room service tp is given at the time of service.
Dining room tips and and room host are given the last night of the cruise. so only given once
They will deliver some envelopes to your room 2 nights before the end of your cruise unless your on a 3 day then it is the day before and each envelope will have a job named on it.
One will say Host or hostess, head server, asst server etc...
They will also give you a paper with the suggested tips just like I gave you. People put cash in them and after dinner on the last night you hand the envelope to all the dining room personel and thank them for their service.
The room host can be left on the bed in the envelope when you go to dinner if you want. that is when your host will turn down your bed and they will find it. Or if you see your host or hostess in the hallway that evening you can hand it to them also. either way is ok.
we bring cash for this, and keep it in the safe.
But you can also go to guest services and ask them to add the suggested tips or more if you want to your room bill and then request a receipt to put in each envelope to hand to the people.
Now they may tell you that it is not necessary to hand the envelopes out when paying at guest services but tell them you want to anyway. if you dont you will look like you are stiffing your servers because everyone else will be handing them envelopes at the end of their meals. They all parade around the dining room carrying flags from their countries so you can stand and applaude them before giving the envelopes.
If you dont have the envelope you will feel pretty embarassed even though you have paid.
If you want to give extra during the week you could but I havnt seen that.
I have seen a couple of big spenders who tipped $50 the first night and told their waiter that if they take extra good care of them there will be extra at the end of the trip. But I didnt notice him getting any better treatment than the rest of us, just keep his mug full of beer.
Now one acception to this rule is, pn some cruises the buffet will open for 2 hours int he evening for dinner. It is NOT a buffet then. it is sit down service. This will not happen on the first or last night of the cruise.
But some people who dont want to dress up for formal night or have lots of kids and want a quicker, quieter dinner will go there instead of the dinning rooms. If you eat in their then you should leave a small amount of cash on the table when you leave.
The wait staff in there are in training for the main dining rooms. so they are really trying hard but sometimes dont have the personality of your main servers. They are concentrating on getting your order correct.
Their bosses are standing 20 feet away so they can be a bit nervous.
we have had good service and great food in there. It is casual every night.
kathleen