Yacht Club Tipping

[texasmom121]

So, we are new to MSC and the Yacht Club.  We were wondering if you tip your butler and assistant butler or are the "hotel service charges" set up for that?  The only other time we've cruised in a suite we tipped our concierge team.   Otherwise, we just did the suggested amounts, although on the last few cruises on RC we brought little gifts to give our room stewards at the beginning of the cruise (I think it was chocolates), too.  Anyway, just wanted to be sure we had cash if we need it.  We leave in a few days!

[Até]

Officially the daily hotel service charge covers all staff on MSC and they "discourage" tipping individual staff.  Though it is interesting that having the extra service staff in the Yacht Cub doesn't have a higher daily service charge amount than a Bella cabin.  I always bring some extra cash in case certain members provide me with that extra bit of helpfulness, which has been every time so far.  You will get a range of opinions about any extra tipping so I suggest you go with your own personal feelings on the matter.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Tipping is an oft red hot topic.  My own philosophy on tipping is that it is optional and at your own discretion.  It is a personal decision.  I tipped our butler, his assistant, two waiters, the Maitre D’ and the restaurant hostess...all in the YC. I also paid the DSC.  All these people rendered superb service and deserved financial recognition for excellence.  The bottom line is rewarding excellence...the decision is yours.  

[dexddd]

Take extra cash and play it by ear.  You'll interact with many staff members.  If someone stands out then do as you see fit.  You should have quite a bit of interaction with your butler and if good that would make sense.  We've really never seen the asst so hard to say what to do there although they may deserve something.

[rkacruiser]

13 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

two waiters

 

I assume you had the same wait staff each day.  At an assigned table that was just yours for each meal?

 

I'm a YC newbie and trying to learn before I embark in January.

[phissy]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I assume you had the same wait staff each day.  At an assigned table that was just yours for each meal?

 

I'm a YC newbie and trying to learn before I embark in January.

No, you do not have an assigned table.

they will seat you , at whatever time you arrive, at the first table available.

we had same waiter first day and then met the others as we were seated at different areas of restaurant. YC Restaurant Manager is the same everyday .

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I assume you had the same wait staff each day.  At an assigned table that was just yours for each meal?

 

I'm a YC newbie and trying to learn before I embark in January.

Yes...we did have the same wait team each evening...probably because we arrived at about the same time each night.  I also wrote thank you notes and put one in each envelope.  I gave them great marks on the comment card.  

[burgesst]

Can I remove my gratuities and pay with cash on MSC?

 

First time going onto MSC and wondering if I have the capability to have my gratuities removed (it's not ppd) at Guest Services, and reward who I want to reward at cruise end. 

 

Thanks for any feedback.

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 minutes ago, burgesst said:

Can I remove my gratuities and pay with cash on MSC?

 

First time going onto MSC and wondering if I have the capability to have my gratuities removed (it's not ppd) at Guest Services, and reward who I want to reward at cruise end. 

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

That will only work if you go into the kitchen and tip the dishwashers, etc. [who are covered by the tip pool and whose low salaries are calculated based on that extra income].

 

Also, if you leave the gratuities on your room bill they will go to your credit card.  Which if you have done your homework will pay you back 3%.

[vtgumby]

6 hours ago, burgesst said:

Can I remove my gratuities and pay with cash on MSC?

 

First time going onto MSC and wondering if I have the capability to have my gratuities removed (it's not ppd) at Guest Services, and reward who I want to reward at cruise end. 

 

Thanks for any feedback.

Bring extra cash and tip extra as you feel, the tip pool hits plenty of people you may not recognize as serving you and not fair to remove from them. My feeling is these folks have far less than I, they are working like field horses for 18 hrs a day and I can part with extra cash, we always hit our stewards (in this case three of them with one butler and two juniors) and wait/bar staff but full disclosure, we've been in the restaurant business and you simply tip servers and bar, period.

Someone posted on a tip subject line that it simply makes them feel better, knowing they've helped someone else's dream (or in many cases, helping to feed their family) and I agree 100%. The reason we travel is to explore the world and after exploring you realize how great you have it in your first world country vs others and dropping some cash in their pocket makes them feel fabulous and likely you too. I easily remember working for tips and the rare generous person, it does make their day, it certainly made mine.

🙂

Btw, I thought that was an odd 'recommendation'  from MSC, to not tip individually. We ignored, I'm sure their workers feel differently.

[JAGR]

44 minutes ago, vtgumby said:

we always hit our stewards (in this case three of them with one butler and two juniors) and wait/bar staff.

I'm curious what ship you were on to get two junior butlers.  We only had a butler and one junior in YC in the past.  With the way they try and cut costs, I can't see them having more than one junior butler assigned to a room.

Edited May 23, 2019 by JAGR

[vtgumby]

4 minutes ago, JAGR said:

I'm curious what ship you were on to get two junior butlers.  We only had a butler and one junior in YC in the past.  With the way they try and cut costs, I can't see them having more than one junior butler assigned to a room.

Roberto the butler said he had SIXTEEN cabins and assisted by two juniors (Igustius and Tangus) so they had deleted a butler.

Gulp...it made us feel better about declining evening service, saving them a few minutes!

We always saw the three of them doing the cabins together so there was no definition of duty, they all did it and for us regarding tips, were done up equally, we loved all three.

The ship was Preziosa, April 2019.

[JAGR]

Sorry.  I posted this before I saw the additional information you posted on another thread.  We've been spoiled having always had the same butler and junior butler on the last two cruises.  We don't ask for much, but they always smiled and told us to contact them for anything.

 

Agree wholeheartedly on your stance on tipping practices, BTW.  Happy cruising!

[max996]

14 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Yes...we did have the same wait team each evening...probably because we arrived at about the same time each night.  I also wrote thank you notes and put one in each envelope.  I gave them great marks on the comment card.  

This has been our experience during our cruises aboard Divina as well. We always arrived for dinner at the same time every night and had the same waiter all 7-nights. We established a great rapport with him and I always tipped him something extra on the last night of our cruise.

I also tipped our butler, jr butler, and my favorite bartender at the Yacht Club pool deck - his name was Gary from Jamaica (on our Divina '17 cruise). Whenever he saw me walking towards the bar, he'd reach over into the fridge and crack open a cold Sam Adams for me - every time, no matter what he was doing. I tipped him on the first day of our cruise and told him what my favorite beer was and for the rest of the week he kept them coming.

Edited May 23, 2019 by max996

[Jossie1960]

13 hours ago, burgesst said:

Can I remove my gratuities and pay with cash on MSC?

 

First time going onto MSC and wondering if I have the capability to have my gratuities removed (it's not ppd) at Guest Services, and reward who I want to reward at cruise end. 

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

No one answered your Question.  Yes according to MSC T&C the daily service charge can be removed onboard.  The decision is yours and yours alone.

[Toofarfromthesea]

19 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I assume you had the same wait staff each day.  At an assigned table that was just yours for each meal?

 

I'm a YC newbie and trying to learn before I embark in January.

 

On our first YC cruise we had 5 people and we were seated at the same table with the same waiters each night.  On our second one it was just the 2 of us and we were seated in different places each night.

[burgesst]

29 minutes ago, Jossie1960 said:

 

No one answered your Question.  Yes according to MSC T&C the daily service charge can be removed onboard.  The decision is yours and yours alone.

Josie1960, thank you for finally answering the simple question that I asked. 

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

On our first YC cruise we had 5 people and we were seated at the same table with the same waiters each night.  On our second one it was just the 2 of us and we were seated in different places each night.

 

As a solo cruiser, I prefer to be seated most of the time with others.  If I request such a seating each meal time, do you think it would be honored?

[Toofarfromthesea]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

As a solo cruiser, I prefer to be seated most of the time with others.  If I request such a seating each meal time, do you think it would be honored?

 

Sorry, I have no idea.

[Beamafar]

8 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

As a solo cruiser, I prefer to be seated most of the time with others.  If I request such a seating each meal time, do you think it would be honored?

 

In YC - no.  One of the reasons why those who book YC do because they get to choose who they dine with.  You would need to meet up with people and ask them if you could join them for lunch/dinner, etc.

[emmas gran]

ON the subject of dining we asked a solo traveler on Splendida if she would like to dine with us -she thoroughly enjoyed the experience as she always dined in the buffet on her previous 20+ cruises. Her parting comment after joining us for maybe 24 of the 29 nights was she will not be afraid of it now and will make it her normal experience.

I should add that I found she was solo on the roll call and had asked my other half if he would mind.

[EllaDuChien]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

In YC - no.  One of the reasons why those who book YC do because they get to choose who they dine with.  You would need to meet up with people and ask them if you could join them for lunch/dinner, etc.

 

I am glad to hear this.  I am booked solo in YC and the main reason is so I can have time to myself!  I was hoping that booking YC would get me that. I love travelling with my family, but sometimes I just need a break from people!  :-) 

[Hlitner]

I can only comment based on 21 days in the Divina's YC.  There are a few interesting issues in this thread.  RE the tipping situation we went on the Divina with pre-paid gratuities and without feeling obligated to give out additional tips.  After three weeks we had to discipline ourselves to not go crazy handing out tip money :).  The service we got in the YC was fantastic and we wanted to show our appreciation.  We gave a healthy extra tip to our Butler (who had two assistants) and asked him to please take care of his assistants.  There was one particular bar tender in the Top Sail lounge who took very good care of us and he was also quietly tipped.  Le Muse was a problem.  Over three weeks we had dined in many locations and had just about every waiter in the restaurant.  But one particular waiter handled us about 2/3 of the time at dinner and we decided to slip him a tip.  

I would stress that none of the staff did anything to even hint that they expected tips and it would have been very easy to not tip. 

 

As to the solo cruiser, I do not think the YC is well suited to solo folks who prefer to always be with others.  One can always be a little outgoing in the Top Sail Lounge and chat with other folks, but the layout is more conducive to small groups (2 or 4).  We did discover that sitting at the Top Sail bar was a good way to meet some other passengers who either sit at the bar or stop by.  But the restaurant is where there could be a real problem.  Just about everyone on our cruise ate with their own partners or family or friends.  If there are a few solo passengers we can imagine the Maitre'd encouraging them to share, but otherwise I think it is going to be up to the cruiser to try and make a few new friends.   On MSC making new friends can also be hindered by language difficulties.  It is truly an International cruise line and you will meet others whose native language is not English.  Consider that although we were only on a Caribbean itinerary we met (in the YC) folks from England, Germany (quite a few), Finland, France, and Italy!  While most spoke some English (and we speak a few words of bad French) the language barrier did impact socialization.  We would sometimes sit with a German couple in the Topsail Lounge but at dinner most of the couples stayed as couples.  In the case of the Germans (there must have been about 20 on our cruise) they did tend to stick together in the lounge (and sometimes shared a table in Le Muse).  

 

Hank