Tip for Sommelier?

[jannam]

We have the premium beverage package on our upcoming Silhouette cruise and plan to take advantage of this with some wine pairings at dinner. I have never really ordered wine in the MDR on a cruise before as we normally are budgeting our drinks and save our drink money for yummy frozen drinks and martinis later in the evening.

 

My question is, if the Sommelier assists me in selecting wine each night, should I tip them? And if so, should I tip nightly, or at the end of the cruise? Also, how much is customary?

 

Thanks for any guidance.

[cruisestitch]

The wine steward's tips are included in the premium beverage package, but something extra if you use his/her services extensively during the cruise would always be appreciated. There is no customary amount, as everyone's needs are different. Some will order the same wine every night without assistance, others want to discuss all the options in a course-by-course pairing. The latter might wish to tip the wine steward above the standard amount.

[We're The Groupnors]

With or without the drink package if I have received good service from the sommelier I tip extra at the end of the cruise. How much depends on the length of the cruise, how many nights I ate in the MDR, and how helpful they were. We usually dine in the MDR 5 out of 7 nights, and for good service I'll tip an extra $20 per week. For very good or excellent service that might be an extra $25 or $30 per week. I like my wine...

[jannam]

Thanks for the quick replies!

[mpbmark]

The wine steward's tips are included in the premium beverage package, but something extra if you use his/her services extensively during the cruise would always be appreciated. There is no customary amount, as everyone's needs are different. Some will order the same wine every night without assistance, others want to discuss all the options in a course-by-course pairing. The latter might wish to tip the wine steward above the standard amount.

 

I may be wrong about this, but I believe the tip included in the beverage package is divided up among all the bartenders as well as the sommelier. I think if you use the sommelier a lot during the cruise, a tip is appropriate. I would do the same if I went to a particular bartender during the cruise and he/she provided extra service.

 

JMHO. No flaming allowed. :cool:

[HappyTvlr]

Our tipping the sommelier is in line with that noted above because we take full advantage of the sommelier. We always have the prem bev pkg and never even look at the wine list. We sit in select and work with the waiter to time our meal service with wine service. We tell the sommelier what we are having and he/she picks the wine and has them to the table before the food. When the waiter sees filled glasses he brings the food. It takes coordination, but we are cheerful and clear on what we want and we get it even when working with different waiters. The sommelier is usually the same since they work large sections in select. I will also note that on our last 12 night cruise the sommelier said we were the only ones he was selecting all wines for and he loved the interaction and said that it helped him learn more by getting our feedback. He was always happy to switch if we didn't agree on his choice. I am happy to say he got it right for our taste over 90% of the time. He said he gets bored just pouring wine all the time.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've always tipped our sommelier above the 15% included in the price of the wine because we typically have a lot of interaction with him/her. We've also tipped the Cellar Master on occasion. Our last cruise was the 1st time with a beverage package. We had select dining but only ate in the MDR once. We tipped the sommelier in Cellar Masters because we had a lot of interaction with him & not so much with any particular sommelier.

 

Mary Lou

[frak]

we were in blu on the summit last month. tipped him $20 the first night and he was very helpful and attentive all week.

[jerseygirl3]

we were in blu on the summit last month. tipped him $20 the first night and he was very helpful and attentive all week.

 

 

We make full use of the sommelier so we typically tip $20 the first night and another $20 the last night.

 

Only once did we have a subpar sommelier so we didn't til extra at the end.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[izzy19]

We had the premium drink package on Millenium in 2011 and I didn't even really care for wine...until I took the Sommelier's recommendations...they were fantastic and we tipped him about 40 at the end of the cruise.

[Kellie Poodle]

We usually just do a wine package as we have our daily pre-dinner cocktail at the Elite function.

 

We have had some excellent sommaliers and have tipped them generously at the end of the cruise.

 

It's just my personal feeling, but I think tipping before any service is provided is more like a bribe and could possibly insult the service provider.

[jannam]

Thanks for all the info!

[Wine-O]

I take care of those folks I feel have gone out of their way to provide excellent service at the end of the cruise. I particularly seek out the Asst Stateroom Attendant, who is responsible for cleaning and upkeep of the bathroom/toilet, providing extra clean towels, etc., and personally thank and take care of him.

[dandee2]

I usually tip the following person when I find them sincere, attentive, smiling respectfull and funny (we have kids with us:D) (as I would at home).

 

The Asst Stateroom Attendant

The Stateroom Attendant

Our Waiter

Our Waiter-Helper

The sommelier

 

As for the others, we don't interact enough to justify aditionnal gratuity (even though I know they work hard).

[keithm]

We have the premium beverage package on our upcoming Silhouette cruise and plan to take advantage of this with some wine pairings at dinner. I have never really ordered wine in the MDR on a cruise before as we normally are budgeting our drinks and save our drink money for yummy frozen drinks and martinis later in the evening.

 

My question is, if the Sommelier assists me in selecting wine each night, should I tip them? And if so, should I tip nightly, or at the end of the cruise? Also, how much is customary?

 

Thanks for any guidance.

Tip the Sommier about $20 on your last night. You only tip them if you use them. I had the soft drink package & our waiter took care of that.

[Jane2357]

We were on Eclipse in Feb., had select dining and always sat in the same section on the port side. Our Sommelier, Robert was AMAZING! As we did not have a beverage package - I had pre-purchased the 7 bottle, premium wine package. I drink a white, husband likes red - he helped us make new and exciting choices. Due to my taste for the VERY dry - he actually went off the list to find me the perfect wine. We also knew we wanted to do the Riedel wine tasting and we had him sell it to us and even before we could attend - he started making sure all our wine was in the Riedel glasses. Robert always sought us out at any of the extra events and made sure we were taken care of. This was a 14 night cruise and over the course of time we tipped him a total of $60.00. Worth every penny.

[ghstudio]

There is a difference between "do I have to" and "should I" and just recognizing someone for being special on a cruise. No, you don't have to give anyone extra tip money on a cruise. You don't have to give someone money because others do. However, the staff on the ship really are not paid well....far far less than your income. They work hard and someone always stands out for us on every cruise....and on some, a few stand out. On our last cruise, we gave the sommelier some cash at the end of the cruise and he was the only one who got extra. On other cruises we've had exceptional waiters in blu and we've tipped them, but not the sommelier who we could never find. You'll know the folks who deserve some special recognition..in the way of cash. $10 or $20 is a nice way to recognize them...and you should feel good about it...don't do it because folks here say 'you should' or as a bribe.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I take care of those folks I feel have gone out of their way to provide excellent service at the end of the cruise. I particularly seek out the Asst Stateroom Attendant, who is responsible for cleaning and upkeep of the bathroom/toilet, providing extra clean towels, etc., and personally thank and take care of him.

 

We also seek out the attendant because he does all the cleaning. We want to make sure he is recognized and mention him in our final comments.

 

Mary Lou

[jannam]

Thanks again for all the info. If we end up using the Wine Steward as much as I hope to, we will tip appropriately.

[keithm]

We were on Eclipse in Feb., had select dining and always sat in the same section on the port side. Our Sommelier, Robert was AMAZING! As we did not have a beverage package - I had pre-purchased the 7 bottle, premium wine package. I drink a white, husband likes red - he helped us make new and exciting choices. Due to my taste for the VERY dry - he actually went off the list to find me the perfect wine. We also knew we wanted to do the Riedel wine tasting and we had him sell it to us and even before we could attend - he started making sure all our wine was in the Riedel glasses. Robert always sought us out at any of the extra events and made sure we were taken care of. This was a 14 night cruise and over the course of time we tipped him a total of $60.00. Worth every penny.

Loved our Jan.25 trip on Eclipse. We're likely planning to do it again next year. True it will be the same islands, but 2 weeks away from the winter is so worth it.