When I visited a friend who moved to Amsterdam, and we went out for our first meal, she explained that anything we wanted, we had to order the first time the waiter appeared at the table...because we wouldn't see him again for the rest of the meal.

She also told the story of a business trip to the U.S. with a colleague who hadn't been to North America before. He felt like a VIP with all the attentive wait staff in the restaurants.

That said, I carry my own bags, and avoid valet parking like the plague.