breakfast/lunch in the Royal Palace - do you or don't you tip?

[disneyholic family]

i've read conflicting responses to this so:

Are you supposed to tip when you have breakfast/lunch in the Royal Palace?

And if you are supposed to tip, how much should you tip and how do you leave it for them? Hand it to them?

and even if you aren't "supposed to tip", do you tip anyway?

..

 

[BMICKEY]

I'll be anxious to hear a reply about this as well. We didn't on the Magic when we had breakfast and now I'm wondering if we should have! Thanks!

 

[MouseMomx2]

While you should always feel free to tip excellent service there is no need to tip the breakfast/lunch servers. The servers at breakfast/lunch are the same as those at dinner. Your tip to your own serving team covers all of your meals. Each server is tipped by his/her assigned dinner guests at the end of the cruise so everyone is taken care of.

 

[WDW1]

You will notice when you are going to breakfast or lunch they ask your stateroom number. This is so they can keep track of who has served you and they will get a share of the tip at the end of your cruise.

 

[disneyholic family]

You will notice when you are going to breakfast or lunch they ask your stateroom number. This is so they can keep track of who has served you and they will get a share of the tip at the end of your cruise.

are you sure that's true?
i was told that only your dinner rotation servers get any part of the automatic gratuities.

 

[Melcatfish]

All servers who work in the dining rooms at lunch and breakfast are also someones dinner server. Thus if everyone tips their own server for dinner service at the end of the cruise it is considered their tip for all of the work they do in the dinings rooms throughout the cruise.

It is not expected or usual to leave a tip at each lunch or breakfast you take.

Mel
x

 

[WDW1]

are you sure that's true?
i was told that only your dinner rotation servers get any part of the automatic gratuities.

I am not entirely sure how it works. We asked our server last cruise and that is what he made it sound like. He said that when you go to lunch they ask for your stateroom so they know that you are having the breakfast or lunch, and when you tip at the end part of that goes to whoever serves you. So we took that as, when we tip our dining staff, although it says specifically head server, etc. that it goes to the servers who helped you during the day as well.

There is a chance that he was just saying that since they all work during all three shifts that they just consider their tip for all three meal periods.

 

[Minnie Monellen]

You will notice when you are going to breakfast or lunch they ask your stateroom number. This is so they can keep track of who has served you and they will get a share of the tip at the end of your cruise.

I don't think this is accurate. They don't ask your room number when you have lunch at Cabana's.

 

[Melcatfish]

My understanding is that the money you tip to your assigned dining room server and assistant is kept entirely by the person who you tip not pooled in any way.

The reason you don't tip at breakfast or lunch is that all servers who are working in the dining rooms at those meals are also part of someones dinner service team and will receive tips from their evening diners. The end of cruise tips you give to your serving team are considered compensation for ALL the work they do which includes working at breakfast and lunch in different locations and also on castaway cay.

Mel
x

 

[Ready4NextCruise]

I do not believe it is required or expected that people tip the staff while eating breakfast/lunch at the rotational dining restaurants or Cabana's. I think this for a few reasons. First, Disney recommends putting most charges on your KTTW card while on the ship, as there is little reason to carry cash. There is no opportunity (that I'm aware of) to tip with your KTTW card during these meals.

Also, Disney does a great job on recommending who you should tip near the end of the cruise. They did not recommend the staff from breakfast/lunch.

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks everyone!!

 

[kcashner]

Tips at breakfast and lunch are not the norm and are not expected.
We have been told by servers that the evening tips are not pooled in any way and that DCL does not take any cut or service charge on charged tips--the server said he gets exactly what we give him.

The reason for asking for the stateroom number when you check into the restaurants is an allergy alert--if your room number comes up with an allergy notice when the head server punches it in, you will be seated alone (not asked about sharing a table) and your server and the chef will be notified of the allergy SO THAT even if you forget to say something, they have a back up system.

 

[disneyholic family]

Tips at breakfast and lunch are not the norm and are not expected.
We have been told by servers that the evening tips are not pooled in any way and that DCL does not take any cut or service charge on charged tips--the server said he gets exactly what we give him.

The reason for asking for the stateroom number when you check into the restaurants is an allergy alert--if your room number comes up with an allergy notice when the head server punches it in, you will be seated alone (not asked about sharing a table) and your server and the chef will be notified of the allergy SO THAT even if you forget to say something, they have a back up system.

that's interesting about allergies! i wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[Namsupak]

If the service is good we tip extra. We generally estimate the cost for a casual lunch or breakfast at home and then make the tip relative to that amount. At cabanas/topsiders/beach blanket we do not generally tip extra unless it is at the dinner sit down service. I understand this is not the norm but something we feel is nice if the service is good. We usually tip about $5-15 depending on the meal and how many of us there are. Since the servers generally clean their own stations we feel comfortable just leaving the money on the table.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Your room number has any special requests as well as important info such as food allergies, gluten-free, etc., etc.

 

[disneyholic family]

Your room number has any special requests as well as important info such as food allergies, gluten-free, etc., etc.

i wonder if they'll all say happy birthday to my sister - i have to get it corrected on our reservation. It says it's my birthday but it's hers. And she's really looking forward to doing some celebrating!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

If the service is good we tip extra. We generally estimate the cost for a casual lunch or breakfast at home and then make the tip relative to that amount. At cabanas/topsiders/beach blanket we do not generally tip extra unless it is at the dinner sit down service. I understand this is not the norm but something we feel is nice if the service is good. We usually tip about $5-15 depending on the meal and how many of us there are. Since the servers generally clean their own stations we feel comfortable just leaving the money on the table.

did you notice that the next day you had even better service?
that is, does it seem as if the servers tell each other who's a 'tipper".

We've found this to be the case at a few resorts we go to here that have big breakfast buffets - people tend not to leave tips at these buffets (since most of the guests are european).
However, you do have a server who pores your coffee and clears yours dishes, so we tend to leave a tip for that person.
So at breakfast the next day, wow!! the staff gives us BIG smiles. i mean all the staff, not just the person who served us the day before. And whoever is assigned to our table practically does cartwheels to please us.

And i'm not talking about leaving a big tip. I'm talking about leaving the equivalent of $5 (in local currency) for 6 people eating breakfast at the buffet. It's unbelievable how far those $5 go.
I think they're just really appreciative that someone took notice of how hard they're working and appreciates their efforts.

the point is, it's clear that at that resort, the servers let each other know when there is a tipper in the house.

so i wonder if that happens on the Dream as well.

 

[Namsupak]

Nope. I have not noticed any change in service due to tipping. We have been pretty lucky having good-excellent service on most of our cruises. We have only had one bad MDR team and one bad lunch experiences so far.

 

[Zandy595]

Do they always serve breakfast and lunch in Royal Palace? Or do they have it in AP or EG sometimes (other than embarkation day)? We only ate b/l at Cabanas on our last cruise.

 

[disneyholic family]

Nope. I have not noticed any change in service due to tipping. We have been pretty lucky having good-excellent service on most of our cruises. We have only had one bad MDR team and one bad lunch experiences so far.

last time we were on DCL was 8 years ago, on the Wonder.
We ate all of our breakfasts and lunches in tritons.
We never left a tip, as we were told we weren't supposed to.
the service we received was impeccable - at every meal.

Then after the cruise, i began to see posts on this board where people mentioned leaving tips at breakfast and lunch and i thought - "oh oh - i stiffed all those really good servers at breakfast and lunch by not tipping them".