tipping the head server, why?

[rtphokie]

The only explanation I can see is tradition.

What does the head server do but oversee the waitstaff and the dining room in general and solve any problems that crop up. That's the job description of a lot of other people on this ship in other roles that are not tipped.

Do you tip the hotel manager? Do you tip the cruise director? Do you tip the captain? Yet we are expected to tip the head server for some reason.

I really think the head server should be a salaried position, not one that relies mostly on tips.

 

[lbgraves]

The dining room manager that oversees the entire dining room is salaried. The head servers are under that position & basically, if you don't see them & everything goes smoothly for you in the dining rooms...at all your meals, not just dinner...then they are doing their job very well & have earned their tip. I went on the galley tour & it was amazing!!! Their tip amount is relatively small anyhow IMO.

BTW...what year did you graduate? DH is class of 1990. GO HOKIES!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The last time this question came up, I wrote:

A Head Server is a working supervisor/trainer/helper for several Server-Asst. Server teams.

Your Head Server takes care of special occasions (such as birthdays), but your Head Server also does a lot of basic work such as pitching in to clear dirty dishes. Much of what the Head Server does does not happen right at your table. Your Head Server works the same long hours as your Server and Asst. Server. You might see your head server at a breakfast buffet replenishing food.

You'll see less of your Head Server, but your Head Server makes sure that your Server and Asst. Server are in a position to provide great service. The Head Server has responsibility for several Server-Asst. Server teams, so the Head Server is in a position to earn tips from more tables, which makes up for the smaller suggested gratuity per person.

It's probably also worth mentioning that the Head Server and the Dining Room Manager are not the same person. The guidelines say "Dining Manager — Your Discretion." I've never tipped the Dining Room Manager. If, for some reason, you need the services of a Dining Room Manager, you'll know who he or she is. You can then determine if you'd like to reward that person with a tip, with the amount based on what he or she did for you.

Most passengers will only interact with their Server, Asst. Server, Head Server at dinner. (At other meals, you'll interact with other Servers, Asst. Servers, and Head Servers — but you're not expected to tip them, because they'll be tipped by the passengers at their dinner tables.)​

 

[eeyoregon]

I was GLAD to tip the head waiter as he did FAR more for us than our assistant server, unfortunately!! We had pre-paid tips and it killed me to give more to the assistant than the head waiter, but as my friend pointed out, the head waiter has an entire section of the dining room where as the server and assistant servers only have a few tables so the tips work out.

If I had been smart, I would have just kept our assistant servers pre-paid tip vouchers and put a small amount of cash in her envelope instead. Live and learn. Hopefully next time our serving team will be SOOO fantastic that I will have to take out a small loan to tip them properly

Just remember that their tips are their wages.

 

[misseulalie]

We just got off the Wonder and had a GREAT head server. His name was Jean Yves from France. As soon as DH started to Parlez Francais with him, he treated us like we were the only people in the restaurant. One time, I asked the assistant server for his recommendation of a glass of wine, well when I tasted it, I thought it tasted like swill, so I asked Jean Yves' recommendation and he brought out about 6 glasses of wine each with a very small amount. It was like my own personal wine tasting.

He made sure everything was perfect.

We tipped him well above the recommended amount.

 

[rtphokie]

I give our head server credit, she did stop by each night to make sure everything was all right. Previous cruises we've taken on other lines the only time we saw the head server was when it was time for the tips to be handed out.

 

[TooPure4u]

I loved our head server. He stopped by everyday and played games and tricks with the kids at our table. His name was John from Scotland. He was soooo nice and very funny. I hope to see him again.

 

[Minnie328]

Our head server, Ronny on the Magic, did above and beyond. I special ordered chocolate covered strawberries on my birthday (of course I did it in advance, though) and he brought two trays of them. Then one night when he knew that my parents were going to be at Palo, and my sister and me at the table only, he, without being asked, brought us are own chocolate covered strawberries...yummy! Out of 3 cruises, this was the only time where my parents understood what they were tipping him for. Other head servers just stood around. He was realllllly good.

 

[we4blairs]

Our head server caught me sampling DH's plate one night and brought me out a side of it. We were very pleased with our service and didn't mind tipping at all.

 

[Vavasmon]

On the Wonder in Dec, Michelle was our head server and she stopped by each night to make sure everything was okay. On the Magic in April other than the first night and next to last night we did not see the head server at all. I don't think he would have known if we were happy or not. I personally think it is part of his job to at least breeze by each night to see if everything is ok. I noted my observation on our comment card.

 

[Cindi0511]

Remember that your head server will have the "joy" of dealing with people who cannot or will not be happy with anything. If you speak with any of the servers/assistant servers, most of them get a glazed look that comes over them and they say, "I wouldn't do that job for anything!" I think that from reading these boards, we're often convinced that everything will be 100 percent, absolutely positively perfect for us and if someone (i.e., the head server) doesn't do everything that we've heard a different head server has done for someone else, then they aren't worth tipping.

Whether or not that position *should* be salaried, it isn't, and those cast members need those tips. They work extremely hard for their tips, whether we see all the headaches they have to deal with or not. And Disney, which isn't known for being overly generous on the tipping guidelines, put them in there for a reason for our planning purposes. It is an opportunity for us to spread a little magic of our own and make the day wonderful for some amazing people.

 

[kplatt]

IMHO, the word has been received loud and clear by DCL that people were unhappy being expected to tip someone we never (or seldom) saw, even if the person was working hard behind the scenes.

It was true on our last cruise, and according to recent postings here, that the head servers are making more of effort to meet the passengers personally and be more of a presence in the dining rooms. Our head server on our last cruise even came to our stateroom one night to bring us the souvenirs we had missed by leaving dinner early. One some earlier cruises we were lucky to see the HS once or twice per week!

 

[Cindi0511]

IMHO, the word has been received loud and clear by DCL that people were unhappy being expected to tip someone we never (or seldom) saw, even if the person was working hard behind the scenes.

It was true on our last cruise, and according to recent postings here, that the head servers are making more of effort to meet the passengers personally and be more of a presence in the dining rooms. Our head server on our last cruise even came to our stateroom one night to bring us the souvenirs we had missed by leaving dinner early. One some earlier cruises we were lucky to see the HS once or twice per week!

Wow -- now that is awesome.

 

[BethA]

We have had great head servers, who did tricks, brought special treats and checked on us every night and then some who you see once. If I only see them the night before the tip I don't feel very generous since we have had those who are very attentive.

We did once need the services of the dining room manager and did then give him a tip.

 

[Muushka]

We did a 7 night a couple of years back. The head server was very attentive to one couple at our table, but did not acknowlege anyone else, until the last night, then very friendly. Our assistant server was awesome, so I decided that the head server would not mind if we gave her tip to him. Actually, I gave my tip to him, my husband gave his tip to to he head server.

 

[jrabbit]

If you have Adrian (a guy from England I believe) you will WANT to tip him. He was great. On our cruise he came by the table EVERY night and spent time with us - not just a "Hi is everything Great - OK - bye" conversation.

One night after the WORST "entertainment" ever thrust upon cruise ship customers (he heard the "buzz" throughout the dinning room) he stopped at our table, sat down, asked questions and took notes, and then passed them on to "Julie", er, I mean the cruise director. Not his job, not his department, but he took it upon himself to gather input to help make sure that this did NOT happen again.

Oh yea, and the teen agers at the table loved him (not just the girls)

 

[tvguy]

MacClean was our Head Server on the Magic. He was clearly part of the team that made our dining experience great. Came by several times a night. But the time we truly appreciated him was the final morning. We had late seating, so the 8 am breakfast. The DORKS who sat at our table during early seating decided to show up for their 6:45 am breakfast at 7:45. Our servers told us they aren't supposed to let anyone in after 7 am, but somehow they got in, so our table was "occupied". Within 30 seconds of our arrival, MacClean found us a place to sit, checked on us frequently, and made sure out regular wait team also checked on us, even though another wait team was serving us. We missed out on our final meal with our wait team, but MacClean did his best to fix it.

 

[lbgraves]

MacClean was the dining manager on our 2nd cruise & was so nice! He was able to move us so that we would be with our favorite server from our first cruise.

 

[kawaba]

I have been on 3 cruises on the Magic and the last cruise was the first time the head server has earned his tip. On the first two cruises my party and I complained about having to tip someone who said hi at the front door and was never heard from again, except the last night to collect his tip. Our last cruise was totally different because the head server visited with our party through out the week and joked around with the kids in the group and helped out where ever he could. We always grow closer to our server and assistant server but this is the first time I can say that about the head server.

Who was our head server. The one and only, best head server ever ----
----- MacClean

 

[skibum]

First cruise - Magic - no idea what our head server's name was, but he came to the table exactly once. We did tip him, though.

Second cruise - Wonder - we had Michelle, who was very nice. We would see her around the ship, and she would acknowldege us. She had a good sense of humor.

Last cruise - Magic - we had Ronny, who as my daughter (minnie328) said earlier in this thread, was exceptional. He made our cruise magical. He went out of his way to take care of our kids, even finding us to tell us his special surprise for them on our Palo night. No tricks, no jokes, just great, caring service. We hope we have him again next spring break! He did get an extra tip - I remember thinking "there goes some more money" when he told us he was getting some chocolate covered strawberries for the kids on their solo dinner experience.