On our recent Princess cruise all we saw the maitre d' do was abuse our senior and junior waiters in front of us. We were ready to report him for inappropriate behavior. Our servers went out of their way for us only to be abused by the maitre d'!
We kept the $10 a day per person automatic tip on our tab and then tipped the people who personally served us extra. Obviously, the maitre d' was not one of the ones we tipped extra.
so we are tipping him for doing his job. His job is to run a great dining room, which he does. But to me a tip is for service above and beyond. Ok I have a question, when we requested an early seating and got late it was his fault, right, and then he didnt change it it was his fault, right? So why do we get envelopes in our stateroom for tips when all he was doing was his job. If the dining room is not operating correctly he corrects it. Its his job. I think I am a bit offended now by getting the tip envelopes. almost like begging, when its his job.
Don't be too offended; after all, the literature states that tipping is a personal matter. The tipping "schedule" is for your reference and is by no means etched in stone.
You are the boss; tip what you feel is warranted. Of course, the majority of ship employees, as I understand the structure, rely almost exclusively, if not exclusively, on the tips they receive from passengers.
Oh yeah, one more question: at the end of the year, do you expect a bonus from your employer for doing your job (that is, if you're in the private sector)?
The last dinner of the cruise the waiter and the Matre-d came by and people were giving them tips directly. They passed around little envelopes at the table for tips. They they shook everyone's hand and kept hinting to give tips. The Matre D was rude when we first went to him to get first seating at the beginning of the cruise. We had asked for it, but didn't get it when we booked our cruise. We went anyway. He was rotten and rude until the last night when he walked around. Then we get back to our room and a little envelope was sitting on our table for tips for the room steward. So we took the tips off of our sail and sign and just put it to whom we wanted. We were very upset. We found out alot of people were the next morning at breakfast before we disembarked. That was Oct. 06. I hope it has changed this cruise.
That would be a new one for me. I have never had the envelopes handed out at the table. They have always been tactfully placed in the cabin prior to dinner that evening. I would just leave the envelope under my chocolate melting cake plate and put his tip at the mercy of the casino.
In the "good old days", when the maitre d' would make a terrific pasta dish or flaming dessert right at the table several times during the cruise, of course he got a good tip.
Now that his main function seems to be stonewalling passenger requests and browbeating the waiters--no way!
Please dont get me wrong I strongly believe in tipping. I even tip the grocery guy. (which is going out of style). But I have just never seen the Maitre D do ANYTHING. I would not have a problem with tipping him if he performed a service that was not his job. I think that for someone to not tip for service (bar, dinner server, steward ect.) is just plain rude. But I am just trying to figure out what he does that is deserving of a tip, when in reality he is just doing his job.
Of course, in most cases when we say "maitre d" (or "'materdee" here in the south) we are really talking about the Head Waiter for our particular section of the dining room. Regardless, in virtually all cases this person's role usually involves glad-handing those at "his" tables and doing profound things like the pepper service and strutting around with a knife and fork on lobster night to remove shell from meat. Skills of a master, for sure!
Originally posted by macmom111:
so we are tipping him for doing his job. His job is to run a great dining room, which he does. But to me a tip is for service above and beyond. Ok I have a question, when we requested an early seating and got late it was his fault, right, and then he didnt change it it was his fault, right? So why do we get envelopes in our stateroom for tips when all he was doing was his job. If the dining room is not operating correctly he corrects it. Its his job. I think I am a bit offended now by getting the tip envelopes. almost like begging, when its his job.
No, I would not say it is his fault you didn't get your dining choice. It is not his fault that when you signed up for your cruise and requested early sitting that 754 people that signed up ahead of you also requested early sitting. It is not his fault if those same 754 didn't want to change to late and he had no table available to change you. The Maitre'd is in charge of running an orderly dining room and making sure everyone has a dining experience that meets their expectations. You can be ensured he is keeping an eye on the head waiters who inturn are keeping an eye on their section of waiters and assistant waiters. Should he be tipped for doing his job? That is up to each individual. We live in a society where tipping has become the norm. I can think of a lot of professions I wonder why we tip. If the criteria for tipping was "above and beyond", then we are tipping a lot of people for simply doing their job. It still remains your choice.
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