I had a great meal & great service: however my charge came through with only the meal charge and no mention of the tip I had included on the card. What happened? Do I need to tip in cash to be sure the staff gets tipped?

It will show up later just keep an eye out for it

This has happened to me before. If the meal was very recent, they only charge your credit card for the meal price (it will probably show as a pending charge), but if you check back in a few days, the tip will show up in the final, posted amount charged to the card.