Thread: Tipping the Maitre'D?

How many of you actually tip the Maitre'D?

We usually don't, but this last time I definitely wouldn't!! He came over and helped himself to unshelling my shrimp without asking me and then proceeded to spill part of my dinner on my chair....without any offer to help clean it up!!!

Fortunately, one of my dinner mates saw what happened and warned me before I rested my arm on the chair arm...

We did once, once we didn't. We never saw him/her on our first cruise.

I only tip him if I thought he did an exceptional job, like I ever saw him and spoke to him and if he came around to our table etc!

Our Maitre'D came around every night, said "how is everyone tonight?" and left...he never performed any real service that I could see that deserved a tip...the last 2 nights, we saw he avoided our table altogether!

I did on my last cruise. When I requested a salt free diet, he was there every night with the menu for the next evening, but also gave his recommendations.

Other than that, I never have. They usually come by the table once a night, smile and move on. Nothing special.

We did on the Radiance.. We were seated at a corner table and it was super warm there.. The next day I went to see the maitre'd and he moved us to a new table, then greeted us by name when we came in for dinner and came over a little while after we were seated and asked if everything was to our approval.. He continued to greet us by name, and ask if everything was fine everytime he saw us, whether in the buffet, or dining room... I'd say he went the extra mile...

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Have done it both ways.........we usually do, but one cruise we never saw him.

We never do. One year we sat in one of the front tables of the dining room. The table next to us, the maitre'd would talk to and have a good time with every night! It was only the night before tip day that he came to our table. Well all of our parents didn't oversee this. They were sure not to tip him.

We do, the amount will depend on the service from our waitstaff. What you need to remember is the headwaiter, or Maitre d', is responsible for the smooth running and training of his staff. There is so much more that goes on behind the scenes that passengers aren't even aware of. The gratuity to them is not for hands on service, but for an overall appreciation of how well his staff has performed. I worked at a hotel in the banquet department and would sometimes work closely with the chef and the restaurant management. You would be amazed just how much more work they put into the evening than the servers.

If there was no headwaiter or Maitre d', you would have terrible service and almost no recourse to fix it. The managers are watching every move their staff makes. When there is special service, or a problem, they are the ones who step in and take care of it. They should go through the dining room each night and make sure the pax are happy, I have no idea why they don't always do it. They should make themselves very visible to all the cruise pax. A Maitre d' or headwaiter who spills food surprises me, they have so many years of experience. I'm sure, if it were brought to their attention, they would have been terribly embarrassed and would have bent over backwards to make you happy and forgive them.

If the m'd did something for us such as switch our table (which we have never done), it would be something. But if he is just coming around the last night with his hand out, I don't blame passengers for not tipping him. They see the waiters and assistants working their tail off, not whatever is behind the scenes.