Gratuity

[baby2lamb]

I'm looking into booking our first DC I was wondering is the Gratuity included. I know with another cruise line it was so much per day per person. Is DC the same way?

If so how much is it pp/pd.

 

Thank you!

[ducklite]

Per the DCL web site:

 

It is customary to give gratuities in recognition of service, which you will most likely be treated to in abundance aboard the ship. As a guideline, we suggest the following:

 

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night

Dining Room Server $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Room Asst. Server $9.00 $12.00 $21.00

Dining Room Head Server $3.00 $4.00 $7.00

Stateroom Host/

Hostess $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Manager Your Discretion

Room Service Your Discretion

Palo Gratuity included

Vista Spa & Salon Your Discretion

Babysitting Gratuity not expected

Shore Excursions Optional;

not included in shore

excursion price.

 

For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.

[CariBear]

I'm looking into booking our first DC I was wondering is the Gratuity included. I know with another cruise line it was so much per day per person. Is DC the same way?

If so how much is it pp/pd.

 

Thank you!

 

 

It's not included in your fare. The gratuities are recommended at an amount of $12 per day per person in the stateroom. So for a stateroom with 2 adults and 2 children for a 3 night cruise it would be $12 x 4 people in stateroom = $48 x 3 days = $144 total gratuities for a 3-night cruise. Hope this helps!!

[noahdove]

I made envelopes and have the first cabin's filled already:) less than 100 days...

[AtlFolks]

I'm looking into booking our first DC I was wondering is the Gratuity included. I know with another cruise line it was so much per day per person. Is DC the same way?

If so how much is it pp/pd.

 

Thank you!

 

Stick with the suggested daily gratuity rates found in your cruising guide, the website, and on other replies to your post.

 

You will have the option to have your gratuities billed to your stateroom. Then, you will give your service providers coupons that they redeem for cash. If you feel your stateroom attendant or waiters gave excellent service, consider putting a few extra dollars in their envelopes - the good ones work really hard to ensure you are a happy cruiser.

 

I advise against trying to give cash - it's overly cumbersome and not necessary because of the coupons. I assure you, Disney will remind you of this service on the second to last day of your trip.

[ducklite]

I advise against trying to give cash - it's overly cumbersome and not necessary because of the coupons. I assure you, Disney will remind you of this service on the second to last day of your trip.

 

You do need to have cash for room service deliveries and if you take a tour on the islands it's customary to tip the guide and driver--you'll need cash for them as well.

[addlema]

It's not included in your fare. The gratuities are recommended at an amount of $12 per day per person in the stateroom. So for a stateroom with 2 adults and 2 children for a 3 night cruise it would be $12 x 4 people in stateroom = $48 x 3 days = $144 total gratuities for a 3-night cruise. Hope this helps!!

 

The Disney site says per person PER CRUISE not per day:

 

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night

Dining Room Server $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Room Asst. $9.00 $12.00 $21.00

Dining Room Head $3.00 $4.00 $7.00

Stateroom Host $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

 

I think your overtipping base there Caribear?

[ducklite]

The Disney site says per person PER CRUISE not per day:

 

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night

Dining Room Server $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Room Asst. $9.00 $12.00 $21.00

Dining Room Head $3.00 $4.00 $7.00

Stateroom Host $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

 

I think your overtipping base there Caribear?

 

Caribear broke it down per day per passenger, you broke it down per cruise per passenger,

 

Either way it works out to a total of $144 for the four guests on a three night cruise.

[markchech]

Traditionally aren't Tips/Gratuities meant for those who do their job well? Now people are just expecting to be rewarded, and if they aren't they wont treat their guests well? How is that customer service? Great service should be expected without a tip. Tips should be given to those who go above and beyond what they are PAID to do.

[ducklite]

Traditionally aren't Tips/Gratuities meant for those who do their job well? Now people are just expecting to be rewarded, and if they aren't they wont treat their guests well? How is that customer service? Great service should be expected without a tip. Tips should be given to those who go above and beyond what they are PAID to do.

 

If you feel the service isn't up to par, you are free to reduce your tips downard. However those crew members rely on their tips for a living, and arbitrarily not tipping because they weren't wiping your nose after you sneezed is pretty repugnant in my opnion. The service we received on our last DCL cruise was so outstanding that we gave everyone between 150% and 200% of the suggested gratuity, plus International prepaid phone cards.

[Host Mick]

Traditionally aren't Tips/Gratuities meant for those who do their job well? Now people are just expecting to be rewarded, and if they aren't they wont treat their guests well? How is that customer service? Great service should be expected without a tip. Tips should be given to those who go above and beyond what they are PAID to do.

 

That's how it works most of the time but traditionally on cruise ships, the tips are their wages. The cruise line pays them a token amount, the rest is tips.

Cruises are a wonderful opportunity to do something that most people can't do at home, pay someone for their service what you think they earned after they perform the service. Fell free to adjust up or down as you feel. Future cruisers thank you.

[taseas]

Per the DCL web site:

 

It is customary to give gratuities in recognition of service, which you will most likely be treated to in abundance aboard the ship. As a guideline, we suggest the following:

 

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night

Dining Room Server $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Room Asst. Server $9.00 $12.00 $21.00

Dining Room Head Server $3.00 $4.00 $7.00

Stateroom Host/

Hostess $12.00 $16.00 $28.00

Dining Manager Your Discretion

Room Service Your Discretion

Palo Gratuity included

Vista Spa & Salon Your Discretion

Babysitting Gratuity not expected

Shore Excursions Optional;

not included in shore

excursion price.

 

For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.

 

 

Do you typically tip the same per person price for the children in your stateroom?

 

Thanks!

[sensfan318]

With DCL, is there anyway to prepay our gratuities online before our cruise or do we need to wait until we are onboard?

[annabell08]

Do you typically tip the same per person price for the children in your stateroom?

 

Children sometimes get better service than adults.

[cruiser_123]

We are planning on skipping all formal dining and do more in room dining. Since we will tip for the in room dining and not going to the dining room why would we tip the wait staff who never waited on us?

[Host Mick]

We are planning on skipping all formal dining and do more in room dining. Since we will tip for the in room dining and not going to the dining room why would we tip the wait staff who never waited on us?

 

Because your table is there every night, set and ready for you.

Because your servers' wages depend on your tips.

[BexD]

With DCL, is there anyway to prepay our gratuities online before our cruise or do we need to wait until we are onboard?

 

We prepaid all of our gratuities when we booked our cruise with our travel agent.

[FamilyMiracle]

Do you typically tip the same per person price for the children in your stateroom?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Nope.

I typically tip more per person for my children. I pick up after myself, and so does hubby, for the most part. My children require way more work than Hubby and I do.

[Carolla5501]

Because your table is there every night, set and ready for you.

Because your servers' wages depend on your tips.

 

 

Thats also the "tip" for service you receive at other dining on the boat (You do plan to eat Breakfast and Lunch?) The servers work those meals too. So I think you should tip. Of course if you plan to go on the boat and never leave your room then....

[cruiser_123]

Thats also the "tip" for service you receive at other dining on the boat (You do plan to eat Breakfast and Lunch?) The servers work those meals too. So I think you should tip. Of course if you plan to go on the boat and never leave your room then....

 

That is a better explanation than the other persons. Thanks. I thought it was the tip just for dinner and we may want to eat on our veranda some meals. We are touring Alaska so the view from our veranda will be beautiful.

[Host Mick]

Thats also the "tip" for service you receive at other dining on the boat (You do plan to eat Breakfast and Lunch?) The servers work those meals too. So I think you should tip. Of course if you plan to go on the boat and never leave your room then....

 

That's a good point.

Also, know that the dining room staff rotate out of the dining rooms every four or so cruises where they work the buffets for no tips. So the tips that they receive in the dining rooms carry them through their tipless weeks.

[ma23peas]

That's how it works most of the time but traditionally on cruise ships, the tips are their wages. The cruise line pays them a token amount, the rest is tips.

 

When I was a server (at a very upper scale restaurant) we were paid $2.01 an hour...so yes, tips were pretty much our living...taxes pretty much took our 'salary'....but cruise lines pay MUCH better...$7-12 an hour..I'm not saying that means they should be tipped less, just trying to clarify that tips are not their sole wages.

 

I know I will get flamed for this...but if I go to a restaurant and have a coupon for buy one get one free dinner, I tip on the cost of the meal, not what it would have been before the coupon. That's just me. So when you take the suggested price of the lowest cabin and figure in the percentage the 'suggested' tip rates come in at, it runs around 13% of the cost of the cruise. I have no problem paying 13-15% the cost of my cruise to the servers/attendants...I do have a problem paying 20-25% of the cost of my cruise. We have never sailed prior to last year b/c we could not afford it...then Disney started offering amazing kids sail free offers...we pay more for tips than we spend on ourselves for all excursions/tokens/miscellaneous..and we do tip dollar bills for room service. So, not looking for anyone to say it's right but I will never pay less than 15% the cost of my cruise to the servers...if that falls below the suggested rate, so be it. In a few years we will be in a position to pay for a much more expensive room and will still stick to the 15% rule...if we get outstanding service than we'll bump their portion to 20% or more...

 

I am happy there are those that tip 200%...I loved those customers as a server, but I honestly did not resent those that tipped nothing...for some it's culture for others they've probably never worked as a server...it all balances eventually...

 

Tara

[Bikeguy64]

That's a good point.

Also, know that the dining room staff rotate out of the dining rooms every four or so cruises where they work the buffets for no tips. So the tips that they receive in the dining rooms carry them through their tipless weeks.

 

Our assistant waiter was working the snack bar one afternoon. I asked if this was common. He stated people had to do snack ba/buffet duty in addition to the dinner service.

 

So, I don't think it is limited to off weeks while not working the dining room.

[ducklite]

Do you typically tip the same per person price for the children in your stateroom?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes. As a matter of fact you might want to consider tipping more--kids cause a lot more work, especially if they are still in diapers.

[ducklite]

We are planning on skipping all formal dining and do more in room dining. Since we will tip for the in room dining and not going to the dining room why would we tip the wait staff who never waited on us?

 

Because it's your choice to dine in your stateroom, don't punish the dining room servers for your decision. As others have mentioned, they work other meals, snack bars, the buffet. And I think you'll find that in-room dining isn't as fun as you might think. They don't bring the food course by course and unless you are in a suite, the room service menu is quite limited.