Head Waiter?

[knothead]

Do you tip the head waiter? I have always tipped the head waiters on our past cruises, but I'm wonder why? I have only seen him when he is talking to the waiter or assistant waiter. He has never addressed us or our table! I'm really unsure what it is he is supposed to be doing! Just wanted to get your take on this! I don't mind tipping over & above for our service but.....

[AdrieneAGD]

I tip mine, but then again, he usually at least says "hi" to me once a cruise. Ours on the Sovereign last year (Gianni) was awesome - he and my husband became "running buddies" on the Promenade deck. He even told my husband of a great beach in Nassau where you could run. So, he got a great tip from us.

 

But then again, if he wasn't attentive, I'd probably reduce the amount of tip.

 

Sovereign of the Seas, 2/27/2003

 

Celebrating my husband's 30th birthday on the Mariner of the Seas, 9/5/2004

 

 'til the Mariner!!

 

[rangerdog]

We actually tipped our head waiter in March, because he came and took our lobster out of our shells, took the shrimp out of it's shells and cooked and delivered our cherries jubilee. This is the first time we've ever tipped the head waiter, but he actually came to our table every night, checked on our meals and helped the waiters!! We were on the Splendor last March, for Spring Break. We've never tipped the head waiter before, because we never saw him/her and they did not communicate with our table. However, we had a GREAT head waiter on the Splendor!!

 

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life" John 3:16

[GaryWT]

It all depends, on our first cruise we got the hi how is everything tonight don't forget me on tip night type of thing. On our second cruise, the head waiter worked as hard as the waiter and asst taking care of the kids making sure everything was cut, getting them whatever they wanted, it was great. The 3rd cruise, I don't remember so it must not have benn much if anything.

 

3/98 Grandeur of the Seas

4/00 Grandeur of the Seas

2/02 Enchantment of the Seas

04/16/05 Navigator of the Seas

[que sarah sarah]

We had a great Head Waiter on Brilliance of the Seas .We are just home a week after our cruise

.. He was very attentive and tried his best to deal with any problems . Yes we always tip the Head Waiter --- it's up to him to keep the dining room running smoothly .

 

<marquee behaviour=alternate>till we sail Brilliance of the Seas Greek Isles etc

</marquee>

<marquee behaviour=alternate>till we sail Brilliance of the Seas Venice etc

</marquee>

 

 

Sovereign 96,Grandeur 97,

Grandeur 98 twice,

Enchantment 99 twice,

Voyager 00 twice,

Explorer 01 twice,

Millennium 01,

Explorer 02 thrice,

Brilliance 03 twice,

Navigator 03 twice,

Brilliance 5/04,

Brilliance 10/04,

 

Que Sarah Sarah

(Wherever there's sea, there's me)

[dougp26364]

On both our cruises we've tipped the head waiter. The first cruise, he was around all the time making sure everything was in proper order and making sure we were happy. On our second cruise, the head waiter was making a valid attempt but I think he was either new to the position or just not as good as the first. At any rate, he did visit that table every night and made a good attempt to make sure everyone was happy.

 

Future cruises

Explorer OTS - Easter Caribbean 11/04

Monarch OTS - Mexico Baja 1/05

Brilliance OTS - Mediteranian 10/05

 

 

Past cruises

Vision OTS - Alaska 7/03

Legend OTS - Alaska 7/02

 

Never regret growing old. Many are denied the privilege

[RM]

We love Gianni!!!! He's the best!

 

We've had good and bad headwaiters. We usually tip all of them but some more then others. I can only remember 2 cruises in 24 that I didn't tip the headwaiter......one never came by and the other one didn't want to cater to special requests and if he did he had an attitude. We even gave him some green......still not a happy person.

 

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

[FOXTROT]

RM, I agree with you. The bad ones I usually tip $1.00. Now they recommend .75 per person per day. We have had some fantastic ones. We had a head waiter who was our waiter on a previous cruise.

 

Sovereign 598

Sovereign 599

Sovereign 500

Voyager 1100

Explorer 501

Radiance 1101

Majesty 302

Adventure 402

Enchantment 1102

Monarch 103

Legend 403

Navigator 1103

Mariner 304

Grandeur 404

Sovereign 504

Serenade 1104

Jewel 105

[Trainman52]

Our head waiter Alex stopped by every evening to see how everything was. He was also adept at telling us what activities were listed in The Compass. We tipped him using the charge to your Sea Pass method. We did the same for the waiter, assistant waiter and cabin steward. For each of them, I added cash in with the vouchers.

[emilygrace]

On our first Radiance cruise the headwaiter was very "smarmy" and his colgne would have knocked you over. He only came around to the tables to introduce himself and assure himself a tip. I did not tip him.

 

On our second Radiance cruise, the headwaiter was a young man who came around often to check on everything and one day when we were eating breakfast in the Windjammer he was working up there and stopped at our table and made sure we were enjoying our cruise (what's not to enjoy?). I also saw him in port with his friends (crew) shopping and looking like he was having as much fun as we were. I did tip him because I felt we did get individual attention from him, even if we didn't require his services for anything.

 

 

Until the Jewel of the Seas

 

[Trevoli]

On Princess, the tips that you give the waiter/waitress are automatically split up between that person and the head waiter, AND the maitre d'.

 

So, you might already be tipping them and not know it. I hate that....

 

Ask your dining room wait staff, they'll give you the straight scoop.

 

On cruises gone by, I have never tipped either of these individuals, unless they did something special for me that I could SEE (moving us to a different table/station, removing lobster from shell, etc.) I don't tip for "Hi,howareyouthiseveninghowwasyourmealgoodnight"

 

T

[banderboo]

on both of my previous cruises our DD's had birthday's while on board. the head waiter arranged a birthday cake, and the singing of happy birthday (without us asking) so we did tip them. I would not feel obligated to tip him/her if they didn't provide any service and/or even bother to say hi each evening.

 

Diane

Explorer of the Sea 12/5/04

Legend of the Sea 9/12/04

Voyager of the Sea 8/24/03

Sovereign of the Sea 07/01

[billylen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Trevoli:

So, you might already be tipping them and not know it. I hate that....

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I have cruised primarily on RCCL and Disney. For the most part I have always been pleased with the service, but the one person I never get is the Head Waiter. Sure they will say hello, but I have never experienced anything from that warrranted a tip. The one problem I have with the vouchers is that they are automatically included. Sure, the fee isn't much, but still....

 

I feel like I'm just giving money away!

 

Now the cabin steward, server and assistant server...That is another matter

 

Bill in Monrovia

 

"Everyone has some good in them. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it..."

 

6/27 Serenade of the Seas

[RM]

RCI recommends tipping the head waiter. Their tips are not included in the waiter/asst. waiters.

 

Up next Mariner of the Seas

Then Jewel of the Seas

[sailingfriends]

We had a wonderful Head Waiter or should I said Head Waitress on the Brilliance 5/14/04 sailing. She was the best we have had on any cruise. Yes, she got tipped more than any of the others before. She was there every night. You give me the service and the tip will be better. You come by once on the last night, it's $5 at the most.

 

Gerry

 

Jewel of the Seas 6-20-2005

 

 

Brilliance of the Seas 5-14-2004

 

 

 

[lvcruiser]

I have never had a head waiter do anything to deserve a tip on any cruise I have taken other than the smile on the first night and the hand out the last night. I have seen other headwaiters bend over backwards for their guests and deserve a fantastic tip, so it obviously depends on the individual and not the position. If I ever had a headwaiter do something for me in terms of good service, he would receive a tip; otherwise, I tip the ones who deserve it.

 

Until NOS Sailing 10/23/04

 

NOS 10/23/04 Roll Call Click Here

[mammallama]

Just got off the AOS and we did see our Head Waiter a few times. He did the lobster and shrimp shelling along with our regular waiter. Made a few other stops at our table throughout the cruise. We tipped him the standard tip but gave our MOST EXCELLENT waiter **REUBEN** a healthy chunk of green in his envelop with his voucher. He was awesome! Karen

 

 'til my Chicago Cruise to nowhere

 

 'til my next REAL cruise

 

Roll call for Majesty 09/06/04 click here

Roll call for Spirit of Chicago cruise to nowhere 7/24/04 click here