Ovation in Australia - Tipping in CK

[Dawn T.]

We need help! We are on the Ovation in Australia in a grand suite. We haven’t had a full suite for several years and this is our first one on a Royal Suite Class ship.  We are pretty much eating all meals in the Coastal Kitchen. We always prepay our gratuities and give extra to cabin attendant and MDR servers, which is easy. What do we do with tipping in CK?  Our wait staff varies, so we’re not sure how to tip extra.  Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Lovetocruise2002]

You are absolutely correct in that the waitstaff may vary in CK. On Anthem, we were able to get the same waiter each night. However, on Oasis class, we have rotated through several different ones. On Anthem, we tipped at the end of the cruise. On Oasis class, we kept track of who we had, and also tipped at the end. If this is too much to keep track of, then tip each meal. I have heard that is what others do.

[WAAAYTOOO]

We always tip as we go.  We always leave a cash tip for every meal.

[Matt]

11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We always tip as we go.  We always leave a cash tip for every meal.

Interesting. It never occurred to me to tip for CK on the few times I've dined there.

[JLMoran]

Only got to experience CK once, on Anthem; like @Lovetocruise2002, we had the same waiter every night and we tipped him extra at the end of the cruise. I had no idea that the waiters could rotate from day to day, so I'm glad that we got Amar for all 5 nights and had a simplified post-cruise tip!

[F1guynz]

When we on Ovation sailing to Australia from Singapore we usually had the same wait staff for breakfast as they normally sat you in the same area. They knew exactly what to bring each day and there was always time for a chat.  We gave those guys a tip at the end of the cruise.

I don't remember whether they were the same people at night, but we didn't tip them at night. I don't think you even get a docket where you could add a tip so would need cash to do so.

[Dawn T.]

On 3/27/2019 at 12:44 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

We always tip as we go.  We always leave a cash tip for every meal.

Thanks for all the replies. I really wish I had thought to leave cash on the table at our individual meals. We have been seated at different tables most of the time with a few repeats. We have been served by at least 9 of the 10 servers in CK. They have all been wonderful, and even stop to say hello when the are not serving us. We are going to give cash to the manager to distribute, as suggested by Bing, our concierge.