WE always tip the matre d. But I am not really sure why. He is always at the door to welcome us when we arrive at dinner and thats about it.
So I was just wondering who tips him and why. and if not why.

I always tip him but have NO idea why.

Not us, sounds like you see him more than us. Of course with that said he might be working in the background.

Some matre d's are better than others. Their job does entail more than saying, "Hello," as you enter the dining room. I ALWAYS tip the matre d' but the amount varies on length of cruise, satisfaction of dining experience, and his or her attitude.

We always do because they perform a specific service for us.

Our special needs child has panic attacks around people in costumes and he/she lets us know when they are at the front door taking pictures so we can leave out the upstairs entrance.

I only Tip the waiter or Waitress that serves me personaly. And I give them Cash without anyone seeing. Upon the first greeeting handshake with a ten spot in it then more if I get my 2 or 3 shrimp cocktails each night if I dine there.

Matre-A Matre-B, C or D Never does anything for me personaly to deserve a tip. IMHO

What about the Head Waiter? Not your main server, but the Head Waiter over your particular area of the dining room. If I recall, the suggestion is .50 per day per person. The Head Waiter supposedly has trained your primary server and assistant waiter.

I have tipped the Head Waiter several times, and not done so on several cruises. I especially did NOT tip the HW after he poured himself a half glass of our declared, special bottle of wine we brought for our 20th anniversary (we offered him a "taste," he poured himself half a glass). Bad manners on his part. We did not tip the HW when, after we found ourselves the only people at a window table for 6 and asked for table mates, he did nothing to accomodate our wishes (never saw him after the second night of the cruise).

Usually, I never see the matre d' except when walking in the dining room. I do not feel this deserves a tip. However, we just got back yesterday from a cruise. Our matre d' on this cruise came around and spoke to us every night. He always asked if there was anything he could do or anything we needed. He also would carry on a conversation. We felt that he deserved a tip for his effort.

We tip everyone according to their service performance. If they suck they get a small tip if any, however if the service is great, so is their tip. And is always cash. Especially the wait staff in the casino and also bar tenders. There were several cruises that we have been on when they said they were out of a particular type of beer. However, the bartenders came up with the 'beer they were out of' for us & got good tips for thier effort.

The maître d' (short for maître d'hôtel, literally "master of the hall") in a suitably staffed restaurant is the person in charge of assigning customers to tables in the establishment, and dividing the dining area into areas of responsibility for the various servers on duty. He or she may also be the person who receives and records advance reservations for dining, as well as dealing with any customer complaints and making sure all servers are completing their tasks in an efficient manner. In some localities or traditions the post is also known as the headwaiter or captain.

In the United States, these functions may be vested in a manager, supervisor, or cashier. A working maitre d' in the U.S. is usually associated with a destination restaurant, or one connected with a four-star or better hotel. Though the distinction between a maître d'hôtel and host is, in practice, one of nomenclature, less elite establishments employ a "host".
--Wikipedia--

Never knew what their duties were until now. I have always tipped them but was not sure why. Just thought it was the right thing to do...

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!

Don't forget, apparently, their job is also to publically dress down and humiliate the servers who are really the hard workers!

quote:

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.