A residential cruise ship that was supposed to travel around the world has been stuck in Northern Ireland for the past three months.
17.08.2024 - 09:40 / cntraveler.com
It’s the wild, wild west these days across America’s dining scene. They’re taxing tips. You’re getting nudged away from your table after ninety minutes with a check you never asked for. If you’re not on your toes at all times, you’ll end up tipping 20% on the water bottle you grabbed from a self-service refrigerator. Whether you live here or are merely visiting, it’s hard to know what exactly is expected of you when dining out in this ever-shifting nation. We have, after all, only just emerged blinking and shivering wet from a quarantine-which-shall-not-be-named that variously rewrote and obliterated many of our societal norms. Menus are on QR codes, there’s a restaurant-loyalty app that lets you pay without speaking to the waiter and it’s depressing Pete Wells (as well as this writer), yada yada.
A new study by Yelp is looking to help offer some guidance to anyone who might feel confused. A total of 2,000 regular restaurant reviewers and an etiquette expert weighed in on such matters as phone use at the table, splitting the bill, and tipping in the US. Since we’ll take all the help we can get, we spoke to a few hospitality experts of our own to bolster the findings. Read on for the full breakdown.
While the Yelp study proffers that businesses feel “the less cards, the better”—anyone with good sense and an appreciation for their own dignity should understand this—Yelp users themselves are split. About 65% of Southern diners “ask the server to divvy up the tab based on individual diners’ orders.” In the Northeast, 39% split the bill evenly and 35% do the right thing and have one person foot the bill, with everybody else paying them back in private and at a latter date. (Assuming the spirit of generosity did not visit the bill footer, who may or may not know how good it feels to declare, “Dinner’s on me!”).
Victor Gothelf, executive chef at Port Sa’id, agrees that this is the best route, saying, “One card is always the way to go, and then split among friends on an app—especially if one person is trying to get points on a credit card. If you must split the bill, for business or any other reasons, up to four cards is doable.” Li Goldstein, a Bon Appétit staffer who last year wrote a very helpful dissertation on splitting the bill specifically, sees one person footing the bill as a given, going further to say that splitting intricacies should only be handled after the fact rather than put on the server. “If some people are drinking while others aren’t, or one person balled out on a crazy expensive entrée, having everyone Venmo their exact share is well within reason,” she says, “It’s a case by case judgment call.”
Out of the Yelp survey respondents, approximately two-thirds will tip 20% for table service
A residential cruise ship that was supposed to travel around the world has been stuck in Northern Ireland for the past three months.
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Thoughts of fall travel might conjure up images of cozy cabins and hiking through fiery red foliage. This autumn, however, a wave of new airline routes from the US is shaking up the usual pumpkin-spice-laced doldrums and offering easy new ways to access exciting destinations. Think city escapes in Northern Africa, beaches on tiny Caribbean islands, and lush nature in Oceania.
The first thing you'll notice about the Cape Liberty cruise port is the views: Situated on the Hudson River in New Jersey across from New York City, the port has spectacular skyline panoramas of Manhattan and unimpeded views of the Statue of Liberty. In fact, sailing out of Cape Liberty will bring you face-to-face (OK, face-to-toes) with Lady Liberty when you sail through the harbor.
Nestled on Florida's west coast, Tampa's cruise port is situated on the bay, rather than directly on the Gulf of Mexico. Port Tampa Bay serves five cruise lines and offers a variety of sailings to destinations like the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Mexico and Central America.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Matthew Boutte, a graduate of Georgetown Law, who gave up his legal career to travel and tutor. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his education history and income.
Aug 15, 2024 • 7 min read
If the end of summer has you craving more vacation time, a new offer could be just the ticket. Wizz Air, based in Budapest, recently announced an «All You Can Fly» subscription pass that allows travelers to journey throughout the world for just a few hundred dollars. For a very limited time, the program is only €499 (approximately $537) per year, and the price jumps to €599 (approximately $657) from August 16, 2024. Travelers can begin using their flight pass for flights after September 25, 2024. While the program has the subscription fee, the flights are technically not free. Travelers are charged a small €10 (approximately $11) fee for each flight segment they book, according to the program's terms.