Tipping Question

[Frank P.]

We are crusing for the first time on the Mariner Apr 17th. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if you are required to tip in the dining room even if you don't eat there

[realtorbmw]

That's a good question. From what I understand RCI reserves you a space at the table whether or not you actually eat there. Last week we had two seats empty every night at our table but the seats were still reserved. Having donme the buffet, Johnny Rockets, and the dining room I can't imagine not doing the dining room. That said, I opted to have RCI prepare gratuity vouchers and it made the process smooth as possible.

 

Look forward to seeing what folks reply.

[ineedacruise]

You are not required by cruise ship law to give any kind of gratuity but it is also the right thing to do. From my understanding, gratuity is the only pay that the dining room crew gets. You dont tip, they dont get paid. I personally love eating in the DR because your waiter and asst. waiter are there to make your dining experience memorable. After a night or two, they know exactly what you want and like and do whatever possible to make you happy.

[TEXASMUNK]

The tip you leave in the Dining room.....covers that staff, they folks that work the buffets (where you would most likely eat if not in the dining room), those folks that work the barbeques or the pizza shops or the hambeugers shops,etc.

 

Not be be mean, but if the tipping is a critical part of the budget, don't go until you can afford to do the right thing. If it is just a question, then disregard my point of view.

[JeffKoz]

One thing I told a friend of mine that had the same question - even though you are not eating in the DR, you are eating somewhere (windjammer more than likely). From my understanding, tipping is still pooled and split by some calculation...just because you are not eating in the dining room does not mean someone is not working for you to provide service...I personally find it impossible not to either prepay the gratuity or hand them out myself in cash.

[TrentS]

No, you're not REQUIRED, but don't be so cheap! :rolleyes:

[98Charlie]

We are crusing for the first time on the Mariner Apr 17th. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if you are required to tip in the dining room even if you don't eat there

 

Hope you do the dining room experience at least once - if not ore - during your cruise. Great to feel pampered by waiters, chefs and others in te dining room - and great to know the employees pampering you enjoy their act of pampering.

 

As I understand from past cruises you are not required to tip staff who have not served you through a venue.

 

However, please remember that while you might do the buffet option for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the staff serving you are also the waiters, assistant waiters, etc. of the evening dining rooms.

 

They do triple duties. :)

 

Duianne

[dc-snoopy]

That's not quite true. The wait staff do receive a salary, but it is significantly less than the other crew on-board as they are expected to make money on gratuities.

 

,However, there are other reasons to tip. Even if you don't use the DR, the gratuitites also cover service in the Windjammer, Room Service, Solarium and other dining facilities around the ship. The entire wait staff have duties throughout the cruise, around the ship and your gratuities to your individual waiter(s) are to compensate them for the dining experience throughout the cruise. It is expected that guests tip their individual servers and those will balance out amongst the wait staff as each server will get tipped by those assigned to them. My feeling is that the only way I could reasonably not tip the wait staff would be if I exclusively ate in the specialty places and room service (places where I gave individual tips to those who gave me the services directly) and never left room service, glasses or other dishes around for any staff to have to bus for me (bussing dishware around the ship is another thankless duty that the wait staff have to perform around the clock).

 

As mentioned, there is no requirement to tip, but unless you are extremely hard up and can't afford to do so or didn't enjoy any dining experience at all, you should thank the staff for adding to the cruise experience.

[MikeNJ1109]

This question has been making the rounds for as long as we've been CC members, and you'll find very strong opinions on both sides (tipping vs not-tipping the DR staff). In our humble opinions, there is no hard and fast "right" or "wrong", and you should let your conscience be your guide. That being said, what previous posters have said is correct, that there is a general pool where the tips are shared amongst the wait staff in all the eating locations.

 

At the same time, this is what we've done, based on recommendations from other cruisers and RCCL staff...when we get on board, we immediately go to the main dining room and speak with whover is in charge regarding releasing our table for the entire cruise. We take our meals in either the Windjammer, JR's, or one of the alternative restaurants...and after each meal, we tip our waiters based on the quality of the service provided...the amount we tip per meal almost always adds up to more then the recommended amounts suggested by the cruise line.

 

This is what we feel comfortable with, but as we said before, let your conscience be your guide.

 

Mike & Silke

[98Charlie]

WOW. Looks to me a lot of us posted at the same time on this thread.

 

We have never had a problem with giving the suggested tip by cruise line as well with extra tips handed to ship employees for their services.

 

Since both DH & I have been in the service oriented jobs for 3 decades we understand the importance of extra cash for good services rendered.

 

dianne

[Frank P.]

I am not by any means trying to give the impression of being a cheapskate. I'm not afraid to hand out tips. ( my wife is a waitress,I know better) More than likely we will be eating in the dining room, but possibly not every night of the cruise as there so many choices, we might like to try other things too. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression

[TrentS]

Many people also try the other venues, but as your seats will be reserved do tip as if you had eaten in the dining room every night.

[Frank P.]

Thanks for answering my question, We will tip according to the guidelines.

[98Charlie]

I am not by any means trying to give the impression of being a cheapskate. I'm not afraid to hand out tips. ( my wife is a waitress,I know better) More than likely we will be eating in the dining room, but possibly not every night of the cruise as there so many choices, we might like to try other things too. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression

 

Don't think you gave a wrong impression You asked a question and got answers onboard. That's what these boards are designed to do.

 

Suggested tips, extra tips, etc. are in the hands of those who wish to give them. Some of us give more, others give less.

 

 

Bottom line is that we do what we can and feel good about what we do. :D

 

Dianne

[dc-snoopy]

I am not by any means trying to give the impression of being a cheapskate. I'm not afraid to hand out tips. ( my wife is a waitress,I know better) More than likely we will be eating in the dining room, but possibly not every night of the cruise as there so many choices, we might like to try other things too. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression

 

I, for one, never got the impression you were being cheap. You were asking what the appropriate gratuity was if you didn't use the DR services. Quite reasonable for a new cruiser. My answer was to answer how the gratuities go to cover other services besides DR service. Since In know for a fact that I saw our waiter serving breakfast in the WJ almost every morning and he made a point of saying hello and asking how we slept, etc, I felt very comfortable leaving more than the recommended tip. I know I also saw several of the asst waiters who I recognized from the DR bussing drink glasses up on deck during the days or serving in the Solarium cafe, so I know that they had full days of service (most servers put in 12-16 hour days for 8 months to get 2 months off).

 

Hope you enjoy your experience (and your service can vary and you should tip according to the service that you receive).

[Former Goalie]

This is what I posted on another thread and is JMHO:

 

I will second the sentiment from a poster about being generous to the service staff, they get paid very little, and it means SO MUCH to them. We used the dining room this past December very, very infrequently, yet I tipped the service staff the full amount for the three of us; they were so appreciative, because I think they thought they might get stiffed. My feeling was it was not their fault they drew us room service lovers at their table, they work very hard, and the gratuities are their livelihood.

 

The great majority of service staff on RCI have been superb in my experience, and are deserving of generous gratuities.

[danajjj]

Personally, if we skipped a night or two in the dining room, we would still tip as if we had been there. Hope this helps.

[pinkrosesdeb]

We usually have at least one night when we don't want to dress for dinner, so do the Windjammer. We saw our dining room waiter in many other places all during the cruise. They work the windjammer in the morning or lunch, sometimes work on deck around the pool etc. So they share their time between different venues. We always tip as though we had dinner in the dining room every night for that reason. It was the one place we knew that it would get where it was supposed to.