Pinnacle Grill Tipping

[cobalt206]

Is it customary to leave a tip for your waiter at Pinnacle Grill? I know there is auto tip for the waiters in the MDR but was not sure how this works for the Pinnacle staff.

 

We did tip at Tuscan Grille on X Solstice as the food and service were amazingly FAR superior to their MDR. I'm just not sure what is expected so any advice is appreciated.

[CruiserBruce]

People do leave tips. Is it customary is another question.

[PathfinderEss]

Is it customary to leave a tip for your waiter at Pinnacle Grill? I know there is auto tip for the waiters in the MDR but was not sure how this works for the Pinnacle staff.

 

We did tip at Tuscan Grille on X Solstice as the food and service were amazingly FAR superior to their MDR. I'm just not sure what is expected so any advice is appreciated.

I've been told by various people the waiters in the Pinnacle do receive the auto tips also, but I always tip them more.

[djhsolara]

And recently we forgot that you must do this in cash. I had forgotten and thought that when the check came it would be like in a restaurant at home where you could add the tip, but this is not the case. There is no line to add tip, just the total for the dinner. We went back to the stateroom and brought back cash in an envelope for our servers.

 

 

Douglas...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[erewhon]

One evening on our pre Christmas cruise, we dined in the Pinnacle.

 

A group of staff members were shown to the next table. As soon as they were seated, we could not help but overhear one of the party in a loud voice, ask, "has anyone bought cash for the tip".

[GeriatricNurse]

Is it customary to leave a tip for your waiter at Pinnacle Grill? I know there is auto tip for the waiters in the MDR but was not sure how this works for the Pinnacle staff.

 

We did tip at Tuscan Grille on X Solstice as the food and service were amazingly FAR superior to their MDR. I'm just not sure what is expected so any advice is appreciated.

 

No! ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We akways give both of our waiters and / or waitresses tips in the Pinnacle -- that is just us.

Depending on how good the wine server is, depends on whether we tip him at the end of the meal.

You will get separate bills for the dinner and the wine / cocktails.

The Pinnacle staff do get some tip from the Hotel Service Charge -- just pennies. Not like the dining room staff who do get a larger portion of those monies.

Their is an automatic tip of 15% added onto your alcohol bill.

[sapper1]

We always leave an extra $10 tucked under a plate in the Pinnacle Grill. It is an entirely optional gesture but we are looked after so well that we are pleased give some well deserved extra consideration.

[sail7seas]

We always tip the stewards in Pinnacle and Tamarind and are happy to do so. :)

[mudscraper]

We also tip in the Cannaletto.

[Candy]

No! ;)

While tipping is not mandatory, it IS customary. Most of us do.

 

If you feel your service was not exceptional, or you simply feel you shouldn't be required to spend anything additional to your cruise fare, you may choose not to tip.

[sail7seas]

We also tip in the Cannaletto.

 

Good reminder.....

 

We've only been to Canaletto once so I often forget to mention it.

 

[boards]

The last time we ate in the Pinnacle it was our plan to tip, however as the evening went on I tried to observe the patrons as they were leaving as to how or if they tipped. Honestly I did not see anyone tip or if they did I don't how they did it. How do you give the tip? Do you simply hand it to the waiter (so everyone sees you do it), try to slip the tip to him/her quietly (handshake) or leave it on the table (which I don't like)? Near as I could see no one did any of the above. How do you do it? I can assure the dinner was well worth a tip (which I did not give) SORRY

[sail7seas]

You would not have seen my DH tip if you were watching him. One does not have to make a show out of tastefully tipping. Your bill is presented to you in a folio. How would you know if someone left a $$ in that folio. If DH reached in his jacket to take out his pen to sign the check, you would not see him take the currency he had put in his pocket before we came to dinner.

 

Because we sail often and often the same ships, we know many of the dining stewards/wine stewards etc and DH many times shakes their hand in thanks and passes $$ in his handshake. You would not see that. ;)

 

We have seen people leave a $10 or $20 under the edge of their plate. I agree I don't really like that best but there's nothing wrong with it if they wish to tip that way.

 

And, truthfully.... what does it matter what some stranger across the room is doing regarding tipping? IMO

 

If you think you had great service and want to say thank you, why would you not if the person beside you didn't tip? :confused:

 

[KirkNC]

Well I guess I am a cheapo, the thought never occured to me to tip in Pinnacle. Having said that, upon review, the only times I probably should have were on the Rotterdam (best Pinnacle we have ever been in) and maybe on the Nieuw Amsterdam. My other experiences while ok were not deserving of anything extra.

[sail7seas]

Well I guess I am a cheapo, the thought never occured to me to tip in Pinnacle. Having said that, upon review, the only times I probably should have were on the Rotterdam (best Pinnacle we have ever been in) and maybe on the Nieuw Amsterdam. My other experiences while ok were not deserving of anything extra.

 

 

 

[b ] Definitely your choice whether to or not.[/b]

[boards]

Thank you sail7seas for your comments. I agree I would want to make a show of tipping either, however we do not remember getting a filio or a bill for the dinner because it was booked in advance and paid for. The question of the discount we thought would have received has been discussed on an earlier thread, no need to go further with that thought. We did not order any drinks so there was not a bill for that either. We waited for a moment for the waiter to come near but he did not come, so we thought it was okay to leave.

[RedmondCruiser]

We always tip in the Pinnacle and I know that it is appreciated. I always leave it half under the plate. As four star mariners we get the meal for half price and not to tip would be unthinkable, for us. I'm glad to see that so many CC members feel the same.

[travelnap]

On my recent Rotterdam TA I ate at the Pinnacle the first night with the Amex dinner. At the end of the meal since there was no charge for the meal, I asked the maitre de if I could put a tip on the Key Card. He told me that I could but then it would go into the tip pool. I wanted the tip to go to the servers that took such good care of me, so he told me I could just leave a cash tip and he would make sure it went to them, so that is what I did. I think cash is the best way to go in the Pinnacle for a tip.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even for the dinners that we had not prepaid on the Maasdam we were not given a folio with a bill to sign for our dinners. It was just automatically added onto our shipboard account.

Since we buy and use the Beverage Cards -- when we order drinks I just hand the card to the wine steward -- and the slip that comes back with the card shows the deduction of the drinks from the card as well as the 15% gratuity.

Since there wasn't folio on this cruise -- I just slip everyone who has serviced us that evening their tips.

AND what a wonderful surprise we had on the Maasdam -- no fighting to get our loyality discounts. In fact -- ALL the prepaid dinners showed the loyality discount on day 4 when I got a copy of out bill to make certain that all our shipboard credit was in place (which it was) -- and we had had only 1 dinner in the Pinnacle by that time. First time I wasn't fighting constantly for our credits.

[sail7seas]

That has always been our experience on Maasdam........

 

and Noordam, Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. Those are the only ships we prepaid any Pinnacle dinners. Other ships we booked and paid on board.

We have never had to 'fight' for the discount. All our prepaid dinners show the credit on our cruise account.

 

[Harris Jeffer]

Well I guess I am a cheapo, the thought never occured to me to tip in Pinnacle. Having said that, upon review, the only times I probably should have were on the Rotterdam (best Pinnacle we have ever been in) and maybe on the Nieuw Amsterdam. My other experiences while ok were not deserving of anything extra.

 

Yup you are a cheapo!:rolleyes: But you do have some company as evidenced by some of the other responses.

 

We always tip at the Pinnacle...I don't see how one could not considering what you are getting!

[djg541]

I always assumed the tip was included with the bill, or added regardless where on the ship you ate. Not so?

I'd be surprised if different venues dispense tips to staff at different levels.

[cobalt206]

Thank you all for responding to my question. This is only our second cruise where premium dining was optional. As I mentioned, our food and service on Solstice's premium venue were phenomenal so I left $20 both times we dined there.

 

I appreciate the advice and I plan on tipping cash for our dinners at Pinnacle. Heading off on the Noordam tomorrow morning :)

[jayisgerman]

When we ate in the specialty restaurants and received superior service, we tipped an extra $10. Just left it in the portfolio with the signed bill.