A Few Tipping Questions

[cruisegirl_DE]

I am going on the Grand in January and I have some questions. This is only our 2nd cruise, so I'm hoping that those of you with more experience will be able to help. I know with the auto tipping we can aid more for our cabin steward and our traditional dining wait staff at the end of the cruise if we want to. What I'm wondering about is tipping the servers in the dining room for breakfast and lunch. What about if someone gets you something in the Horizon court? What about Room service? Also, we are planning on buying the soda card. Do we tip everytime we get a soda?

These may sound like stupid questions, but we don't want to short change someone if we are supposed to tipping them. However, I don't want to uneccessarily tip them either, it can really add up.

Thank You!:confused:

[spongerob]

It's customary but not required to tip a little extra for room service. A gratuity is already built into the charge for the soda card. The waitstaff in the buffet and dining room during open seating meals are already being covered by the daily service charge. You can tip extra in the specialty restaurants if you desire.

 

Something else you can do, is fill in the comment cards for people who do a good job, and if you eat breakfast or lunch in the dining room there should be a rating card on the table. Go ahead and fill it in and give it to the head waiter at the door if you liked the service. These little cards help crew members earn perqs like extra time off and shore privileges.

[Pam in CA]

They're not stupid questions -- they're good ones because you have been doing your research.

 

As spongerob says, the auto-tip includes all of the dining waitstaff, whether in the buffet or the dining room for breakfast or lunch. The auto-tip also includes your cabin steward, the Maitre D, and the dining room section leaders so your $10/day/pp really goes a long way.

 

When you buy the soda card, a 15% gratuity is added to the charge. Then, you can go to any bar, dining room or the buffet and show your card to get a soda. If you're in the buffet, there are waitstaff all around and you can ask any of them to get you coffee, a soda, juice, etc. I do it all the time and have never had a problem.

 

If you order a drink, a 15% tip is included in your charge for that.

[JLC@SD]

What I'm wondering about is tipping the servers in the dining room for breakfast and lunch. What about if someone gets you something in the Horizon court?

The reason the servers in the DR at Breakfast / Lunch and the Horizon Court are covered .........is because they are the same people ............serving everyone at Dinner and they will all be tipped by the autotip.

[Emelie]

Cruisegirl DE, this will also be our second cruise with the first one taken 20 years ago! (husband got deathly seasick) I appreciate your tipping questions & the soda thing reminded me of a question of my own. Do we have bottled water supplied in our rooms or do we have to purchase it? We've been spoiled by all-inclusive resorts so I'm starting to think about the little things. Also is plain coffee free of charge in the International cafe? I'm thinking that it is just the specialty coffee drinks that have a charge, but I don't know where I read that. Thanks to you seasoned cruisers for helping us so much!

[chasetf]

I am going on the Grand in January and I have some questions. This is only our 2nd cruise, so I'm hoping that those of you with more experience will be able to help. I know with the auto tipping we can aid more for our cabin steward and our traditional dining wait staff at the end of the cruise if we want to.

Have a great cruise. We have sailed the Grand a few times (and one of her sisters and enjoyed them both. We also add more for the cabin steward and wait staff if we had great service. We do it with the envelopes you can get from the pursers desk. We also make sure our cabin # in on the envelope so it can be verified we left the auto tip on and they do not have to "pool" what we have given them.

What I'm wondering about is tipping the servers in the dining room for breakfast and lunch. What about if someone gets you something in the Horizon court?

As mentioned, you will see your evening servers in the Horizon Court and the dining rooms for lunch and breakfast. They are included in the auto tips.

What about Room service? Also, we are planning on buying the soda card. Do we tip everytime we get a soda?

These may sound like stupid questions, but we don't want to short change someone if we are supposed to tipping them. However, I don't want to uneccessarily tip them either, it can really add up. Thank You!:confused:

We never have tipped for sodas on a soda card. Room service most folks do add a tip.

[japester]

Let me second the suggestion of comment cards in lieu of tips for good service during breakfast/lunch or in the buffet. Those cards are like gold for the staff!

 

Emelie,

If you want bottled water, you have to buy it. But keep in mind that ships produce their own fresh water through desalinization of seawater. It is as pure, if not purer, than most bottled waters! Try it when you get onboard.

 

Regular coffee is free, but I hear terrible things about it (not a drinker myself so can't comment). On some ships, like the Grand, the trick is to visit the little bakery where they make cookies. They seem to have better free coffee there. Sorry I can't be more specific! :(

 

Jape

[spongerob]

If you buy the coffee card for specialty coffees, you can have all the fresh-brewed coffee you want at no extra charge. Otherwise, the fresh stuff costs a buck.

[bubbadog]

thanks i didnt know that the fresh brewed was covered by the card:))

[mii]

To add to the room service it depends on what you order. My DH and I like to have coffee served to us in the a.m. so we usually tip $2-3 dollars. If you order say a meal I would tip $4-5 depending on what you order. If you wish to have a soda delivered to you in the evening around $2.00 would be sufficient.

 

Marilyn

[cruisegirl_DE]

Thank you all for your responses. That helps clear things up for me.

We are getting very excited. Our first cruise was on The Grand about 6 years ago and loved every minute of it. I'm sure we'll be very happy again!

[cruisegirl_DE]

Emelie-

would love to hear how your cruise compares to the all-inclusive resorts you've been going to. We are starting to plan our 20th anniversarywhich is in 14 months and everyone keeps telling us we should try one of these resorts for that trip. I'm wondering if I would get bored being in the same place all week. Anyway, would love to hear what you think when you get back. Thanks.

[samburu93]

My advice about tipping is to do what amny on my recent Princess cruise did & get it deducted from the bill as soon as you arrive & then you are free to give to whoever you want, as far as giving to bar staff, there is already 15% added to all drinks purchased. Many people travelling with children were surprised to find that £10 per child in tips was added daily unless it wa stopped at the begginning, quite a big bill if you had 3 children. Happy holidays

[samburu93]

My advice about tipping is to do what amny on my recent Princess cruise did & get it deducted from the bill as soon as you arrive & then you are free to give to whoever you want, as far as giving to bar staff, there is already 15% added to all drinks purchased. Many people travelling with children were surprised to find that £10 per child in tips was added daily unless it wa stopped at the begginning, quite a big bill if you had 3 children. Happy holidays

[Emelie]

Thanks japester & spongerob for your tips on water & coffee. I'm used to visiting islands where you don't dare drink the tap water so this will be a pleasant change!

 

cruisegirl, I will let you know via this board how our cruise stacks up to the all inclusives. I think the comparison lies in what you enjoy doing on vacation. We sail on the Crown on Jan. 20 so you will hear from me soon.

[Tigger B]

Hey Cruisegirl...

 

When is your trip on the Grand. We are going Jan. 13th...

 

Brian.

[cruisegirl_DE]

Tigger B-

We are on the Grand sailing Jan.6th. We fly to Houston tomorrow night!YEAH!!!

[cruisegirl_DE]

Tigger B-

Just went to look at some of your cruise pictures. It looks like you took some children with you. Did they enjoy it? We have wondered about taking our children, but are afraid that anything but a Disney cruise may bore them. Is there a lot for kids to do?

[Pam in CA]

My advice about tipping is to do what amny on my recent Princess cruise did & get it deducted from the bill as soon as you arrive & then you are free to give to whoever you want, as far as giving to bar staff, there is already 15% added to all drinks purchased. Many people travelling with children were surprised to find that £10 per child in tips was added daily unless it wa stopped at the begginning, quite a big bill if you had 3 children. Happy holidays

Actually, this is incorrect advice. By removing the tipping from your onboard account, anyone you give a tip to MUST turn it into the pool or else risk being fired and sent home so that you are in actuality, tipping the people you want to reward less than you think. I assume that when you go around tipping, you also carry money with you constantly so that you can tip those in the buffet and/or the dining room (if you've had breakfast or lunch there) since they deserve your tip just as much as your cabin steward or dinner waitstaff. That to me would be a PITA.

 

As for children, they are passengers and require just as much time and effort, if not more, than adults. The $10/day/pp should be considered part of the cost of cruising and shouldn't be a surprise -- it's in all of the pre-cruise documents. Cutting out tips for children is just plain cheap.

[japester]

Yeah, what Pam said. :)

 

mii,

I used to be a waiter, so I like to think that I tip generously. But a $2.00 tip for a can of soda? And $4-5 for a meal? That sounds a little high to me. More power to ya if you want to be that nice, but I wanted to balance that with a different view so the OP wouldn't think those amounts were typical. I don't order much room service, but I tip roughly half of what you posted when I do.

 

I compare it to the standard tips. A room steward only gets $3.50 per day for several visits to your room and lots of cleaning. Room service simply walks a tray to your room. (Although the steward should--and does--get a lot more from me if they are good at their job.)

 

Jape

 

Actually, this is incorrect advice. By removing the tipping from your onboard account, anyone you give a tip to MUST turn it into the pool or else risk being fired and sent home so that you are in actuality, tipping the people you want to reward less than you think. I assume that when you go around tipping, you also carry money with you constantly so that you can tip those in the buffet and/or the dining room (if you've had breakfast or lunch there) since they deserve your tip just as much as your cabin steward or dinner waitstaff. That to me would be a PITA.

 

As for children, they are passengers and require just as much time and effort, if not more, than adults. The $10/day/pp should be considered part of the cost of cruising and shouldn't be a surprise -- it's in all of the pre-cruise documents. Cutting out tips for children is just plain cheap.

[Princess Chatterer]

"Passengers can go on the ships and not spend a dime and have a fantastic time."

 

Rai Caluoru

Senior Vice Presendent for Fleet Operations

Cruise Industry News Fall 2006

 

In other words, from Princess' point of view, there is NO required tipping.

 

When Princess raised the "suggested" tipping from $6 a day per person, to $10 a day per person, [a whopping increase] plus mandatory drink tips all over the ship I decided enough was enough. No more extra tips in addition to the "suggested" ship board account tips and mandatory drink tips. I have to live within my budget unlike the government.

 

-------begin another tip flame here------------

[spongerob]

I've been cruising for a little more than 5 years, Wokie, so we started before the auto-tipping thing came about. Even on our first cruise in 2001, the total "suggested" tip amounts for stewards and waiters was $10. When was it just $6? Has to be several years ago...

 

To be honest, $10/day/pp is a bargain, typically I'll pay much more than that on a business trip or land vacation on a daily basis.

[camNaud]

The debates on these boards about tipping are always quite amusing to read.

 

There are no right or wrongs to tipping IMHO. You should give what you think is appropriate. I feel that tipping in The USA is possibly spiralling out of control at times, perhaps it's just a cultural difference. Everyone seems to obsessed with what actual %age to give.

 

Automatic tipping to us is almost unheard of apart from instances in restuarants where a service charge is included. Having said that my custom and practice is to do a round up. Say for instance if my table bill comes to £91 I will round up to £100, only 9% but where we live that would be considered a very generous tip. I will also round up to the nearest £ for taxi's. Tipping is not a big thing here and no one actually ever sticks their hand out for a tip. Bar staff in Scotland don't expect tips at all.

 

We had a bus driver in Miami last year who stood with his hand out asking for a tip. That's bordering on offensive and cheeky to us. I still gave him a tip though as I do understand that things are different in The States. He was a good a driver and he told some good jokes so he was worth the tip anyway. :)

 

We do have the saying and practice that "When in Rome do as the Romans's Do", so when we are in The US for instance we will tip as the locals would i.e. 15% at a restuarant etc. I have found on most occasions the service in The US to be beter than what I would find at home. I find that despite the higher expectations for tipping the staff all work harder and make more effort. :)

 

As for automatic tipping I still find the idea almost cheeky, based on what I'm used to. Tipping is discretionary and when added automatically it beomes a bill. However I don't have a problem with tipping when service has been good and when on holiday I do tend to tip more than I would at home.

 

$20 per couple per day equates to £10 per couple per day and when I actually think about it - this is actually around the level I would tip staff on a land based holiday. So although the idea of automatic tipping is quite alien to me - I have been won over by the convience it will provide. I am happy knowing that the money is spread out and goes to many more of the folks who work hard behind the scenes.

 

It has been highlighted that when you remove automatic tips any tips subsequently given to any member of staff still have to handed into the pool. Therefore we will just leave the automatic tip in place, as it makes good sense. I also found the service on board The Star last time to be superb and worth every penny of the tip.

 

We also make sure that we fill out the cards that allow you to tell the bosses who has provided the best service. We did that last time for our room Steward, 2 drinks waiters, and the casino head barman. We also gave these 4 people an extra tip as they had helped make our trip that wee bit more special.

 

When it come to tipping on board ship, just go with the flow. Always remember to smile and say 'please' and 'thank you' to those serving you, and you will more than likely get the best service.