Gratuities

[orlandochick]

In feb we are going on our first Disney cruise.

My in laws are coming too. They have been on at least 15 cruises with different companies and said they never pay the suggested gratuities they just pay cash as and when they feel like it. For example if the server/maid has done a good job.

Can you do this with Disney or do you have to pay the charge they state?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

In feb we are going on our first Disney cruise.

My in laws are coming too. They have been on at least 15 cruises with different companies and said they never pay the suggested gratuities they just pay cash as and when they feel like it. For example if the server/maid has done a good job.

Can you do this with Disney or do you have to pay the charge they state?

The suggested gratuities on DCL are $12.00 per day per person in each room. That $12.00 breaks out to $4.00 per day per guest to your room host; $4.00 per day per guest to your dining room server; $3.00 per day per guest for your assistant server; and $1.00 per day per guest for your head server.

These will be added daily to your onboard account. And, at the end of the cruise, you will receive coupons and tip envelopes in your room. Each coupon will have the position, name and amount of the tip printed on it. You place the coupons in the corresponding envelope (also printed with position title) and hand them out. You can add additional cash to the envelope at this time, if you wish.

That's how it's typically handled.

You can go to Guest Services once onboard and remove the gratuities from your account. In that case, you will still get the tip envelopes in your room at the end of the cruise, but no coupons. At that time you may place cash in the envelopes to hand out. You may also adjust the gratuities up or down, as you wish.

Just curious, what cruise lines did your in-laws just tip in cash? There are some cruise lines that don't have "gratuities" but have a "hotel service charge" that's charged daily that covers the same positions, as well as behind the scenes people. Most times, these are not removable, without an explanation. I know on Holland America, any cash tips received must be turned in and a determination made if the tip giver has removed the HSC or not. If the HSC has been removed, the tips are then put in the HSC pool anyway to be divided as normal. This, most times penalizes the intended recipient. If the HSC hasn't been removed, then the cash tips can go back to the intended individual.

 

[bliscum]

You can also prepay your gratuities ahead of time.

 

[Phudso]

How do you pay before hand?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

How do you pay before hand?

Just call DCL and have the gratuities added to the cruisefare price. If you used a TA, they would need to make the call.

 

[mdvlprof]

I'm glad they started automatically putting gratuity on account. It's one less thing to hassle with.

 

[bbn1122]

I agree with previous poster. I pay my gratuities ahead of time and add extra when needed. One last thing to worry about and I do not have bring extra cash.

 

[1 Minnie & 3 Mickeys]

If I want to pre pay my gratuities does it need to be done before my PIF date or can it still be done after?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

If I want to pre pay my gratuities does it need to be done before my PIF date or can it still be done after?

I do it at my PIF date but it can be done anytime up to three days pre cruise however if you do it say before 60 days it should show in your cruise booklet sent at 45 days that you pre paid.

 

[squirrel]

Pre-paying is so much easier.

You can add extra to those that you want on the last night as they leave envelopes in all the rooms. I think it makes it easier for the CM's also as they don't have a bunch of cash to hold onto.

I have never felt the need to decrease what is the suggested amount.

 

[staceymay00]

I found it easiest to have the recommended amount automatically billed to our onboard account, and then I added cash to the CMs' envelopes along with the slip that showed they received the automatic gratuity. We tipped extra because we felt we received very good service , however you can always reduce the automatic tip if you feel you received poor service. I don't know how other cruise lines work, but supposedly on DCL tips are a big part of the auto-tipped CMs' compensation. On DCL I think the recommended amount is in order for satisfactory service, not just above and beyond service.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bumbershoot]

Just curious, what cruise lines did your in-laws just tip in cash? There are some cruise lines that don't have "gratuities" but have a "hotel service charge" that's charged daily that covers the same positions, as well as behind the scenes people. Most times, these are not removable, without an explanation.

I know on Holland America, any cash tips received must be turned in and a determination made if the tip giver has removed the HSC or not. If the HSC has been removed, the tips are then put in the HSC pool anyway to be divided as normal.

This, most times penalizes the intended recipient. If the HSC hasn't been removed, then the cash tips can go back to the intended individual.

This is SUCH good information.

MIL recently went on HAL with a friend. The friend was in charge of tips. I kept telling her about autogratuities and she kept saying that she doesn't do that, she just gives people money when she wants to. I finally gave up because there are language issues and generational issues and she wasn't listening at all.

And now I find that she probably has actually been hurting the people she wanted to help...

Still not talking to her about it, and I doubt HAL is going to be the line of choice for us in the future (and I think MIL's cruising days are done) but it's really good to know just in case.

 

[MnMzMoMi4LiFe]

**NEWBIE QUESTION**
Is Mousekeeping included or can we also pre-pay these gratuities?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

**NEWBIE QUESTION**
Is Mousekeeping included or can we also pre-pay these gratuities?

Yes, it's $4 a day for your Room Service Host (which is Mousekeeping)

 

[tatorswife]

I have a ? too. We are already PIF and I was wondering if I could call dcl and prepay gratuities with Disney gf's ? We are 58 days from sail date.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is SUCH good information.

MIL recently went on HAL with a friend. The friend was in charge of tips. I kept telling her about autogratuities and she kept saying that she doesn't do that, she just gives people money when she wants to. I finally gave up because there are language issues and generational issues and she wasn't listening at all.

And now I find that she probably has actually been hurting the people she wanted to help...

Still not talking to her about it, and I doubt HAL is going to be the line of choice for us in the future (and I think MIL's cruising days are done) but it's really good to know just in case.

She may not be hurting them, if she hasn't removed the Hotel Service Charge. The HSC is automatically charged to the onboard account, so, as long as that's not been removed, any cash tips would be returned to the recipient.

 

[bumbershoot]

She may not be hurting them, if she hasn't removed the Hotel Service Charge. The HSC is automatically charged to the onboard account, so, as long as that's not been removed, any cash tips would be returned to the recipient.

From the confusing conversations with her, it really did sound like she would be taking the automatic charges off the account.

Regardless, it was really good info Shmoo. Thank you.

 

[Coldflame]

Pre-paying is so much easier.

Don't forget the added benefit if you are a Disney Visa card holder. It does both gathers points and gives 6mo 0% interest (in case you wish to amortize the cost of the cruise). If you pay while on board, even with the Disney Visa, you'll still get the points, but you won't get special financing.

 

[ABGS]

I have a ? too. We are already PIF and I was wondering if I could call dcl and prepay gratuities with Disney gf's ? We are 58 days from sail date.

Yes you can do that!!