Prepaid gratuities

[Floridian From Afar]

Hi. We're a family of four going on our 1st Disney Cruise this April on the Wish for a 3 night sailing.

I'm wondering about prepaid gratuities. From what I understand it comes out to $58 per day, divided between the wait staff and housekeeping.

Just curious what seasoned travelers say about prepaying gratuities. Is it considered sufficient, or bare minimum with extra tipping expected by the staff.

Thanks

 

[lanejudy]

You are welcome to add more onboard even if you prepay.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Good question. We prepay gratuities as we consider it bare minimum for the services we get. For those that we feel really give that special 'oomph', I've gone to guest services and added a bit (length of cruise dependent) onto that person. I've also added some to the non-standard gratuity receivers. One time, I dropped some on the sommelier who was just fabulous
ETA: you can also add more gratuity via cash, if you'd like. I just find it easier to do it via guest services; totally a personal preference

 

[starvenger]

I prepay because I hate to see my onboard balance jump that much every day. And because I can get that expense out of the way early.

 

[CarolynFH]

We prepaid for convenience, then when we gave out the tip envelopes on the last night we added some extra cash for individuals such as our room steward who had been especially helpful.

 

[sadiecatie]

We prepay because I can’t imagine a situation where we wouldn’t leave at least the suggested/automatic gratuities. If we feel it is warranted (which we did for our whole serving team and room steward last summer), we go to guest services to add extra.

 

[TRTRguy]

One thing to understand about preparing gratuities is, your service team will not know you prepaid, and does not change your service level. You are essentially giving Disney a 0% interest loan. If you do not prepay, gratuities are automatically charged to your folio near the end of the cruise anyways.

 

[LorrieAnn5]

We are not pre-paying Gratuity because we will revive an on board Credit promotion from our travel agent which we plan on using to pay the Gratuity.
If I didn't get OBC or had plans to use it for something else, such as the spa or an excursion then I would prepay the Gratuity and be done with it.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We always pre-pay the gratuity and bring additional cash. On the last night of the cruise we will hand each person the envelope with the pre-pay ticket and additional cash if they did more than just what is required of them.

Of the 14 cruises we have taken; I can remember only one time when we did not add additional money towards the tip.

 

[Flcruising]

Prepay is just simpler. If I decide to pay less or more I can go to the desk and have it adjusted. If they provide customary standard Disney service, I provide the customary standard Disney tip. If we ask for or need something beyond or they provide service beyond the standard then I will add. Sometimes people on this board try to make you feel guilty if you don't give more... Don’t.

You ask what staff expect. I have never had any indication from any crew member they expect anything. They do expect and hope you give high marks on the comment cards. They make that clear. But never even a hint of tip expectations. The crew have no idea what you will or won't give since tips are at the end of the cruise. Therefore prepayment won't affect their service

 

[Flcruising]

Duplicate

 

[sponica]

I prepay to get it out of the way, I like prepaying as much as possible.

 

[OpieDoodle]

We always prepay. Its just easier that way and one less thing to worry about. I do always also bring cash to tip for bags at port, room service, etc and there's always a decent amount left over that I then add to the envelopes of any service member that went above and beyond or who just made our trip that much better.

For example, on our last cruise our assistant server, Oscar on the Dream, was AMAZING. He was awesome with my kids and my kids talked about him the whole trip. We also had a very large group of 10. I know both of our rooms added extra to his envelope at the end of the trip.

 

[twinstar2]

I’m working on a CC SUB so it seems like prepaying would help. To ensure the charge is run immediately, is there any difference between asking my agent to do it, and using the onboard gifts webpage?

 

[sadiecatie]

I’m working on a CC SUB so it seems like prepaying would help. To ensure the charge is run immediately, is there any difference between asking my agent to do it, and using the onboard gifts webpage?

It's not done through the onboard gifts page, it's done directly through your booking page, so I'm assuming your TA would have to do that for you if you want it pre-paid. (I haven't booked through a TA, so I just go in to the app and add it on to my charges to pay ahead of time).

 

[WinterSolider]

Is it considered sufficient, or bare minimum

Both, and neither.

I always prepay and then add extra. If someone told me they prepaid and didn't add extra, I would not say they're being cheap or stingy.

If someone paid less than the prepaid amount, I would say they were being cheap and stingy.

For reference, there are four main tipped positions that your prepaid gratuities cover:

• Stateroom host
• Server
• Assistant Server
• Head Server

The Server and Assistant Server are the team taking care you in the dining rooms at dinner throughout the cruise and at breakfast the last day. The head server supervises a group of servers and will check on you periodically but is much less involved than the other two.

The following positions are NOT included in prepaid gratuities and should be tipped additionally:

• Positions that you can tip electronically when you buy something
  • Bar staff, including poolside drinks
  • Upcharge food and beverage like specialty snacks, Cove Cafe, milkshakes, etc.
  • Room service *if you order something that costs money*
  • Adult dining like Remy, Palo, etc.
  • Spa
  • Concierge lounge
• Positions that you should plan to tip cash
  • Porters
  • Tour guides
  • Room service if you don't order anything that costs money

You are not expected to tip if you go to a table service dining room for breakfast or lunch. Those servers are part of the dinner service team as well, and their tips will come from the people who they're serving at dinner.

 

[sadiecatie]

Both, and neither.

I always prepay and then add extra. If someone told me they prepaid and didn't add extra, I would not say they're being cheap or stingy.

If someone paid less than the prepaid amount, I would say they were being cheap and stingy.

For reference, there are four main tipped positions that your prepaid gratuities cover:

• Stateroom host
• Server
• Assistant Server
• Head Server

The Server and Assistant Server are the team taking care you in the dining rooms at dinner throughout the cruise and at breakfast the last day. The head server supervises a group of servers and will check on you periodically but is much less involved than the other two.

The following positions are NOT included in prepaid gratuities and should be tipped additionally:

• Positions that you can tip electronically when you buy something
  • Bar staff, including poolside drinks
  • Upcharge food and beverage like specialty snacks, Cove Cafe, milkshakes, etc.
  • Room service *if you order something that costs money*
  • Adult dining like Remy, Palo, etc.
  • Spa
  • Concierge lounge
• Positions that you should plan to tip cash
  • Porters
  • Tour guides
  • Room service if you don't order anything that costs money

You are not expected to tip if you go to a table service dining room for breakfast or lunch. Those servers are part of the dinner service team as well, and their tips will come from the people who they're serving at dinner.

Just as an addition, many of those extra add-on costs also have an automatic gratuity added to your bill at the time of purchase (i.e. alcoholic beverages, adult dining, etc). It's up to you if you want to add additional gratuity, but do realize that you're already paying 18% gratuity at the time of purchase. (or you can be like my husband and be accidentally very very generous - we've had more than one occasion where after the fact I ask "how could our bill have possibly been that high??" only to look and see that he didn't realize there was auto-gratuity added)

 

[WinterSolider]

Just as an addition, many of those extra add-on costs also have an automatic gratuity added to your bill at the time of purchase (i.e. alcoholic beverages, adult dining, etc). It's up to you if you want to add additional gratuity, but do realize that you're already paying 18% gratuity at the time of purchase. (or you can be like my husband and be accidentally very very generous - we've had more than one occasion where after the fact I ask "how could our bill have possibly been that high??" only to look and see that he didn't realize there was auto-gratuity added)

Yep, even places you never would expect it. Buy a cooler full of bottled water at Castaway Cay? +18%

 

[starvenger]

We always prepay. Its just easier that way and one less thing to worry about. I do always also bring cash to tip for bags at port, room service, etc and there's always a decent amount left over that I then add to the envelopes of any service member that went above and beyond or who just made our trip that much better.

Makes sense to do that. I tend to lump all of that into "misc expenses" and try to carry enough cash to cover these incidentals.

Might seem trivial to some of you, but they don't take Canadian money outside of the country and maybe border cities so it is imperative that I bring enough USD/Euros for my trips.

But I do have a followup question for everyone - say you need to break a $20. Is there somewhere other than guest services that you could potentially get singles from on DCL?

 

[sponica]

Makes sense to do that. I tend to lump all of that into "misc expenses" and try to carry enough cash to cover these incidentals.

Might seem trivial to some of you, but they don't take Canadian money outside of the country and maybe border cities so it is imperative that I bring enough USD/Euros for my trips.

But I do have a followup question for everyone - say you need to break a $20. Is there somewhere other than guest services that you could potentially get singles from on DCL?

I literally brought 50 dollars in ones and 50 dollars in fives. My husband thought I was insane, until we ended up actually using the smaller bills for various tip add ons