how much did you tip the concierge?

[alexandlillie]

I know it's tacky to ask...but we tipped $12/day on the Magic...was that too little? I searched the archives and didn't easily find any info...wondering what the range is for "at your discretion."

We didn't have any special requests...though both concierges "on duty" were wonderful. They had a couple of surprises for us (don't want to ruin it for others)...and we attended the reception...plus they checked on us once or twice a day.

 

[disneywonderfun]

Actually, if you do a search, we did a survey around 6 months ago on this subject. Anywhere between $50 and $100 was mostly answered for a 7 night cruise although a fair percentage (maybe 15-20%) did not think a tip should be left at all.

DWF

P.S. So, your tip sounds fine

 

[alexandlillie]

Ah, i did search a couple times but didn't notice the survey. will try different key words now that i know.

 

[disneywonderfun]

Here is the link to the poll . . .

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2971416&highlight=concierge+tip+poll

DWF

 

[jrbdad]

Very helpful. Thank you.

 

[FJS961]

thats a great poll - thanks for doing that

 

[super mike b]

Good info. Thanks!

 

[GoingNutsWith3]

Let me chime-in as I faced this dilemma without the resources of this forum last week.

Background:
Disney Fantasy. 7 Days. 1 bedroom suite. 3 kids under age ten. Cruise fee was about $16,000 for a premium week. So, as I’ll get to below, is another $100pp atop $16K for everything they did really a big deal?

Data available:

• Concierge is 100% gratuity-based position - no salary.
• Most desired position on any Disney Ship (the handful of people who work here are VERY special professionals. They speak several languages; they know the finer things; they are very personable and totally impact your impression of the cruise.)
• They pool & split the gratuities. We had a team of three WONDERFUL people.
• They will not give you any guidance on a gratuity amount - I tried.

I figure there are three kinds of guests in the Concierge rooms.

1. Folks who will never read this forum, routinely deal with Concierges, and have an established zone for the hospitality provided. They tip what they want.
   
2. People who look for absurd value and somehow got upgraded or found a good deal on the Concierge rooms - they are searching the forums for some affirmation of leaving little or no tip because ‘they didn’t really do anything.’ Go ahead and leave $10 total; the C’s know who you are and are expecting to get stiffed anyways.
   
3. People like me who didn’t understand what an outstanding impact the concierge would have on our overall enjoyment and feel obliged to research and provide a proper gratuity.

Our concierge team got to know each of us in a matter of hours and made us feel incredibly welcome and relaxed. You will probably spend as much conscious time in the C-Lounge as you do your room. It will be your second home and the C’s will always be checking-in on you. Without them, you are just another of the 3,000 people aboard without any sense of a Host. Atop that, they’ll come to your aid if able: the “team” rescued me once with a kid vs. adult dinner timing-crisis and walked the ship with me looking for six kids to then escort to the ‘kids club’ so I could get on to dinner. They offered many recommendations about shows and best times and places to do various things. Without question, they impacted our cruise experience at least 100%.

Personally, I figured $100 to each of them was a good even number - so that was $300 all-in. I’d call that a “base.” On top of that, the C’s did pull a rabbit out of hat on a capacity-controlled situation that would have left part of our larger non C-guests traveling with us, hanging. Added $200 for that. So, for us, the all-in would be minimum $60pp on 7 nights. Add-on as you see fit for busting down walls (another $40pp for us). They do not have authority over other departments or venues - keep that in mind when they get something "magical" done for you.

 

[oliverdj]

Are concierge tips in addition to the tips you can prepay online?

 

[GoingNutsWith3]

Are concierge tips in addition to the tips you can prepay online?

Yep. As there is no "suggested gratuity" there is no prepay option. However, as my other post describes, you can charge it to your bill on the final night of the cruise.

 

[cgolf]

Let me chime-in as I faced this dilemma without the resources of this forum last week.

Background:
Disney Fantasy. 7 Days. 1 bedroom suite. 3 kids under age ten. Cruise fee was about $16,000 for a premium week. So, as Ill get to below, is another $100pp atop $16K for everything they did really a big deal?

Data available:

• Concierge is 100% gratuity-based position - no salary.
• Most desired position on any Disney Ship (the handful of people who work here are VERY special professionals. They speak several languages; they know the finer things; they are very personable and totally impact your impression of the cruise.)
• They pool & split the gratuities. We had a team of three WONDERFUL people.
• They will not give you any guidance on a gratuity amount - I tried.

I figure there are three kinds of guests in the Concierge rooms.

1. Folks who will never read this forum, routinely deal with Concierges, and have an established zone for the hospitality provided. They tip what they want.
   
2. People who look for absurd value and somehow got upgraded or found a good deal on the Concierge rooms - they are searching the forums for some affirmation of leaving little or no tip because they didnt really do anything. Go ahead and leave $10 total; the Cs know who you are and are expecting to get stiffed anyways.
   
3. People like me who didnt understand what an outstanding impact the concierge would have on our overall enjoyment and feel obliged to research and provide a proper gratuity.

Our concierge team got to know each of us in a matter of hours and made us feel incredibly welcome and relaxed. You will probably spend as much conscious time in the C-Lounge as you do your room. It will be your second home and the Cs will always be checking-in on you. Without them, you are just another of the 3,000 people aboard without any sense of a Host. Atop that, theyll come to your aid if able: the team rescued me once with a kid vs. adult dinner timing-crisis and walked the ship with me looking for six kids to then escort to the kids club so I could get on to dinner. They offered many recommendations about shows and best times and places to do various things. Without question, they impacted our cruise experience at least 100%.

Personally, I figured $100 to each of them was a good even number - so that was $300 all-in. Id call that a base. On top of that, the Cs did pull a rabbit out of hat on a capacity-controlled situation that would have left part of our larger non C-guests traveling with us, hanging. Added $200 for that. So, for us, the all-in would be minimum $60pp on 7 nights. Add-on as you see fit for busting down walls (another $40pp for us). They do not have authority over other departments or venues - keep that in mind when they get something "magical" done for you.

For what we got, I would say that seems a bit high. Then again we are very middle class, but was able to pay full price for the room, so not poor (not sure which category that puts us in). For the two of us we did 80 total for the 7 days. We had some interaction with the staff, and they were great, but it was on a more conversational level, not a do this that and the other thing for us. The bartender actually did more for us, unfortunately we didn't tip her, it was unclear if we were supposed too. Once we got back we realized we should have (felt horrible about it), so we are hoping we see her next year so we can pass on a tip. We did commend her and the team in an email and on the comment card so that is something at least.

We actually complained to DCL about tipping the concierge, because while they are awesome people, it was really not clear what the tip should be (guidelines would be helpful). We had a couple of other families ask us too because they had no clue. It was really a stressful experience trying to figure out what the tip should be. Our servers in the mdr did more for us too, tipping is really a mess without guidelines in a situation like this.

I guess based on your logic though, we should cancel our concierge booking, because while we can afford to pay for the room even though it is a stretch, its worth it. But the tips you are suggesting would put it over the top for us. If it matters we were in the low rent veranda room for just over 4g's this year and next.

Also for what it is worth at land based eateries we tip 15 to 20% unless we get horrible service, so I feel we fall into the category of generous tippers, my parents who have more $ then us generally tip less at land based eateries, not sure what she tips onboard, I don't ask.

cgolf

 

[tinkerone]

Let me chime-in as I faced this dilemma without the resources of this forum last week.

Background:
Disney Fantasy. 7 Days. 1 bedroom suite. 3 kids under age ten. Cruise fee was about $16,000 for a premium week. So, as Ill get to below, is another $100pp atop $16K for everything they did really a big deal?

Data available:

• Concierge is 100% gratuity-based position - no salary.
• Most desired position on any Disney Ship (the handful of people who work here are VERY special professionals. They speak several languages; they know the finer things; they are very personable and totally impact your impression of the cruise.)
• They pool & split the gratuities. We had a team of three WONDERFUL people.
• They will not give you any guidance on a gratuity amount - I tried.

I figure there are three kinds of guests in the Concierge rooms.

1. Folks who will never read this forum, routinely deal with Concierges, and have an established zone for the hospitality provided. They tip what they want.
   
2. People who look for absurd value and somehow got upgraded or found a good deal on the Concierge rooms - they are searching the forums for some affirmation of leaving little or no tip because they didnt really do anything. Go ahead and leave $10 total; the Cs know who you are and are expecting to get stiffed anyways.
   
3. People like me who didnt understand what an outstanding impact the concierge would have on our overall enjoyment and feel obliged to research and provide a proper gratuity.

Our concierge team got to know each of us in a matter of hours and made us feel incredibly welcome and relaxed. You will probably spend as much conscious time in the C-Lounge as you do your room. It will be your second home and the Cs will always be checking-in on you. Without them, you are just another of the 3,000 people aboard without any sense of a Host. Atop that, theyll come to your aid if able: the team rescued me once with a kid vs. adult dinner timing-crisis and walked the ship with me looking for six kids to then escort to the kids club so I could get on to dinner. They offered many recommendations about shows and best times and places to do various things. Without question, they impacted our cruise experience at least 100%.

Personally, I figured $100 to each of them was a good even number - so that was $300 all-in. Id call that a base. On top of that, the Cs did pull a rabbit out of hat on a capacity-controlled situation that would have left part of our larger non C-guests traveling with us, hanging. Added $200 for that. So, for us, the all-in would be minimum $60pp on 7 nights. Add-on as you see fit for busting down walls (another $40pp for us). They do not have authority over other departments or venues - keep that in mind when they get something "magical" done for you.

I think some of your information is wrong. they are salaried and until recently they would not except tips unless you literally forced it on them. this is why they wouldn't give you a guideline. also, imo, your comments are not flattering to a lot of people. kind of persumtous to make a list of categories of tippers. i'm glad you feel you had value for your tips however not everyone is going to need someone to walk the ship to find a bunch of kids, some will never need the c's help in any way.
to the opp, no I don't think $12 is to little. if they did very little for you and you were not demanding of their time its a fair tip as its not technically required. don't feel bad about anything you tip if there is no guideline to follow.
jmo.

 

[AlexandNessa]

AFAIK, Concierges have a reduced salary, which is supplemented by tips. There are two of us, and we tip 10$ per day; I don't care how/if they split it.

We don't have kids and ask for very little. The most we ask for is for them to sign us up for a tasting or change a Palo reservation. 10$ a day is plenty, IMHO, because the recommended tip for your room steward is 7$/day for two people, and they hump it. (We of course always pump up our cabin host's tip generously.) We always pay for a suite in advance (never chance a cheap port upgrade), so feel that we already pay quite the premium for concierge service to begin with. If the concierge really went "above & beyond" then we would adjust the tip up accordingly. However, I do not consider changing a dinner reservation or getting us tasting tickets is above and beyond, but that's just me.

On the other hand, we have slipped a nice tip to the bartender in the Dream lounge if he ever did anything unexpected for us, like when my husband couldn't make happy hour once, and the bartender sent his favorite beer to the room for him to enjoy on the balcony (we did not ask for this). Or when he saw me drinking a certain beer at the pool they normally don't stock in the lounge, and he made sure that same beer was in the lounge for me that happy hour. Always had cash on hand at happy hour for this reason.

 

[bumbershoot]

There are other categories of people, like those of us who put NO demands or even requests on the concierge staff. Oh wait, I asked the shoreside people to provide distilled water for DH's CPAP, but that request could have gone to a normal Disney CM by phone , I just did it b/c I was asking about something else. And the something else never came to pass because the other relatives we were traveling with didn't want it.

We didn't spend anywhere NEAR as much time in the lounge as the big-tipper did. We didn't spend anywhere near as much money as the big-tipper did, either. Category V rocks!


I, too, had the realization that we could have tipped the bartender, and she was awfully sweet, but at the same time I think we had a whopping 2 drinks from her during our cruise, oh no, wait, 3, so while she is out a little bit of money it's not SCADS of money. I still feel bad but not horrid. And I'll try to utilize the bartender more on the next cruise and tip.


As for them getting to know us...I'm not sure they did. 3 night cruise, not much time in the lounge...not much time to get to know us. Plus, our tastes change and we don't have a "regular" for anything, so it's hard for anyone to get to know us on that level. And I'm glad people don't try, because it would be a bummer for a CM to think they were doing something nice only to find out we didn't want that *whatever* at that time.


Oh and we did tip the concierge staff. More than DH expected (I usually let him tip because I despise the whole concept but I felt he was low-balling it and took over signing the form, LOL), and more than I expected, too, given the low amount of needs we had. Our interactions with the staff mostly were simply pleasant little conversations and smiles, not "can you do this for me?". So it was kind of weird to tip based on them being pleasant, kind people, but that's what we did.

 

[disneywonderfun]

Let me chime-in as I faced this dilemma without the resources of this forum last week.

Background:
Disney Fantasy. 7 Days. 1 bedroom suite. 3 kids under age ten. Cruise fee was about $16,000 for a premium week. So, as I’ll get to below, is another $100pp atop $16K for everything they did really a big deal?

Data available:

• Concierge is 100% gratuity-based position - no salary.
• Most desired position on any Disney Ship (the handful of people who work here are VERY special professionals. They speak several languages; they know the finer things; they are very personable and totally impact your impression of the cruise.)
• They pool & split the gratuities. We had a team of three WONDERFUL people.
• They will not give you any guidance on a gratuity amount - I tried.

I figure there are three kinds of guests in the Concierge rooms.

1. Folks who will never read this forum, routinely deal with Concierges, and have an established zone for the hospitality provided. They tip what they want.
   
2. People who look for absurd value and somehow got upgraded or found a good deal on the Concierge rooms - they are searching the forums for some affirmation of leaving little or no tip because ‘they didn’t really do anything.’ Go ahead and leave $10 total; the C’s know who you are and are expecting to get stiffed anyways.
   
3. People like me who didn’t understand what an outstanding impact the concierge would have on our overall enjoyment and feel obliged to research and provide a proper gratuity.

Our concierge team got to know each of us in a matter of hours and made us feel incredibly welcome and relaxed. You will probably spend as much conscious time in the C-Lounge as you do your room. It will be your second home and the C’s will always be checking-in on you. Without them, you are just another of the 3,000 people aboard without any sense of a Host. Atop that, they’ll come to your aid if able: the “team” rescued me once with a kid vs. adult dinner timing-crisis and walked the ship with me looking for six kids to then escort to the ‘kids club’ so I could get on to dinner. They offered many recommendations about shows and best times and places to do various things. Without question, they impacted our cruise experience at least 100%.

Personally, I figured $100 to each of them was a good even number - so that was $300 all-in. I’d call that a “base.” On top of that, the C’s did pull a rabbit out of hat on a capacity-controlled situation that would have left part of our larger non C-guests traveling with us, hanging. Added $200 for that. So, for us, the all-in would be minimum $60pp on 7 nights. Add-on as you see fit for busting down walls (another $40pp for us). They do not have authority over other departments or venues - keep that in mind when they get something "magical" done for you.

As already mentioned, your data is not entirely correct as the concierge position is still salaried, however was likely decreased as Disney was able to recognize they could decrease the salary and have it made up by calling for "tips" at your discretion.

Anyway, I guess I fall into the group of people that routinely deal with concierge services on vacation. With that being said, the concierge tip situation on DCL is maddening. If you are staying at a luxury hotel, you do not walk by the concierge on the way out and hand him/her anything at all unless they did something for you during your stay. Normally, that something would be a very involved piece of help, for example getting tickets to a sold out show or dinner reservations at an exclusive restaurant that you would not otherwise be able to get. What have I really received from the concierge staff over multiple cruises on DCL? Hmmmmmmm . . . I really need to think hard about that. Yes, they might call in my room service order (which I can easily do myself but they ask to do it), uh, hmmmmmm, what else? They are nice to my kids, I guess that is something. Uh, uh, what else? Oh, once a concierge helped involve my child in a scheduled event that she enjoyed. Anyway, these services are really on the "low" end of importance. The actual value of these services would really be considered minimal in contrast to what is usually covered by a hotel concierge at a nice property.

With all that being said, and I am repeating myself, the tipping situation is maddening on DCL. I leave waaaaaaayyyyyy more than the actual value of the services provided. But it is more a guilt thing than anything else that prompts me to do so. I do not need to try to convince anyone that I am a "good" tipper. That is irrelevant in this discussion. What I will say is that the situation DCL has put us in simply is uncomfortable and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I can drop the same money on many other vacations where this is a nonissue. DCL should be aware that some of us consider the situation pathetic and have stated as such on their surveys.

DWF

 

[bsamps]

I really don't believe that this should be an issue, especially on the concierge level of service. Shame on DCL for making this a rather uncomfortable issue for people, but then again....some may be making a mountain out of mole hill. No big deal.... tip whatever you want. Traditionally on a concierge level experience, you will get what you paid for, and that is above and beyond what one would expect from regular stateroom service. If you don't use the staff to the full service of what you paid for, then shame on you for not getting your money's worth, but don't make tipping an issue with concierge because you "didn't require much of their services".

 

[bumbershoot]

If you don't use the staff to the full service of what you paid for, then shame on you for not getting your money's worth, but don't make tipping an issue with concierge because you "didn't require much of their services".

Seriously, I should feel shame because I'm not that high-maintenance? I don't think so.

And tipping wasn't an issue for me at all. The only question was "how much", and that's just a question each of us can only answer for ourselves. The person in this thread spent a lot on the room so his sense of expense starts off different than mine, and he used them a whole lot (and for things it would never occur to me to use them for), and absolutely should be tipping FAR more than me, because of his usage of their services. Heck, the amount he tipped them was almost exactly the amount it cost us to upgrade from our initially-booked stateroom to our V room at about 100 days out. So yeah, his expenses relative to ours are quite different, usage is different, and therefore his feelings of value are going to be different.

I think we also have to remember that tips on a 3 night cruise are going to be different from a 4 night, 7 night, or Panama Canal/transatlantic repositioning length of trip...so to compare flat costs is a mistake, when it might just be a "per night" thing.

I'm not actually sure tipping is ever an "issue"; it is simply a question. People in different parts of the country, different states, different cities even, have very different ideas on proper tipping. My friend who lives across the state from me has different ideas on tipping than many people on "my" side of the state do. And then you get people from different countries, where tips are either an insult, or only for very specific jobs, etc...and it becomes a big, big question mark. That's why these threads are started; not because it's an "issue" or even a problem, but because it's a question.


We booked concierge level because DH likes doing that when possible, the cost wasn't horrid, and we like having a little hidey-hole like a concierge or "club level" lounge. A couple drinks for me and espresso for me and DH being included, along with some snacks (we're vegetarian with some ingredient issues, so many of those snacks were off limits to us anyway)? Perfect reason to upgrade! The game of Jenga DS and DH played in the lounge was a bonus (though having Jenga to play on those hard tables is maybe a bad decision on their part...it was really noisy when it collapsed).


I have also ONLY read that the position was untipped and fully salaried, then Disney simply *lowered* the salary because they realized people wanted to tip. It's impossible to think they got rid of salaries entirely, because it is OPTIONAL to tip the concierges. It's not optional to tip our stewards and we are given very specific guidance on the minimum; that means the two types of positions have different amounts being paid to them by the cruiseline. No concierge would go for NO salary whatsoever when tipping them is merely optional, with no guidance given by the cruiseline. The logic just isn't there.

 

[bsamps]

I seriously wasn't trying to offend anyone. This is a forum and words on a screen can cause debate.....and certainly not what I'm after. Isn't concierge suppose to be a higher level of expectations, more service if you will? I realize that there may be a certain aspect of concierge that people want, and that may be why they pay for it. I guess I'm a bit confused over the whole tipping issue with concierge and DCL. I don't think DCL has any guidelines in that area, others perhaps, but not with concierge. I would say that it depends on your own experience with them, and your own conscience. Again, tip what you will.

 

[ctc221]

I recently had the same dilemma, and after scouring the boards and other Internet sources, I still wasn't comfortable deciding how much to tip. So I went to guest services and asked. The CM was very diplomatic but he certainly helped put things in perspective. According to him, many guests have expressed concern about this grey issue and it would be much easier if DCL either eliminated tipping concierge (as in the past) or offered suggested amounts as they do for the other positions. But he told me that concierge CM are *very* well compensated and def a different category than the other service positions (like server/stateroom host). Also, tips are divided evenly amongst the concierge team. I mentioned that I read online an anecdote about someone tipping the concierge team $1000, and he was like "take it easy now, no need to go crazy now". So I tipped the most popular amount from the poll here ($100), and the guest services CM reassured me the amount was totally fine.

 

[disneywonderfun]

I recently had the same dilemma, and after scouring the boards and other Internet sources, I still wasn't comfortable deciding how much to tip. So I went to guest services and asked. The CM was very diplomatic but he certainly helped put things in perspective. According to him, many guests have expressed concern about this grey issue and it would be much easier if DCL either eliminated tipping concierge (as in the past) or offered suggested amounts as they do for the other positions. But he told me that concierge CM are *very* well compensated and def a different category than the other service positions (like server/stateroom host). Also, tips are divided evenly amongst the concierge team. I mentioned that I read online an anecdote about someone tipping the concierge team $1000, and he was like "take it easy now, no need to go crazy now". So I tipped the most popular amount from the poll here ($100), and the guest services CM reassured me the amount was totally fine.

Thanks for the input. I think your approach matches well with the majority. There will always be outliers who leave $0 or $500+ but the amount mentioned should be the "suggested" amount by DCL. Shame on DCL for not clarifying the situation. Why should you need to go to guest services at all just to get an understanding of this situation? I will again express my discontent on the cruise survey, but certainly tip until something changes.

DWF