New to Disney, I'm wondering about tipping.

[meajuly5]

Ok, thanks! Just trying to wrap my mind re: what paid in full means! Once I am pif, still responsible for auto tips, any excursions and onboard purchases.

[My 2 princesses]

Originally Posted by PrincessShmoo

Uness you paid Pre-paid tips, they are extra. They will be charged to your onboard account when you board. They are not actually paid out until the end of the cruise, giving you time to adjust/remove them as you wish.

Does anyone even remove or downgrade the tip charges? This is our first trip and all I've ever read is about excellent service. Then I saw in one thread that people thought their head servers were 'creepy' and such, so I wondered if they still paid full or made changes. And if you pre-pay, can you still make changes?

[MouseMomx2]

Originally Posted by My 2 princesses

Does anyone even remove or downgrade the tip charges? This is our first trip and all I've ever read is about excellent service. Then I saw in one thread that people thought their head servers were 'creepy' and such, so I wondered if they still paid full or made changes. And if you pre-pay, can you still make changes?

We have never had cause to decrease the tip amounts. In fact, we have always added at least a little bit of cash to the envelope. We have had some head servers that were quite visible and others that we never saw. Our feeling is that if the dining room is running well then the head servers deserve the $1 per day per person tip (suggested amount). If we make a more personal connection with our head server we add some cash to the envelope.

If you feel that any of your team (servers/stateroom host) do not deserve the full amount of the suggested tips then you can definitely adjust accordingly. Personally, we have taken more than 10 DCL cruises and have never had that experience.

[PrincessShmoo]

Originally Posted by My 2 princesses

Does anyone even remove or downgrade the tip charges? This is our first trip and all I've ever read is about excellent service. Then I saw in one thread that people thought their head servers were 'creepy' and such, so I wondered if they still paid full or made changes. And if you pre-pay, can you still make changes?

Yes, unfortunately, there are those who remove their tips. The attitude of "why can't cruiselines pay a living wage, instead of the crew members relying on tips for their income?" is usually the driving motive there.

On DCL, the tips are added to your onboard account as a convience. You can go to Guest Services once onboard to remove/adjust your tips at any time. Or, if you asking about adding more, you can just add cash to the tip envelope you receive at the end of the cruise along with the voucher you receive.

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Originally Posted by My 2 princesses

Does anyone even remove or downgrade the tip charges? This is our first trip and all I've ever read is about excellent service. Then I saw in one thread that people thought their head servers were 'creepy' and such, so I wondered if they still paid full or made changes. And if you pre-pay, can you still make changes?

In our 7 cruises we have only done it one time. We switched the tip between the server and the assistant server. To us it was warranted.
Every other time we have always overtipped.

[Jackson's grammie]

Not only excellent service but the CM's on the ship are the hardest working people I have ever seen in all my travels. Make sure you say hello and get to know them a little. We have always added cash in the end because we did not feel they were getting enough for the services they provide. I also try to keep a little notebook so when I run across someone who is going out of their way to make my day a little nicer I try to write their names down so I can mention them in the comment card. That goes a long way into getting them promoted and having extra time off.

[dringster]

Thanks for asking this I was also confused, but all the great info has been brilliant

[DebbieOBX]

A few things:

Thanks everyone for your reply's.

Our last PC cruise in Nov on HAL we only ate in the MDR 1 night of 14 nights. The service was soooooooo slow. NOT the worker themselves, but understaffed. We removed His tip and tipped the Lido staff. I believe 4 Lido staff folks took good care of me and hubby.

Also on another HAL cruise, my little grandson fell around the pool deck. Well this little young lady came right to Him, ran for an ice pack and took care of Him like he was her own. After chatting with Her, we found out she was missing a child of her own, and missing tending to that child.

She was the bathroom cleaner, and SHE was tipped very well. Oddly i will never forget her and her story and smile. : )

So sometimes i connect with 'others' then the 4 that get auto tipped. I just enjoy tipping my own way.

thanks debbie

[sandrakit]

Some people don't tip at all & that makes me furious ! The waiter , assistant waiter , head waiter & stateroom host get a small wage from Disney each Month of $ 52.00 ! When people do not tip the workers are basically working for room & board ( Very small cramped room & the same food everyday ) I know this from my friend who worked on the Magic & Dream ( resigned last month ). I witnessed a conversation on my last night ( Jan 23 , 2013 ) on the Dream of couples saying they were heading to guest services to remove their tips & I asked why to hand to them personally & they responded with NO they paid enough for their cruise & that they were not tipping ! I was so mad & I told them they wouldn't be getting paid then & they said TOO BAD ... I appreciate my service team & leave the required amount & add cash to the envelopes & treat them with candy , chocolates & peppermints ( all were truly thankful & the man who was mopping the floor had tears in his eyes and said no one had ever given him anything & he hugged me ) . If people would at least tip the required amount the workers are very happy anything extra is a bonus ...enjoy your cruise , you will be treated like royalty !

[kcashner]

Originally Posted by sandrakit

Some people don't tip at all & that makes me furious ! The waiter , assistant waiter , head waiter & stateroom host get a small wage from Disney each Month of $ 52.00 ! When people do not tip the workers are basically working for room & board ( Very small cramped room & the same food everyday ) I know this from my friend who worked on the Magic & Dream ( resigned last month ). I witnessed a conversation on my last night ( Jan 23 , 2013 ) on the Dream of couples saying they were heading to guest services to remove their tips & I asked why to hand to them personally & they responded with NO they paid enough for their cruise & that they were not tipping ! I was so mad & I told them they wouldn't be getting paid then & they said TOO BAD ... I appreciate my service team & leave the required amount & add cash to the envelopes & treat them with candy , chocolates & peppermints ( all were truly thankful & the man who was mopping the floor had tears in his eyes and said no one had ever given him anything & he hugged me ) . If people would at least tip the required amount the workers are very happy anything extra is a bonus ...enjoy your cruise , you will be treated like royalty !

This is completely consistent with what we've been told--that the tipped positions are paid about $50 per month. In addition they get room and board, laundry of their "costumes," (they are responsible for laundry of personal items), and transportation home at the end of their contract and back at the start of the next contract. They are totally dependent on tips for their income. As is often pointed out, the job isn't slavery and no one is making them do it...but not tipping is just wrong.

No, it is not at all difficult to give out the envelopes on the last night. You'll see your people at dinner. For the stateroom host, leave the envelope on the bed if he isn't in the hall when you come out. If you are dining in Palo or Remy on the last night, stop by the main dining room and hand the envelopes to the head server--he'll see that they go to the right people.

[Yokelridesagain]

A bit off topic, but I've always wondered about this. If you order an alcoholic beverage (cocktail, bottle of wine, wine package, etc.) in the dining room, does the 15% autotip for that go into a general pool? That's what I understood a PP to mean.

In other words, if I choose not to order drinks in the MDR am I depriving the assistant server of some hoped for income? (I realize the answer is yes either way, but if it's a tip to a general pool and not personally to them the impact is less.)

[PrincessShmoo]

Originally Posted by Yokelridesagain

A bit off topic, but I've always wondered about this. If you order an alcoholic beverage (cocktail, bottle of wine, wine package, etc.) in the dining room, does the 15% autotip for that go into a general pool? That's what I understood a PP to mean.

In other words, if I choose not to order drinks in the MDR am I depriving the assistant server of some hoped for income? (I realize the answer is yes either way, but if it's a tip to a general pool and not personally to them the impact is less.)

The 15% gratutiy included in the bar tab is pooled for all bar servers. Any additional cash you give in the bars (or your MDR asst server), goes directly to the person who you tip.

[ravensilverlight]

Originally Posted by My 2 princesses

Does anyone even remove or downgrade the tip charges? This is our first trip and all I've ever read is about excellent service. Then I saw in one thread that people thought their head servers were 'creepy' and such, so I wondered if they still paid full or made changes. And if you pre-pay, can you still make changes?

Unless things have changed recently, there isn't really a way to SPECIFICALLY pre-pay your gratuities. You can figure out how much they are and pay the amount before you cruise, absolutely. But in my experience, when you do that, it's just credited to your stateroom account in a lump sum, not earmarked for tips. Then when you get on board, you can absolutely adjust it as you see fit.

Somebody else correct me if I'm wrong!

[teamadco]

Originally Posted by clten

As others have said, DCL's auto charge of the gratuities is a little different than most of the cruise lines. Most other cruise lines the per day/per person charge may look similar to what DCL is auto charging to your shipboard account. But on other cruiselines, that money goes to a "service fee" or other similarly named "surcharge". Those charges are pooled and divided among the staff however the cruiseline has established their policy. The cruiser has little/no control over who gets the money. (We would tip the minimum even for poor/just okay service, but when we had difficulty with a server on Princess to the point we wanted to make sure he got no tip, it was quite a Herculean effort to have tips removed from our account. And that was several years ago, I'm not sure we would be able to do it today at all.)

On DCL, the tips that are auto charged are still tips -- you have full control over the amount and who gets what. When they automatically charge the recommended tips (which is currently $12/pp/pd). That is divided among 4 positions (head server, server, asst server and stateroom host). You will get tickets showing the tip amount along with envelopes so you do still hand them to the individuals to show your appreciation. Now, you can choose to remove them entirely and tip in cash. Or you can still charge them to your stateroom account and adjust the amounts -- raise them all, raise some, lower others -- however you want to do it. We used to tip in cash before DCL started automatically applying the tips to the shipboard charges. Now, we allow them to charge the standard and add cash. It's just easiest for us and I know the cast members appreciate having their tips in a cashless form since so many have to wire cash home.

Thanks for all the tipping info...when you say $12/pp/pd that means all people in your cabin including children right? Also what kind of non-monetary gifts are appreciated? What kind of phone cards? Can we buy those ahead of time or on board? Any other suggestions to show appreciation?

[CruznLexi]

We add tips with final payment or just a few weeks before we sail. Don't have to worry about that once we are on the ship. Phone cards used to be something that the crew used frequently but most these days have IPHONE and smart phones. Some like candy. The best thing you can do is a nice comment on the comment card. A lot of people do bring bags of candy.