tipping the head server, why?

[nzdisneymom]

Count us among the Maclean fans! We sailed in Dec. 2005 on the Magic. He was there every night making sure we were getting good service and had everything we needed.

We had already planned on tipping the Head Server, but if we'd had any doubt about it, the night that sealed the deal for us was formal night in Parrot Cay after my 8 yr old threw up mac/cheese and chicken fingers on the carpet near the entry. ICK! I felt so badly and of course the crew had to clean it up ... I was actually out of the dining room with my other son when it happened, so when I came back in, Maclean let me know where DH took DS and what had happened... and he said if we needed anything, just let them know - and that they would send up dessert for us later if we wanted, etc. etc.

It just goes to show that not only do they have to deal with passengers who are more difficult to please, they sometimes have to deal with unpleasant things like children who eat too much mac and cheese. So they definitely earn any extra tips along the way!

 

[DisneyElf]

I've done 4 cruises on the Magic.

Our first head server was fantastic -- stopped by, asked us how everything was going - and when one member of our group was sick - the next night - when he returned to the dining room - even went and got small salad from the galley (our waiter had asked already - but was asked to wait a couple of mins). Everytime on the ship we saw him - he said hi - no problem with tipping him.

Our second & third head server was the same -- very personal service - no problem with tipping.

Fourth Cruise --- not worth the name tag - never even asked us if we were celebrating anything special - didn't stop by our table -- first time I every undertipped on the cruise.

Hopefully - # 5 - Med Repo will be better

 

[Lindy Loo]

how do we go about geting MCLEAN???? We want him he sounds soooooo good!

 

[ivanova]

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)

Adrian is FANTASTIC!! We were lucky enough to have him for 14 nights on the repo cruise last August .. and he had to do a lot (including putting up with the spoiled brats from Hades at a table next to us) .. he is just utterly amazing!!

 

[Queen2]

He was great, We did tip him. Here are 2 reasons why we tipped him. He went out of his way to fix the childrens BDcakes for me. I brought decorations with me. He made sure he knew the childs name. We celebrated GodD on formal night, she looked just like a princess. DGS was pirate night, he played a good Captin hook

Also here is another reason.The last night our DS(34) Mentally challenged seizure disorder was missing. He ordered dinner & left the table, he loves to get his picture with the chactors. We thought he left for a meet. About 20 minutes later, I noticed he hadn't come back to dinner. Other DS & DH checked mens room. No DS anywhere. I called for MaClean told him DS was missing. Together we went to CR & reported him missing. He tried to convience me this happens all the time. McLean waited with me at CR. He left his dinning room to help me. Now it is nearlry an hour later. CR has told me to go to dinning room & wait, family was there. Emmuneul Had covered our meals to keep them hot. Who wants to eat. After children were done we left the dinning room, just then they brought out the Baked Alska, we missed it. Before we left McLean had the Head dinning Manger come & try to claim me down. At this point the whole ship staff is looking for him, even security. I'm a nervous reck & in tears. After almost 2 hours he was found in the same BR we had checked a dozen times. Even McLean checked. Shutters kept looking in the BR. He had gotten sick(all 9 yards) & was back& forth from cabin to same BR. I could tell looking at him he had also had a small seizure. All ended well. Oh McLean offered to have food sent to the cabin.
DS then left his calling card for Cabin host. We had to have him come back & clean up again. We then retipped CH for coming back.

 

[Cindi0511]

Also here is another reason.The last night our DS(34) Mentally challenged seizure disorder was missing. He ordered dinner & left the table, he loves to get his picture with the chactors. We thought he left for a meet. About 20 minutes later, I noticed he hadn't come back to dinner. Other DS & DH checked mens room. No DS anywhere. I called for MaClean told him DS was missing. Together we went to CR & reported him missing. He tried to convience me this happens all the time. McLean waited with me at CR. He left his dinning room to help me. Now it is nearlry an hour later. CR has told me to go to dinning room & wait, family was there. ....

This is my point exactly. This guy spent more than an hour with one family and wasn't even in the dining room for part of that meal. This was one night, and someone else posted that their HS had to deal with horrible kids. He may not get to my table because he IS dealing with horrible kids and trying to keep them from spoiling it for the entire dining room night after night for the whole cruise. All I'm saying is that they're worth the minimum tip at least. OK, I'm off my soap box, I promise.

 

[mickey minder]

On our first cruise, we barely saw the HS. On the second cruise, we could not have asked for better service. I am on a very restricted diet. The HS noticed that I was not eating well on the second night and took the time to find out why and what I could eat. He planned to arrange to have the menus from all the dining rooms sent to me in advance so I could chose whatever I could eat (we were in a suite, so I had the menus anyway). I could order from any dining room and have it served at my table. One thing I can eat is chocolate, yep, Palo. DH and DD got souffles with me every night. The assistant server ran (literally) up to Palo to bring them back all nice and warm. One night he brought me three. Yes, I ate them.

 

[Rogillio]

I agree with original poster! We gave the head waiter exactly what he gave us. Nothing. Not a thing. The head waiter did nothing for us and I saw no reason to tip someone just becasue he came by our table one time (in 7 days) and said hello.

We gave what would have gone to the head waiter to our assistand server who we thought went well beyond the call of duty.

Mike

 

[BethA]

I'm sure their salary is much greater than the wait staff. Any idea how many guests they are responsible for per cruise?

If I do not see the head waiter I will not tip them for helping others.
Do you tip the laundry service who washes your sheets, or those who clean the public areas?

Since some can provide such personal service they all could if they tried. They might not make it to you every night if a problem arises, but they could most nights. Those with the problems should be tipping way more for monopolizing a CM who sould be serving everyone. I know we have when there have been issues that were resolved for us.

 

[poohssmum]

We've been on 3 DCL cruises. On the first cruise we saw our HS every night ... not because she stopped by the table to check on us ... but because she was very busy holding up a podium and chatting with other CM's

Our 2nd HS was Gaspar ... he was PHENOMENAL ... We saw him 2 or 3 times each evening, he would deliver meals, cut meat for the children, make sure wine glasses never went empty, etc. And he seemed to do that for each and every table. I swear, I never saw him stop to take a breath. Actually, the only night we didn't see him was the last night when DH was looking to give him his tip and tell him how impressed we were We found him at breakfast the next morning.

Our 3rd HS was John from Scottland. And he was a very sweet guy ... he just had huge shoes to fill in our eyes after the service the prior year from Gaspar. We had a brand new assistant server and she probably could have used a bit of encouragement from John ... she seemed a little more comfortable by the end of the cruise, but the first couple of nights were rough.

 

[Queen2]

This is my point exactly. This guy spent more than an hour with one family and wasn't even in the dining room for part of that meal. This was one night, and someone else posted that their HS had to deal with horrible kids. He may not get to my table because he IS dealing with horrible kids and trying to keep them from spoiling it for the entire dining room night after night for the whole cruise. All I'm saying is that they're worth the minimum tip at least. OK, I'm off my soap box, I promise.

Let me correct myself here. Mclean spent about 15 minutes with me. It did sound confusing. Ds was missing about 20 minutes before I missed him. By time I got back to dinning room a hour had passed. Sorry for the confusing . The point is,he spent time away from the dining room. He is GREAT .

 

[cristit14]

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.

We had John too. He was really good! He stopped by our table every night. He was there for quite a while on Pirate night talking to the kids about their costumes. I thought I heard that he was getting promoted to dining room manager.

 

[Alamo]

I agree with the earlier post that this position should be full time.

Let's face it, the total recommended tip is about $6 per family member (for 7-day), so it's not a ton of money; however, the potential to make a lot of money is there, right? I'm not so sure.

At first thought, one would add up the total number of tables and do some rough math. Looks like a ton of money for this guy/gal... Unfortunately, the family we traveled with stiffed him and justified it by saying he didn't earn it... Not saying that's right or wrong, but I'm wondering how many people do this.......given his role.

I think DCL should reconsider this position as one of salary. Takes away the questions from the passengers and ensures this person makes the money he/she should.

 

[mog]

Our 2nd HS was Gaspar ... he was PHENOMENAL ... We saw him 2 or 3 times each evening, he would deliver meals, cut meat for the children, make sure wine glasses never went empty, etc. And he seemed to do that for each and every table. I swear, I never saw him stop to take a breath. Actually, the only night we didn't see him was the last night when DH was looking to give him his tip and tell him how impressed we were We found him at breakfast the next morning.

.

We had Gaspar on our last cruise, too. He was great! We saw him every night - except for the last one. We had to do that same thing as you did...find him at breakfast the next morning!

 

[3sons]

Michelle was our head server on our Wonder cruise in May. She came by every night and made sure DS3 w/ food allergies knew what he could order. She also offered to make sure he was taken care of in the clubs, even on CC! He ate there twice!
It's very scary letting your child eat w/ others when he is not old enough to read labels or know whats in food. She made us feel much better about it. We doubled her tip.

 

[kecall]

I agree with the earlier post that this position should be full time.

Let's face it, the total recommended tip is about $6 per family member (for 7-day), so it's not a ton of money; however, the potential to make a lot of money is there, right? I'm not so sure.

At first thought, one would add up the total number of tables and do some rough math. Looks like a ton of money for this guy/gal... Unfortunately, the family we traveled with stiffed him and justified it by saying he didn't earn it... Not saying that's right or wrong, but I'm wondering how many people do this.......given his role.

I think DCL should reconsider this position as one of salary. Takes away the questions from the passengers and ensures this person makes the money he/she should.

I agree with you completely!!!

For those that felt he went "above and beyond the call of duty" , then a tip should be in order. But, for those that had very little (if any) interaction with him, then why are we tipping him?? We gave him the minimum tip (a bit begrudgingly, I must admit), but I would rather have given the money to those that made our trip more "special".

By the way, as others have mentioned, I noticed he made sure to visit EVERY table on our last night....It became a running joke with my dh and me, to imitate the HS coyly visiting every table with a "hand-out" attitude.

I agree that Disney should make it a salaried position....just like the photographers, etc.....(Speaking of which, how many tip the photographer for a job well done?? Or the Guest Services people?? Again, unless the job is "above and beyond".....)

karen

 

[BethA]

We have had head servers that we actually saw, and felt provided extra help/service and those with their hands out on the last night only--

They may make the dining room run smoothly, but that is their job--I think tipping should be removed here too. If they want to add $6 on each cruise price I doubt we'd notice. I bet a lot of people do not tip because of the last night approach

 

[Rence]

I read through all the posts rather quickly but one point that I didn't see mentioned (I may have missed) is that the head server also coordinates any special food needs. It is the head server that tracks all the food allergies in each section, checks with the kitchen and lets your wait staff know what is and is not safe to eat. You may or may not see this.

My father is allergic to birds. He can eat eggs, but no chicken, turkey, duck etc. The problem is that chicken broth is an ingredient in a lot of dishes that you might not otherwise expect. Each night either our waiter or the head waiter went through the menu with my father item by item letting him know what was safe and what wasn't. On the nights it wasn't the head waiter, we saw the head waiter giving the list to our waiter.

 

[kecall]

I can completely understand why you would feel the need to tip the HS. He definitely performed a service "above and beyond" for you and your family....

I think the question is whether EVERYONE should feel the nudge to tip him if we have had very little if any interaction with him.....Just like I wouldn't tip the people in Flounders because they didn't take care of my children, and I never tipped the photographers for taking our picture, I couldn't help but wonder why I am tipping a man that did nothing "above and beyond" for us....

If you do the math, this guy gets a heck of a tip if everyone comes through for him!! At about $6 a pop....(I'm not sure how many people he is responsible for...and at 2 seatings!), those small tips add up to a LOT!!!

I'm sure for those that received some services, they felt great about giving a tip....I just honestly have to admit, we felt "pressured" to give our HS something, when we would much rather have taken that money and given it to someone who actually affected my trip!

It's not a big deal to me....just something that we had pondered on our trip as well....

karen