Concierge Tipping

[LynseyK]

I just got off a 7 day cruise on the Fantasy and stayed in a concierge room. I was wondering what other people who have stayed in concierge have tipped the team before? I l know disney has no set amount and its always confusing for guests. We don't want to low ball them but we just don't know what's appropriate. I wanted to help other future travelers out there get a better idea. We personally left $500 because we have two small boys and the staff was amazing. They were always playing with our children and gave us a bunch of free stuff for them. Sunglasses and Cortizone cream and toys. Plus I always change my mind and they rearranged our entire schedule to make it easier for us. So I just wanted to see what other people have left and help future travelers

 

[insureman]

We did a short 3 day on the Dream and gave $100. I'm always at a loss on what to pay concierge. Did you have Andy from Germany, he was suppose to go to the Fantasy after our April cruise.

 

[darkwing818]

We left $150 for the concierge team on a 4 day. We also tipped the bartender & the person who helped out, with the tables $25 apiece. Total $200.

 

[LynseyK]

We did a short 3 day on the Dream and gave $100. I'm always at a loss on what to pay concierge. Did you have Andy from Germany, he was suppose to go to the Fantasy after our April cruise.

I did have Andy he was amazing by far my favorite concierge team member.

 

[hamm1207]

We try to tip them a large amount, as they work only for tips--they split the tip money, unless you give it to them individually. We usually try to do at least $150 for four nighters and more for the seven nighters (it's just two of us).

We absolutely love Andy and PJ. Kamisha and Julie are awesome too!

 

[bumbershoot]

We try to tip them a large amount, as they work only for tips--

Supposedly.

I personally doubt it, because they all seemed intelligent, and it's not intelligent to take a job that is SOLELY tips when tips aren't required. Just not a good idea to take such a job.



OP there are many other threads from the past year on this. One or two involve polls. The ideas of what is an appropriate tip vary widely and wildly, but I think that most of us do want to be generous with them. But it's all relative to the individual.

 

[Bear3412]

OP

I can tell you the staff was thrilled with your tip.
Your tip was well in the top range. There is nothing wrong with that. I have heard of higher tips fwiw. It's a personal decision, and it varies, with services provided. And delivered service varies widely. And therefore the tips do too.

I've heard and read about some stories the concierge team occasionally performs for pax. that would surprise many. In those incidences, a tip in you range would be in line. In fact even normal regular service deserves such a tip from what I've heard. Of course some give $50 for a B2B on the Fantasy.

I would love to share concierge stories, (That I read about) but that would be a breach of security. And if those details got out, everyone would request them. In fact I'm impressed they haven't surfaced.

If you have kids, your right. It's like the Kid's Club in a concierge way. I've read about how they really take care of, and focus on the little ones.

Isn't it nice to be surprised occasionally?

We don't have to tell all here, do we?
Does no one want to be wowed/surprised?

I'm thrilled to hear your tip amount to the concierge team, and many others are too. Many now feel better. Of course some don't unfortunately. Because after reading some of these threads here, it seems few tip as high unfortunately. But again, those folks must not have met the team, or asked any questions, or had kids.

Fwiw, tipping the team is entirely personal and can range from $0 - $ 700 for a week sailing. You will become comfortable with a figure for the team during your sailing as all do. So try to relax and enjoy.

Concierge tipping amount poll, fwiw.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2971416&highlight=tipping+concierge+poll
Also, trust me that the bottom value in the poll is used, just no one reports it IMO. (96 votes) Lol.

 

[frugalwitch]

This is what confuses me, concierge costs more because of the extra services, hence I have already paid much more for those services. So why am I expected to tip concierge for just doing what I paid all that extra money for? This is not about trying to be cheap, or disrespectful, I truly am confused why tips are expected for a service I have already paid out the nose for.
I have zero problem tipping the rest, before anyone tries to start that debate.

 

[AlexandNessa]

This is what confuses me, concierge costs more because of the extra services, hence I have already paid much more for those services. So why am I expected to tip concierge for just doing what I paid all that extra money for? This is not about trying to be cheap, or disrespectful, I truly am confused why tips are expected for a service I have already paid out the nose for.
I have zero problem tipping the rest, before anyone tries to start that debate.

I understand the argument, and don't disagree with you. There was a time when the concierge had to refuse tips. Then DCL changed its policy. And now, though the amount is "at your discretion," tips are still expected.

Sometimes I think posts like the original post just make folks feel bad if they have not tipped as much. Not that that was the OP's intent, but no one should feel bad if they don't tip as extravagantly.

For us, as a couple who really only asks for a dinner reservation or tickets to a tasting, a 500$ tip to the concierge staff for the week seems rather exorbitant. Just like our tips to the bartender in the concierge lounge would probably seem exorbitant to anyone who doesn't drink or doesn't ask them to make their kids smoothies.

I think the bottom line is that your tip should be based on a factor of:

# of people in your party x # of cruise nights x a coefficient of "neediness" or "wow factor."

 

[cypressmom]

We left $150 for the concierge team on a 4 day. We also tipped the bartender & the person who helped out, with the tables $25 apiece. Total $200.

Can you tell me how this works on the Fantasy? Do they provide you with one tip envelope for the entire team?

On the Magic we were assigned one concierge, but both were quite helpful, so we asked for a second envelope. We did not tip them the same amount, we based it on what they did for us. Honestly, the concierge not assigned to us did more than our assigned concierge.

 

[AlexandNessa]

The concierge staff pools its tips, so only one envelope is provided.

 

[FJS961]

I agree about paying such a premium for the concierge level /service in the first place that you shouldn't feel expected to pay hundreds more additionally in tips. There are basic things concierge do for you that should be expected and not needing a tip. There are other 'wow' factor things that probably should be recognized with a tip, at your discretion. If you do the math, $200 per concierge cabin on new ships (40 rooms) divided by 3 concierge hosts works out to about 140K each annualized.

 

[VAgal76]

Tipping concierge - yeah, this one gets me. Here's what I did - $25 to the bartender (I visited 3 times for a glass of the wine prior to dinner and she was always super attentive).
$150 to the concierge team: I used them to book 2 tastings and sting ray tour at CC as soon as we boarded on the 1st day (actually it was the guest service team that was helping in the lounge - but hey!), have them fix Palo reservation (assign my current reservation I had prior to boarding to my non-concierge sister and re-book us for Pirate night - again guest service team helping out that 1st day saw to this), fix our main seating to second seating, set up b-day celebration for my son and niece in the dining room for the night of our choosing - nothing crazy just head off having to track down head server to arrange, Andy had the spa remove my niece's fingernail polish from her fingers for free by having them provide soaked cotton balls but they ended up doing it there between appointments on the fly.

I didn't do the meet and greet since I had my non-concierge family traveling. I had the list of need to do items and went up the lounge by myself while my DH took the rest of the gang to the pool area and get ready for lunch.

I booked my own spa appointment via wave phone when a special grabbed my attention. Dude, I have a wave phone with spa pre-programmed, it was early so did I really need to bother Andy with booking it? Nah! I utilized the lounge every morning for coffee and a place to read while my boys slept which has nothing to do with the staff. But they always struck up conversation anytime I came in even when I had one eye open bumbling around for coffee.

They had my sister's family come by the last evening so they could meet the kiddos. They've been hearing about them and how they spent the night with us while mom and dad had date night. I thought that was very nice of them. Don't panic, we know the lounge is for concierge guests only. They weren't camping out in there or anything. The concierge team spent a lot of time with all the children in the lounge throughout the week. I even saw one little boy run into the lounge to hug Alice. My DS and DBIL seeing the lounge and the concierge interaction has them eye balling it the next time they go on a disney cruise.

I would've totally tipped more if they arranged special things like an in-suite party, handled messy accounting or service issue elsewhere on the ship (by golly - that never happened! Awesome crew aboard the Fantasy.), etc.

I felt our tip was most likely good for the level of attention we received. We didn't require a lot of hand holding and are aware of the Disney product. I know tipping is a personal decision and with these situations I feel like I'm shooting in the dark. I hope more step up and share their most recent experiences with concierge and tipping levels. It certainly helps others and myself.

 

[ihatetexas]

I recently spent a week on the Eastern Caribbean Fantasy. We are a family of four and booked a Cat T. I really did not know what to do about the tip envelope for the concierge. I asked a couple people in the lounge who were equally lost. I ended up leaving $100 which was waaaaaay more than the service deserved. When I look back on it, they were all nice but really did nothing exceptional for our family. They gave my kids arcade cards but I think everybody gets those. They gave me a litho, but I do not think they actually bought it for me, right? I think we had breakfast delivered twice, they took our order. They answered a few questions for me. But that is about it. Oh, they did make Palo's reservations for my husband and I which I did not do beforehand. Truthfully, a $20 tip would be more than enough, but that just seemed too low. Why does Disney do this to us?

Susan

 

[firsttimemom]

Tipping concierge - yeah, this one gets me. Here's what I did - $25 to the bartender... $150 to the concierge team

Can these be added to our onboard account or should we plan to bring extra cash?

 

[Subi WRX]

I think the way to look at it is: someone will always give more than you; someone will always give less. The concierge staff has seen the gamut, and your tip is probably somewhere in the middle of their spectrum, whatever you give.

To the PP, you can add concierge tips to your onboard account. The bartenders you will need to tip in cash.

 

[hmangus]

I feel soo cheap I did 20 per person for the 3 of us! Eeek!

 

[ndabunka]

Here's my question and to some it may sound like I am from another planet but the ONLY reason my family would be in a room aligned with a concierge would be for the 1 bedroom space.

My wife HATES ANYONE to wait on her (or us by proxy) so we would not actually use them for well... anything! However, my wife was a waitress so we tend to leave larger-than-average tips to a wait staff so I would suspect that even though we would likely not even use them, she would still want to tip them something.

 

[Bear3412]

Can these be added to our onboard account or should we plan to bring extra cash?

They can be added to your onboard account.

 

[Mama Who]

Supposedly.

I personally doubt it, because they all seemed intelligent, and it's not intelligent to take a job that is SOLELY tips when tips aren't required. Just not a good idea to take such a job.

Depends on the industry.

I worked at a casino when I was younger, in HR. Poker dealers earned $5/hr plus tips. On paydays I noticed that the dealers' paychecks just sat for weeks and weeks. Turns out they weren't getting a check- their tips (and they only declared half of what they made) were so high that the taxes on their tips were consistently higher than their paycheck. Those envelopes simply held a paystub telling them how far in the hole for taxes they were that week.

Technically they were not working "solely" for tips but they'd have been sitting pretty even if they had. It would certainly not have been unintelligent for them to do so. Those guys made serious money.