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tipping Maitre D for what reason ?

smallworldtraveller

By smallworldtraveller,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Poohdewoop

Poohdewoop

Posted
Posted

I took my mother and sister on a cruise in October and had been worried about logistics in the dining room because Mom has very limited mobility and is on oxygen, etc.

 

The first night we rolled up to the dining room (she was on a scooter) and Wilson (the maiter'd) came down the few steps and personally escorted her to her seat, made certain she was comfortable, etc.

 

Then he came by and checked on her several times during each meal and greeted her by name whenever he saw her on the ship.

 

It was very hard to convince her that he didn't do this to everyone.

 

By the end of the cruise he was referring to her as "his girlfriend".

 

He was awesome, and yes, I tipped him

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mouche

mouche

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I have tipped the maitre'd in the past, but that was only because he was able to honor my request for our dinner time change:). Other than that I don't tip the maitre'd, I will tip a waiter who gives me great service night after night, but in the end it is my cabin stewart who gets all my money:D

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golfadj

golfadj

Posted
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I have a feeling about which maitre'd you had...you were in the back dinng room correct? I too had that one and the M'd was useless. The hostess, Slavica was amazing and did more for me/us than the M'd. She got the tip, not the M'd!!!!!!!

 

I have tipped maitre'ds in the past cuz A) I've sailed with them before, B) He was so damn hot and so damn nice to us (alas, he died before I could see that hot stud muffin again), and C) They came to the table every night and made the experience special!

 

Is this the Slavica who was on the Liberty. If so she was the best.

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SMSACE6

SMSACE6

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On my first cruise I tipped the maitre'd because I thought it was required or at least expected. On my next cruise, I learned that it was not necessarily expected, so did not do so. Third cruise, the maitre'd did manage to remove one "unpleasant" person from our dining table of 10, and he did so in a gracious way to both the 9 of us others, and the one person who was disruptive. Next few cruises, I barely saw, heard or knew who the maitre'd was, no tip there. This last cruise on the Freedom, he came by every evening and spent a few minutes chatting and asking if everything was up to par in his dining room, he was very charming so he got a tip, just for making the effort. :)

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back2tampa

back2tampa

Posted
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Since you are on the subject,How about the room sterwart?On my first two cruises(7 DAYS), I really did'nt know and prepaid tips but still handed him $10 when we got on and $10 when we were leaving,and on my last couple cruises(5 days) I did'nt even see the room stewart till the next day when we were at sea so I did'nt give them anything extra Again we pre paid tips but still felt like I should give them something so I did when we were leaving the ship.Whats your feeling on this?

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golfadj

golfadj

Posted
Posted
Since you are on the subject,How about the room sterwart?On my first two cruises(7 DAYS), I really did'nt know and prepaid tips but still handed him $10 when we got on and $10 when we were leaving,and on my last couple cruises(5 days) I did'nt even see the room stewart till the next day when we were at sea so I did'nt give them anything extra Again we pre paid tips but still felt like I should give them something so I did when we were leaving the ship.Whats your feeling on this?

 

DW and I do not leave him a mess and pick up after ourselves so feel that $ 3.50 per day pp is more than adequate so we do not give him extra.

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misguidedangel

misguidedangel

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GOLF--Yes, that is the same one. She was amazing. We ran into her on the Lido deck and she was amazing there too!!

 

The best Maitre'd I have had, well it is a tie. is Miguel on the Splendor and Alex on the Liberty 2008. Alex was "temping" as the M'd for the ones on holidays and he ws really the senior assistant M'd (so he worked his ass off). He was smoking hot, had a body to match, and I am sure he could have melted the polar ice caps when he talked...when someone can charm and make a 80 year old woman swoon, he is good....Sadly, one month before I was to go back on the Liberty he was due back, but something happened while he was on his vacaton and he died (or so we are told). I was crushed because I was so looking forward to seeing him and asking for a special favour involving no shirt and my camera.......alas, I only have three pics of Alex....oh well......Miguel on the Splendor (on vacaton right now) was amazing too....very charming and he did make the rounds every night!!!!!

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golfadj

golfadj

Posted
Posted
GOLF--Yes, that is the same one. She was amazing. We ran into her on the Lido deck and she was amazing there too!!

 

We have sailed with her twice and loved her. She recognized us the first night in the DR on the Liberty last month and hugs all around.

 

DW has many food allergies and she would come to our table each night and preorder food made special for her.

 

Did an outstanding job for us and she was tipped very well.

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ChelseainFL

ChelseainFL

Posted
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On our last cruise we never even saw the MD. We had the any time dining. I won't tip unless they earn it. On the Inspiration we saw the MD every night. But, ya know, he was just standing there. Smiling. Nice guy and all, but he never approached our table or did anything for us. So, no. We have yet to tip an MD. Might on the next cruise because we will be bee lining it there to see if we can get the any time dining again. We are waitlisted right now.

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golfadj

golfadj

Posted
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The Maitre D' makes sure that ....uh...you know...oh... huh?

You see the Maitre D' is the one responsible for all the....well... oh..um...???

Ok I give up....what DOES the maitre D' do ?

 

Makes sure the DR runs smoothly, sets us seating for all and make sure the guests are happy.

 

That is his job. If he does something to make our cruise better we will tip him but usually all he will do is make useless announcements so we do not.

 

However the hostess will help my DW order special as she has food allergies and she will always get a very nice tip.

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Thoth

Thoth

Posted
Posted
Makes sure the DR runs smoothly, sets us seating for all and make sure the guests are happy.

 

That is his job. If he does something to make our cruise better we will tip him but usually all he will do is make useless announcements so we do not.

 

However the hostess will help my DW order special as she has food allergies and she will always get a very nice tip.

Okay...makes sense to me.

I'll usually give him $5 which isn't much, but if everyone gave him an average of $5 then he could come up with some nice money.

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javaj

javaj

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If we request a dining time change from the maitre d upon embarkation (we have 3 cabins, and 1 is waitlisted for your time dining), do we tip him when we make the request? Or do we tip if he's able to change it? Or at the end of the cruise in the little envelope???

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golfadj

golfadj

Posted
Posted
If we request a dining time change from the maitre d upon embarkation (we have 3 cabins, and 1 is waitlisted for your time dining), do we tip him when we make the request? Or do we tip if he's able to change it? Or at the end of the cruise in the little envelope???

 

I would tip him for that at the end of the cruise.

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oeshpdog2

oeshpdog2

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Our Maitre'd did nothing but introduce the "dining entertainment." He makes a very nice salary compared to the staff that is actually working for their tips. I was shocked to hear announcements specifically to encourage you to tip the Maitre'd.

 

On all previous cruises on other cruise lines, the Maitre'd would stop by your table and ask if you needed anything special (i.e. dietary concerns, allergies etc) and then he would again stop by and make sure the food was good and the service was ok. I never once heard someone on those cruises try to encourage you to then tip him/her.

 

Needless to say on our Conquest cruise last week, we did NOT tip the MC...uh...I mean Maitre'd

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donaldsc

donaldsc

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What would be the reason you would tip Maitre D ? This was our first cruise so bare with me. We went to the dining room most nights, we were there for first night we we saw the Maitre D give his introductions of the head staff, when he got the staff to do thier dance, and thier farewell song. Not once did he approach us, come to the table.... nothing. We received an envelope in our room so that we could tip him... What was the reason we should tip him? Pardon my ignorance but the front hostess were the ones we tipped extra..... they went out of thier way for us without us even asking for anything special. Every night when we went in for dinner we just told them where every they want to seat us was great for us. The hostess knew us by name the Maitre D did not know we were even there but his hand was out to receive that envelope on the last night. Please educate me on this.

 

IMHO, the maitre d is management, not staff. You do not tip management.

 

DON

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