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Tipping more than the prepaid amount


cocoabeana
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Tipping Extra  

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  1. 1. Do you give your Servers and Room Attendent more than the standard prepaid tip for excellent service?

    • Yes
      81
    • No
      13


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I am wondering if most people tip extra to their servers and room attendents for excellent service.    I have always done this, but know some people that do not, even when they have cruised over 20 times.  Am I the only one that feels that we should??   

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I think cruise critics users are the one paying extra at least on the MDR. On the last night I try to lay close attention to the final good bye passengers give to their waiter and I never see an envelop with cash to the waiter. Maybe they do it nights before which I doubt it but I never see anyone paying extra tips. 

I give extra especially my main waiter and his /her assistant and to my room attendant although I never ask for nothing extra 

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When service is excellent (and it usually is). We always tip extra as we appreciate how long hours and how hard the crew works.

 

We always tip extra, even in a specialty restaurant or when buying a drink.  How much extra you tip is entirely up to you, many tip nothing extra and thats OK.  We have been blessed in life that affords us ability to cruise.

 

I tip between $30 to $40 extra a week for the stateroom attendant, $1 extra for each drink (cash). $20 in cash at a specialty restaurant as I want to be sure it goes directly to our server, especially if using a BOGO.

 

We don’t eat in the main dining room much any more but when we did, $30 for the waiter and $20 for the assistant waiter for the week.   Minimum $40 for the concierge, much more if they have been of service.

 

Coastal Kitchen $10 per day as the server usually changes for each meal.

 

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We always do the prepaid gratuities and we always pay extra for excellent service.  The prepaid gratuities is the minimum to us.  Extra usually goes to our room steward, dining room staff, specialty dining servers, bartenders, server for drinks around the pool...

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20 minutes ago, loudbmw said:

When service is excellent (and it usually is). We always tip extra as we appreciate how long hours and how hard the crew works.

 

We always tip extra, even in a specialty restaurant or when buying a drink.  How much extra you tip is entirely up to you, many tip nothing extra and thats OK.  We have been blessed in life that affords us ability to cruise.

 

I tip between $30 to $40 extra a week for the stateroom attendant, $1 extra for each drink (cash). $20 in cash at a specialty restaurant as I want to be sure it goes directly to our server, especially if using a BOGO.

 

We don’t eat in the main dining room much any more but when we did, $30 for the waiter and $20 for the assistant waiter for the week.   Minimum $40 for the concierge, much more if they have been of service.

 

Coastal Kitchen $10 per day as the server usually changes for each meal.

 

 

Those are pretty much my standards also!  We gave our stateroom attendent $60 extra last week.  He was awesome!  I find it a little more difficult in the dining room because we usually do My Time Dining and very rarely do we have the same waiter more than twice!  

 

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25 minutes ago, loudbmw said:

When service is excellent (and it usually is). We always tip extra as we appreciate how long hours and how hard the crew works.

 

We always tip extra, even in a specialty restaurant or when buying a drink.  How much extra you tip is entirely up to you, many tip nothing extra and thats OK.  We have been blessed in life that affords us ability to cruise.

 

I tip between $30 to $40 extra a week for the stateroom attendant, $1 extra for each drink (cash). $20 in cash at a specialty restaurant as I want to be sure it goes directly to our server, especially if using a BOGO.

 

We don’t eat in the main dining room much any more but when we did, $30 for the waiter and $20 for the assistant waiter for the week.   Minimum $40 for the concierge, much more if they have been of service.

 

Coastal Kitchen $10 per day as the server usually changes for each meal.

 

 

We have not been eating a lot of dinners lately in CK.  I may just start tipping per visit like many others do.  Previously we were giving everyone up there an envelope on last night. Amount varied by how often we interacted. But everyone got something

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38 minutes ago, mcatmcat said:

I think cruise critics users are the one paying extra at least on the MDR. On the last night I try to lay close attention to the final good bye passengers give to their waiter and I never see an envelop with cash to the waiter. Maybe they do it nights before which I doubt it but I never see anyone paying extra tips. 

I give extra especially my main waiter and his /her assistant and to my room attendant although I never ask for nothing extra 

Many of us tip extra without using an envelope.  It is done with a handshake, so you may be missing many who do tip extra.  We tip extra for the specialty restaurants as well and tip at least $1 extra per drink when we have the alcohol package.  I don't use envelopes except for the steward as many times we end up leaving the tip on the bed before dinner the last night.

 

Just because you don't see people tipping extra, doesn't mean they don't.

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37 minutes ago, loudbmw said:

When service is excellent (and it usually is). We always tip extra as we appreciate how long hours and how hard the crew works.

 

We always tip extra, even in a specialty restaurant or when buying a drink.  How much extra you tip is entirely up to you, many tip nothing extra and thats OK.  We have been blessed in life that affords us ability to cruise.

 

I tip between $30 to $40 extra a week for the stateroom attendant, $1 extra for each drink (cash). $20 in cash at a specialty restaurant as I want to be sure it goes directly to our server, especially if using a BOGO.

 

We don’t eat in the main dining room much any more but when we did, $30 for the waiter and $20 for the assistant waiter for the week.   Minimum $40 for the concierge, much more if they have been of service.

 

Coastal Kitchen $10 per day as the server usually changes for each meal.

 

This is more or less about equivalent to what we have done also.  I slip the the stateroom attendant $20 when he introduces himself and then again on the last night.  We tip extra at specialty restaurants too.  Nothing for concierge and have never been in CK as we have never cruised in a suite.

 

We've booked UDP for our next cruise and when I look back on the invoice it shows the amount for both myself and DW.  However, it shows "service charge included". It appears I wasn't charged the 18% that I hear mentioned here on CC.  I will tip extra at the specialty restaurants but does that mean that what would normally have gone to the MDR servers automatically go to the specialty restaurant servers instead?

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49 minutes ago, cocoabeana said:

 

Those are pretty much my standards also!  We gave our stateroom attendent $60 extra last week.  He was awesome!  I find it a little more difficult in the dining room because we usually do My Time Dining and very rarely do we have the same waiter more than twice!  

 

 

In instances when we have MTD, we bring along some cash to leave with the waiter, asst waiter. It may just be $5 each night but it's better than nothing and shows our appreciation. They truly do appreciate it and remember you when they see you again.  Also, if I get good service on MTD, I try and ask for the same server. Sometimes I can get the same staff and sometimes I can't. Just depends. 

Nice to see other's tip too. My bf use to be mover for a living and until I met him, never even thought about tipping someone in his profession. Ever since we started dating, I have upped my tipping % bc I know how hard they work. 

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I tip for excellent service going above and beyond the normal.  For example, keeping ice bucket full, bringing additional pillows, serving MDR food quickly when in a hurry, etc. When applicable, this was for a room steward and MDR Head waiter and helpers.  I do not normally tip additional at specialty restaurants as I personally feel the cost of the meal + 18% is already appropriate.  My opinion and I know others feel differently.

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I try to find one or two random people to tip on each cruise in addition to the extra tips to my stateroom attendant and my bar servers.  Sometimes it is the greeter at Windjammer or a server in Windjammer who serves me food over and over throughout the week but always has a smile and a eager attitude to assist.  Once I tipped the cookie lady on.Anthem ...(remember those fresh baked cookies from the ovens.)...tipped the flowrider guy last year for being.so patient and kind to my stepson. 

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I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  anyone that cleans the bathroom for me gets an extra tip!

 

Also, if we have really great waiters (MTD, but we usually end up at the same table every night), we will give them extra, too.  

 

Plus, we tip $1 per drink for our D+ free drinks in the evening, no matter where we get them.  In the CL or DL, I'll tip mid-cruise and end of cruise.

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We tip extra if the service is exceptional, but honestly this is not always the case.

Sometimes we use envelopes, sometimes we just find the person and hand them cash, and sometimes we use extra OBC to tip and handle it via guest services.

On our last back to back cruise the first MDR team was awesome and we gave them a few extra dollars.  The second leg the new team was really pitiful.  In the WJ our assistant waiter from the first leg kept saying "hi" and would guide our group (4 cabins of folks) to a common table.  We ended up giving her a second tip and none to the "needs improvement" MDR team.

 

When we get exceptional service we always fill out the survey with all 10's and in a few cases we have sent notes to commend staff.  As I understand the RCCL system those surveys and positive notes impact compensation as much (or more) than tips.

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Its nice to see alot of people do still tip extra!  I agree about the poster that said anyone that cleans the toilet deserves it!!!!  That is so true!!!  Thanks for all the input.    Our friends did not tip and they are D+, I was a little shocked.    Maybe some people just don’t get it, I don’t know!   I was wondering if the attendents keep a list of non tippers!  (Just kidding)  To many people and ships to keep track I’m sure!!! 

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3 hours ago, cocoabeana said:

I am wondering if most people tip extra to their servers and room attendents for excellent service.    I have always done this, but know some people that do not, even when they have cruised over 20 times.  Am I the only one that feels that we should??   

YES

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I once asked a cruise director on another cruise line about tipping extra.  His answer was that you have already paid a tip and it was not necessary to provide any additional however if you would like to give a little extra it would be appreciated.

 

I have seen people in the MDR tip a little extra on the last night.

 

Typically I leave $10 each for the waiter and his assistant if the service is very good.

 

I will also leave extra for the room steward if the service was very good.  On my last RCI cruise I didn't want to leave the steward anything extra (thought the service was a little lacking) however my wife insisted.

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Tipping is such an American thing while operating an ocean-going cruise line is an international business with an international work force.  Americans tip in dollars (or Euros in some cases) while the cruise ship worker converts that money into a currency worth a fraction, or even a small fraction, of a dollar.  The cost of living in the USA is X and the cost of living in the worker's home country is Y, usually less than X.  The economics of the situation are interesting.

 

I'm not advising anyone else what to do, I'm just saying I take economics into consideration.   For me that means tipping above the prepaid gratuity is unlikely.  I've cruised twice and it hasn't happened yet.  I keep thinking about all my experiences as a traveler on land.  I expect a certain level of service in a fine hotel / restaurant for the price I am paying.  I expect nothing different aboard a cruise ship.

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17 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

I once asked a cruise director on another cruise line about tipping extra.  His answer was that you have already paid a tip and it was not necessary to provide any additional however if you would like to give a little extra it would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks for providing the CD's perspective.  My sister is a manager at a counter service restaurant where they state that tips are never expected but always appreciated.

 

We sometimes tip extra, but I have also heard that mentioning someone by name on a survey or comment card can have as much or more impact (extra time off, promotions) as merely giving cash.  We try to do this for anyone who stands out too.  For some, showing your appreciation in time can mean more than the money.

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Generally speaking, I overtip.  My standard in a restaurant unless there is a problem is 20+%.

 

HOWEVER.....

 

Once the cruise lines decided to auto tip, I was happy to have them take it out of my hands.  I no longer give it any consideration whatsoever.  They have decided the amount and charged it, I needn't even think about it.

 

Same thing in restaurants that automatically add gratuity.  It's usually 18%, I would've tipped more than 20%.  But they've decided the amount, so I just sign and go.

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On 2/14/2019 at 1:12 PM, katiel53 said:

Many of us tip extra without using an envelope.  It is done with a handshake, so you may be missing many who do tip extra.  We tip extra for the specialty restaurants as well and tip at least $1 extra per drink when we have the alcohol package.  I don't use envelopes except for the steward as many times we end up leaving the tip on the bed before dinner the last night.

 

Just because you don't see people tipping extra, doesn't mean they don't.

 

^^^This.  We tipped two bartenders and one server extra (over the prepaid) and it was done discreetly, with a handshake, towards the end of the cruise.  

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