Not a fan of the automatic tip charging.

[LuAnimal]

Tipping will be done by cabin, not by person. If there are four people in each stateroom, the first person in each stateroom reservation will have all tips applied to their account.

When my cruise sails, tips for all four people in my cabin will be applied to my account.

That's not good at all...I guess we'll be calling Disney ASAP and prepay the tips.

Thanks!!!!!!

 

[Talking Hands]

Did you ever speak with your Head Server of this issue? This was definately a time when the HS should have been brought up to speed with an issue with the server.

No I did not since I was sitting with the sign language interpreters and they handled the situation. Since I am fluent in sign even though I tend to be oral in most situations it worked for me.

 

[Floridagram]

I'm curious how they handle a party like us, there are 8 of us, 4 adults and 4 children in 2 staterooms. One adult has no children, one has 2 in 2 different staterooms and the last 2 adults have children in their own stateroom. Not all children have onboard charging benefits, so how do they know whom to charge the tips to??

you would definitely want to call DCL now or do it when you check in or go to guest services before the end of the cruise.

We had 2 of our grandchildren in our cabin and did not think of it until the tickets were delivered to us to pass out. My daughter just paid me cash and we let it go to my state room because we did not want to go to guest services at that point in the cruise.

 

[KimRaye]

Actually, my Dream cruise documents (the spiral booklet) states that you can "pre-pay gratuities for your party up to three days before your vacation begins. Please contact your travel agent to make payment arrangements. If you do not choose to pre-pay your gratuities, for your convenience, the standard gratuity amounts, based on the length of your voyage, will be added to your on board account as shown in the table below" It goes on to state gratuity suggestions and notes that you can modify, or make changes to stop at GS.

We leave next Sunday...The Dream IS auto billing for tipping.

Would there be any way to get a list of that table? I am wondering how much to budget for tips for my teen daughter & I, sailing on the Dream in August (1st timers). Thanks!

 

[dizney-cruiser]

Would there be any way to get a list of that table? I am wondering how much to budget for tips for my teen daughter & I, sailing on the Dream in August (1st timers). Thanks!

It is $12 a day for 2 people.

You can always check at the "tip calculator": http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It is $12 a day for 2 people.

You can always check at the "tip calculator": http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

Actually it's $12 per guest (each) per day. The breakdown is $4 per day - room host; $4 per day - server; $3 per day - asst server; and $1 per day head server.

 

[Tigger&Bubba]

Ok so if they automatically add my tips that is one less thing I have to do on vacation. For us it means they will probably get less than we would tip if I were to sit down and do the sheet myself. So I am now viewing it as a service charge and not tipping. No problem.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ok so if they automatically add my tips that is one less thing I have to do on vacation. For us it means they will probably get less than we would tip if I were to sit down and do the sheet myself. So I am now viewing it as a service charge and not tipping. No problem.

They won't have to get less, you can put any additional cash in the envelope with the tip coupon, if you wish.

 

[KimRaye]

Actually it's $12 per guest (each) per day. The breakdown is $4 per day - room host; $4 per day - server; $3 per day - asst server; and $1 per day head server.

Thank you. It doesn't seem like much when it's broken down like that.

Would anyone here know how I can prepay if I don't have a travel agent? Do you know if I can use Disney gift cards when prepaying (assuming then that the tips would be credited to the servers paychecks)?

 

[dizney-cruiser]

Actually it's $12 per guest (each) per day. The breakdown is $4 per day - room host; $4 per day - server; $3 per day - asst server; and $1 per day head server.

And I used the calculator!! Thanks!

 

[jilljill]

Thank you. It doesn't seem like much when it's broken down like that.

Would anyone here know how I can prepay if I don't have a travel agent? Do you know if I can use Disney gift cards when prepaying (assuming then that the tips would be credited to the servers paychecks)?

You would call DCL directly and tell them you want to pre-pay your onboard tips.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Thank you. It doesn't seem like much when it's broken down like that.

Would anyone here know how I can prepay if I don't have a travel agent? Do you know if I can use Disney gift cards when prepaying (assuming then that the tips would be credited to the servers paychecks)?

You would just apply the gift cards to your onboard account when you board. At Guest Services.

 

[crashbb]

And I used the calculator!! Thanks!

But you didn't read it correctly, I don't think.

Although it asks you the number of adults (defaults to two, based on your link), the actual column heading (where the total is $12) is:

"Suggested tip, per person per day"

The "Total Tip" column does use the number of people you entered in its calculation.

 

[dexys]

I just found out this week about this new policy as well and was a bit taken aback by it. After reading the comments in this thread, I can understand the reasons behind it (similar to tips included for large parties at restaurants where servers otherwise often get screwed by groups of teens or someone shorted when collecting cash), but, it seems to me that the people who said they didn't like it were treated pretty harshly, like they were just trying to avoid tipping when that clearly wasn't the case.
My family and I go out to eat a lot and personally, I like tipping based on the quality of service--which normally results in at least 20% (although I disagree with the person who said they would never ever consider tipping less than a recommeded amount, as I don't think that is much of a service incentive). I wouldn't be pleased with a restaurant that set my tip amount before the meal even started unless I went to the manager first.
I haven't decided what I will do for my upcoming Disney cruise. I've been on a bunch of them, and frankly, unless you go to guest services right before dinner on the last night, I've never encountered much of a line. Still, I might decide to do nothing and have them auto-bill it like it is currently set up.
I don't have a strong view because I understand Disney's stated reasoning. I do think reasonable minds can differ, however, without making people feel cheap. If they are concerned that people outside the US don't know what is expected and want to put a little pressure on those who might shortchange the staff, what I would love to see is for them to make it part of the boarding process when you arrive at the dock and check in: "Here is what the expected tips are. We can automatically charge them so that you don't have to worry about it at the end or you can handle it yourself. What would you like?"

 

[kenzie212]

Just back from the Magic NYC/Bahams cruise yesterday. We received the notice of the automatic tip in our stateroom on Friday a ticket for each person, their name and how much each received. We also received envelopes for each person if we wanted to give any additional cash tips.

We were aware of the automatic tipping ahead of time so this was not a surprise to us. The one issue I have is the automatic tip to the restaurant host. Why are we paying $128 to someone who walked by our table one night during the 8 night cruise and said hello. I have preferred to split that money up among the stateroom host, server & assitant server all who were great and we gave extra cash to each of them on the last night but the envelope for the restaurant host went right to the trash.

You can prepay the tips ahead of time and I kind of wished we had done that. Getting that bill on the morning you depart can be quite shocking if you have done excursions, bougth pictures, gift shop items, drinks,etc..

 

[JanBlessed]

They won't have to get less, you can put any additional cash in the envelope with the tip coupon, if you wish.

We used this "tip" for our tips and it was nice to add the cash according to service. I'm curious as to how much extra people add. We had an extra $20 for the room stewardess and $40 through $5 for dining. Is that too much or too little?

 

[IrenicMom]

The one issue I have is the automatic tip to the restaurant host. Why are we paying $128 to someone who walked by our table one night during the 8 night cruise and said hello.

A head server does quite a bit more than walk by tables and say hello. S/he is responsible for the waitstaff in his/her area, and oversees the galley as well - always ensuring that things move smoothly along.

For instance, on our last cruise - just off on Saturday - our head server caught that the entree my daughter ordered contained an allergen (carrots - so it's kind of a bizarre one), and intercepted the meal before it made it to her. He came out to discuss it with her, offer her other suggestions, and then made sure that the meal would be available to her the next night and would be safe for her to eat.

Because of her food allergy, we had an opportunity to really talk to him - and we gained quite a bit of insight into all of his responsibilities. If everything is running smoothly, he has quite a bit of time to come around and talk. However, if there are issues, he attends to them first, with socializing taking a back seat.

I definitely had a greater appreciation for his position once I fully understood his responsibility level. One dollar, per person, per day isn't much. Sure, for a party of 16 it's sizable, but that's the aggregate for the group for 8 days.

 

[CruznLexi]

I love the auto tips. We actually pay ours prior to final payment. Hubby worked for RCI for many years and people do stiff a lot. Don't show up the last night. Carnival and RCI have been doing this for years and this way I think more people are going to get paid. Yes you can remove it but why? Even if I have bad service which I have not had on Disney it is not about that it is about our vacation and time away from work.

 

[jilljill]

Just back from the Magic NYC/Bahams cruise yesterday. We received the notice of the automatic tip in our stateroom on Friday a ticket for each person, their name and how much each received. We also received envelopes for each person if we wanted to give any additional cash tips.

We were aware of the automatic tipping ahead of time so this was not a surprise to us. The one issue I have is the automatic tip to the restaurant host. Why are we paying $128 to someone who walked by our table one night during the 8 night cruise and said hello. I have preferred to split that money up among the stateroom host, server & assitant server all who were great and we gave extra cash to each of them on the last night but the envelope for the restaurant host went right to the trash.

You can prepay the tips ahead of time and I kind of wished we had done that. Getting that bill on the morning you depart can be quite shocking if you have done excursions, bougth pictures, gift shop items, drinks,etc..

Not sure how you came up with the amount of $128 for your cruise for your party for the Head Server. The suggested amount for the HS is $1/person per day. So for a family of 4 on an 8 night cruise the suggested amount is $32 for the HS.

As has already been said, the HS makes sure everything in the serving station is running smoothly and will take care of any problems that may arise.


The envelopes are actually given so you can put the gratuity voucher in and give to the appropriate person. It doesn't matter if you give them extra cash or not, the envelope should be given to them with the voucher.

 

[kenzie212]

I understand the head server has other responsibilities I was just simply stating our experience with the server.

I'm not sure of the calculations and maybe I misread the tickets but I was pretty sure each ticket said $128.

We didn't put the vouchers in the envelopes as we didn't realize we were supposed to do that, we just added the cash. I thought the tickets were just to notify us as to what had been charged.

I'll have to look at my end of the week bill and see if it shows how it was broken down.