Palo charge question

[Nana Sue]

You are charged $5 a person to eat at Palo. Is this the tip for the waiters there or a service charge? Thanks!

 

[KeenHo]

I believe it is some sort of service charge, it was not the tip. We dined in Palo's once for dinner and once for brunch. It was a wonderful experience. The "service charge" for dinner was $10 for my DW and myself on our May '01 Magical cruise. I hope this helps.


Howard

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

The $5 surcharge is described as a gratuity since the Palo servers do not share in the tips that you'll give to your regular servers at the end of the cruise. However you will have the opportunity to offer additional gratuity when you total the charge slip at the end of the meal. Most people choose to offer additional gratuity, commesurate with what they would tip their wait staff at a comparable restaurant on land.

 

[atigeg]

We always tip additional over and above the $5 per person, as the service at Palo is always superb! Also, remember that if you order a beverage that costs additional (for example, wine or cappucino), an automatic gratuity will be added on to that charge.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[stormkrow]

Does anyone know whether the waiters in Palo get to keep the $5 "service charge" as their tip?

If so, how much do you tip beyond the $5 per person? I would assume it would be based on 15-20% tip. Therefore, if you estimate that you entire meal (for 2) may be worth $100 (we had a few drinks), then you would give the waiter $10 (plus the $10 service fee, which equals a $20 tip). Does that sound about right?

 

[wovenwonder]

According to another thread that was going on this subject, most couples left an additional $10-$20. (in addition to the covercharge - which is actually split between all of the staff at Palo).

 

[erikthewise]

I asked the head waiter (Wonder) about the charge when we ate there in Dec., as I felt our service had been superb and wasn't sure what the charge meant.

He said that the $5pp charge did not go directly to our server, but was distributed equally among the Palo staff. I took him to mean ALL the Palo staff, not just those who waited tables, but that's my interpretation not his words. Based on what he said I tipped our waiter as if he would otherwise receive nothing.

I still don't feel that I understand the situation completely, but I have no reason to doubt what the head waiter said. I recall reading somewhere that the $5 charge went to our regular servers to compensate them for our absence from dinner. I don't believe this correct, and in any case we gave them the full recommended tip in spite of eating at Palos one night.

I'm not sure why it is so hard for DCL to communicate clearly to passengers about this situation; the Palo servers undoubtedly suffer considerably from many passengers feeling they have already paid their gratuity; I nearly made the same mistake.

 

[Barnsquad]

6 of us out of our group enjoyed the pleasure of Palos on our last evening on board the Magic.

At the end of the meal BESIDE the $5 charge per person we based our additional tip on what we thought the meal would have run in a nice restaurant. ($100 meal per couple) therefore we tipped $20/couple.

Barb makes a good point reminding us all the drinks have gratuity built in.

Hope this helps.

Next year we are bound & determined to book two nights in Palos!!!! Are there any restrictions on that?