Is it customary to decrease tips for each day you don’t eat in the dining room?

[Ned Land]

Do folks subtract $8 per person/per day from the dining staff tip when they eat at Palo or Remy?

 

[jilljill]

I would say that many people do not. You are eating somewhere on the ship for b'fast and lunch and someone is serving you be it at a counter serve or sit down restaurant.

 

[sissy_ib]

Do folks subtract $8 per person/per day from the dining staff tip when they eat at Palo or Remy?

No. The tips cover more than just dinner. Your servers will be working breakfast and lunch as well, even if you don't see them. The tips you pay go to a specific person, but they are meant to cover all the service you receive on-board.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do folks subtract $8 per person/per day from the dining staff tip when they eat at Palo or Remy?

No.

 

[kcashner]

No, it is not customary. There was a place reserved for you, and your servers do not deserve to have what is essentially their salary cut because you opted to not use their services. Also, the dinner tip represents the service you received at ALL meals (breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc.) as well as at dinner. If you eliminate the tip for the day you eat at Palo or Remy, you are not recognizing the service you got at the non-dinner meals.

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

I don't, nor would I consider doing so.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

No. The tips cover more than just dinner. Your servers will be working breakfast and lunch as well, even if you don't see them. The tips you pay go to a specific person, but they are meant to cover all the service you receive on-board.

Exactly. I would not reduce the recommended tip.

 

[sambycat]

Nope.

 

[outahere]

Absolutely not! Your serving team works very hard all day (up to 14 - 16 hours) serving not only you but all the guests.

 

[MisterOJ]

I would say that many people do not. You are eating somewhere on the ship for b'fast and lunch and someone is serving you be it at a counter serve or sit down restaurant.

Are the counter serve places staffed by MDR servers?

 

[kcashner]

Are the counter serve places staffed by MDR servers?

Yes, all servers and assistants rotate thru the various assignments. Since Animator's is not open for lunch, you will typically see them working breakfast and/or lunch on the pool deck on their Animator's dinner days. Palo servers also rotate thru these locations.

 

[MagicMe]

Are the counter serve places staffed by MDR servers?

Yes. I was served by my assistant server at Plutos one afternoon. He immediately recognized me and my mom and since it wasn't particulary busy at that point he had us sit while he actually went and got us our drinks from the drink station!!!

I also see our server and assistant server in Cabana's and/or working the breakfast/lunch shift in the open restaurants.

Believe me, they are ALWAYS working!!

 

[shoes99]

Do folks subtract $8 per person/per day from the dining staff tip when they eat at Palo or Remy?

Not a good idea. Your wait staff works morning, noon and night at all venues even if you skip dinner. If you subtract the $8 they will be shorted at the end of the cruise. There is no other way for them to make up the shortage on their assigned tables and venues.

 

[Ayeegit]

Hope this isn't too far off topic, but it's in the wheelhouse I think!

I *totally* get why I need to tip our waiter, the assistant waiter, and our housekeeper (I know there's a "better" word for that position, but it's not coming to mind at the moment!). On our first cruise last year, we felt like all three of those folks had *easily* gone above and beyond and we tipped extra.

But what exactly does the Head Waiter do, and why should I tip someone I saw ONCE during our week-long cruise? He stopped by at one our meals and introduced himself (pretty quickly), and I don't remember seeing him again... I know his tip was not as much as the other three positions... but that did represent my one and only "hmmm" moment with the whole tipping process.

 

[LWQuestie]

Hope this isn't too far off topic, but it's in the wheelhouse I think!

I *totally* get why I need to tip our waiter, the assistant waiter, and our housekeeper (I know there's a "better" word for that position, but it's not coming to mind at the moment!). On our first cruise last year, we felt like all three of those folks had *easily* gone above and beyond and we tipped extra.

But what exactly does the Head Waiter do, and why should I tip someone I saw ONCE during our week-long cruise? He stopped by at one our meals and introduced himself (pretty quickly), and I don't remember seeing him again... I know his tip was not as much as the other three positions... but that did represent my one and only "hmmm" moment with the whole tipping process.

If I have a remote, distant or seemingly uninvolved Head Server, his/her tip is reduced. However, whatever I reduced there is added to someone else, depending on the level of service.

 

[BethC1952]

The head waiter makes the dining room run smoothly, and fixes things on those occasions when it doesn't. You may not SEE the head server/but he or she is very busy making sure that dinner runs smoothly. Sometimes, if a server is sick or things get really backed up, the head server will serve the meal. We had an issue with an assistant server many cruises ago, and a word to the head server made that issue much better!

If you don't see the head server, and your food is arriving on time and the way you ordered it, the job is being done well!

Beth

 

[carpenta]

Do folks subtract $8 per person/per day from the dining staff tip when they eat at Palo or Remy?

no.

 

[kcashner]

The head server supervises 6-8 serving teams. He is responsible for any special celebrations, special needs, allergies, etc. He is also responsible for making sure that your food and service are up to DCL's standards. This may mean that he only comes to your table nightly and asks if everything is OK (this was the situation on our recent cruise as our serving team had only 2 tables). It may also mean that he serves meals, takes lobster out of shells, etc. if/when needed.

The head servers have become much more active in the past several years as most have now come up "through the ranks" rather than being hired into the position. They KNOW how to spot an overloaded team and how to help out. Much of what they do is "behind the scenes" under normal circumstances. They are also the person you will go to with any problems or issues.

We have had a head server who brought our food out when our server was occupied with another large table. This happened on several nights as the other table was very demanding of the server's time. We have had head servers who seemed to do nothing--that just means that our serving team was on top of things!

 

[goofymama]

Hope this isn't too far off topic, but it's in the wheelhouse I think!

I *totally* get why I need to tip our waiter, the assistant waiter, and our housekeeper (I know there's a "better" word for that position, but it's not coming to mind at the moment!). On our first cruise last year, we felt like all three of those folks had *easily* gone above and beyond and we tipped extra.

But what exactly does the Head Waiter do, and why should I tip someone I saw ONCE during our week-long cruise? He stopped by at one our meals and introduced himself (pretty quickly), and I don't remember seeing him again... I know his tip was not as much as the other three positions... but that did represent my one and only "hmmm" moment with the whole tipping process.

I don't understand why the "head waiter" is a tipped position either. I'm sure they work very hard and deserve the compensation, but really this is something that DCL should just pay/include in the fare. The 60 seconds that a head waiter spends walking to each table begging for tips is unbecoming.

 

[sissy_ib]

I don't understand why the "head waiter" is a tipped position either. I'm sure they work very hard and deserve the compensation, but really this is something that DCL should just pay/include in the fare. The 60 seconds that a head waiter spends walking to each table begging for tips is unbecoming.

The head waiter makes the dining room run smoothly, and fixes things on those occasions when it doesn't. You may not SEE the head server/but he or she is very busy making sure that dinner runs smoothly. Sometimes, if a server is sick or things get really backed up, the head server will serve the meal. We had an issue with an assistant server many cruises ago, and a word to the head server made that issue much better!

If you don't see the head server, and your food is arriving on time and the way you ordered it, the job is being done well!

Beth

The head server supervises 6-8 serving teams. He is responsible for any special celebrations, special needs, allergies, etc. He is also responsible for making sure that your food and service are up to DCL's standards. This may mean that he only comes to your table nightly and asks if everything is OK (this was the situation on our recent cruise as our serving team had only 2 tables). It may also mean that he serves meals, takes lobster out of shells, etc. if/when needed.

The head servers have become much more active in the past several years as most have now come up "through the ranks" rather than being hired into the position. They KNOW how to spot an overloaded team and how to help out. Much of what they do is "behind the scenes" under normal circumstances. They are also the person you will go to with any problems or issues.

We have had a head server who brought our food out when our server was occupied with another large table. This happened on several nights as the other table was very demanding of the server's time. We have had head servers who seemed to do nothing--that just means that our serving team was on top of things!

We saw our head server every night we were in the MDR. (We skipped twice) He made note of special occasions on the first night, brought out the celebration desserts, we even skipped the night night they were going to bring it to us and he had it the next night, made sure we knew about the character breakfast, explained how breakfast worked the last morning, took our lobster out of the shell and just checked on us. I think he eared our $2 a night and tips were never mentioned once by anyone on our serving team.