Just got asked a weird question from the CM

[PrincessShmoo]

Automatic charging of tips seems like an alien concept to me. Maybe this is a cultural U.S. versus U.K. thing but I always regard tips to be given for good service after the event, not taken in advance assuming that good service will be forthcoming.

What if bad service is received? Do we have to ask Guest Services to reduce / remove the charges (embarrassing )?

Also, if tips are prepaid does this give CM's less incentive to give great service?

Tips are not received by the CMs until the end of the cruise, regardless if you prepay them or not.

Prepaying only means that you have paid those charges already and won't had that additional charge at the end of the cruise.

You can always have the tips changed/removed at any time (even if you prepaid them) by going to Guest Services and telling them what you want to do (add, remove, change the distribution). Totally not embarrassing, as tipping in DCLs eyes is entirely voluntary. The prepaying method and the automatically adding then to your onboard account is just a convenience issue.

Again, the CMs do not get their tips until the cruise is over, so really no reason for "less incentive". The CMs don't know how much they are getting in tips (except for those people who think tipping at the start of the cruise ensure "better" service") until they get them.

 

[the_bUg]

I disagree in principle with the idea of pre-paid gratuities. How can you be gracious for services not yet rendered? I especially disagree with the idea of pre-paying gratuities on your PIF date. I mean, this is my money that I choose to spend how I choose and if Disney were to implement a policy whereby tips must be payed by PIF date, it means they are sitting on literally hundreds of my dollars for 3 months where they could be sitting in my bank collecting interest...

Now, I'm no skin flint. For example, I tripled the tip amount for our stateroom host as I really appreciated his service. I tipped in excess of 30 percent for the spa services I received as the whole experience was amazing.

I just strongly feel that a gratuity should be just that, an act of appreciation for excellent services rendered.

 

[disneypoor]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but I just got off of the phone with DCL, and I felt the CM I talked to was almost demanding that I go ahead and add the gratuities to my reservation. I told him I just cruised in March, I've cruised DCL many times, and that I DO know how tipping works. He said they are now being told to collect them upfront with the reservation. I don't like that. I told him I refused and would handle tips while onboard. He assured me we could make a trip to Guest Services to have any charges reversed, and I assured him I knew that and did not want to have to do that. For goodness sakes---it's vacation! I don't want to visit guest services unless I have to!

Okay--I'm done venting. I was just kind of shocked by his abrasiveness about it. We do like to tip additional money for service that goes above and beyond, and I would never not tip, but I think paying for it upfront is wrong if you're going to call it tips. If that's what they're doing, they might as well increase the cost of the cruise and do away with tipping.

Now that I've been able to get this off of my chest, I'll go back and read this entire thread. Thanks for allowing my vent!

ETA: I did have to call DCL 3 times today due to trouble with adding ground transfers, and it was only the last CM that pressured me about adding the tips, so maybe it does just depend on which CM you get?

Susan

 

[clarkshel]

Tips are not received by the CMs until the end of the cruise, regardless if you prepay them or not.

Prepaying only means that you have paid those charges already and won't had that additional charge at the end of the cruise.

You can always have the tips changed/removed at any time (even if you prepaid them) by going to Guest Services and telling them what you want to do (add, remove, change the distribution). Totally not embarrassing, as tipping in DCLs eyes is entirely voluntary. The prepaying method and the automatically adding then to your onboard account is just a convenience issue.

Again, the CMs do not get their tips until the cruise is over, so really no reason for "less incentive". The CMs don't know how much they are getting in tips (except for those people who think tipping at the start of the cruise ensure "better" service") until they get them.

Very good explanation. Not sure how many times the same thing has to be explained though. This has been explained in this thread multiple times. I am kind of confused to how this thread got to 9 pages on something that is not that big of a deal. The OP asked a question, it was answered on the first page. 8 pages later and we have the same stuff being said. Oh well. Par to the course for DIS. lol.

 

[mom2jcg]

Never mind

 

[feelthenspeak]

Very good explanation. Not sure how many times the same thing has to be explained though. This has been explained in this thread multiple times. I am kind of confused to how this thread got to 9 pages on something that is not that big of a deal. The OP asked a question, it was answered on the first page. 8 pages later and we have the same stuff being said. Oh well. Par to the course for DIS. lol.

I completely agree. I don't think they should call it tips if it is a set price or has to be paid up front...they should just add it to the cost of the cruise if it's going to be that way. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[n8nally]

I haven't read through this entire thread, but I just got off of the phone with DCL, and I felt the CM I talked to was almost demanding that I go ahead and add the gratuities to my reservation. I told him I just cruised in March, I've cruised DCL many times, and that I DO know how tipping works. He said they are now being told to collect them upfront with the reservation. I don't like that. I told him I refused and would handle tips while onboard. He assured me we could make a trip to Guest Services to have any charges reversed, and I assured him I knew that and did not want to have to do that. For goodness sakes---it's vacation! I don't want to visit guest services unless I have to!

Okay--I'm done venting. I was just kind of shocked by his abrasiveness about it. We do like to tip additional money for service that goes above and beyond, and I would never not tip, but I think paying for it upfront is wrong if you're going to call it tips. If that's what they're doing, they might as well increase the cost of the cruise and do away with tipping.

Now that I've been able to get this off of my chest, I'll go back and read this entire thread. Thanks for allowing my vent!

ETA: I did have to call DCL 3 times today due to trouble with adding ground transfers, and it was only the last CM that pressured me about adding the tips, so maybe it does just depend on which CM you get?

Susan

After reading and reading, and reading this entire thread, I decided to call DCL myself and really ask the nitty gritty questions.


I just got off the phone with Diane. After talking about some other questions I had regarding excursions and kids clubs, etc and building a nice rapport with her I began my gratuities questions.


I asked her if I had to prepay my gratutities when I booked a new cruise. She said no.

I asked if I had to prepay my gratutities by my PIF date. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were now being included in the total cost of a cruise when a telephone CM quotes a price. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were included in the quoted price of a new cruise when being booked on board a Disney Cruise. She said No.

I asked if I had not prepaid, would I have to pay my gratutities on embarkation day at Port Canaveral before being allowed to board the ship. She said No.

I asked if DCL has changed or modified their gratutity policy in the last year. She said No.

I asked her if adding gratutities to the total quote would help her sales numbers, and if it might be possible that some CMs were doing just that and that is why some people were getting pressured to pay gratutities up front, and she said anything is possible, but it is NOT a DCL poilicy.


She said gratuities are completely voluntary. She said some travelers are not accustomed to paying gratuities seperately in their home countries, or simply prefer to get it taken care of as part of their cruise fare, so they OFFER that option, but they are not supposed to be pressuring anyone to do anything with regards to tips.


At this point, I thanked and and apologized in advance for what I was about to ask. I asked her to please get a supervisor and confirm all that she had told me as I wanted to make sure nothing new had been released and missed. She was so sweet and put me on hold. Her supervisor (Nancy) confirmed all her answers.

Nancy further elaborated on a few things.

She said she used to work as a future cruise agent onboard the ships and they have always been told to OFFER to add the gratutities. She said they do it as a convenience for guests that prefer that.
But she said they have never been, and are not now, required.

She also said that when you check in at Port Canaveral (or any other port) the people checking you in are not Disney CMs, they are PORT employees. They have no authority to MAKE you pay anything before you board. They take your info for your onboard folio, but no actual charges go through until DCL puts them through, ususally the second day of the cruise.

I'm guessing that's why when getting asked for this payment, someone who posted earlier was told that Guest Services could "reverse" this. What they meant was that the charge was not even going to be put through that day so it was still able to be modified or removed.

She said that even that (asking specifically for a gratutity payment) was not the norm.

She also said that if people were being pressured to prepay their gratutities or were quoted a cruise fare that was higher than what was shown when booking a cruise online, that they should ask to speak with a supervisor, or email DCL about it because it was not the policy.

I think what happened to you is exactly in line with what I was told by both the CM and her supervisor. Your particular agent must have REALLY wanted to include the tips so it would help his numbers. I am glad you held your ground!

My thoughts: All this confusion is really because some CMs are trying to do this same thing, or just find it easier to automatically add them assuming the guest will just pay and not risk a confrontation. And, most people probably do. They say X amount. You pay it and move on. I bet a lot of people don't even notice it!

Sadly, it is inconsistant it seems and causes this kind of misunderstanding when people interpret things differently.

The one DISer who said she paid on embarkation day never said she was told she HAD to pay. She said she FELT like she had to pay. And she has never been back to clarify her statement.

Just because someone is direct and emphatic in how they say "This is the charge for tips" doesn't mean that's that. I wonder if this DISer had said "No, I will be paying all my tips cash. Please take that off my folio", what would have happened then.

I'm just glad to have what I feel is accurate info and I am glad I called DCL directly. I booked through a TA who said all the same things, but asking DCL seemed like a good idea anyway. I will be paying my tips with my OBC

 

[disneypoor]

After reading and reading, and reading this entire thread, I decided to call DCL myself and really ask the nitty gritty questions.


I just got off the phone with Diane. After talking about some other questions I had regarding excursions and kids clubs, etc and building a nice rapport with her I began my gratuities questions.


I asked her if I had to prepay my gratutities when I booked a new cruise. She said no.

I asked if I had to prepay my gratutities by my PIF date. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were now being included in the total cost of a cruise when a telephone CM quotes a price. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were included in the quoted price of a new cruise when being booked on board a Disney Cruise. She said No.

I asked if I had not prepaid, would I have to pay my gratutities on embarkation day at Port Canaveral before being allowed to board the ship. She said No.

I asked if DCL has changed or modified their gratutity policy in the last year. She said No.

I asked her if adding gratutities to the total quote would help her sales numbers, and if it might be possible that some CMs were doing just that and that is why some people were getting pressured to pay gratutities up front, and she said anything is possible, but it is NOT a DCL poilicy.


She said gratuities are completely voluntary. She said some travelers are not accustomed to paying gratuities seperately in their home countries, or simply prefer to get it taken care of as part of their cruise fare, so they OFFER that option, but they are not supposed to be pressuring anyone to do anything with regards to tips.


At this point, I thanked and and apologized in advance for what I was about to ask. I asked her to please get a supervisor and confirm all that she had told me as I wanted to make sure nothing new had been released and missed. She was so sweet and put me on hold. Her supervisor (Nancy) confirmed all her answers.

Nancy further elaborated on a few things.

She said she used to work as a future cruise agent onboard the ships and they have always been told to OFFER to add the gratutities. She said they do it as a convenience for guests that prefer that.
But she said they have never been, and are not now, required.

She also said that when you check in at Port Canaveral (or any other port) the people checking you in are not Disney CMs, they are PORT employees. They have no authority to MAKE you pay anything before you board. They take your info for your onboard folio, but no actual charges go through until DCL puts them through, ususally the second day of the cruise.

I'm guessing that's why when getting asked for this payment, someone who posted earlier was told that Guest Services could "reverse" this. What they meant was that the charge was not even going to be put through that day so it was still able to be modified or removed.

She said that even that (asking specifically for a gratutity payment) was not the norm.

She also said that if people were being pressured to prepay their gratutities or were quoted a cruise fare that was higher than what was shown when booking a cruise online, that they should ask to speak with a supervisor, or email DCL about it because it was not the policy.

I think what happened to you is exactly in line with what I was told by both the CM and her supervisor. Your particular agent must have REALLY wanted to include the tips so it would help his numbers. I am glad you held your ground!

My thoughts: All this confusion is really because some CMs are trying to do this same thing, or just find it easier to automatically add them assuming the guest will just pay and not risk a confrontation. And, most people probably do. They say X amount. You pay it and move on. I bet a lot of people don't even notice it!

Sadly, it is inconsistant it seems and causes this kind of misunderstanding when people interpret things differently.

The one DISer who said she paid on embarkation day never said she was told she HAD to pay. She said she FELT like she had to pay. And she has never been back to clarify her statement.

Just because someone is direct and emphatic in how they say "This is the charge for tips" doesn't mean that's that. I wonder if this DISer had said "No, I will be paying all my tips cash. Please take that off my folio", what would have happened then.

I'm just glad to have what I feel is accurate info and I am glad I called DCL directly. I booked through a TA who said all the same things, but asking DCL seemed like a good idea anyway. I will be paying my tips with my OBC

Thank you for your reply and for checking on it with DCL. I held my ground because I knew I was right. I had just never heard of them pressuring you to pay your gratuities ahead of time, although I knew you could if you chose to, and I remembered seeing this thread a day or two ago, so I just had to post after I got off of my third phone call.

The CM that helped me finally get my ground transfers added (their system was having issues today) was pretty insistent that I go ahead and add the gratuities. He said they'd have to be paid before I sailed. I told him I've sailed 8 times and most recently in March and that this has never been the case. He then proceeded to tell me that they are being told that we are to pay them in advance. I kindly told him I would not be doing that, and that I did not want that on my final balance. I told him I'd take care of it onboard, and he kept assuring me I could visit Guest Services to have them removed if I chose to. After much discussion, he didn't add them (he probably knew I'd be the kind that would call back!), and I got off of the phone feeling kind of worked up over the whole thing.

It sounds like your call verifies what many have been saying throughout this thread. Nothing has changed other than we now have CMs and onboard booking agents who are pressuring people to have the gratuities added to their reservation before their PIF date. However, the CM I talked to today sure tried to make me feel like they were due NOW! After I posted, I read the entire thread and kind of wish I hadn't posted. I didn't realize it was such a heated thread, and I sure don't want to be involved in the heat.

Thanks again for the clarification.

Susan

 

[Justacruiser]

A little off topic but,

I wonder how the CM's at the call center and on board booking agents get paid. Are they getting a commision of any sort? I cannot see any CM trying to sell us on tips IF that doesn't affect the bottom line of the CM. IS there some kind of formula for Y/N for Tips, Disney Transportation, or anything else they offer that drives the CM to a hard sale. Are promotions/bonuses based on anything othan total cruises booked?

I am 100% sure DCL has all of the basic matrix, but are those matrixs driving CM's to react in the manner of working harder for updrades from us?

I am pretty sure there is something up somewhere driving these indiviual CM's to increase revenue of any kind.

 

[anna08]

It would be interesting to know if TAs are experiencing this too? Would be one extra reason to go through a TA because I would think you would only have to tell them once you are not prepaying tips. We use our OBC for tipping - some cruises we would have OBC left over if we didn't.

 

[Kelsie]

After reading and reading, and reading this entire thread, I decided to call DCL myself and really ask the nitty gritty questions.


I just got off the phone with Diane. After talking about some other questions I had regarding excursions and kids clubs, etc and building a nice rapport with her I began my gratuities questions.


I asked her if I had to prepay my gratutities when I booked a new cruise. She said no.

I asked if I had to prepay my gratutities by my PIF date. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were now being included in the total cost of a cruise when a telephone CM quotes a price. She said No.

I asked if gratutities were included in the quoted price of a new cruise when being booked on board a Disney Cruise. She said No.

I asked if I had not prepaid, would I have to pay my gratutities on embarkation day at Port Canaveral before being allowed to board the ship. She said No.

I asked if DCL has changed or modified their gratutity policy in the last year. She said No.

I asked her if adding gratutities to the total quote would help her sales numbers, and if it might be possible that some CMs were doing just that and that is why some people were getting pressured to pay gratutities up front, and she said anything is possible, but it is NOT a DCL poilicy.


She said gratuities are completely voluntary. She said some travelers are not accustomed to paying gratuities seperately in their home countries, or simply prefer to get it taken care of as part of their cruise fare, so they OFFER that option, but they are not supposed to be pressuring anyone to do anything with regards to tips.


At this point, I thanked and and apologized in advance for what I was about to ask. I asked her to please get a supervisor and confirm all that she had told me as I wanted to make sure nothing new had been released and missed. She was so sweet and put me on hold. Her supervisor (Nancy) confirmed all her answers.

Nancy further elaborated on a few things.

She said she used to work as a future cruise agent onboard the ships and they have always been told to OFFER to add the gratutities. She said they do it as a convenience for guests that prefer that.
But she said they have never been, and are not now, required.

She also said that when you check in at Port Canaveral (or any other port) the people checking you in are not Disney CMs, they are PORT employees. They have no authority to MAKE you pay anything before you board. They take your info for your onboard folio, but no actual charges go through until DCL puts them through, ususally the second day of the cruise.

I'm guessing that's why when getting asked for this payment, someone who posted earlier was told that Guest Services could "reverse" this. What they meant was that the charge was not even going to be put through that day so it was still able to be modified or removed.

She said that even that (asking specifically for a gratutity payment) was not the norm.

She also said that if people were being pressured to prepay their gratutities or were quoted a cruise fare that was higher than what was shown when booking a cruise online, that they should ask to speak with a supervisor, or email DCL about it because it was not the policy.

I think what happened to you is exactly in line with what I was told by both the CM and her supervisor. Your particular agent must have REALLY wanted to include the tips so it would help his numbers. I am glad you held your ground!

My thoughts: All this confusion is really because some CMs are trying to do this same thing, or just find it easier to automatically add them assuming the guest will just pay and not risk a confrontation. And, most people probably do. They say X amount. You pay it and move on. I bet a lot of people don't even notice it!

Sadly, it is inconsistant it seems and causes this kind of misunderstanding when people interpret things differently.

The one DISer who said she paid on embarkation day never said she was told she HAD to pay. She said she FELT like she had to pay. And she has never been back to clarify her statement.

Just because someone is direct and emphatic in how they say "This is the charge for tips" doesn't mean that's that. I wonder if this DISer had said "No, I will be paying all my tips cash. Please take that off my folio", what would have happened then.

I'm just glad to have what I feel is accurate info and I am glad I called DCL directly. I booked through a TA who said all the same things, but asking DCL seemed like a good idea anyway. I will be paying my tips with my OBC

This information is absolutely correct. I have been asked multiple times the past few days (probably because of this thread ) and have verified multiple times that pre-paid gratuities are a convenience issue but are NOT required. The only change to Disney's policy on gratuities over the past year or so is that they add the gratuities to your onboard account instead of you adding them. At any time during your cruise, you can visit Guest Services to modify or remove these. I do understand why they do this since most people do pay the set amount and this saves them a lot of time.

Although asked now and then about adding gratuities, I have never felt pressured to do so.

 

[lbgraves]

A little off topic but,

I wonder how the CM's at the call center and on board booking agents get paid. Are they getting a commision of any sort? I cannot see any CM trying to sell us on tips IF that doesn't affect the bottom line of the CM. IS there some kind of formula for Y/N for Tips, Disney Transportation, or anything else they offer that drives the CM to a hard sale. Are promotions/bonuses based on anything othan total cruises booked?

I am 100% sure DCL has all of the basic matrix, but are those matrixs driving CM's to react in the manner of working harder for updrades from us?

I am pretty sure there is something up somewhere driving these indiviual CM's to increase revenue of any kind.

I don't think it is off topic at all. I mentioned in one of my posts earlier that the CMs were motivated to increase their bottom line. I don't remember if it was on this thread or another but Silverfox posted a help wanted link to a rep to answer the DCL phones. It was for a CVP CM technically. If you go to details you can see that they have goals -- so it is definitely a sales position. Like any sales job, some reach their goals by being good at what they do while others pressure [sometimes even bully from experiences posted here telling people it wasn't an option] to increase the cruise total booked at the end of the day.

 

[patches4me]

Benefit to prepaying gratuities when you PIF, is if it put the total cost on your Disney Visa the grand total then becomes 6 mos same as cash.

 

[Glfnjoe]

I just checked my paperwork from our onboard booking and prepaid gratuities was on there. We prepaid on the cruise we were on so maybe he just figured that we wanted the same for the next cruise.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Benefit to prepaying gratuities when you PIF, is if it put the total cost on your Disney Visa the grand total then becomes 6 mos same as cash.

Yup. I will be doing this next time. I never knew that even tickets and onboard credit could be added until a DIS poster told me. I thought cruise fare was all. Now I know!

 

[LemonPie]

Just a thought,could DCL be loosing well trained staff to other cruise lines that automatically include gratuities in the price of the cruise? There seems to be a lot of talk of people opting not to pay any gratuities and if my wage was based on tips I would concider moving to a different cruise line. Maybe they are trying to get more people to prepay in hops of retaining good staff. Again just a thought.

 

[Silverfox97]

Benefit to prepaying gratuities when you PIF, is if it put the total cost on your Disney Visa the grand total then becomes 6 mos same as cash.

Yeah - but when you get $400 or $475 in OBC like we do, I prefer to use it towards gratuities vs. my own cash!! If the OBC dwindles, different story.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[LWQuestie]

I just checked my paperwork from our onboard booking and prepaid gratuities was on there. We prepaid on the cruise we were on so maybe he just figured that we wanted the same for the next cruise.

Where do you see it on the paperwork? I wonder if I overlooked mine.

 

[Glfnjoe]

In the upper right portion. It shows the resi #, the price, the taxes and the prepaid gratuities. I'm at work now but when I get home I'll check it and give you the breakdown.

 

[LWQuestie]

In the upper right portion. It shows the resi #, the price, the taxes and the prepaid gratuities. I'm at work now but when I get home I'll check it and give you the breakdown.

OK, I think I saw the price and taxes there. I don't remember anything about gratuities. Thanks for clarifying!

I'll look at home again later.