Dining room tips

[dominicr]

What do most people do after dinner on ncl in main dining, taste, and savor?   They don’t give drink tickets or anything to sign after like royal does.  Just curious if I should run to casino and break some 100s from tips.  

[UKstages]

are you asking if most people tip at the MDR?

 

some do, most don't.

 

there is nothing to sign if you don't incur extra charges. even if you did, if you're looking to tip, it's probably best to tip in cash to ensure your server gets it.

[ChiefMateJRK]

25 minutes ago, dominicr said:

What do most people do after dinner on ncl in main dining, taste, and savor?   They don’t give drink tickets or anything to sign after like royal does.  Just curious if I should run to casino and break some 100s from tips.  

Wouldn't you do that before dinner? 

[dominicr]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Wouldn't you do that before dinner? 

Thought we would get a receipt to sign.   You do on royal.  

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

@dominicr

 

The MDRs on NCL are "free", covered by your fare, so, unlike Specialty, where you either pay or have a "voucher of one sort or another, you have an account to sign even if you are not getting charged for anything; there is nothing to sign

 

I would say that it is VERY uncommon to tip in an MDR.   Even in a Specialty many don't as they have paid a 20% Service Charge.

 

[Distinctive-Destinations]

2 hours ago, dominicr said:

What do most people do after dinner on ncl in main dining, taste, and savor?  

They get up and walk out without leaving a tip.

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, dominicr said:

What do most people do after dinner on ncl in main dining, taste, and savor?   They don’t give drink tickets or anything to sign after like royal does.  Just curious if I should run to casino and break some 100s from tips.  

What anyone else does with their money is none of your business and totally irrelevant.  Simply tip as you see fit and be done with it.

[BirdTravels]

51 minutes ago, dominicr said:

Thought we would get a receipt to sign.   You do on royal.  

What are you signing for on Royal? We have never got a receipt to sign. And we just got off a cruise last week. 

 

Are you talking about a bar bill?

 

If you have a drinks package, they will take your card to order the drinks and you won't have anything else to sign. 

Edited March 11 by BirdTravels

[dominicr]

15 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

What are you signing for on Royal? We have never got a receipt to sign. And we just got off a cruise last week. 

 

Are you talking about a bar bill?

 

If you have a drinks package, they will take your card to order the drinks and you won't have anything else to sign. 

That’s correct.   Even with drink package they always still bring a zero out slip to sign.   

[BirdTravels]

2 minutes ago, dominicr said:

That’s correct.   Even with drink package they always still bring a zero out slip to sign.   

Royal or NCL? We have had neither.

 

We used diamond vouchers last week. Never had to sign for them. 

 

And yes, you should always have tip money in your purse or pocketbook available, as needed. 

Edited March 11 by BirdTravels

[gizfish]

The MDR staff are already included in the daily service charge that is billed to your account each day or was prepaid at booking.  If you order drinks in the MDR, you have already paid a gratuity if you have a drink package.  If you are paying for drinks, the 20% gratuity is already added to the bill. 

[detroitlions]

They would have to tip me to eat in the main dinning room lately. All the other venues are acceptable and sometimes great.

[hallux]

9 hours ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

They get up and walk out without leaving a tip.

That's what I do.

 

Now that I think about it - while NCL DOES have the highest DSC of any mass-market line, many are also not inclined to tip at the MDR on NCL where as on a line like Royal with traditional set dining with the same waiter every night you ARE more likely to give an extra tip to them at the end of the cruise, right?  So the reality is that NCL's overall gratuities are a little LOWER ($3-4 pp/pd or so higher DSC is $21-28 for a week for one person, but I'd give them more than that for a regular waiter for a week).

[RocketMan275]

10 hours ago, dominicr said:

Thought we would get a receipt to sign.   You do on royal.  

Adding a tip to the receipt only injects a third party into the transaction. 

Never, never, add the tip to the receipt.

Always tip in cash.

[BirdTravels]

8 minutes ago, hallux said:

That's what I do.

 

Now that I think about it - while NCL DOES have the highest DSC of any mass-market line, many are also not inclined to tip at the MDR on NCL where as on a line like Royal with traditional set dining with the same waiter every night you ARE more likely to give an extra tip to them at the end of the cruise, right?  So the reality is that NCL's overall gratuities are a little LOWER ($3-4 pp/pd or so higher DSC is $21-28 for a week for one person, but I'd give them more than that for a regular waiter for a week).

We always do MyTime dining with Royal. But ask the hostess to seat us with the same waiter. And on Royal, we tip them at the end of the cruise. Average tip is $5-$10 per night for the waiter and assistant waiter. 
 

On NCL where you will never get the same waiter, we tip for good service and write a nice hero card. 

[seemoreroyals]

No need to tip in MDR.  Simply get up and leave after dining there,  Already taken care of as part of DSC so you can enjoy a stress free cruise and not have to worry about who and how much to tip.

[JamieLogical]

I am ashamed to say that it hasn't really occurred to me to tip in the MDRs on NCL, since I have different servers every time. On lines where I have the same table and servers every night, I will usually tip at the end of the cruise.

[dominicr]

Thanks for all the answers 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Average tip is $5-$10 per night for the waiter and assistant waiter.

Proving my point, I think.  Net cost when that plus the DSC is actually HIGHER than NCL when the next part is considered.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

On NCL where you will never get the same waiter, we tip for good service

On my last cruise I don't think I had more than one instance of service in the MDR being quality enough to deserve a tip.  Asking for water refills, empty plates being left longer than typical, slow service.  Even if I had been carrying cash for tipping (I don't drink alcohol, I carry a refillable bottle of water from my cabin) I wouldn't have felt them worthy of a tip.  Shoot - things were so rough in Taste and Savor that they even had servers from specialty venues helping out, I saw Cagney's, Teppanyaki and Q at least.

[MrsTocko]

You can request the same waiter in MDR on NCL. We have found several that we connect with and seem to go above and beyond, remembering what we like to drink after the first time.  We get the name and request them again.  At the end of the cruise, we write a thank you card with cash for the waiter and then also a hero card to drop in the box.  We also do this with our room steward.  Anyone that has gone above, for us, on a single encounter.  Also for that bartender that keeps the vibe up

[dmwnc1959]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

I am ashamed to say that it hasn't really occurred to me to tip in the MDRs on NCL, since I have different servers every time. On lines where I have the same table and servers every night, I will usually tip at the end of the cruise.

 

3 hours ago, hallux said:

Now that I think about it - while NCL DOES have the highest DSC of any mass-market line, many are also not inclined to tip at the MDR on NCL…

 

3 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

No need to tip in MDR.  Simply get up and leave after dining there,  Already taken care of as part of DSC so you can enjoy a stress free cruise and not have to worry about who and how much to tip.

 

 

2 hours ago, hallux said:

On my last cruise I don't think I had more than one instance of service in the MDR being quality enough to deserve a tip.  Asking for water refills, empty plates being left longer than typical, slow service. 

 

Why is there a service charge?
The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.

 

What about gratuities?

Unlike most other ships in the cruise industry, there is no required or recommended tipping on our ships for service that is generally rendered to all Guests. 
 

If they go above and beyond and give exceptional or outstanding service, then by all means tip extra in addition to what you are already tipping. 

[expectthebest]

We usually do 5 nights in the MDR.

we always request the same servers in the same section around the same time. The servers are a large part of our nightly enjoyment when eating.. by the second night your drink of choice is usually presented to you as you arrive at the table.. and the usual special requests are often granted.. like room temp butter that easily spreads on the rolls. (2) shrimp cocktail for me as an app most nights.. water with lemon.. etc. so at the end of the cruise (last dinner) we give both of or children $50 each and they get a kick out of handing it to our table servers who are always so wonderful. We have always tipped our MDR staff for the last 20 years of cruising.. 

[PATRLR]

15 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

What anyone else does with their money is none of your business and totally irrelevant.  Simply tip as you see fit and be done with it.

Speak for yourself.  I am "anyone" and I have no problem answering OPs question and do no agree that it's none of their business.  I also believe what other people do, as asked by the OP, is extremely relevant and appropriate to ask.  If you don't want to answer, if you think what YOU do is none of OPs business, that's your prerogative but you don't speak for me or anyone else.

@dominicr We do not leave any tip in the MDR.  We would if something happened that had the wait staff going above and beyond in service to us, but, I don't recall that ever happening. That's also the case with just about everyone else on board the ship that we interact with.

[Oakman58]

I paid my fare, I paid my daily service charge, I paid the beverage and dining gratuity, I don't tip anyone unless I ask something special of my room steward.  It's as simple as that.

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Speak for yourself.  I am "anyone" and I have no problem answering OPs question and do no agree that it's none of their business.  I also believe what other people do, as asked by the OP, is extremely relevant and appropriate to ask.  If you don't want to answer, if you think what YOU do is none of OPs business, that's your prerogative but you don't speak for me or anyone else.

@dominicr We do not leave any tip in the MDR.  We would if something happened that had the wait staff going above and beyond in service to us, but, I don't recall that ever happening. That's also the case with just about everyone else on board the ship that we interact with.

I never said that you or ANYONE else could not answer.  Feel free to do as you please with your personal information.  However what you or I do is not at all relevant to what the OP might do and it is no one esle business just as what my annual salary is, how much I save in my 401k, what my stock portfolio looks like, etc.

If someone were to reply that they ;leave $50 per perosn per meal would that impact the OPs tipping decision or not and thus be relevant or not.  I highly doubt it.  The ONLY right answer to tipping is to tip anyone you want. any amont you want, any time you want, then moce on.  Do I tip? Yes I do.  How much do I tip?  Whatever I feel like tipping at the time.