Tipping In Speciality Restaurants

[Mokescaps]

If you eat in one of these on board, are you suppose to tip? You're already paying extra to eat there. Thanks. If so, how much?

[KeithJenner]

If you eat in one of these on board, are you suppose to tip? You're already paying extra to eat there. Thanks. If so, how much?

 

There is 18% added automatically, so no need to tip any extra unless you want to.

[Mokescaps]

Even on the dining package? No need to tip extra?

 

Thanks.

[ColinIllinois]

Even on the dining package? No need to tip extra?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Nope.

Edited January 28, 2017 by ColinIllinois

[Mokescaps]

Thanks.

[BirdTravels]

Even on the dining package? No need to tip extra?

 

If you are using your dining package, you are given a receipt to sign. You have the option of adding additional tip, but it is entirely voluntary.

[KeithJenner]

Even on the dining package? No need to tip extra?

 

Thanks.

 

You also pay the 18% on the value of the package, so again you have already paid.

 

Any extra is totally up to you, but nothing is required.

[spidybabe]

With the platinum voucher, we always tip, because there us no 18% added. We also tip at most places and bars

Safe sailing

 

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[cage keeper]

So the 18% that was added to my specialty dining, Does my server get that? I was a server for many years so yes, I am going to tip extra. How much depends on knowing if they get that 18%.

[cb at sea]

The fee includes tip. No need to tip additionally, although most on CC will say they do...

[kayjay76]

We are going on the Escape. We have the unlimited drink package and the 3 dinner specialty dining. We prepaid the gratuities. So here's my question...

 

Is it the norm to tip extra or not to tip extra?

 

If tipping extra, what would you tip at the restaurant?

What would you tip for a drink at the bars?

And I know we dont have to but How much is an appropriate amount to give our cabin steward the first day we arrive?

 

Thanks all!!!

[trainsndolls]

Most people do tip some. I figure it this way: We pay daily ship service charge/gratuity that is split in multiple ways. It covers the stewards and laundry, wait staff and cooks etc. these people are on low wages. I figure most are getting about a 5% tip for their service so I give them from 5 to 15% tip of what I feel I would tip for the food, drink, service etc. at home.

 

I don't give most of my tips in advance of service (steward) I let him/her know I like towel animals when we first meet. I then tip for every towel animal I get. If you ask that the ice be kept filled and it is, put down some cash there with a note or smiley sticker so they know it is theirs (or tell them). Of course if you ask for extra service (spill on sheets or carpets cleaned up) tip them for the extra work.

 

Wait staff - give them money if they please you and don't if the service is so/so. Bartenders - if they ignore you, shine a fiver in your fingers and you should get better service and then always go to the same person after that. Otherwise if they don't give me the time of day, I don't tip them. I even tip at the buffet when the bussers and others are extra friendly and helpful.

 

Even better than tips can be filling out the Hero cards. This can increase the "hero's" pay and staff level plus other bonus incentives.

 

Mostly smile and make friends with the staff. If you over tip so what. If you under tip they will be happy that you tipped at all and that you didn't give them grief. Remember you don't need cash on the ship but if you want a tip to benefit a specific person then give them cash.

[KeithJenner]

So the 18% that was added to my specialty dining, Does my server get that? I was a server for many years so yes, I am going to tip extra. How much depends on knowing if they get that 18%.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, you're going to have to work that one out without knowing the answer to your question.

 

What actually happens to the 18% is the subject of much debate on here, with lots of experts giving their inside knowledge that they insist is correct. The result of that debate is that we now know for certain that the server will receive somewhere between none and all of the 18%.

[KeithJenner]

Is it the norm to tip extra or not to tip extra?

 

 

 

Again, we just don't know.

 

People will say things like "most people tip extra", but I would ask how they know that. I have to say that I see very little evidence one way or another.

 

Certainly at the bar, especially now that they have done away with paper receipts for people with the UBP I see very few notes being handed over. However, I'd imagine that more people tip when they are served at their table.

 

We have no way of knowing what people tip their wait staff or cabin steward.

 

Certainly the consensus amongst posters on here is that most of them do tip extra. We are not a particularly representative group on here though, so I don't know what that means as regards what the general cruising population does.

 

What we can say for a fact is that there are a number of people who don't tip a penny extra. We just don't know what proportion they make up.

 

One thing I will say is that I once calculated how much a butler would earn in tips if everyone tipped them at the level that is often suggested on here as the minimum amount they should receive. The answer was around $100,000 per year.

Edited January 28, 2017 by KeithJenner

[sanger727]

I'm willing to admit that I don't tip extra at the specialties. 1. I paid the 18% gratuity when I booked, and how NCL chooses to pay their employees is really none of my business, but I assume that it goes to paying the employees in some way. 2. The service in the MDR was sooooo much better than the service in the specialties, sorry, not overtipping for poor service.

 

The food was generally better in the specialties but the waiters were nowhere to be seen, and hope you don't plan on having a drink refill. In the MDR I couldn't blink without seeing a waiter walking around glancing at our table to see if we were ready for the next course or a drink refill.

 

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Edited January 28, 2017 by sanger727

[emcelh]

I agree with Sanger727. We ate in specialty restaurants several times last week and the service in Cagneys was great but the others, not so much. It wasn't bad, just not what we had experienced previously. Changes was the only place where we tipped extra.

[havenfan]

People will say things like "most people tip extra", but I would ask how they know that.

 

Wrt specialty restaurants, the subject of the original question, here's my evidence: I was on the Star in December and dined multiple times at all the specialty restaurants. I was told by all the servers I asked, "There's no need to tip extra. Nobody does." As I did actually leave a tip and I don't believe that all the other people who claim on this forum that they tip are liars, I am not taking the "nobody does" literally. But the fact that the servers told me this when it goes against any incentive they might have leads me to believe that the situation is far from "most do".

 

One thing I will say is that I once calculated how much a butler would earn in tips if everyone tipped them at the level that is often suggested on here as the minimum amount they should receive. The answer was around $100,000 per year.

 

I have read on various other sites that cruise ship butlers make $4500-$6000/month on average. That is, of course, only for the time they work; they don't get paid in between contracts. If you assume that a NCL butler takes care of 9 suites, say 24 passengers on average, then that works out to $6-8ppd. This would be consistent with, hypothetically 2/3 of the suite passengers tipping $10ppd and 1/3 of them not tipping at all, whether because they don't know the butlers don't participate in the service charge or for any other reason.

 

We are not a particularly representative group on here though, so I don't know what that means as regards what the general cruising population does.

 

We are not only not a representative group, we are not a large group. How many people are on a typical roll call? 50ish? Out of 2500+ on a typical NCL cruise. It would be silly to assume that the behavior we self-report is representative of anything other the small percentage of the cruising population who frequent this board. And that's not even getting into the selection bias in which of us responds to which questions.

Edited January 28, 2017 by havenfan

[phillygwm]

Again, we just don't know.

 

People will say things like "most people tip extra", but I would ask how they know that. I have to say that I see very little evidence one way or another.

 

Certainly at the bar, especially now that they have done away with paper receipts for people with the UBP I see very few notes being handed over. However, I'd imagine that more people tip when they are served at their table.

 

We have no way of knowing what people tip their wait staff or cabin steward.

 

Certainly the consensus amongst posters on here is that most of them do tip extra. We are not a particularly representative group on here though, so I don't know what that means as regards what the general cruising population does.

 

What we can say for a fact is that there are a number of people who don't tip a penny extra. We just don't know what proportion they make up.

 

One thing I will say is that I once calculated how much a butler would earn in tips if everyone tipped them at the level that is often suggested on here as the minimum amount they should receive. The answer was around $100,000 per year.

 

I can only speak for myself:

 

Specialty restaurants - As others have noted, 18% is included in the cost of your meal/package. Still, I'll usually throw a few extra bucks on the bill. Maybe $5 depending on how attentive the service was/how many drinks we had.

 

Bars - Usually I do a nice tip up front if I know I'll be somewhere for a while. $5-10. You won't have any problem with your drink ever being empty :-) If it's just a quick beer or glass of wine, I won't bother.

 

Room attendant - I'll usually do $50 here when my bag is delivered. That may be a bit on the generous side based on what friends tell me but it isn't an easy job. Some friends tip some up front and some at the end.

 

For an entire 7 day cruise, it comes out to around $100.