Tipping extra in the specialty restaurants

[tarheelmjfan]

I thought I had read a long time ago that there was a blank space for adding additional gratuity in the speciality restaurants. :confused: We dined at the SSUS 2 nights, during our cruise. The first serving team we had was wonderful. The head waiter was very personable & made a point of making our DS(13) feel as important a part of the table as the adults. He even joked on the vintage of his coke. ;) He had no problem allowing all of us to order the menu exceptionnel, even though our son obviously wouldn't be drinking the wine flights. The waiter in charge of the cheese cart was equally good. After that meal, we were planning to tip them well for the great service. Unfortunately, my DH & I both checked the bill several times but weren't able to find a place for additional gratuity. Did we just miss it? We felt that handing them a $20 would have been tacky & almost an insult, after the great service we received. To be honest, we didn't know how to handle this. On the other hand, the team we had on the 2nd night was quite the opposite & in our opinion didn't earn an additional tip at all. We felt bad about tipping both teams the same amount. How does others handle this? This post is a little late since we sailed last month, but I just now remembered to ask. :o

[Spender Nui]

My understanding is that the charge includes gratuities. If the service was above and beyond the call I'm sure they would appreciate any extra considerations.

[katiel53]

We also had super service the first night in Oceanliners on Celebrity. We know that the tip is included but we gave the head waiter $20. Then second night we went, the service was ok, just not as good as the previous time. No extra tip.

 

Katie

[Lois R]

Hi:)

 

When I sailed Constellation in December I did give the Head Waiter a 20....

in cash and I felt more than comfortable doing it.

I didn't stand up in the middle of the floor or anything;) and do it but as

we were all leaving I gave him a hug for such fantastic experience and as we

were "unhugging"....LOL I put the bill in his hand.

He didn't seem to mind:D and I recommend Oceanliners to anyone who

wants a fabulous, wonderful and special evening!

[tarheelmjfan]

Now I'm wishing we would have given them the little extra, but at that time we didn't know how they would take it. I had DH at my side, so no sneaky hugs like Lois had. ;)

 

Spender Nui,

The gratuity is covered in the surcharge, but the service we recieved the 1st visit was deserving of additional recognition. The service on the 2nd visit wasn't. We tend to give the requested tip for adequate service, but think someone going above & beyond deserves more. In our thinking, that's a way to assure they continue to give excellent service.

[Blazerboy]

I've run into this before, and I hate carrying cash on board, so I simply wrote above my signature: "Plus $20.00 additional tip" and it showed up that way on my account as a separate charge from the specialty restaurant fee.