Tipping - conflicting reports .... please help.

[wdwobsessed]

I checked out both Barbs site and MMCG on line and they conflict with tipping advice.

MMCG lists 5 people you HAVE to tip: Stateroom Hosts, Waiter, Asst Waiter, Head Waiter, Dining Captain.

Barb only lists 4 - she excludes the dining captian.

Which is it??

OK .. and I'm sure to get reamed for this one, AND I do understand that they only make like $50 a cruise so they live on tips...... BUT ....

Just what the heck to the head waiter and dining captain do??

I am more than happy to tip my servers and stateroom hostess....they are directly providing me a service.

But, on Carnival cruise .... we felt like we tipped people who just stood at the front of the dining room and smiled at you when you came in ...lol.

Please enlighten my ignorance.

I would not care .... but this tipping is really cutting into our very limited spending money and I want to know what I am tipping this head waiter and dining captain for!! (Other than so DCL does not have to pay them more ... ooops, did I just say that?)

I'm not mad or anything .. just curious.


Thanks,

wdwo

 

[gn2wdw]

There is not a tip for the Dining Captain. The 4 Barb lists are correct.

As far as what the Head Waiter does, you will get a lot of different answers on this.

On the 7 day in November, we had Stephan. He stopped by several times during the week to check on us. While I did not notice him doing anything in particular for us, I noticed him dishing salads in Parrot Cay, shelling lobsters in Animator's Palate, etc. I decided since I actually saw him doing things for others, that he might have done things for us that I was not aware of.

Melinda

 

[DisneyKids]

Just 4.

From the DCL site...

<i><b>Help! I'm really confused about tipping!</b>
We'll make it easy. Of course, you should never feel that a reward is automatically expected from you. But it is customary to give gratuities in recognition of service, which you will most likely be treated to in abundance aboard the ship. As a guideline, may we suggest the following:

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night
Dining Room Server 11.00 14.75 25.75
Dining Room Asst. Server 8.00 10.75 18.75
Dining Room Head Server 2.75 3.75 6.50
Stateroom Host/Hostess 10.75 14.50 25.25
Dining Manager Your Discretion
Room Service Your Discretion

For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine, and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.</i>

 

[Señor Ferrari]

I would only tip the dining manager if he/she actually did something for you, such as changing your table, restaurant rotation, or dinner seating. If not, I don't believe you are expected to tip the dining manager.

As for the head waiter, I will tip this person the suggested amount if I feel they have done something. Usually, they come by once or twice during dinner, helping the server and assistant, and making sure everything is OK with the table. On our last cruise in December, I never saw our head waiter, I didn't even have a name to write on the tip form, so I did not feel compelled to leave a tip.

 

[wdwobsessed]

Thanks for the clarification.

Who is resposible for assigning tables? I would like to have a table alone for the four of us and have been told to request this when I get on board .... to go to our first dining rotation and talk to the ... who?? Is it the dining manager or the head waiter??

And .. if my request is granted ... who deserves the credit?

Thanks

wdwo

 

[DVCLady]

delete

 

[Señor Ferrari]

wdwobsessed,

I think that you can request a table for 4 with DCL reservations, but there is no guarantee that you'll get it. On boarding day, the dining manager will be available at some point to take requests for dining changes. This person is usually in one of the clubs, Sessions/Cadillac Lounge, I think, during the afternoon of embarkation day. It should be listed in the first day's Personal Navigator.

I'm not sure how you would find out if your table is a table for 4, but I would think that could ask at any of the restaurants. You'll probably have to wait until you get to your stateroom to find out your table #. I don't think that this is listed on your Key to the World card, but I could be mistaken about that. I'm sure somebody else on the board could clarify. I know that your rotation is listed on the card.

This was the case I alluded to in my earlier post as to when you would want/need to tip the dining manager. However, I have never had to make such a request, so I wouldn't know what a standard tip might be. Probably a few dollars.

 

[iluvorlando]

Since I was the one who forgot our dining tickets the first night, I can confirm that your table number is on the KTTW card.

 

[kcand sunshine]

I didn't tip the head waiter. I don't think he ever spoke to us!We sat at a table for 3 the whole time. I'm not sure if the group we were supoosed to be with switched seating or didn't come at all. It worked out nicely though. My kids were tired every night and the waiters really entertained them. They got alot of extra attention since noone was at our table.

 

[Drez]

We didn't tip the head waiter either. But there's a story about why.
He never came around during the whole cruise (7 day magic) except for once and that was to bring a birthday cake out for our friend. After he brought the cake and my friend blew out the candles, the head waiter TOOK IT AWAY FROM HIM AND NEVER BROUGHT IT BACK!

So we didn't tip him.

 

[DisneyKids]

We tiped the head server even though we only saw him once or twice in passing. I think we did because we felt that we didn't need his service because he was doing his job and keeping the place working well. His success was us not needing him. It was our reasoning!

 

[mrkrpan]

We had a wonderful waiter and assistant waiter - the head waiter introduced himself to us on the first night and then we did not see him doing much of anything, other than "schmoozing"...I am a firm believer in TIPS means "to insure prompt service" or "premium service" and do not tip because it's expected -
we were not planning on tipping him - but, my plans changed based on some outstanding service we received - our head waiter ended up being more "in tune" that I was willing to give him credit for - here's why

1) we were at breakfast at BBB on the CC day (Saturday) and the Head Waiter strolled by and stopped at our table, asked how we were doing and shook hands with our DS (5) who had never made it to dinner in the dining rooms - said he had wondered when he would get to me him (DS) etc. Just that he knew that we had a child who he had not met yet sold me on his commitment to service!

then I had another opportunity to be WOW'd by this wonderful man...

2) on the last night of our (too) short cruise, my son was ill with a fever and my DH stayed in the cabin with him while I went to AP for dinner. When I got to AP, I phoned the cabin, read my DH the menu and "took" his order. When I was seated at the table, I asked our server if I could get my DH's dinner to go when I was done. He must have told the head server, who came over, was very concerned about my DS and then immediately had someone take DH his dinner rather than have him wait until I was done - it was very unnecessary, but just an example of the WONDERful service you get on this cruise

so, needless to say (sorry this is so long-winded), we were more than happy to tip our head waiter!

Enjoy your trip -

 

[Lisa F]

On our Jan '02 magic cruise we had Lloyd as our head server. He came around during every dinner to ask personally if there was anything he could do for us. Although he didn't bug us constantly throughout dinner, he was constantly around making sure things went smoothly. One night my server made a mistake with my dinner and it took Lloyd all of 2 seconds to notice that I was the only one at the table without a plate and want to do something about it. A few seconds later our server showed up with a plate and all was well but if there had been some kind of a real problem I am confident that Lloyd would have taken care of it.

Whenever we ran into him on board he always said hi to us by name. We saw him at Cookies on CC and I was holding a table while my husband was going to get lunch for us and he ushered my husband over, helped serve him and then walked him back carrying my tray.

I guess Lloyd has set our standards sky high for what we expect a head server to do, but after seeing how good one could be I don't think I would feel comfortable tipping for someone who I never saw except at the end of the cruise when it's time to hand out envelopes. By the way, not only did we tip our head server but we tipped him over the recommended amount!

Lisa

 

[benebire]

Lisa,

We had Lloyd on our Dec 2000 cruise and he was excellent.
Stopped by our table every night. Went out of his way to bring our DS10 food that wasnt listed on the menu twice! We also tipped over the expected amt. I think you are correct in that he was an exceptionally good head waiter.

 

[Limmer]

We ended up not tipping our head server because out of a table for ten not one of us could even tell you who our head server was. We had planned to but I felt I should not have to chase around to find out the name of the man to tip him!

 

[SanMan]

On our Easter Sunday cruise on the Wonder, our head waiter was Pierre. He stopped by our table several times each evening, greeted us, talked to our children, and answered our questions. He also stopped by at breakfast on our last day, and told us about the time he saw one of the space shuttles taking off at night.

He was always busy keeping an eye on the servers, taking care of problems and making sure things ran smoothly. We tipped him.

Regards,
Robin and Dan

 

[inkkognito]

We always tip the suggested amount for the head server since we know they do a lot of "behind the scenes" work to keep things running smoothly. But on several occasions we have tipped more than the recommended amount because they really went out of their way. Two cruises ago, we even tipped two of the head servers! Rita was our "offiicial" head server, but P.J., who we know from previous cruises, was on that dining rotation too, so it was like we had two head servers instead of just one! They are both outstanding and really go that extra mile.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[ennazus]

A couple questions concerning this whole tipping thing...

I don't think I would feel comfortable tipping for someone who I never saw except at the end of the cruise when it's time to hand out envelopes.

What is there?? Like a ceremony to hand out the tips?


Also with such directives from DCL in regards to what is appropriate to tip, what do the DISers mean when they mention that they are getting phone cards for the Stateroom Host/Hostess for example? Is the phone card on top of the tip or in place of?

 

[inkkognito]

Personally, we give the phone cards in addition to the suggested (or more) cash amounts, just as a special "thank you" for those who have really gone out of their way. We also give them to people in positions that don't traditionally receive a tip (for example, Guest Services) if they are especially helpful.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[DopeyRN]

Ok I am new to this so please excuse my ignorance...

Are the suggested tips per person?
Is room service included or is it an extra charge?