Gratuities/tipping

[twindaddy]

Ok, I know this thread is a tad old, sue me, I wasn't going to start a new one.

A few questions...I am leaning towards the prepaid tips. Can I have Dreams add that to my bill that I pay off before the cruise, or do I have to call DCL?

Flame me if you want, but I am a firm believer in tipping very generously for stellar service and basically nothing for poor service.

So, that being said, if I prepay, how can I adjust the tips? Talk to guest services? Obviously I can add some cash to the envelope for those going above and beyond, but if I feel they did not earn their gratuity, can I got to guest services to have it adjusted? And what happens to that reduced amount, it gets applied to my on-board account and refunded to me? I do understand that TA and DCL free OBC (booking online, ECT) is use it or loose it.

Thank you.
Thank you!

 

[Goaliemom30]

We pre-paid through our travel agent and just checked with guest services once on board to make sure it was on our account. Slips arrived in our stateroom on the second to last day. We had such excellent service that we added cash to their envelopes which was a good thing as one of their tables totally stiffed them! may those diners be subjected to perpetual bad service for the rest of their days!

 

[twindaddy]

We pre-paid through our travel agent and just checked with guest services once on board to make sure it was on our account. Slips arrived in our stateroom on the second to last day. We had such excellent service that we added cash to their envelopes which was a good thing as one of their tables totally stiffed them! may those diners be subjected to perpetual bad service for the rest of their days!

Wow, that is just amazing.

Ok, dipping my toes in flame-ridden waters here, but let me toss out some scenarios I have read in trip reports and tell me how you would tip the head server.

a. I never saw him until the last night when he had his hand out
b. She introduced herself the first night, everything was smooth, but I never saw her again until the last night
c. She checked in every night to check in an made sure any request we had was met.

a=no tip, or VERY small
b= standard
c= extra above standard

opinions? I have enough life experience tipping housekeeping and servers to judge that, but the head server role is kinda a mystery to me...

Thank you for any input!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Wow, that is just amazing.

Ok, dipping my toes in flame-ridden waters here, but let me toss out some scenarios I have read in trip reports and tell me how you would tip the head server.

a. I never saw him until the last night when he had his hand out
b. She introduced herself the first night, everything was smooth, but I never saw her again until the last night
c. She checked in every night to check in an made sure any request we had was met.

a=no tip, or VERY small
b= standard
c= extra above standard

opinions? I have enough life experience tipping housekeeping and servers to judge that, but the head server role is kinda a mystery to me...

Thank you for any input!

For both a & b, I would just go with the standard tip. AND (for scenario a) I would mention it in our end-of-cruise "how are we doing" questionaire.

For c, unless the HS did something that was really extra special, I'd probably also do the standard tip. We have had a couple of head servers who seemed to spend most of the dining time at our table with us (I'm sure they didn't, it just seemed that way) - they got extra. We've had a couple who were quite nice, but always seemed to be looking elsewhere while talking to us - they just got the standard tip.

 

[twindaddy]

For both a & b, I would just go with the standard tip. AND (for scenario a) I would mention it in our end-of-cruise "how are we doing" questionaire.

For c, unless the HS did something that was really extra special, I'd probably also do the standard tip. We have had a couple of head servers who seemed to spend most of the dining time at our table with us (I'm sure they didn't, it just seemed that way) - they got extra. We've had a couple who were quite nice, but always seemed to be looking elsewhere while talking to us - they just got the standard tip.

Good points, thank you for the input!

 

[sissy_ib]

Ok, I know this thread is a tad old, sue me, I wasn't going to start a new one.

A few questions...I am leaning towards the prepaid tips. Can I have Dreams add that to my bill that I pay off before the cruise, or do I have to call DCL?

Flame me if you want, but I am a firm believer in tipping very generously for stellar service and basically nothing for poor service.

So, that being said, if I prepay, how can I adjust the tips? Talk to guest services? Obviously I can add some cash to the envelope for those going above and beyond, but if I feel they did not earn their gratuity, can I got to guest services to have it adjusted? And what happens to that reduced amount, it gets applied to my on-board account and refunded to me? I do understand that TA and DCL free OBC (booking online, ECT) is use it or loose it.

Thank you.
Thank you!

I'm not pre-paying for this reason. I plan to give at least the minimum suggested amount but if I have a bad waiter I don't want to have to deal with trying to adjust a tip I already paid. And I know I'll end up just leaving it. If I don't pre-pay I can give what I think is fair after the service.