WindJammer for all meals

[kborth]

:eek:Well this is just my experience but on our last cruise on the Brilliance we were seated at a table with a woman who complained about every dish , said it tasted odd and sent every thing back.then when they brought another dish she wouldn't eat it.The poor servers were running around like crazy trying to please her.I thought her waiter was going to cry on one night.I think if that was me serving her I would have walked out. I was ready to say something about starving children.It completely ruined our dining experience so the last few days we ate in WJ but we tipped the excellent staff.

[missbogota]

I have not seen a reply that criticized eating in the windjammer every night in this thread. It is a very viable option. While you indicate you tipped, the OP seems to indicate that he did not tip the wait staff at all. As I said above, the best thing about cruising is that there are so many options for everyone, including dining choices. It is good to share the experience and ease the minds of those who are considering that option. Bragging about saving money buy not tipping is just not cool though. I am still giving the OP the benefit of the doubt in that he did not clearly state whether he tipped the wait staff in this thread.

 

Eric

 

If you check his previous threads, he clearly states that is the reason he ate in the Windjammer..."to save money". I am proud to say I prepay my tips, and tip over and beyond for the excellent service I always get onboard.

 

Hopefully RCL will soon join the other lines that add gratuities automatically to accounts!

[Yvonne]

I, too, prefer to pre-pay tips to get them out of the way and be done with it. Then we give extra cash to everyone at the end of the cruise. We have always eaten dinner in the dining room, but on our next cruise (whenever that may be) I would love to eat at the buffet at least on the formal nights, maybe more. I'm tired of "dressing up" and I'm tired of being told what time to eat and where so the buffet is sounding better and better. If we do that I would still pre-pay tips, so our "regular" dining room servers would still get what they're supposed to, and then just tip extra to the server at the buffet.

 

I do hate to hear of people not tipping at all. That just isn't right. If you can afford to cruise you can afford the tips the crew work so hard for. Tips are their pay.

[Wisdom]

Ok...new to this...

 

I plan on eating in the MDR so I will tip there.

 

But....if someone only ate at the Windjammr, and tipped everytime they ate there, would you in essence tip again for meals in the MDR you didn't eat?

[bluegirlum]

I think some people genuinely don't know that you're supposed to tip if you eat at the WJ instead of the MDR. I didn't know that, and was mortified when we didn't give enough on our tips on our first cruise. I now insist we give extra because I still feel bad about it, but most people on cruises are not on these boards before they go, so they may not know...Cruising is very different than a "typical" vacation, so while it just seems obvious to tip a cabin steward and the MDR waiters, it's not that obvious that the tips should go to the WJ folks as well.

 

And I am someone who has travelled widely too. It's not like when I went on my first cruise it was the first vacation I ever went on.

[krisko]

There is no way I could eat every meal in the Windjammer, although I must say the WJ in the Independence had the best food yet. Still, the food is simply inferior in every way to the dining rooms or even Johnny Rockets. But then I make a point to visit Chops/Portofino every cruise.

 

I would never reduce my cruise experience just to save a little time or money. I'll save my money before/after the cruise.

[Gonzo70]

There is no way I could eat every meal in the Windjammer, although I must say the WJ in the Independence had the best food yet. Still, the food is simply inferior in every way to the dining rooms or even Johnny Rockets.

 

I enjoy the MDR for the ambiance, but I do not think the food is inferior in the WJ - often most of the choices in the MDR are availabe in the WJ along with a lot of additional items that are not in the MDR.

[Dizney]

i would never reduce my cruise experience just to save a little time or money. I'll save my money before/after the cruise.

 

amen!! :d

[Formerfuzz]

Wife and just did the Voyager in January. Do to some upsetting news regarding elderly parents, just as we boarded. We really weren't up to MDR activities and ate in the Winjammer for every meal. We sat in the same area every night and was taken care by Sonny who was on his week out of the MDR. He stated when they are on the week out, they receive nothing for the week. I met our MDR waiter and assitant waiter the last night and gave them their tips. I also gave Sonny a nice tip for taking such good care of us in the Winjammer. He was always clearing dishes bringing us drinks, or deserts. He was there to make our cruise enjoyable.

[rclcruzer]

On our last couple of cruises, we have eaten most of our meals in the Windjammer. The reason: do not want to get dressed up for dinner, want to eat, when we choose.

Do we tip? Certainly every night as a matter of fact.

When on a cruise vacation, you have a choice of where to eat, please do not criticize those who wish to eat somewhere else, besides the dining room.

well put and thank you ;)

[mndity]

On our last couple of cruises, we have eaten most of our meals in the Windjammer. The reason: do not want to get dressed up for dinner, want to eat, when we choose.

Do we tip? Certainly every night as a matter of fact.

When on a cruise vacation, you have a choice of where to eat, please do not criticize those who wish to eat somewhere else, besides the dining room.

 

I do not think anyone is criticizing where a person eats........ the waiters/assistant waiters all rotate shifts from cruise to cruise between the Windjammer and the MDR and get paid a very minimal wage without tips........ they expect them and they deserve it if they are doing there job....... you should not expect to pay less if you eat in the Windjammer!!!

[nanfromatlanta]

There is no way I could eat every meal in the Windjammer, although I must say the WJ in the Independence had the best food yet. Still, the food is simply inferior in every way to the dining rooms or even Johnny Rockets. But then I make a point to visit Chops/Portofino every cruise.

 

I would never reduce my cruise experience just to save a little time or money. I'll save my money before/after the cruise.

 

I don't know if you are aware that all of the food comes from the same kitchens. Many of the food items served in the Windjammer are exactly the same as that served in the dining room except that it is not plated.

 

If you check the menu posted outside of the Windjammer for dinner, you will be surprised to find it almost the same as the dining room (with many more items to select from).... ;)

[petesweet]

I am sure some people just don't know and honestly believe that if they don't eat in the dining room, then they don't have to tip their wait staff. They just don't consider who is waiting on them in the Windjammer..that they are the same staff that is in the dining room. Tips (waiter fees?) should be left on the account, but I've run across many who are new to cruising who never even considered it, innocently, naively. I agree that a mandatory service fee should replace gratuities.

 

You described me completely. On my second cruise, we ate in the Windjammer every meal. It never occurred to me to tip (and yet I'm a big advocate of tipping and do so generously). So it's a good thing to mention it here without being judgmental.

[bluegirlum]

I agree! Also, this mandatory fee would help with people who don't quite "get" that tips really are how these folks make their money. This allows, of course, for us to give extra to those we think deserve extra--and to compensate for the cheap friend that always seems to be in my group! :D

 

Again, I think a lot of it has to do with lack of knowledge rather than bad intent. I know everyone likes to save money, but I think that people who cruise for the most part also like to reward the people who make their vacation extra special. And if it's included in advance, you already know you've spent it.

[Ocean Boy]

What would be kind of cool would be if they built a campground area on Oasis and had tents instead of staterooms in an outdoor area. I would book that!

 

I'd be tempted to book also. It would remind me of my days in the Boy Scouts. I hope they have fire pits. Camping just isn't the same with out a fire.

[petesweet]

[quote name='Wisdom']Ok...new to this...

[U]I plan on eating in the MDR so I will tip there.[/U]

But....[I][COLOR=darkred][B]if someone only ate at the[/B][/COLOR][/I] [I][B][COLOR=darkred]Windjammr, and tipped everytime they ate there[/COLOR][/B][/I], would you in essence tip again for meals in the MDR you didn't eat?[/quote]

I can answer that one from experience.

On our recent B2B, we thoroughly enjoyed our table for 8 on the first leg. However, we decided on the second leg to eat in the Windjammer every night so we could eat quickly, go to the shows, and then retire early. In order to do that, we made a point to relinquish our seats at the table so that there would not be empty places and a loss of tip income to the waiter/assistant waiter.

I asked the maitre d' how to handle the tips. Even prepaying them would not solve the problem, because we would have to have someone to hand the envelopes to.

Our experience in the WJ was that there was not a lot of "service" - certainly nothing to compare to what you get in the MDR.

The maitre d' said if we would give him the tip money, he would see to it that it got into the right hands in the WJ.

I agree with those who wish we had a standard service fee assessed and we wouldn't have to concern ourselves with this--just give EXTRA when we feel like it (which we usually do).

[Ocean Boy]

[quote name='alphakitty']I am sure some people just don't know and honestly believe that if they don't eat in the dining room, then they don't have to tip their wait staff. They just don't consider who is waiting on them in the Windjammer..that they are the same staff that is in the dining room. Tips (waiter fees?) should be left on the account, but I've run across many who are new to cruising who never even considered it, innocently, naively.[COLOR="Red"] I agree that a mandatory service fee should replace gratuities.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

My only issue with that is I like handing a tip to the folks who have taken care of me. I also like to make sure that the tips gets to the right people. But if they did change to a service fee I could live with that.

We stopped using the dining room several cruises ago. We just got tired of the noise and commotion. We eat all of our meals in the Windjammer. We sit in the same area each evening and have the same staff. We have actually received better service in the Windjammers than we did when we cruised on Mariner and used the dining room. In fact, it was our Mariner cruise that pushed us over the edge and into the Windjammers. At the end of the week we tip the folks in the Windjammer that served us just like we would have the folks in the dining room. I really feel no need to tip the dining room staff since we did not use the facility or receive service in there. And that would be my main opposition to going to a service fee from a gratuity model.

[PattyW]

I have to agree with those that say that many may not understand the big picture regarding tipping the waitstaff. The RCCL FAQ's state:

Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest

It doesn't say anything about tipping the WJ staff, the cafe promenade staff, the Johnny Rockets staff or anyone else. If I didn't know any better, I would think that you did not have to tip the dining room staff if you did not use their services. In fact, I think it is absolutely counterintuitive that you DO tip the waitstaff when you don't utilize their services.

[Hipshot]

Ok... being a newbie to cruising and actually totally confused to all this tipping, I chose to include my tips in the reservation to resolve the issue.

Now..I'm not so sure that was a wise choice? Did I do the right thing? Did I actually resolve the issue? Am I expected to pay even more to others? And if so.. who? Why? How do they know I prepaid? :confused::confused::confused:

Gees this drives me nutz! :eek:

1st cruise ....2nd attempt..... THIS TIME... we get ON the [EMAIL="!@#$%%"]!@#$%%[/EMAIL] BOAT!!! :mad:

[bluegirlum]

[quote name='Hipshot']Ok... being a newbie to cruising and actually totally confused to all this tipping, I chose to include my tips in the reservation to resolve the issue.

Now..I'm not so sure that was a wise choice? Did I do the right thing? Did I actually resolve the issue? Am I expected to pay even more to others? And if so.. who? Why? How do they know I prepaid? :confused::confused::confused:

Gees this drives me nutz! :eek:

1st cruise ....2nd attempt..... THIS TIME... we get ON the [EMAIL="!@#$%%"]!@#$%%[/EMAIL] BOAT!!! :mad:[/QUOTE]

I think all these posts just show that there is definitely confusion. Everyone wants to do the right thing--it's just very unclear!

[JSQ01]

[quote name='Hipshot']Ok... being a newbie to cruising and actually totally confused to all this tipping, I chose to include my tips in the reservation to resolve the issue.

Now..I'm not so sure that was a wise choice? Did I do the right thing? Did I actually resolve the issue? Am I expected to pay even more to others? And if so.. who? Why? How do they know I prepaid? :confused::confused::confused:

Gees this drives me nutz! :eek:

1st cruise ....2nd attempt..... THIS TIME... we get ON the !@#$%% BOAT!!! :mad:[/quote]

If you are going to eat in the MDR, I think you are fine with pre-paid tips. We do pre-paid and give a little extra at the end for good service. If you are going to eat at the WJ for every meal, I'd probably do like petesweet said and go to the maitre d and tell them you will not be at dinner. They do not replace you with someone else if you don't do this...usually seats just sit empty at the table (this has happened to us a few times...we had a larger table but were the only ones dining!) That way they will know for sure you aren't coming and can give the seats to someone else. This is just my opinion, I'm sure there are other options too.

[g8rmomx2]

Hipshot,
When you prepay your tips, you're tipping the amount recommended by Royal Caribbean. You can enjoy your cruise and not give it another thought. If you'd like to give an additional amount to your servers or room attendent, I'm sure they will appreciate it. A 15% tip is included in all of your bar bills, so if you normally tip your bartender more than 15%, again, feel free to do so on the ship. I emailed Royal Caribbean about this many cruises ago, as I also found it confusing. You'll get a lot of different opinions here on the boards, but I also have to admit that we aren't the kind of cruisers who develop relationships with the staff on the ships, so we haven't had conversations about how much they earn or the percentage of passengers who tip them or not. We're easy to please, don't have special requests, and are just so very happy to be cruising! You will have a wonderful time. Trust me, this isn't as complicated as it sounds. One other thing, when we order room service, we tip 3 or 4 dollars, but you've got to be quick, they put the tray down and they're off to the next delivery.

[hoytarchery999]

ive never thought of eating in the windjammer for all meals only lunch main dining room for dinner and breakfast and wj or other for lunch

[gowhitesox99]

uh oh didnt mean to open the box.. sorry!

I should have left the tipping part out of it.

Yes I loved the food and the freedom to eat whenever.

I didn't tip the waiter, I got my own food, my own drink, I didn't even accept any drinks from the people walking around with them I always went and got my own. Go easy on me :-)

[gowhitesox99]

[quote name='Prphan2']As a Chicago Cubs fan, the OP's screen name tells me what to expect..."gowhitesox99" :D:eek::D Just kidding! Kinda:p

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. :cool:[/quote]

Clayton Richard starts the 1st game tomorrow!!!! Will be listening online