tipping/celebrity

Has anyone ever tipped your waiter at the beginning of the cruise(second day) as opposed to at the end. I know this has obvious pros and cons ...but would appreciate your opinions.We are leaving on 9/2 W.Carribean.

[ErnieMCC]

How could you possibly know the level of service... the friendliness and efficiency of your waiter and assistant waiter so early in a cruise? With the not unreasonable assumption that one tips according to the service received I would suggest waiting till the last night.

Ernie

[Kuki]

murielle wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever tipped your waiter at the beginning of the
> cruise(second day) as opposed to at the end. I know this has
> obvious pros and cons ...but would appreciate your opinions.We
> are leaving on 9/2 W.Carribean.

Quite often (when I remember<G>) I'll slip the cabin attendant and waiter a portion of their tip early in the cruise, tell them I appreciate their great service and let them know there's more to come. Seems to work for me, but I suspect most of the time we'd get great service anyway.
I certainly don't like the idea of pre paid tips because as Ernie says.... tipping is for services rendered.

Regards,
Kuki
Features Editor
CruiseMates.com

Personally, I prefer tipping the traditional way. At the end of the cruise for the quality of service received. It seems to leave more incentive for exceptional service.