Tipping on the First Day?

[strasfamily]

I saw this suggestion on another cruise board:

"We suggest that on the first night, you give the waiter & asst. waiter the tip you would normally give them for the cruise. Tell them, "I want you to have this for starters, there is more to come." It will ensure you the best service they're capable of. Then on the final night give the waiter $10 and the asst. $5. It's a small price to pay, for the extra service you will receive."



Has anybody tried this? Seems to me that they would be expecting more than $10 or $5 on the last night, and it would be a big dissappointment for the waiter and asst. waiter. Maybe give them a phone card on the first night?

 

[din]

IMHO I think it is tacky and insulting to do the tipping up front and promising more at the end for good service. I feel that all the servers work hard to serve us.

 

[strasfamily]

Yes, that was my first thought too that it was tacky. Would love to hear opinions though.

 

[strasfamily]

It just occurred to me, the people who wrote that suggestion never has sailed Disney before. Maybe on other cruiselines it is necessary to get good service??

 

[LAMPSKIES]

The last 2 cruises (4 nighters)I tipped our room steward the first time I saw him/her by our room. I gave 20.00 and made a "special request". I had him put a bag of ice in the fridge....it seems to keep it colder.

 

[webray]

I agree..that is tacky.

And only $10 and $5 more at the end...the kids on the disney ships work much harder than a 5 or 10 extra beyond the recommended.....just think of what you would have to pay out in tips if you were eating in restaurants all that time...then judge your service and tip from there.

 

[inkkognito]

A while back, when this was a hot subject here at DIS (technically, the word tip comes from the expression "To Insure Promptness," which sounds like something given at the beginning), hubby and I were going to try this. We planned to charge the minimum at the beginning of our cruise and add more later, just as an experiment to answer the age-old question (after thirty-some cruises, I'm not too worried about being tacky!). But Guest Services was not set up to do that the first night, so we ended up not trying it. The question will have to remain up there with such unanswered gems as: "When a tree falls in the forest..."
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[IFlossU]

Strasfamily

Sorry not a response to your question, but seeing how I'm also from Gilbert, Az. I had to at least say HI!!

Small world

 

[strasfamily]

Hi IflossU! Yes, small world! We just moved here not too long ago. In fact, maybe you could PM me - we are looking for a dentist (I assume by your loggin name you are or work for a dentist?)

 

[Christmas2004]

I'm planning on giving <b><i>half</i></b> of the suggested tip amount to our servers on the first day. But we're sailing on a special cruise... the 10-night cruise over Christmas 2004. We're visiting three islands not a part of normal itineraries. We figure that our servers would like to have some cash in hand if they get to go ashore at any of these ports of call that they do not normally get to visit. And they may still have some Christmas gift shopping to do. Again, we're doing this only because it's a special itinerary and date combination.

 

[strasfamily]

Do you give the tips directly to the CM or to Guest Services and they give the tips to the CMs?

 

[ohiominnie]

We recently sailed with my MIL and her dh. We were in separate cabins, a floor and 1/2 ship lengths apart. Apparently, when we all went to our rooms to unpack, their room steward came into their cabin, introduced himself and gave them the run down of the ship, told them about the Navigators, explained to them their dinner tickets yada yada yada..... My MIL and her dh weren't sure what to do, so they gave him a $5 bill (they said "we gave him $5 to go away")

Well, after that they commented about all the "extra" things their room steward was doing b/c they had tipped them. He made towel animals, turned down their bed every night, got them new towels twice a day, left mints, etc etc....and they still believe to this day it's because they tipped him in advance. Thing is, I didn't see our room steward until the morning of disembarkation and he did all of those things for us too--without pretipping him!

I do like Christmas 2004's idea with the 10 day cruise, that really makes sense. We'll have to think about that.

 

[moinab]

DH and I have a vast amount of restaurant/bar/hotel experience. In our experience, service staff regard this type of practice as insulting, and as a red flag for pain-in-the-butt cheapskates. At best, you'll get the same level of service you would have gotten, anyway. I would strongly recommend against any pre-tipping.

Lampskies' example of something special for a "special request" is more acceptable. It isn't expected, but is a nice touch. I'll give my own example. I used to work at an Irish pub here on the beach. Often, people would ask me if we had a cigarette machine. I would offer to get change for them and get the cigarettes for them. Sometimes, when I brought them the cigarettes, they would tell me to keep the change (usually $5.) I never expected this, because I considered it to be part of my job, but it was always nice.

 

[jrabbit]

Tourist Input Prevents Starvation

 

[Stepharoonie!]

This reminds me of an episode of 3rd Rock From the Sun. John Lithgow puts his tip on the table before he orders, and when the waitress comes up, he explains that for every mistake she makes, he'll take a dollar away.

My point being, it seems a little tacky to give them the money ahead of time, and then tell them "Ooh! I'm gonna treat you to MORE if you do a good job for me!"

If one night your waiter/waitress is exceptional, give them a little present to say thanks...like the phone cards. This way, they will appreciate the extra, and won't feel like they have to work harder to get a "better" tip. Keep in mind that I'm sure there's going to be a lot of pain in the butt cruisers who will make their job a little harder anyways.

 

[nickglover]

How about this....every once in a while, pull a huge stack of bills out of your pocket and wave it at the servers with a big smile on your face! Just kidding! I liked your response Moinab.

[I was once involved in a streaking incident in Atlantic Beach, around The Turtle Inn in 1974, but I will deny all knowledge of it, if questioned further!!!]

 

[moinab]

Nickglover, I sent you a PM.

And thanks! I liked your response, too.

 

[mcgrawfan]

We recently sailed with my MIL and her dh. We were in separate cabins, a floor and 1/2 ship lengths apart. Apparently, when we all went to our rooms to unpack, their room steward came into their cabin, introduced himself and gave them the run down of the ship, told them about the Navigators, explained to them their dinner tickets yada yada yada..... My MIL and her dh weren't sure what to do, so they gave him a $5 bill (they said "we gave him $5 to go away")

Are we suppose to tip the room steward??? This tipping thing can get confusing, and I don't want to offend any CM.

 

[Mojomanny]

I have worked many years in the restaurant and other service industries. the definition I know of TIPS is To Insure Prompt Service.

On our first cruise I gave a tip to our room steward and our waitstaff at the first opportunity. It was about 75% of the recommended tip. I just asked that they do whatever they could to ensure my family and I had a great time.

I felt it let them know that we were not going to stiff them from a tip. We understood that they make their money from tips and would take care of them. Having been stiffed despite providing great service, I felt it was important to let them know I would be certain to take care of them.

Was the service any better or any worse becuase of my tip? Who knows. We had a nice time on the cruise and that was all that mattered.

In addition to the monetary tips, we also gave out phone cards and the (then) brand new gold dollar coins.

When the cruise was over we gave an additional tip of about 50% so that we tipped above the recommended amount but a fair and reasonable amount for the service we received.

I plan to tip similarly on our upcoming cruise

PS.... Has anyone seen the commercial where the customers are "bidding" for the waitresses service...I will tip 5%, we'll give 15%....ETC....We will tip 30% and clear the tables.
think of the practicality of a waiter or waitress knowing that a guest was going to be a good tipper or a stiff

 

[ruvidu]

what do you do if your service is terrible such as our wait staff on last Sept. cruise. Our table was ignored at times with no berverages, late entrees and just poor service.

We will always hold our tips in reserve until the last night.

Speaking of tips, some friends of ours must have left a "less than expected" tip recently while visiting a resturant in Charleston. When they checked their debit card account the next week the server had changed the total to represent an exact tip of 20%.

Russ