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How much to tip waiter and his assistant?


Cindi

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That is a very personal question.  Some people are retired or on a fixed income, some are well off, some have to save for years for a cruise.  

Technically your are not obliged to tip any more than the daily gratuities that have been charged to your room.  If you feel you would like to give more that is fine and I am sure they will appreciate anything you decide to tip beyond the daily gratuity.  

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i understand what you are saying....and I know we are paying roughly 15 dollars a day each as a tip already. I guess I was looking for some kind of scale like we have at restaurants on land. Based on the amount of the bill. 15% being the rough standard for satisfactory service. I’ve been surprised...or I probably should say I had forgotten...how many hands have been extended for a tip on these shore excursions. The one excursion we had a fifty dollar bill and three ones at the end of the (short) trip. Let’s just say from the expression on the drivers face that he was not happy with that amount. I was a waitress for years...long ago and far away. Sometimes a shoddy tip was more insulting than no tip at all. We are a middle class, retirement age couple (63 and 62) who are not retired with no plans to in the near future  

When we tip them individually, do they get to keep the entire amount for themselves or do they have to share that too? 

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Just did 8 nights on Voyager. MTD and ate in MDR 5 nights. Had same two waiters 4 of those nights. Gave them US 5 each three nights and US 10 each last night.

Not based on what we "should" give, more on the fact that they provided very good service.

Note that we are Australian, so therefore not inclined to tip unless the service warrants it.

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2 hours ago, Cindi said:

 Sometimes a shoddy tip was more insulting than no tip at all.

I believe this to be true, too.  Sometimes it cannot be helped !

 

2 hours ago, Cindi said:

When we tip them individually, do they get to keep the entire amount for themselves or do they have to share that too? 

I think this depends on who it is and what their job is.  I believe that often the bartenders will pool their tips b/c there are so many working the crowd but I think it's an individual choice on their parts as to how they handle this.  Obviously, if you tip a room attendant, that money will go directly to him/her.

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Tips are of course a personal decision. Whether to or not and then how much. I choose to add the gratuities ahead, just to get them out of the way.

I believe since these are pooled between everybody, additional tipping should only be done if you feel somebody has gone above and beyond. 

I generally tip extra, mostly because I come from a customer service back round and know how hard these people work, compared to their pay. The amount is the only thing that tends to vary on service levels.

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On 4/16/2019 at 6:33 AM, Cindi said:

The one excursion we had a fifty dollar bill and three ones at the end of the (short) trip. Let’s just say from the expression on the drivers face that he was not happy with that amount. I was a waitress for years...long ago and far away. Sometimes a shoddy tip was more insulting than no tip at all. 

 

 

I wouldn't worry about giving "too little" extra, since you are already paying the auto gratuity.  I think it's more like when you go to a restaurant and they added the automatic service charge to the bill, but there is still a line for additional tipping.  No worries about "shoddy tips" since you have already paid the standard tip.  2% would be a shoddy tip, but it's fine for the "extra tip" line if that 2% was to bring the 18% service charge up to 20%.

I almost always give my dining staff a bit extra, my kids generally have some special requests that take extra time and effort for the wait staff.  There was only one cruise where my sons special request was denied.  I was very surprised.  I was even more surprised that it was a Disney cruise, where they are used to kids, and generally have a good reputation for service.  That was the only time I didn't give an additional cash tip to the wait staff.

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