have to turn those tips into the pool where it will be allocated by the same percentages. If you want your waiters to get an extra amount, then you'll have to leave the auto gratuities in place. If you do that, then your wait staff can keep any funds you give them directly.

Many don't like this system but it is the system.

If you want your waiters to get an extra amount, then you'll have to leave the auto gratuities in place. If you do that, then your wait staff can keep any funds you give them directly.

That sounds fair enough. I have always tipped my cabin steward more, and often tipped wait staff more, but this back in the "good old days" when we handed them envelopes. Now, with MTD and having most of our dinners outside the MDR, I'll just tip extra cash at the time when the service warrants it. Otherwise, they will get their allocation of the prepaid tips. Thanks!