room service tipping?

[tseitel]

We have cruised before, but never gotten room service. We are cruising next year, and will pre-pay our gratuities. I understand room service is not included, but how does that work. Do you tip at the end or each time you get room service? How much do you normally tip? Do you base it on how much you order as you would a restaurant, or just a set amount? Thanks for any tips!!!

 

[kcashner]

Many people tip a dollar or two if they get a couple items, a bit more if you get a meal or lots of stuff. There really is no set amount--totally personal choice. On SOME cruises we have been asked to sign a charge slip each time. Most recently we were not asked to sign anything ever, so tipping was cash.

I keep in mind that the suggested tip for my server (or room host) is $4 per guest per day or $8 for the two of us...and these people work like crazy for us. On that basis, $2 seems fine for the guy who rolls a cart down the hall when my daughter wants a burger and fries at some crazy hour.

 

[mmouse37]

I agree....we usually about $2-3 per visit.....if ordering a whole bunch we would tip a bit more.

MJ

 

[ALSBC91]

We ordered room service a few times on the Magic in March. Each time, they refused our tip! My husband tried multiple times to give the room service guy his tip each time and he was quite firm on not wanting it. We were quite surprised.

 

[kcashner]

We had this experience on the Magic in May...it was the first time in MANY cruises. It was also on this cruise that we were not given the slips to sign when the food was delivered.

 

[SB in KY]

This will be our first DCL cruise we have always cruised with HAL before and they just automatically add the suggested gratuities to your room charge and you can adjust up or down at will with a quick trip to the office. I liked this method...it was easy...how do they do gratuities on DCL?

 

[Momoftwo21]

I'm going to go with a great suggestion I got on this board a while back... I'm going to go to the bank before the cruise and get a bunch of $2 bills and keep them in an envelope in our stateroom for room service tipping.

 

[kcashner]

This will be our first DCL cruise we have always cruised with HAL before and they just automatically add the suggested gratuities to your room charge and you can adjust up or down at will with a quick trip to the office. I liked this method...it was easy...how do they do gratuities on DCL?

You give the gratuities in an envelope (which will be supplied to your stateroom) on the last night. You can charge your tips by going to Guest Services or just completing the form that will appear in your stateroom. This covers the 4 standard tipping positions (server, assistant server, head server, stateroom host). Room service tips are totally at your discretion, and are handled by handing some cash to the person who delivers your food. There is no "automatic" tipping on DCL except the 15% that is added to all bar items (whether alcoholic or not). There are LONG and detailed threads on tipping...it's one of the hot topics on the boards.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm going to go with a great suggestion I got on this board a while back... I'm going to go to the bank before the cruise and get a bunch of $2 bills and keep them in an envelope in our stateroom for room service tipping.

It's my understanding that the $2 bills are sometimes more difficult to convert to other currencies than the $1 in foreign countries.

 

[ludari]

I tip per visit usually $2-$3.

 

[ariel39]

Just got off of the wonder and we tipped $2-$3.....The bartenders included tip, so I started in the beginning to tip more but then didn't after awhile.

 

[speicher46]

I just add it on to the receipt and it is charged to my shipboard account.

 

[dylan'smom]

...I keep in mind that the suggested tip for my server (or room host) is $4 per guest per day or $8 for the two of us...and these people work like crazy for us. On that basis, $2 seems fine for the guy who rolls a cart down the hall when my daughter wants a burger and fries at some crazy hour.

That's my thinking too - we always have tipped $1 or 2, maybe 3 if there is a lot, but I agree that it really does not compare to the work our servers are doing, so try to tip accordingly...

We ordered room service a few times on the Magic in March. Each time, they refused our tip! My husband tried multiple times to give the room service guy his tip each time and he was quite firm on not wanting it. We were quite surprised.

WOW - I have never heard of this in all of my DCL cruises, and I've spent 105 nights on the Magic, alone! DH & DS use RS all the time - wow - still baffled. Maybe it was something going on the Magic in March that they were trying out (we were on the Dream in March & tipped RS there too), but in May & June it was business as usual - no one declined a tip.


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[RayRing]

The last time we cruised, I went to the bank before we left, and I got a number of one dollar bills, which I kept in an envolope. In addition to always being handy to tip the cabin service staff, we always need ones for tipping before and after the cruise.