Specialty Dining Gratuities

[Veranda View II]

We have pre-booked some specialty dining and hopefully will get to experience the Chef's Table. Will the gratuities for the dinners be charged separately after we dine?

[memoak]

Just now, Veranda View II said:

We have pre-booked some specialty dining and hopefully will get to experience the Chef's Table. Will the gratuities for the dinners be charged separately after we dine?

Gratuities for specialty dinners are covered as long as you pay the normal per day gratuities. No different from the MDR

[LACruiser88]

Gratuities are included in your specialty dining upcharge.

[LACruiser88]

@memoak  You beat me to the Submit Reply button!

[wowzz]

Very strange for a Brit to say this, but if we do get exceptional service in a speciality restaurant, we will give our server €10/$10 or so. But if the service is just ordinary,  then we do not feel the need to tip. 

[SargassoPirate]

17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Very strange for a Brit to say this, but if we do get exceptional service in a speciality restaurant, we will give our server €10/$10 or so. But if the service is just ordinary,  then we do not feel the need to tip. 

I understand tipping for extra good service and I err on the side of generosity for the bar staff, but isn't it triple dipping, so to speak, to tip extra for specialty dining?  

 

1) Daily gratuity charge - single dip

 

2) Specialty dining gratuity - double dip

 

3) Additional tip for specialty dining - triple dip

 

 

 

 

[startedwithamouse]

We tipped for exceptional service at 360, as our daily tips do not cover.

[wowzz]

22 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

I err on the side of generosity for the bar staff,

But bar staff get an 18% tip on your drink, don't they,  so are you not double tipping as well ?

[Bobbiegentry]

Just now, SargassoPirate said:

I understand tipping for extra good service and I err on the side of generosity for the bar staff, but isn't it triple dipping, so to speak, to tip extra for specialty dining?  

 

1) Daily gratuity charge - single dip

 

2) Specialty dining gratuity - double dip

 

3) Additional tip for specialty dining - triple dip

 

 

 

 

4) additional tip for a hefty pour 😉

[memoak]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

We tipped for exceptional service at 360, as our daily tips do not cover.

Why would they not cover you didn’t eat in the MDR but you still paid tips for dining with your daily gratuities 

[LACruiser88]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Very strange for a Brit to say this, but if we do get exceptional service in a speciality restaurant, we will give our server €10/$10 or so. But if the service is just ordinary,  then we do not feel the need to tip. 

We also give an additional tip in specialty dining venue for great service.  Let the non-tippers hate.  🙂

[Potstech]

56 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

We also give an additional tip in specialty dining venue for great service.  Let the non-tippers hate.  🙂

Let the big tippers triple spend their money. Non-tippers laugh.

[SantaFeFan]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

Gratuities for specialty dinners are covered as long as you pay the normal per day gratuities. No different from the MDR

 

They are not covered as part of the MDR gratuities. As LAcruiser88 described in post #3, they are part of the specialty dining upcharge. It has always been that way. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by SantaFeFan

[Guindalf]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

But bar staff get an 18% tip on your drink, don't they,  so are you not double tipping as well ?

No, they’re not included in the daily charge. 

[neverbeenhere]

The money the cruise line controls goes into a variety of different sized swimming pools. The cash I give goes into their trunks. 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

They are not covered as part of the MDR gratuities. As LAcruiser88 described in post #3, they are part of the specialty dining upcharge. It has always been that way. 

So should one remove their dining gratuities for that day ?

 

[SantaFeFan]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

So should one remove their dining gratuities for that day ?

 

 

Of course not. If you used any of the other dining venues, you were served by the same staff who serve you in the MDR. If you insist on removing the gratuities for that day, then you would have to also not eat the rest of the day. Are you willing to fast for the rest of the day to make your point?  

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Guindalf said:

No, they’re not included in the daily charge. 

I agree they are not included in the daily charge, but they supposedly get the 18% charge added to the cost of the drinks.  If you tip them again, are you not double tipping ?

[caribill]

9 hours ago, memoak said:

Gratuities for specialty dinners are covered as long as you pay the normal per day gratuities. No different from the MDR

 

Correct. Waitstaff in the specialty restaurants and at the Chef's Table are part of the tipping pool.

 

(By the way, it is my understanding that the service charge for specialty dining does not include any gratuity since the staff is part of the tipping pool.)

 

On the other hand, remember that the daily "crew appeciation" charge is shared among all those eligible in the entire Princess fleet.

 

In other words, it does not all go to the staff that actually served you. It is possible that the people who actually serve you and take care of your cabin may only get about a penny a day from your auto tips (paid by you or included in a Princess package). If every passenger on every Princess ship contributes, then the staff that serves you gets a proper share.

 

However, if you give a cash tip to waitstaff or your cabin steward, he/she can keep 100% of it.

 

So if you give a cash tip for great service, that will be more than the seven cents that person gets from you for a week cruise through the crew appreciation charge.

[SantaFeFan]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Correct. Waitstaff in the specialty restaurants and at the Chef's Table are part of the tipping pool.

 

(By the way, it is my understanding that the service charge for specialty dining does not include any gratuity since the staff is part of the tipping pool.)

 

And it is my understanding that the additional charge for specialty dining DOES include the gratuity. This isn't a guess on my part, or a rumor I heard, or something I read on CC. It was described to the audience by the hotel manager on Grand Princess during a question and answer event when someone asked that very question.

 

Sorry, but I would believe that ship officer over anything posted here. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by SantaFeFan

[t&atravel]

Specialty dining includes 17% service charge per Princess.com FAQ’s

 

[SantaFeFan]

29 minutes ago, t&atravel said:

Specialty dining includes 17% service charge per Princess.com FAQ’s

 

 

Thank you. That confirms what the hotel manager on Grand described. 

[PMGS247]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I agree they are not included in the daily charge, but they supposedly get the 18% charge added to the cost of the drinks.  If you tip them again, are you not double tipping ?

This is correct.  Paying per drink definitely has 18% on each drink.

 

It's interesting with the increase in beverage packages, though.  Beverage packages also include the 18%.  Using round numbers lets call it $60/day drink package + $11 gratuity.  You'd have to ask yourself based on your own consumption whether you're coming in above/below that amount of consumption and whether the associated $11 is sufficient or not.  If you're consuming above, you might consider throwing some extra $ in occasionally.  If you're below you might want to revisit whether you should have purchased the package.

 

The waters are even muddier now though that the drink packages are buried deeper in the overall cruise packages.  Still, that $11 or $12 is probably a good rule of thumb for how much goes to the bar staff if you have a drink package and in the eye of the beholder whether that's sufficient or not.  I tend to get the most of out of my drink packages and will often throw in an extra dollar or two here & there.  I pretty commonly add a little extra when something is brought to me using the medallion but rarely when I go up to the bar, unless I've really made the most of my package that day and feeling drunkenly generous.

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Using round numbers lets call it $60/day drink package + $11 gratuity.

I'm not following your logic. If I buy Princess Plus for $60, I get the drinks package within that deal.

Where does the $11 gratuity come into it ?

Sorry if I am being dense !

[SantaFeFan]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm not following your logic. If I buy Princess Plus for $60, I get the drinks package within that deal.

Where does the $11 gratuity come into it ?

Sorry if I am being dense !

 

According to Princess drink package pages:

 

Package Details and Qualifications

• The Plus Beverage Package is US $64.99 per day plus 18% service charge (totaling $76.70 per day) for all itineraries except Australia.