Is tipping the maitre d a standard practice in land bound restaurants?

[H82seaUgo]

i only tip those in the service industry that provide a service to me, and to basically those whose salary i am augmenting.

 

the maitre d' is a full salaried employee, and i am not in the habit of tipping people who "do their job behind the scenes".

 

i'd rather give an extra 5 to the guy that's been schlepping my dirty plates all day long.

 

it still amazes me that the only time i personally "see" him is tip night.

 

i may use the provided envelope for correspondance, just to let him know he's not doing his job when i see people in the room with baseball caps, wife beaters, and other "not permitted" items.

[TexasRon]

Yes, I have done so...but only as what amounts to a "bribe" to get what I want...better table, quicker service, etc. I give them something when I want something fairly specific in return. For just doing their jobs? No tip...

 

Could I have gotten what I want without a tip? Who knows. I just wanted to make sure I got it.

 

If "in the industry" is just dealing with the cruise ships, I still see no reason to tip someone who does nothing for me. The ones on ships I have been on have not been asked to do anything and have not done anything exceptional for us.

 

Servers on the other hand...they get extra...

[gunther619]

We were told how customary it was to tip maitre d. If it is, then why isn't bundled in with the rest of the prepaid gratuities?! While I thoroughly enjoyed my cruise, this felt like trying to empty passenger pockets just before they got off.

 

I agree.....if it IS standard practice, like tipping your waiter and steward...then why isn't it automatic like the rest? It's almost like they (Carnival) know that would be pushing it...Or maybe they know a lot of people would adjust?

 

I've never tipped a hostess at a restaurant and I've even worked as a hostess (...and pretty much every other area of a restaurant). Like someone else said, you just walk them to the table, give them your menus and then the server takes over. Have I taken some plates off the table? Yes, but only cause I was bored :p.

[CruiserGuyWPB]

In his blog, John Heald said:

"Tipping the maitre d is standard practice within the industry" and suggested a tip of 5.00 per couple (he did not say per day, or the ruise, I assume he meant per time you see him.

 

So my question is - is tipping the Matre d a common practice in land based restaurants?

When you think about it, the typical ship carries more than 2000 guest, some more than 3000. So if you assume that 1000 couples all give him a $5 tip on the average 7 day cruise, that is $5000 in tips on top of his already high salary for his position. And in the time of, oh lets say, a six month contract, thats an additional $130,000 just in tips. That seems like an awful lot of money for someone that most people never even see.

[elcuchio24]

In his blog, John Heald said:

"Tipping the maitre d is standard practice within the industry" and suggested a tip of 5.00 per couple (he did not say per day, or the ruise, I assume he meant per time you see him.

 

So my question is - is tipping the Matre d a common practice in land based restaurants?

 

Sure, at a high end restaurant that HAS and MD, I'd wager 90% of folks who cruise on CCL have never been to a venue like that. And here's the kicker--although I like CCL and it's food, the MDR is not a 5 star restaurant and the MD should not be tipped out in kind. And here's the kicker kicker--the MD on cruise ships DOESN'T DO ANYTHING! At least not for me....ever.:)

[BadJelly]

i may use the provided envelope for correspondance, just to let him know he's not doing his job when i see people in the room with baseball caps, wife beaters, and other "not permitted" items.

 

I've been seriously considering this too. And also perhaps pointing out that a simple envelope in the cabin may help the cause slightly more that the current, crass, money grubbing carry on.

[elcuchio24]

I've been seriously considering this too. And also perhaps pointing out that a simple envelope in the cabin may help the cause slightly more that the current, crass, money grubbing carry on.

 

He can come around with a parrot on his shoulder and a beggers hat full of change, he's not getting anything out of me;)

[PAPERBKWRITER]

A lot of people forget that the maitre'd is responsible for ALL dining rooms including the Lido. If the tables are cleared in a timely manner and service is good, then that's the guy responsible.

[Perfect Stranger]

If there are two main dining rooms on a ship, each one has its own maitre d. I don't tip them either.

[H82seaUgo]

A lot of people forget that the maitre'd is responsible for ALL dining rooms including the Lido. If the tables are cleared in a timely manner and service is good, then that's the guy responsible.

 

and that's the reason for his 6 figure salary.

 

i don't tip the captain either, for all that he does.

[tulsacubfan]

i only tip those in the service industry that provide a service to me, and to basically those whose salary i am augmenting.

 

the maitre d' is a full salaried employee, and i am not in the habit of tipping people who "do their job behind the scenes".

 

i'd rather give an extra 5 to the guy that's been schlepping my dirty plates all day long.

 

it still amazes me that the only time i personally "see" him is tip night.

 

i may use the provided envelope for correspondance, just to let him know he's not doing his job when i see people in the room with baseball caps, wife beaters, and other "not permitted" items.

 

Now this idea I like. Perfect "tip" for him....

[tnincy]

i tip a land based maitre d' if i want a better table or to be moved up on the wait list. alot of restaurants where i live do not take reservations, they do a call ahead.

[elcuchio24]

and that's the reason for his 6 figure salary.

 

i don't tip the captain either, for all that he does.

 

Who's the guy I should tip for having my toilet in working order? How about the desalinization guy who makes sure we all have fresh water to drink, he's the guy 'behind' what makes that happen right, should we tip him out too?;)

[GaNavy]

Sure, at a high end restaurant that HAS and MD, I'd wager 90% of folks who cruise on CCL have never been to a venue like that. And here's the kicker--although I like CCL and it's food, the MDR is not a 5 star restaurant and the MD should not be tipped out in kind. And here's the kicker kicker--the MD on cruise ships DOESN'T DO ANYTHING! At least not for me....ever.:)

 

Where's the "Fan" button?? :)

 

The esteemed Mr. Heald is off base on this one. The MDR simply doesn't provide the kind of service that, in a land-based restaurant, would properly result in a tip for the maitre d'. It isn't that they wouldn't if they could - they just can't, too many people.

 

From my experience, tipping "in the [cruise] industry" is simply NOT customary, except to the extent that the cruise lines have started promoting these tips. The first time it was suggested that I tip this person was on my 2007 cruise on Legend. Before that, nada.

 

I usually expect things that are "customary" to have been around for more than 4 years.

[fastpitchdad]

Our family of 5 was stuck at a small 4 top booth with a chair stuck at the end and it was in the middle of the dining room right next to the waiter service station. Needless to say the maitre d tip envelope went straight into the trash.

[TheCaveman]

WEll, we gave him a tip....

 

We told him not to eat yellow snow.

 

My way of thinking is, on the Magic, there are approx 4500 cruisers per sailing. Lets say, only 25% tip him, that is 1125 people. Lets say, he gets $10 tip avarage, means he gets $11250 per cruise, above his salary, tax free

 

 

hmm, i should change jobs....

[hubofhockey]

WEll, we gave him a tip....

 

We told him not to eat yellow snow.

 

My way of thinking is, on the Magic, there are approx 4500 cruisers per sailing. Lets say, only 25% tip him, that is 1125 people. Lets say, he gets $10 tip avarage, means he gets $11250 per cruise, above his salary, tax free

 

 

hmm, i should change jobs....

 

I thought he said $5 per couple. If 25% tip the them, that's $2,812.50 per cruise. If they do 48 cruises (take 4 weeks off), that's still $135,000 in tips per year. I think this is one of those areas where Heald has "missed the boat" or maybe the ship, in his case.

[sailor_jimc]

We don't tip the MD unless they have done something "above and beyond" or if we feel they did something more than usual to make our dinning experience better.

 

On one cruise the MD came by early in the week and did his introductions and asked if there was anything he could do for us. My wife replied "yes" and told him that we had a great desert on a Conquest cruise that we have since always looked for but never found since. He asked us to describe the desert which we did. He said he was on the conquest and knew the desert and "he would take care of it" 2 nights later out came this desert.. he had asked the chef to make it for us and he did. We were thrilled... YES the MD got a great tip for this effort. It didn't "Make our cruise" but it came very close.

[PAPERBKWRITER]

The smart ones work the room and visit guests several times during the cruise thus building a sort of bond. Some never come around. I'd guess the ones that do, make a lot more money. Like stated above if he does something special or is extra nice and always finds time for a kind word I tip but not the ones that are just doing their job. Average $10 a couple for those that tip, that'll never happen. I'd bet most envelopes contain $2.

[raylene5]

Yeah, we didn't tip the MD anything on our Spirit cruise. Why would we? We never even saw him. My friend's mom who was traveling with us specifically asked the waiter on the last night if the MD shared his tips with the wait staff and he said no, the MD did not share tips. So she did not leave a tip with the MD at all either.

[zqvol]

In his blog, John Heald said:

"Tipping the maitre d is standard practice within the industry" and suggested a tip of 5.00 per couple (he did not say per day, or the ruise, I assume he meant per time you see him.

 

So my question is - is tipping the Matre d a common practice in land based restaurants?

 

 

Not at all, unless you are trying to bribe him for something. The maitre'd on a ship does nothing for you unless you have a table change. Save your money. He is a salaried employee, that makes more than most carnival cruisers.

[DrLookGood]

We did not tip MD on our last Legend cruise.

 

Our family of 4 had linked reservation with a friend (single lady). Our friend's TA called Carnival twice prior to the cruise (at the time of reservation and a week before the cruise) to confirm that we will have the same table. When we embarked we did not compare our table assignments (on sail and sign cards) because we assumed everything was taken care of.

 

When we embarked for some reason I ended up in front of MDR and I decided to ask a hostess about location of our table. She shows me MDR plan and I see that our family is sitting in the booth for 4, so our friend was assigned some other table. (By the way, the hostess suggested that we can just put additional chair at the end of the booth for our friend :rolleyes:).

 

I went to get our friend from her room and we went to talk to MD. He looks at our reservations and says: "I have no idea what happened, I see that you should have be sat together, but don't worry we will move around and take care of you". I have a problem with the first part of that sentence. I thought it was MD's responsibility to assign people to tables and make sure that linked reservations are assigned to the same table. So, in this case he did not even do his job (we are not talking about above and beyond).

 

Eventually our family was moved to our friend's table and people assigned to her table were moved to our booth, but even that was not done properly. Nobody bothered to inform a couple who missed first night dinner that they were moved.

 

At the end of the cruise this was the first time I saw MD openly standing in front of the MDR doors with his hand out to get his gratuities.

 

Our waiter and dining room cocktail waitress got extra tip on that cruise. Our tip to MD should have been: "even though the ship does not operate under US laws, it will be very informative to familiarize yourself with law suit against Starbucks but baristas regarding their tips - if not for legal perspective, but for moral."

[kelly11]

We are 0 for 2 in even SEEING a maitre D on a ship lol, I couldnt have picked either out of a lineup of 2 people, so no we havent yet tipped one yet.

[livestocruisetoo]

Well put, thanks.

 

To the OP - no, it is not standard practice to tip the Maitre D' in a regular restaurant. At least I have never done so and have never been in a party where someone has done so and have never seen or heard of anyone ever doing so (the postings above excepted).

 

Evandbob - am I correct therefore in understanding that the best upscale restaurants in NYC have a lot of crappy tables? It sounds like the "good" tables are rare. I'll have to double check that myself on my next visit.

 

Very few restaurants have them anymore. I remember my aunt reminding me to tip the maitre'd at one of the fine restaurants in the city prior to my senior prom. It was worth the few dollars considering the circuitous route we took to our table in the half empty room to garner all of the compliments we received. Even if I make the reservation online and noted it as a special ocassion or made a request I still will tip the most appropriate person.

[livestocruisetoo]

We did not tip MD on our last Legend cruise.

 

Our family of 4 had linked reservation with a friend (single lady). Our friend's TA called Carnival twice prior to the cruise (at the time of reservation and a week before the cruise) to confirm that we will have the same table. When we embarked we did not compare our table assignments (on sail and sign cards) because we assumed everything was taken care of.

 

When we embarked for some reason I ended up in front of MDR and I decided to ask a hostess about location of our table. She shows me MDR plan and I see that our family is sitting in the booth for 4, so our friend was assigned some other table. (By the way, the hostess suggested that we can just put additional chair at the end of the booth for our friend :rolleyes:).

 

I went to get our friend from her room and we went to talk to MD. He looks at our reservations and says: "I have no idea what happened, I see that you should have be sat together, but don't worry we will move around and take care of you". I have a problem with the first part of that sentence. I thought it was MD's responsibility to assign people to tables and make sure that linked reservations are assigned to the same table. So, in this case he did not even do his job (we are not talking about above and beyond).

 

Eventually our family was moved to our friend's table and people assigned to her table were moved to our booth, but even that was not done properly. Nobody bothered to inform a couple who missed first night dinner that they were moved.

 

At the end of the cruise this was the first time I saw MD openly standing in front of the MDR doors with his hand out to get his gratuities.

 

Our waiter and dining room cocktail waitress got extra tip on that cruise. Our tip to MD should have been: "even though the ship does not operate under US laws, it will be very informative to familiarize yourself with law suit against Starbucks but baristas regarding their tips - if not for legal perspective, but for moral."

 

You mentioned that her TA handled the linking. That seems to imply your booking was not done in the same manner. I'm curious if the TA/other booking had anything to do with not being linked.