Room Service Tip

[cruiselover1123]

I had read somewhere on the board that you can arrange to have a formal dinner on you're balcony with waiters and all for a charge. I called and spoke with a Princess Rep and wanted to ask her about this and she seemed to know nothing.

 

However, she did mention that Princess charges $3.00 to your account every time you order room service. Is this a new thing? If it is, my opinion is that Princess is overdoing the automatic tip charge. I always tip for room service, that not the problem, but leave the option open to me whether I want to tip cash or charge it to my room.

[roohound]

The $3 charge is news to me..I've never heard of that happening

[Toto2Kansas]

We have NEVER been charged for any type of room service on Princess. I think she must have had the wrong information. If this was accurate and changed recently, we would have had an uproar on this message board about it by now.

 

As for the dinner on your balcony. Call and make arrangements for that when you reach the ship, yes, it is possible. They will normally do it without problem for suites, but it can be arranged for other cabins also. If memory serves me correctly, there is a $50 per person charge for the special dinner in your stateroom, plus tip.

[CruiseFever]

I had read somewhere on the board that you can arrange to have a formal dinner on you're balcony with waiters and all for a charge. I called and spoke with a Princess Rep and wanted to ask her about this and she seemed to know nothing.

Here's an excerpt from a review by Rob N Tam

 

"Let me first start by saying that before our cruise my husband and I posted the question many times to see if anyone had experienced this and we couldn’t get any information except from the folks that couldn’t understand why we would want to spend $50/pp for food that we could order from room service and have delivered for free. That is not what this experience was about. This was a fine dining experience. When I first heard about this option, I also wondered the same thing. After reading my review, I think you’ll see why I changed my view.

 

The Ultimate Balcony Dinner is only advertised in the suites but any room with a balcony can experience it. We had trouble early in the week finding any information about it. We checked at the Purser’s Desk a couple of different times. Our table mates at dinner had trouble also, but they paved the way for us and experienced it on Wednesday night of the cruise. You just need to call the Food & Beverage Supervisor at the Bell Box (on the 5/1/04 Sailing of the Caribbean Princess it was Christian) and let them know the day and time you would like to make a reservation. 24 hour notice is required and they can only accommodate two balcony dinners per night. Since this dinner is not advertised, not many take advantage of it. Christian said the most they had done on one cruise was four. The menu will be brought to you and you will order the day before.

 

An hour before your dinner starts, the gentlemen from Room Service will come to set up. They put a table cloth on your patio table, bring all the china and glassware and a beautiful flower centerpiece. They moved the small round table from our sitting area to the balcony to use for the ice bucket.

 

45 minutes before dinner begins, cocktails (your choice) and canapés will be brought to your room and served to you out on the balcony. A photographer will also come to the room and take photos on the balcony. You get to decide at what point during the meal you would like to have the photos taken- we chose to have them done during the cocktail time (I figured that I would still have lipstick on by this point). The photos (4- 8x10’s) were delivered to our room before our dinner was over- these are included in the price.

 

The Menu

 

Cocktails (your choice) and canapés

 

Appetizer Course- Pacific Blue Crab Cake Baked in a Puffed Pastry Crown

Thyme infused tomato chutney and whole grain mustard cream

 

Salad Course- Marinated Chevre and Mesclun Field Greens

Pear, Walnuts and an Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette (there was also some toasted goat cheese on the top)

 

Main Course (your choice)

Broiled tail of Cold Water Lobster w/ Drawn Lemon Butter and Vegetable Bouquet

Or

Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin Diane w/ Chateau Potatoes, Vegetable Bouquet and Mushroom Demi-Glace

Or

Surf and Turf- Broiled Tail of Cold Water Lobster and Grilled Filet of Beef Tenderloin

Served together with Rissole Potatoes, Vegetable Bouquet and a Duo of Sauces (our choice)

 

Dessert Course- Princess’ Extraordinary Quartet Mouesseline

Delicate Quenelles of Dark, Swiss, Milk and White Chocolates

(there was also a small cookie dish of berries- strawberries and blueberries)

 

Split of Moet & Chandon Champagne

 

Experience

Rob and I felt that we were the only passengers on a 900 foot yacht. Christian and the wait staff were the best we met on the ship. They were attentive and quite pleasant. They engaged us in conversation, but at the same time gave us plenty of time to enjoy this romantic dinner. We were told that they would be waiting outside our door during the courses (in case we needed anything) and guess what? They were! I checked one time (I didn’t need anything, I just wanted to see) The food was magnificent and my only comment was that there was so much of it. If you aren’t a “foodie†this may not be the experience for you. Rob and I really enjoy fine dining and were happy that we had saved some of our vacation dollars for this night.

 

I could comment on each course, but I won’t. I will just say that every course was delicious and served at the correct temperature. The lobster was succulent and the steak was tender and cooked perfectly. The dessert mousse- well, I could have eaten it all night even though I was stuffed- it was light and so delicious. The presentation of each course was magnificent and I even took photos of each course. (I’ll provide a link to my photos at the bottom.)

 

After we finished our dessert, we went up to the main dining room to say goodbye to our table mates and to thank them for telling us more about their experience about their balcony dinner. When we returned, everything was cleared, but they did leave that beautiful centerpiece for us. I was sad that we were disembarking the next morning and I couldn’t take the flowers with me. (Princess has the most beautiful flowers. Rob had ordered a dozen roses that were waiting for us the first day on the ship and they stayed perfect the entire week.)

 

If you are celebrating a special occasion or just want a special evening to enjoy your balcony. I would strongly recommend this experience. I hope I haven’t left anything out. Please let us know if you have any questions. "

[spongerob]

The only comment I remember reading about a service charge attached to room service orders came from someone who was on a Grand Princess Baltic cruise early in the season. That poster might have been in error, or misinterpreted a bar gratuity since 15% is added automatically to any bar purchase. I agree with Toto, if a mandatory room service charge was instituted fleet-wide, there would be an uproar of tremendous proportions.

[cruiselover1123]

Thank you host Chris. That is exactly the review I had read.

 

I forgot to mention that she also told me that the formal dinner menu items were not available for room service. I never had dinner delivered to the stateroom but I know that for breakfast I can just write whatever I want (hot or cold) and they will deliver it.

[Toto2Kansas]

I think you may have gotten someone who had no idea what in the world they were talking about. We have often ordered room service on Formal nights and had lobster along with all of the trimmings delivered right to our cabin. Unless this is something they have just started in the last few months, she was very misinformed.

 

And one more thing. We always tip for room service in cash, depending on what we order. For something simple like a sandwich we tip $2.00 but for dinner we have always tipped $5.00 to whoever brings the meal and $5.00 for the one that comes to gather up the dishes afterwards.

[cruiselover1123]

Thanks. I think they should train these reps. Most of the time they have no idea of what is going on.

[J18ktleo]

well, I did order coffee for room service in the am on the Grand and they charged me $1 or $1.50 tip...I thought that was really strange...this time on the CP we just ordered a split of Champagne with our afternoon snacks (in the Suite) and there was no charge/tip...don't understand the practice? :confused:

[Cruisin Sal]

We were on the Grand ;8/27. I ordered coffee the first am. I gave a $2 tip to the server. He then turned over the room service order form that I filled out the night before, and asked for my signature of receipt. There was a space to put down a tip.

 

Sally

[Lynda90]

I had the same thing happen as Sally. On the Diamond this past May I ordered breakfast from room service every day. We tipped in cash but had to sign the back of the card just to show we received the order. There was a space there for a tip for those who wanted to put one in. However, was not then, nor have I ever been automatically charged a tip for room service. For our breakfast for 2, I tipped $5. For hot chocolate that we ordered one afternoon, I tipped $2.

[Coral]

I read that Baltic review also.

 

I think what may happen sometimes is that if you drink the bottle of water in your room - it may look like a room service charge on your final bill. This may be the misinterpretation.

[shamrock2]

I had read somewhere on the board that you can arrange to have a formal dinner on you're balcony with waiters and all for a charge. I called and spoke with a Princess Rep and wanted to ask her about this and she seemed to know nothing.

 

However, she did mention that Princess charges $3.00 to your account every time you order room service. Is this a new thing? If it is, my opinion is that Princess is overdoing the automatic tip charge. I always tip for room service, that not the problem, but leave the option open to me whether I want to tip cash or charge it to my room.

 

 

We ordered room service quite a bit. The only charge, whether you order $5 or $50, is 15% of the total. For instance, $10 in waters and cokes, would be $1.50 tip. No $3.00 flat charge! Maybe your contact was thinking of a different cruise line.

 

We ordered a coke package for $6.95 and the tip on the bill was around $1.00. My fiance and I felt that that was way too little of a tip (the guy probably had to walk two football fields to our cabin). We would always tip at very least a few dollars extra to the server. YOU CAN EITHER GIVE THEM CASH OR WRITE THE TIP ON THE BILL YOU SIGN (AND INITIAL OR SIGN IT)! they will very much appreciate it!

 

Also, we did the balcony dinner on the last night and the real long post above is right on. $50 extra/person. We had a regular balcony on Caribe and anyone can make the reservation as long as you have a balcony. Highlight of our cruise (especially when its a special occasion....make sure to let room service know when you book it. They will make you a special dessert. It was our honeymoon. Menu above is right on (we had surf and turf) and the lobster tail was 10-12 ounces//// per the waiter. HUGE!! Crab cake quiche is also to die for! Also, they do take pictures and they will deliver one of them to your cabin complimentary....$30 value. THE BALCONY DINNER IS THE BEST DEAL ON THE BOAT AND WELL WORTH IT!! HAVE FUN!!!