Room Service Tipping

[dnj628]

When I booked my cruise (first timer for NCL) I inquired about gratuities and such. I also asked about room service. I was told, unlike some of the other lines, it's not necessary to do so. (All part of this free-style dining thing.) :confused: However, I am not convinced of this, and neither is my spouse. Any input?

[JohnIreland]

There is a $10 pp charge to your on board account, that covers all your standard tipping...

 

Room service and kids crew are not included in the auto tip

 

every drink you buy includes a tip....

[dnj628]

Thank you!

[salty dingo]

It is optional, but most would agree that it is customary to tip the room service delivery person a dollar or two, depending on how much food they had to carry.

[newmexicoNita]

When I booked my cruise (first timer for NCL) I inquired about gratuities and such. I also asked about room service. I was told, unlike some of the other lines, it's not necessary to do so. (All part of this free-style dining thing.) :confused: However, I am not convinced of this, and neither is my spouse. Any input?

I think the person who told you that had better re-think what they have heard or know: tipping for room service on NCL is like any other line. We usually give a buck for extra ice, morning coffee or juice etc and a couple more dollars if we get something late in the afternoon which is pretty unusual for us. We are not big room service people as we are hardly ever in our cabin.

 

Nita

[pjcruiserfl]

We have been on ncl 4x and use room service every morning before we go for breakfast. I read somewhere on these boards that a couple of dollars is appropiate. Since we travel with our grandson who gets milk, juice, cereal,etc with our coffee, I tip 3 dollars. Our service is always on time. Hope this helps

[CaribQween]

There is a $10 pp charge to your on board account, that covers all your standard tipping...

 

Room service and kids crew are not included in the auto tip

 

every drink you buy includes a tip....

 

Would anyone happen to have a little more detail on what is and isn't included in the $10 pp tipping fee? Between main restaurants, specialty restaurants, room service, butler, concierge, bars, etc. there are a lot of different occasions where we would normally tip so I'm not quite sure which are supposed to be covered by this and which are not. Of course, for any of them, if the service is up and above, they should get a little something extra for their effort even on top of that. I just don't want to stiff anybody by assuming that they participate in the tipping fee.

[bythree]

I have a question about the $10.00 pp tip fee. DH and I are going this Sunday and it will be our first cruise. We're trying to figure out how much money to bring with us. Are we charged $20.00 at every meal, ( $10.00 pp x 2 ), or is it a once a day charge, how does it work? What if we eat at the buffet sometimes or if we don't eat at all because we're on an island? TIA, Kathie

[JohnIreland]

Would anyone happen to have a little more detail on what is and isn't included in the $10 pp tipping fee? Between main restaurants, specialty restaurants, room service, butler, concierge, bars, etc. there are a lot of different occasions where we would normally tip so I'm not quite sure which are supposed to be covered by this and which are not. Of course, for any of them, if the service is up and above, they should get a little something extra for their effort even on top of that. I just don't want to stiff anybody by assuming that they participate in the tipping fee.

 

main restaurants - included in $10

specialty restaurants - included in $10

buffet - included in $10

room steward - included in $10

 

room service - not included in $10

butler & concierge - included in $10

kids crew - now included in $10

 

spa staff - included in $10 but tip auto added to each treatment

bars - not included in $10 but tip auto added to each drink order

 

I have a question about the $10.00 pp tip fee. DH and I are going this Sunday and it will be our first cruise. We're trying to figure out how much money to bring with us. Are we charged $20.00 at every meal, ( $10.00 pp x 2 ), or is it a once a day charge, how does it work? What if we eat at the buffet sometimes or if we don't eat at all because we're on an island? TIA, Kathie

 

 

Is a per day, charged not matter where or how often you eat

[retiredonthesea]

I have a question about the $10.00 pp tip fee. DH and I are going this Sunday and it will be our first cruise. We're trying to figure out how much money to bring with us. Are we charged $20.00 at every meal, ( $10.00 pp x 2 ), or is it a once a day charge, how does it work? What if we eat at the buffet sometimes or if we don't eat at all because we're on an island? TIA, Kathie

 

$10.00 per day pp. straight across. If you feel someone has given you exceptional service you may tip them more. RE: waiter, room steward, bartender, spa personal. You do not have to tip any more than the $10.00pp per day, UNLESS you are in a AE or above cat. stateroom that has Butler & Concierge Service. They are not in the tip pool--neither are the kids crew crew.

 

Hope this helps some.

[watchdiva]

main restaurants - included in $10

specialty restaurants - included in $10

buffet - included in $10

room steward - included in $10

 

room service - not included in $10

butler & concierge - included in $10

kids crew - now included in $10

 

spa staff - included in $10 but tip auto added to each treatment

bars - not included in $10 but tip auto added to each drink order

 

 

 

 

Is a per day, charged not matter where or how often you eat

 

Sorry but butler and concierge are NOT included in the $10/pp daily charge. Spa staff are NOT included in the $10/pp daily charge either; an automatic tip is added to your service bill (I can't recall if it's 18%).

 

Many pax have posted that while the specialty restaurants "may" be included in the umbrella $10/pp daily charge, they find that the service and the overall experience is so exemplary that they leave an additional gratuity (I know we do).

 

Tipping is personal - do what feels "right" to you. Some pax will tip over and above the daily charge, some pax will not.

[raudacruise]

Here is the link to the NCL web site on tipping:

 

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=FAQ#tipping

 

Somewhat ambiguous on the OP's question. It does say that Butler/Concerige are to be tipped separately.

 

My brochure says the $10/pp covers "All services generally available to all guests". Again ambiguious since room service is available to all.

 

Also, the speciality restaraunts are "generally" available if you want to pay the service charge.

 

But both the NCL site and the brochure both say:

 

However, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile," and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities entirely at the discretion of our guests who wish to acknowledge particular staff members for exceptional or outstanding service. In other words, there is genuinely no need to tip but you should feel free to do so if you have a desire to acknowledge particular individuals.

No right/wrong answer here for room service and/or specialty restaurant tipping. I guess you can call that "Freestyle Tipping".

[smeyer418]

You know this is one of the most asked and sometimes a difficult question even for "experts". Its NOT the same on all cruise lines. Both Princess and Cunard specially state that the room service staff IS included in the daily per Diem tips but the truth is I almost always tip for few dollars extra. Heck for a dollar or two or three its worth it to me to get it into my room.

 

Not included are Butlers Concierge, Kids crew, and bar staff(where its added to the bill).

 

A $10 per day service charge per person is added to your folio on the ship....and you can get cash from the Casino charged to your room as a purchase for the extras....

 

No two dollar bills please they are hard to get rid of...

[terrymtex01]

I have a question about the $10.00 pp tip fee. DH and I are going this Sunday and it will be our first cruise. We're trying to figure out how much money to bring with us. Are we charged $20.00 at every meal, ( $10.00 pp x 2 ), or is it a once a day charge, how does it work? What if we eat at the buffet sometimes or if we don't eat at all because we're on an island? TIA, Kathie

 

Hi Kathie.. I couldnt tell if anyone answered you or not.. but you aren't charged per meal. You are charged a service charge of $10.00 per person per day. So if there are two of you on a 7 day cruise it will be $140.00 charged to your account at the end of the cruise. If you ate ten meals a day and even order room service another five times a day, it is still just the $10.00 per person per day charge. That $140.00 is to pay the tips for your wait staff.. room stewards, etc, that you normally have to pay individually on other cruise lines.

 

What you may have gotten confused on is if you eat in the speciality restaurants. On all cruise lines (major mainstream ones) you now have a choice of dining options. Included venues and speciality restaurants that you pay a service charge to eat in. Just to give an example. On the NCL Star there are two main dinning rooms and one buffet that are included. In my honest opinion, they have as good of food as any speciality restaurant. (well.. not the buffet.. LOL.. but the main dinning rooms). Occasionally we may want to eat some where that has a different atmostphere or we may want asian food one night, etc. In those examples, we might choose to eat in a speciality restaurant and if we do, we will pay the service charge quoted for that specific restaurant for that meal. Usually this is between $10.00 and $35.00 PP for that meal. Otherwise.. if you choose to never eat in any of the speciality restaurants, you wont be charged any additional service fees for food.

 

I hope that didn't confused you more and I hope I understood what you were asking.

 

T

[Cosmopolitan]

Hi Kathie.. I couldnt tell if anyone answered you or not.. but you aren't charged per meal. You are charged a service charge of $10.00 per person per day. So if there are two of you on a 7 day cruise it will be $140.00 charged to your account at the end of the cruise. If you ate ten meals a day and even order room service another five times a day, it is still just the $10.00 per person per day charge. That $140.00 is to pay the tips for your wait staff.. room stewards, etc, that you normally have to pay individually on other cruise lines.

 

What you may have gotten confused on is if you eat in the speciality restaurants. On all cruise lines (major mainstream ones) you now have a choice of dining options. Included venues and speciality restaurants that you pay a service charge to eat in. Just to give an example. On the NCL Star there are two main dinning rooms and one buffet that are included. In my honest opinion, they have as good of food as any speciality restaurant. (well.. not the buffet.. LOL.. but the main dinning rooms). Occasionally we may want to eat some where that has a different atmostphere or we may want asian food one night, etc. In those examples, we might choose to eat in a speciality restaurant and if we do, we will pay the service charge quoted for that specific restaurant for that meal. Usually this is between $10.00 and $35.00 PP for that meal. Otherwise.. if you choose to never eat in any of the speciality restaurants, you wont be charged any additional service fees for food.

 

I hope that didn't confused you more and I hope I understood what you were asking.

 

T

 

Great explanation;)

 

And to add to the above, we do tip additional at the specialty restaurants and we also tip at the main restaurants according to service, etc.

Also, a bartender that we have gotten to know.

 

We also tip our cabin stewards at the end of the cruise...this is all a personal decision. You will know when you are on-board who you will want to tip additional to the $10.00 charge.

 

Have a great cruise. And, don't worry, you won't do it wrong.

Relax and enjoy your cruise:)