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Tips with specialty dining package


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We had found a good deal on the 3 night package for our just finished cruise and booked before we sailed. It said gratuity was included and although we did tip extra on board, I still feel like we underpaid...I didn't think to do the math before we went and was just thinking our additional tips were "above and beyond". But we paid something like 72 for the package. That puts an 18% tip at something like 27ish...split 3 ways that is only 9 bucks a meal, which is less than we tip at Chilis!

I am sure there are plenty if people who don't tip additional because gratuities are included, and it got me thinking...are there gratuities always 18% of what was paid? The same waiter at Chops would've gotten close to 18 for the same 2 people if they had just paid the going rate on board.

I know actual Intel on tips is pretty slim, but does anyone have insight? Would they also get the percentage of our main gratuities the main dining staff would typically get?

 

🙂

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14 hours ago, moesyk4 said:

We had found a good deal on the 3 night package for our just finished cruise and booked before we sailed. It said gratuity was included and although we did tip extra on board, I still feel like we underpaid...I didn't think to do the math before we went and was just thinking our additional tips were "above and beyond". But we paid something like 72 for the package. That puts an 18% tip at something like 27ish...split 3 ways that is only 9 bucks a meal, which is less than we tip at Chilis!

I am sure there are plenty if people who don't tip additional because gratuities are included, and it got me thinking...are there gratuities always 18% of what was paid? The same waiter at Chops would've gotten close to 18 for the same 2 people if they had just paid the going rate on board.

I know actual Intel on tips is pretty slim, but does anyone have insight? Would they also get the percentage of our main gratuities the main dining staff would typically get?

 

🙂

It is all in the wording, you are paying a service charge with the package. We were told by our waiter in Jamie's that they get a few dollars of the service charge, the rest goes into the tip pool. Anything you leave as a tip is for them to keep.  They are in the tip pool and get a percentage. We always leave a $10.00 tip for specialty dining. 

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I don't know the amount that is included in the online price, but, to me, it is considerably lower than if one purchased the meal onboard and had 18% added to the cost.  Having said that, we tip $10 per person at least for dinner in a specialty restaurant and if we have the UDP, we tip $5 extra per person for lunch.

 

We have had excellent service with every meal in the specialty restaurants with the exception of lunch in Chops on boarding day on Harmony.  We had 3 different waiters and none knew what the othesr had done, so when food came out, it was questioned who gets what etc.  I got the impression that 2 of the wait staff were new and had no clue as to what was going on. This was in Jan 2019.  There were only about 8 people in the restaurant, so it wasn't like they were overly busy.

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We only book specialty dining at about 50% the regular price...using the old FNDR or BOGO promotions.  Since we pay such a discounted price we always leave a cash tip of $10 to $20 depending on service for the two of us.  If for some reason I paid regular price, I would not tip additional.  

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We will be using a 4 night dining package on an upcoming cruise that cost us $100 per person.  If there is an 18% service charge built in that means we paid $18 each so far in tips that has to be divided among the 4 restaurants.  I think it would be terrible if we don’t tip each waiter something extra in cash. So thanks for bringing the subject up, so that I remember to set aside cash for each evening. 

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19 hours ago, dplusd said:

We only book specialty dining at about 50% the regular price...using the old FNDR or BOGO promotions.  Since we pay such a discounted price we always leave a cash tip of $10 to $20 depending on service for the two of us.  If for some reason I paid regular price, I would not tip additional.  

 

Do the restaurant staff know whether it was purchased at a discount? 

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Thanks everyone, I wish we would've tipped more. We did tip each time, but it sounds like it wasn't enough. I honesty just didn't think to do the math in my head, just thinking an 18% tip was included and anything above and beyond that would be for exceptional service, which we received 1 of the times. The first time our service was just ok and the last was very good. I wish they would clarify better...I am sure there are plenty of people who wouldn't even think to tip as the service charge is mentioned as included!

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On 4/19/2019 at 9:27 AM, laslomas said:

 

Do the restaurant staff know whether it was purchased at a discount? 

 

They have to run your card so they would at least know you purchased the dining plan, but probably not the exact price.

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I like to tip 5pp plus a dollar per drink ordered for diamond or package drinks. If bring my own wine and they don't change a corkage fee, another 5 (haven't yet).  All specialty dining service has always been good for me, even when the food was occasionally so-so.

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2 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

Is it better to book a dining package prior to the cruise or once onboard?

 

There's no guarantee that any dining package will be available onboard.

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2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

There's no guarantee that any dining package will be available onboard.

It seems to us that nearly every cruise we take, whether on Celebrity, Royal or NCL that a discounted dining package is offered. If we have friends cruising with us, we generally don't do the booking prior to the cruise, since we don't know what our friends are doing.  Our next cruise, we have no friends (at this time) booked on the cruise, so perhaps we will book a dining plan in advance?

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I tip based on the "culture" of the location I am visiting.  Cruise ships have their own "culture" of tipping, which hasn't changed since I started.  I bought a dining package, and it had 18% added to it.  I'm perfectly fine with that tip.  I'm one that does not tip extra or do I feel guilty at not tipping extra.  Remember also that I tipped with auto tips also.  I never remove them.  I really don't care what the "math" is, and if I never eat in the MDR where my tip goes.  It's all behind the scenes, which is perfectly fine with me.  It's not really my business how they get paid. 

 

If you want to tip extra, go for it.  But don't ever feel guilty if you don't. 

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I will politely disagree about the tipping culture on cruise ships.  It has changed since I started cruising.  There were no specialty packages with an 18% service charge built in back then.  On our first cruises we brought plenty of cash.  We tipped bartenders as we went, and put cash in all those envelopes to hand to our cabin steward, waiter, assistant waiter etc.  

I like the convenience of built in tips and still add extra cash for only those that have made my trip extra special.  

 

Personally I think of the specialty restaurants as similar to a nice dinner out wherever we are. Except part of the meal cost is subsidized by our cruise fare.  For our family of 4 we would expect to pay around $200 for a nice restaurant meal with appetizers and dessert. So the waiter would get $40 tip.

 

Here we will only be paying $100 per meal for 4 of us with the package. (Actually my original post on this thread didn’t have the right math. $100 pp for the 4 night dining comes out to about $85 for the meal and $15 for the service charge.) I don’t even know if our waiter will receive the entire $15 from our package price.  I will not mind giving the waiter extra in cash. No guilt being laid here, just another point of view. 

 

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At one point, gratuities was included in the price of the specialty restaurants.  Now, they're adding an additional 18% on the price.  Not sure whats up.

 

That being said, I would just keep in mind the "retail" price of the restaurant and work 18% of that.  If you're below that number, I would tip to compensate to at least that level.  To me, its the same as using a coupon or special price at a restaurant.  You don't tip on the final balance, because you're taking away from the tip you *would* have given if you hadn't used a coupon or partook in the special (like 2 for 1, or 1/2 price night etc.).  

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If you purchase the dining pkg on line before your cruise, the gratuities are added (18 percent).  The food in the specialty dining has declined so much within the past year or so and I feel the service has declined as well. How much we tip above is based on the food quality and service.  Needless to say, the amount we tip now has definitely declined.  

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1 hour ago, Colorado Babe said:

If you purchase the dining pkg on line before your cruise, the gratuities are added (18 percent).  The food in the specialty dining has declined so much within the past year or so and I feel the service has declined as well. How much we tip above is based on the food quality and service.  Needless to say, the amount we tip now has definitely declined.  

They say they are included but they do not say what percent.  We payed $199 each for a 10 day cruise.  That is $19 a day.  If they get only 18% of the $19 and nothing additional I hat would be well lower than me booking the restaurants individually for say $50 each and adding the 18% to my bill at the end of the meal.  

 

That would be a tip of $18 versus $6.84 for the package if you do not tip extra.

 

And they do not add 18% to the package price when you buy it.

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On 4/19/2019 at 10:27 AM, laslomas said:

 

Do the restaurant staff know whether it was purchased at a discount? 

I would think they would know if you purchased a dining package as they are only sold at a discount.

5 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

Is it better to book a dining package prior to the cruise or once onboard?

So far it has been cheaper to book the dining package prior to the cruise.  An example was our Harmony cruise in Jan, 2019.  I purchased the UDP on Black Friday for $155 and when we were onboard the package was $238 which was the regular price of $199 plus the 18% gratuity.

 

I am hoping for another good sale for this Black Friday for my Jan 2020 cruise.  I also purchased the UDP for our June cruise on Black Friday for $126 which, to me, is a great price.

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3 hours ago, Colorado Babe said:

If you purchase the dining pkg on line before your cruise, the gratuities are added (18 percent).  The food in the specialty dining has declined so much within the past year or so and I feel the service has declined as well. How much we tip above is based on the food quality and service.  Needless to say, the amount we tip now has definitely declined.  

 

I thought it was the opposite. No added tip when bought online, but they add the 18% if you make reservations onboard. 🤔

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3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I thought it was the opposite. No added tip when bought online, but they add the 18% if you make reservations onboard. 🤔

The service charge is included in the price when you purchase online. Service charge is in addition to the price if you book onboard.

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