Extra tip for our waiter and his assistant

[Elise17]

We've had wonderful service from our waitstaff and plan on leaving them a tip beyond the standard one rccl charfes. Is there a way to do this online or do we give them cash on the last night?

 

Thanks,

[firefly333]

Most hand them a cash tip in person the last night.

[Sunshine3601]

Cash handled directly to the person.

[Marie51]

There are gratuity envelopes for extra tips at the information desk.

[Jam0610]

Cash. 

[cruiserking]

Cash is king. The other thing that is really helpful to your waitstaff is to post a sterling review when your receive the "How was your cruise?" email from Royal Caribbean. 

 

With each positive review these waiters receive they earn various perks and promotions. 

 

Jonathan

[GTO-Girl]

We go to Guest Services and pick up a few of the tip envelopes to place our extra tip in and then hand it to them on the last evening.  I always take the time to write a note on the back of each envelope thanking them for making our cruise so wonderful.

 

I also take a picture of the nameplate on the table so I make sure I have the correct spelling for the survey.  If I have others who have made my cruise great I will take a picture of their name tag…..

Edited June 30, 2023 by GTO-Girl

[wolfcathorse]

can't do extra gratuity on line. Even if you could I wouldn't trust the IT department to get it to the person you intend it for. Ergo, personally hand them cash (in an envelope available from Guest Services) with a smile and a handshake. Those that are huggers will hug.

[bonsai3s]

Cash in envelopes...see photo.

[Wineaux007]

I thought there was a form you could fill out at GS to pay extra tips out of your account to designated personnel, i.e. waiter/asst waiter, in addition to the normal gratuities automatically deducted from your account.  Is this no longer the case?

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

Is this no longer the case?

You can, but some may worry that the ship won't get it to the right person and rather hand out cash directly.

[Tree_skier]

Just hand over cash. Whichever staff member you hand it to will smile and thank you profusely. No need for envelopes or getting GS involved or especially the IT dept involved.

 

 

[Elise17]

14 hours ago, cruiserking said:

Cash is king. The other thing that is really helpful to your waitstaff is to post a sterling review when your receive the "How was your cruise?" email from Royal Caribbean. 

 

With each positive review these waiters receive they earn various perks and promotions. 

 

Jonathan

Thanks. I will be sure to mention both of them by name. 

[Cruise a holic]

16 hours ago, Elise17 said:

We've had wonderful service from our waitstaff and plan on leaving them a tip beyond the standard one rccl charfes. Is there a way to do this online or do we give them cash on the last night?

 

Thanks,

We often give extra tips to wait staff and cabin staff.  Cash is the best as they do not have to share with the entire pool.  

[Pratique]

By the way you don't need to wait until the last night. They will appreciate receiving the tip at any time. We generally do it on the next to last day of the cruise.

[RedIguana]

10 minutes ago, Pratique said:

By the way you don't need to wait until the last night. They will appreciate receiving the tip at any time. We generally do it on the next to last day of the cruise.

If I know or assume I will end up with the same staff all cruise, I do the same. Next to last day, just in case I do not make it or end up with someone else (MTD, never can tell). My last cruise (Princess, not RC), out MTD dining times were not going to be consistent due to port times, etc. In this case I just left a 5 on the table every night (just 2 of us). Not as much a tip as when we have the same staff and give extra at the end, but at least a little extra for whoever had us.

[LobsterStalker]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

14 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

Is this no longer the case?

You can, but some may worry that the ship won't get it to the right person and rather hand out cash directly

Also , I would assume it will then become taxable

 

Cheers

[LobsterStalker]

13 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

If I know or assume I will end up with the same staff all cruise, I do the same. Next to last day, just in case I do not make it or end up with someone else (MTD, never can tell). My last cruise (Princess, not RC), out MTD dining times were not going to be consistent due to port times, etc. In this case I just left a 5 on the table every night (just 2 of us). Not as much a tip as when we have the same staff and give extra at the end, but at least a little extra for whoever had us.

I'd be curious how that 5 is handled between various wait teams.

I'd be willing to bet some Head Waiters feel they do not need to share or at the very least feel they deserve a higher chunk.

If we are happy with our service we always tip the assistant as much as the head , and in a couple cases have actually tipped the assistant more due to exceptional service provided !

On one of those occasions where the assistant provided much better overall service we actually had the head waiter apologize that his assistant wasn't great ...Blew my mind . Seems they often feel they are far superior due to title

 

Cheers

[George C]

1 hour ago, Pratique said:

By the way you don't need to wait until the last night. They will appreciate receiving the tip at any time. We generally do it on the next to last day of the cruise.

We eat in specialty and suite restaurant I prefer tipping with the meal.

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, George C said:

We eat in specialty and suite restaurant I prefer tipping with the meal.

We do the same but I give an extra cash tip on the second visit with the same server or bartender. If we have a great server the first time then we ask to have him/her again on all subsequent visits. Sometimes the maître d will try and talk us out of it by saying that particular server is busy (worried we may not get great service) but by the second visit the server is familiar with us so it's an easy table to handle and it always seems to work out fine for everyone.

[Joseph2018Baltic]

I prefer tipping the customary amount for an international flagged ship, and tip the prepaid, recommended amount.

 

But if you want to tip, more than customary, cash it is.

[RedIguana]

2 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

I'd be curious how that 5 is handled between various wait teams.

I'd be willing to bet some Head Waiters feel they do not need to share or at the very least feel they deserve a higher chunk.

I'm really not sure how they handle it. It was an odd situation on Princess compared to what I am used to on RCI, Celebrity, or HAL. Granted it was a 10 night Alaska, so some port times went til after 8 pm on some nights.  Ate in 3 different dining rooms (not including 2 specialty) and at different times, so no real chance to get the same waitstaff every night. And I am not going to take pictures of every table and hand out 15-20 envelopes at the end. So hopefully they have some sort of system worked out between them, similar to how the bartenders on that ship (and others I have been on) pool the tips in a jar. With no traditional early or late seating (everyone is on MTD), and 3 dining rooms to pick from (even though you may have made reservations ahead of time, if one of em has a line out the door just go to one that doesn't), combined with varying dining times, it was just different. 

[RedIguana]

2 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

and in a couple cases have actually tipped the assistant more due to exceptional service provided !

Same situation for me on my first cruise back from the restart. Serenade of the Seas, their first cruise out of Tampa in 2021 after the Alaska season (Oct 2021). Viktoriia (still have table pictures on phone). Head and Assistant usually get the same otherwise.

[lovesthebeach2]

We don’t bother with the envelopes, cash is easier for them to put into their pockets

[Rothko1]

It seems to me that tipping at the end is a nice way to give a special "Thank You" to someone who went out of their way during the cruise.  But if you generously tip someone at the beginning of the cruise, someone that you know you'll see over and over again (such as a room attendant, waiter, dining room manager, or bartender), you're almost guaranteeing that they will go out of their way for you on the cruise.

 

There's always a chance, of course, that they'll take your money and not do anything special, but it has been my experience that if you tip at the beginning, you'll get great service throughout.  And you can always give a little something extra at the end as well.

 

Try it at a bar the next time you go out.  Usually the bartender will remember you and you'll jump ahead of others when ordering that next round of drinks.