tipping and my time dining

[pmc059]

:confused: Just wondering how tipping and my time dining works. We always have the auto tips taken off, I refuse to tip people I don't ever see, IE-the maitr'd. We like to use the envelopes and tip on the last day. How does that work with my time dining if we have different waiters through out the week? Do I give the envelope to a particular person? Thanks

[MeowMix18241]

:confused: Just wondering how tipping and my time dining works. We always have the auto tips taken off, I refuse to tip people I don't ever see, IE-the maitr'd. We like to use the envelopes and tip on the last day. How does that work with my time dining if we have different waiters through out the week? Do I give the envelope to a particular person? Thanks

 

 

Well the auto tip doesn't go to the Maitre'd anyway. It's broken down to $5.50 to Head waiter/assistant waiter, $3.50 to cabin steward, and $1.00 to kitchen staff. So it's up to you who you want to tip, but I say it would be a lot easier to just leave the auto tips. But if you would rather tip yourself, then just tip each night to the waiters the assist you.

[rsrmjs]

The M'd is not included in the auto tips.

 

If I were to remove auto-tips and do any time dining I would tip every night, unless I requested the same wait staff every night. Then, it would be the 'traditional' envelope at the end of the cruise.

 

With the above being said, we do 'anytime' with maybe one night at the lido buffet. I leave the auto-tips in place, and let the Carnival sort out who gets what. Tipping extra at our discretion.

[riffatsea]

We did Anytime Dining and we always had the same staff serve us! We were seated in their area the first night and asked for a table in the same area each night. It was not a problem and they really got to know our names and needs very quickly!!

[MrPete]

:confused: Just wondering how tipping and my time dining works. We always have the auto tips taken off, I refuse to tip people I don't ever see, IE-the maitr'd. We like to use the envelopes and tip on the last day. How does that work with my time dining if we have different waiters through out the week? Do I give the envelope to a particular person? Thanks

 

The autotips only go to the people that serve you, plus a buck for the lido help.

 

Regardless, if you choose MTD, your tips must be prepaid. There are no autotips.

[katiel53]

The autotips only go to the people that serve you, plus a buck for the lido help.

 

Regardless, if you choose MTD, your tips must be prepaid. There are no autotips.

 

Sorry to disagree with you, but we had MTD on Dream and didn't have to pre-pay tips. I do know that on Royal Caribbean you have to pre-pay though as we were just on there last week. Are you perhaps thinking about RCI?

 

 

OP,

We had MTD on Dream and other than 2 nights, we had the same wait staff nightly. If you are going to remove your tips, then I suggest you tip nightly to the dining room staff in the event you don't get the same people every night. I don't know where you got the idea that the Maitre D' is included in the amount that would be billed to you, because he definitely is not. If you want to tip him, there is an envelop provided to do so, so your thinking that you are tipping someone you don't see is totally wrong. You are only tipping the people who actually serve you.

[Ken076]

:confused: Just wondering how tipping and my time dining works. We always have the auto tips taken off, I refuse to tip people I don't ever see, IE-the maitr'd. We like to use the envelopes and tip on the last day. How does that work with my time dining if we have different waiters through out the week? Do I give the envelope to a particular person? Thanks

 

If you keep the automatically deducted Gratuities then when you check into My Time dining each time, the tips will automatically be directed to the servers at the table you're assigned to. If you remove the automatically deducted Gratuities, you might want to cash tip each meal. ken

[MrPete]

Sorry to disagree with you, but we had MTD on Dream and didn't have to pre-pay tips. I do know that on Royal Caribbean you have to pre-pay though as we were just on there last week. Are you perhaps thinking about RCI?

 

 

My mistake then. I was under that impression.

[wdnoble9999]

:confused: Just wondering how tipping and my time dining works. We always have the auto tips taken off, I refuse to tip people I don't ever see, IE-the maitr'd. We like to use the envelopes and tip on the last day. How does that work with my time dining if we have different waiters through out the week? Do I give the envelope to a particular person? Thanks

We did Anytime Dining for the first time in March and had many of the same questions. Asked the wait staff how tipping worked and was told that prepaid and 'auto' tips were split up evenly amongst the Anytime dining wait staff just as is done with scheduled dining. Anytime wait staff get a bit more as there is a lower ratio of staff/guests in the Anytime area (which I found interesting).

 

In our case, we had pre-paid our tips. Since we requested the same waiter on 4 of 7 nights, we gave him an extra tip on the last night. If we had NOT either prepaid our tips or 'auto-tipped' via our S&S account, the right approach for Anytime Diners is to tip every night, an amount no less than the standard tip (noted in a previous posting in this thread), and a bit more if the service exceeded your average expectations.

 

Regarding your comment regarding the Maitre'd, as MeowMix correctly noted above, your autotips or prepaid tips don't go to that person any... only your dining room wait staff, room steward, and a small amount to the kitchen/Lido staff. These folks work awfully hard for their money, with tips the largest component of their income. $5.50 is much less than I would tip a normal restaurant waiter for a dining experience of this quality, which is why we always prepay the standard tip amount and supplement it to those that give us 'better than average' service.

[laumicmah]

We're doing MTD in August and have been trying to figure out what to do with tipping too. I was thinking I'd leave the autotips on and then give extra to the room steward at the end and waiters each night. How much extra? There are 6 of us and 3 friends will be joining us too.

[Kurbanfan]

What is there to figure out........it works just like traditional........auto tips.....how much easier can it get........

[labtech]

I asked this question before and never saw an answer.....If you go to the hostess to get a table (anytime dining) do you tip her? Is it the same hostess every night? ( I did see that the standard procedure for getting a table was to go to the hostess....) If it is the same hostess, one tip at the end of the week should suffice....but if its NOT.... and what would be the proper amount to tip per day? Thanks

[parrotthead]

My mistake then. I was under that impression.

I was too...

:confused:

[Kurbanfan]

I asked this question before and never saw an answer.....If you go to the hostess to get a table (anytime dining) do you tip her? Is it the same hostess every night? ( I did see that the standard procedure for getting a table was to go to the hostess....) If it is the same hostess, one tip at the end of the week should suffice....but if its NOT.... and what would be the proper amount to tip per day? Thanks

 

Not necessary........

[laumicmah]

What is there to figure out........it works just like traditional........auto tips.....how much easier can it get........

 

So just stick with the $10/person a day? Don't give extra? I think the amount that the waiters get (of the $10/day) is not enough.

 

And the hostess thing...I didn't think about. Do they get some of the autotips or do they get more pay in salery? I think it's the same hostess every night, so you could tip her at the end when you tip the M'trD (I didn't tip them on my last cruise).

[LemurCat]

So just stick with the $10/person a day? Don't give extra? I think the amount that the waiters get (of the $10/day) is not enough.

 

Bless your heart. Of course you can tip more! ;)

[mferris77]

Unless you're just plain cheap or have a legitimate problem with the service you received, I see no reason to remove the auto tips. The auto-tips are split between ONLY the people who make sure the food makes it to your table in a timely manner and that it is prepared properly. Doesn't go to the hostess or Maitre'D and Carnival doesn't skim some off the top.

 

Those tips aren't just for the waiter who puts the food on your table and pours your drinks - it also goes to someone who you might never even see but works with your waiter to move the food along in the back to make sure your dish gets to you. There's a long walk between the kitchen and your table and they often have someone to help them so you're not waiting 45 minutes for your dinner. A small amount of it also goes toward the buffet staff. You might feel better about tipping your waiter directly but you're completely ignoring a good portion of the staff who helped serve you.

[Kurbanfan]

So just stick with the $10/person a day? Don't give extra? I think the amount that the waiters get (of the $10/day) is not enough.

 

And the hostess thing...I didn't think about. Do they get some of the autotips or do they get more pay in salery? I think it's the same hostess every night, so you could tip her at the end when you tip the M'trD (I didn't tip them on my last cruise).

 

Do what you want.......I normally just stick with auto tip.......Carnival makes it easy for everyone........

 

As far as the hostess.......I never tip the hostess at a land restaurant.......do you?

[okwriter]

Unless you're just plain cheap or have a legitimate problem with the service you received, I see no reason to remove the auto tips.

 

I suspect it's either:

 

(a) failure to understand auto-tipping, or

(b) a control issue

 

[kf657]

We have already pre-paid the gratuities, BUT we do tip an additional amount. We feel that the 10.00 a day that we pay per person-AND that includes- the room Steward- is not sufficient.

After the first night, the wait staff know what we drink, take special orders from a Very,Very picky son. AS to the room steward- It is worth more then the 10.00 just to see how clean the room is kept, ice in the room, towel animals and all the little things we have come to expect...

I feel that what seens to work out to about 10percent over the cost of our cruise is well worth it! But to each his own...

[ck53]

On Carnival, we prepay our tips for the MTD out of choice, but as stated, on RCI you have to prepay.I think prepay is a good idea then no one gets screwed and you can always add more if you choose.

 

Just because you don't see someone doesn't mean they don't deserve a tip.

[iowagirl411]

I always feel sorry for the pax who remove the auto tip and then try to tip everyone in person at the time of service.

 

Since these pax invariably state that they have no intention of "stiffing" the staff.

 

It must be very difficult to navigate the buffet line, select you food and pass out a handfull of dollar bills all at the same time. And it must be such an inconvenience to always have to carry cash around the ship in case you want some sushi or a slice of pizza or in case the table needs to be cleared.

Because these are just a few of the employees that they swear they won't be "stiffing".

[browneyedwoman]

When we booked our Carnival Glory cruise they made us pre pay our tips as a condition of booking My Time dining. We intended on paying the tips anyway so it wasn't a problem for us. If you pre pay the tips, how would you actually be allowed to remove them?

[ladyd11933]

When we booked our Carnival Glory cruise they made us pre pay our tips as a condition of booking My Time dining. We intended on paying the tips anyway so it wasn't a problem for us. If you pre pay the tips, how would you actually be allowed to remove them?

 

 

We didn't have to prepay our tips for this.

[cuyahoga11]

I always feel sorry for the pax who remove the auto tip and then try to tip everyone in person at the time of service.

 

Since these pax invariably state that they have no intention of "stiffing" the staff.

 

It must be very difficult to navigate the buffet line, select you food and pass out a handfull of dollar bills all at the same time. And it must be such an inconvenience to always have to carry cash around the ship in case you want some sushi or a slice of pizza or in case the table needs to be cleared.

 

Because these are just a few of the employees that they swear they won't be "stiffing".

 

Very well said