Sovereign Rewiew - medium length AND A QUESTION!

[INDYTRAVEL]

Just got back from May 7, SOS, 3 day. What a great voyage. The food was excellent. The service was outstanding. The weather was perfect.

I was with a group of 7 family members. We arrived the day before the sailing and stayed at the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach. The hotel was great. Had a really nice pre-cruise day at the beach. The hotel rooms were nice (had balcony and ocean view, 95/night) and we could even see the cruise ships from the upper floor outdoor hotel hallways! We rented cars from Budget in Orlando and dropped off at Cocoa Beach, then took there free shuttle to the peir. Did the reverse upon return. The shuttle service was fine. On return we waited for Budget bus, but the Avis bus came first and took us to Budget for free (just a tip was needed). Embarkation was fine. Onboard at noon, in stateroom by 130, after lunch. Has cabin 3068 with window. Everything was fine. Toilet stopped flushing, was promptly fixed. Very vague smell in halls. Ate in the Windjammer each meal except formal night. All food and service was great! Nassau was fine, just wondered around on our own. Coco Cay was THE BEST!!! The weather was perfect (80's, sunshine). Did the first (0800am) waverunner tour. They gave us free snorkle pass for being on the first 800 group. This was good because we were on the 1st tender to the island and had the WHOLE place to ourselves for a minute. The waverunners were a BLAST!!! Saw lots of sting rays. The water was perfect. All the passengers seemed to be having a great time, all smiles, no frowns anywhere! There was a group of about 7 young men with wild hats who were on there 7th SOS cruise. They were a lot of fun and funny to watch. Disembarkation was fine. All in all, a very good cruise!! This was my second sailing on the SOS, I want to go again. Be nice to see her with balconies. Hope they dont take away the feel of a "ship". She's a grand old liner.

Now the question: IF I DONT EAT AT ALL IN THE MAIN DINING ROOM (OR MAYBE JUST ONE NIGHT) DO I STILL TIP THE WAITER AND ASSISTANT WAITER THE SAME AS IF I DID, ACCORDING THE TIPPING GUIDELINES???

Countdown to Sovereign (again!)

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Sovereign of the Seas (2/02)
Monarch of the Seas (2/03)

[bobbie0253]

Great review! Thanks.

To answer your question you tip for all nights regardless of where you ate. Some say the tips get pooled for all wait staff. I have asked some servers and they said "No they keep all their tips".

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[aqusis]

Yes you should still tip the recommend amount to the recommended folks. Typically the waitstaff in the WJ are just regular dining room wait staff that are not assigned a DR shift that day. There is a tip pooling process and the folks in the WJ will get a share.

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Sovereign of the Seas