Now you've really got me scratching my head, wondering about that one! Why would you do that?
No need to micro-evaluate this. I like the dining rooms fine and normally eat there for breakfast and dinner. It's just that I am going alone on this cruise, don't want to pack a jacket and tie, and so eating will be more an exercise in sustenance than socializing this time around. However I do plan to eat breakfast in the dining room. I am really just talking about three dinners being in the buffet.
Originally posted by Dave Beers:
I am actually toying with the idea of not using the main dining room for dinner on my cruise. I still plan to tip the staff, but might do the casual dinner in the Windjammer each night.
Dave - are people expected to tip the wait staff if they do not eat in the dining room?
I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. On one hand, the staff works very hard, deserves every penny they get, and heavily relies on tips. They were expecting you to show up for dinner, and expected to receive a certain amount of tips. Why should they be penalized because you changed your mind about where you want to eat?
On the other hand, why should someone tip for service they never received? Each cruiser is free to eat where they want, and the staff knows this. The staff had an easier night because you weren't there, so less tips seems reasonable. Many people here do not tip the head waiter because he/she does nothing for them - why should this be any different for other staff?
I'm just being curious - I think it's very generous of you to tip when not using their services. I always eat in the main dining room, so I'm not sure what I would do otherwise. Realistically, I would be too lazy to go through the process of removing tips .
are people expected to tip the wait staff if they do not eat in the dining room?
Look closely at the people working in the buffet during breakfast and lunch the next time you are on a cruise. You'll find many of them are dining room staff pulling double duty. They all rotate through, helping at the buffet. On our recent Rhapsody cruise we saw our assistant waiter twice in the Windjammer as well as our headwaiter helping to manage the Windjammer one morning.
On the Carnival Holiday last week I saw several dining room staffers working the buffet too.
We also had people at the adjacent tables bail on our waiter (wanted a large table they could all be together) leaving us the only table left at that seating. We ran late one night and the waiter was sweating bullets--apparently there are "common area chores" they have to do if they are at loose ends that are definitely not as desirable as table service. So--our absence would not have saved him any work apparently. We also have observed dining staff doing multiple serving / bussing chores in the Windjammer.
__________________
Laurie
RCCL Nordic Empress 1993
RCCL Nordic Prince 1994
RCCL Explorer 2003, 2005
RCCL Navigator, 2004, 2007
RCCL Mariner 2006
RCCL Liberty 2008
RCCL Adventure 2009 Read and post cruise reviews
Hi, I just got off the Monarch late May. My cousin is a sushi fan, and I went with, and ending up paying for his sushi tab. The sushi bar, is a bar, with barstools and a little bar table to place your plate. The bar maybe sat about 6 people give or take. You can eat at the bar, and watch them prepare the sushi right in front of you. My cousin had 2 sushi rolls and a bowl of soup for $20. Anyways, I am not a fish/sushi fan, so I didn't pay much attention to the menu, or how they made it. My cousin did have several request, can you use this sauce instead of that sauce, a little more please, etc... they gave him his every request. There were also tables and chairs around the bar to sit at also. Lil' Lori
Thanks for the clarification. I am so used to the Jade on the Voyager and Freedom classes, where as you know it is an extension of the Windjammer. Glad to hear they have an "upscale" version on Monarch.
I stand corrected! Johnboy - get your chopsticks ready!
.
Linear Mode
