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Tips to the Wait staff


lenquixote66
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We always tip our Waiters,Aast. Waiters and sometimes Head Waiters. I was talking to a neighbor today who goes on close to 10 cruises a year. He said he never tips the Wait staff no matter how good they are or even if they do special things for him.

I know there are threads her on this subject but I could not find any and I cannot recall a discussion in 2019.I am wondering how people feel especially since the daily across the board gratuities have gone up so much .

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Nowadays, cruise lines INCLUDE the tips on your bill, either daily  or at the end of the cruise.  No "cash" tips are needed.  Those "across the board" gratuities cover your cabin attendant, wait staff, and head waiter.  A tad goes to the "behind the scenes" folks...just like in most establishments.  In restaurants on land, you tip your server, but they share with the person who busses the table, the bartender (if you order booze) and the person that seats you!

 

There is no need to further tip those folks.

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Agree. As long as you pay the daily gratuity you are not stiffing anyone if you don’t tip extra. To tip extra or not is personal choice. We might tip the room steward extra since we have them the whole trip but usually not wait staff since we do my time dining and have different staff every night.

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On my first 2 cruises, with family, we had the same head and assistant waiter the entire week, we all gave them extra at the end of the week as they were excellent.  On my last cruise, on my own, I didn't tip servers extra as I didn't have the same one more than once.

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12 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

We always tip our Waiters,Aast. Waiters and sometimes Head Waiters. I was talking to a neighbor today who goes on close to 10 cruises a year. He said he never tips the Wait staff no matter how good they are or even if they do special things for him.

I know there are threads her on this subject but I could not find any and I cannot recall a discussion in 2019.I am wondering how people feel especially since the daily across the board gratuities have gone up so much .

Our preferred cruise line covers our standard restaurant/housekeeping gratuities as a loyalty perk while alcohol drinks/packages have tips built-in. We do, however, reward special accommodations by staff (e.g., bartender who stores fresh squeezed citrus juices for my cocktails, cabin steward who hunts down Pellegrino water to keep my fridge stocked).

 

We also take great care to write extensive notes to management about exceptional performance by crew members managers or officers.

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Agree with the PPs that ADDITIONAL grats are at the discretion of the individual. But those who remove the auto grats (without good cause) are the lowest of the low.

 

Now someone break out the popcorn. Waiting for the inevitable Scrooge who will rant about auto grats and how they shouldn't have to pay those if they don't want to.

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1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

We always tip our Waiters,Aast. Waiters and sometimes Head Waiters. I was talking to a neighbor today who goes on close to 10 cruises a year. He said he never tips the Wait staff no matter how good they are or even if they do special things for him.

I know there are threads her on this subject but I could not find any and I cannot recall a discussion in 2019.I am wondering how people feel especially since the daily across the board gratuities have gone up so much .

I'm curious why you 'always' tip a second time.

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Tips, or gratuities, are best seen as performance based compensation.  Since automatic gratuities are added to your bill, there is no basic need to give any more.  However, if performance is below reasonable expectation, you are able to reduce/remove the automatic gratuities. I have never had occasion to consider that, as I have always received (and generally appreciated)  good service: NCL and Royal, and very good to extraordinary service on other lines.

 

By the same token, it seems appropriate to leave additional tips for any staff member who has gone out of his/her way to provide really superior service.

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57 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have always tipped the Wait staff going back to 1973. It is like taking vitamins. A lot of people tell me they have no value but I have been taking them 51 years and I do not want to stop now.

Ah, so you're just asking for general info.  Got it.

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3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We always tip our Waiters,Aast. Waiters and sometimes Head Waiters. I was talking to a neighbor today who goes on close to 10 cruises a year. He said he never tips the Wait staff no matter how good they are or even if they do special things for him.

I know there are threads her on this subject but I could not find any and I cannot recall a discussion in 2019.I am wondering how people feel especially since the daily across the board gratuities have gone up so much .

 

It depends on the cruise line. On some you need to tip, on most there is no need. You have to know the line to know what you should do.

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1 minute ago, zqvol said:

 

It depends on the cruise line. On some you need to tip, on most there is no need. You have to know the line to know what you should do.

That's interesting.  So there are lines that don't have an auto-gratuity?  I didn't know that.  Thank you.

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1 hour ago, clo said:

That's interesting.  So there are lines that don't have an auto-gratuity?  I didn't know that.  Thank you.

 

Some lines, such as P&O, have the gratuities built into the base fare so it can't be removed. Some other lines include the gratuities only for Australian or UK itineraries, especially if the ship is home ported there. Both are because of the high incident of locals removing the tips and stiffing the crew, which creates severe crew morale issues on those itineraries. 

Edited by SantaFeFan
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3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have always tipped the Wait staff going back to 1973. It is like taking vitamins. A lot of people tell me they have no value but I have been taking them 51 years and I do not want to stop now.

 

So, basically,  no rational reason.  They didn't have automatic gratuities in 1973.  

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4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Tips, or gratuities, are best seen as performance based compensation.  Since automatic gratuities are added to your bill, there is no basic need to give any more.  However, if performance is below reasonable expectation, you are able to reduce/remove the automatic gratuities. I have never had occasion to consider that, as I have always received (and generally appreciated)  good service: NCL and Royal, and very good to extraordinary service on other lines.

 

By the same token, it seems appropriate to leave additional tips for any staff member who has gone out of his/her way to provide really superior service.

 

So if the assistant waiter does not do a good job, you are going to penalize everyone in the tipping pool by reducing or removing your gratuities.  Do I have it right?

 

DON

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1 hour ago, SantaFeFan said:

Both are because of the high incident of locals removing the tips and stiffing the crew, which creates severe crew morale issues on those itineraries. 

Not exactly the case, as cruise lines make up the difference when autogratuities are removed. 

Also,  can you provide evidence as to the supposed low morale on these itineraries? Anecdotal evidence would indicate that many crew members prefer European cruises due to the difference in behaviour and demeanour of the passenger mix compared to US sailings.

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5 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

So if the assistant waiter does not do a good job, you are going to penalize everyone in the tipping pool by reducing or removing your gratuities.  Do I have it right?

 

DON

No, you do not have it right. 

 

What I said was “...if performance is below reasonable expectation, you are able to reduce/remove the automatic gratuities...”;  adding that I had never had occasion to consider it.  

 

I would not attempt to “penalize everyone” ... but if one person’s performance was so bad as to warrant my spending time making a fuss, I would make it clear to the hotel staff who it was , and why, and I would ensure that I left sufficient auto-gratuities in place, or made appropriate cash tips so as not to “...penalize everyone in the tipping pool...”.  

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With the auto tip system I rarely tip the wait staff extra. We just don't see the same staff all the time anymore. I have tipped the Steward extra on occasion it we had some extra requests that they provided. I have also tipped  bartenders and drink waiters extra for exceptional service or anticipated exceptional service. There is no need to tip any of these crew extra on the cruise lines I have been on, but hey, I have the money and I have free choice (when approved by Mrs. Dawg of course). 😉

 

Edited by DirtyDawg
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8 hours ago, wowzz said:

Not exactly the case, as cruise lines make up the difference when autogratuities are removed. 

Also,  can you provide evidence as to the supposed low morale on these itineraries? Anecdotal evidence would indicate that many crew members prefer European cruises due to the difference in behaviour and demeanour of the passenger mix compared to US sailings.

 

No, they do not make up the differences of what they could be earning when auto gratuities are removed! The employee contracts stipulate that they will earn a minimum income, as dictated by maritime law (see some of chengpk76's posts for details on this). That minimum is just that - a minimum. With everyone adhering to the auto gratuities, the affected crew will earn much more than that minimum. If too many selfish people remove those gratuities, the cruise line will make up the difference up to the minimum if the total gratuities fall below that minimum. But that minimum is less than they would have earned, and that is a problem for them. 

 

The morale issue has also been discussed by chengpk76, as well as other cruise line insiders. It is real and can affect the cruise experience for passengers as well as the work experience of the crew. 

 

Please learn your facts before posting your comments. 

 

PS: that comment about "anectodal evidence" of "behaviour and demeanour" is made up to push your bias, so please refrain from posting your imaginary fantasies. 

Edited by SantaFeFan
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14 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We always tip our Waiters,Aast. Waiters and sometimes Head Waiters. I was talking to a neighbor today who goes on close to 10 cruises a year. He said he never tips the Wait staff no matter how good they are or even if they do special things for him.

I know there are threads her on this subject but I could not find any and I cannot recall a discussion in 2019.I am wondering how people feel especially since the daily across the board gratuities have gone up so much .

refresh my memory, how much did the "across the board gratuities '....  go up ?

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3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

but if one person’s performance was so bad as to warrant my spending time making a fuss, I would make it clear to the hotel staff who it was , and why,

Yes.

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34 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

chengpk76, 

Please learn your facts before posting your comments. 

 

PS: that comment about "anectodal evidence" of "behaviour and demeanour" is made up to push your bias, so please refrain from posting your imaginary fantasies. 

 

LOL.

It's CC. If posters had to learn their facts, or refrained from posting their imaginary fantasies, chengpk76 would be a very lonely person on here. 😢

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