Tipping on top of tipping

[sandrakit]

Who were your servers on the last cruise ?

 

[eva]

Who were your servers on the last cruise ?

Mateus and Malcolm on the Fanatasy.

 

[kcashner]

I'm a little confused. By paid room service items do you mean like alcohol? I have heard that regular room service items..cheese plates, coffee in the morning..have an auto tip added.. Can someone clarify on the room service tipping?

PAID room service items do have an auto-gratuity. These are bar items--sodas, alcohol, smoothies, etc. Normal, non-paid rooms service items (cheese plates, coffee, cereal, hamburgers) do NOT have a tip added. You are welcome to tip if you wish--it is one of those "up to you" issues. We usually tip a couple dollars.

 

[lilpooh108]

We tip extra if service is good because my daughter has tons of allergies and she requires extra service...dinner is always a big deal. So when service is good we go above and beyond with $$$ as well.

 

[zstyles]

We just returned, we tipped our Concierge around 100.00 for the week..we also tipped our room host who did a very good job and was very friendly and helpful his full amount, we did reduce our servers, head waiter and assistants tipping amount by around 25.00 each as the dinner service was far from meeting our expectations...

Also on tipping of servers, the automatic 15% was left as is for some but more added for others (servers who brought us multiple drinks at once etc)..but for room service we didn't add more to the tab etc...15% is plenty when your comparing it to the average hotel etc..

 

[realityland]

as the dinner service was far from meeting our expectations...

I continue to see this comment/concern reflected again and again from recent cruisers. It personally brings me some concern as my first DCL cruise is coming up in a few weeks. I will, of course, go in with an open mind. Just not the kind of trend you would like to see. I wish I could say that it could be attributed to just difficult people who are impossible to appease. But as in your case, you generous complimented your room host and conceirge and tipped them very well. So this isn't about folks being unreasonable, it seems to me.

 

[Disneyholic]

PS - does anyone know if there is a way to send a thank you card to our servers? The biggest problem is we do not know their last names. But their first names are very unique.

Do you still have the stubs from your tips? Their full name is on those.

 

[eva]

Do you still have the stubs from your tips? Their full name is on those.

Nope. Hate to say it, I didn't even tear the stubs off. But if I did know their last name, how could I get a card to them?

 

[sissy_ib]

We just returned, we tipped our Concierge around 100.00 for the week..we also tipped our room host who did a very good job and was very friendly and helpful his full amount, we did reduce our servers, head waiter and assistants tipping amount by around 25.00 each as the dinner service was far from meeting our expectations...

Also on tipping of servers, the automatic 15% was left as is for some but more added for others (servers who brought us multiple drinks at once etc)..but for room service we didn't add more to the tab etc...15% is plenty when your comparing it to the average hotel etc..

Did all of your room service items have a cost? We never ordered the items that were charged. Most items on the room service menu are free.

 

[zstyles]

No not all, but we ordered room service from the restaurants in the morning(being concierge) and always had a latte or something else delivered which did cost...

 

[sissy_ib]

No not all, but we ordered room service from the restaurants in the morning(being concierge) and always had a latte or something else delivered which did cost...

So you only tipped the 15% on your latte and not for the other items? I was just wondering what you meant by you only tipped the 15% on room service.

 

[zstyles]

So you only tipped the 15% on your latte and not for the other items? I was just wondering what you meant by you only tipped the 15% on room service.

It depended on what they brought..if it was some cookies and milk, no, if it was full cart they hauled it in the room, setup the table cloth, setup the glasses, silverwear etc, we tipped them.

 

[ItAllStrtdWAMouse]

If you have a cabana. Are you tipping the cabana host? Drinks ordered will have auto-gratuity, but do you tip extra and how?

 

[disneywonderfun]

We just returned, we tipped our Concierge around 100.00 for the week..we also tipped our room host who did a very good job and was very friendly and helpful his full amount, we did reduce our servers, head waiter and assistants tipping amount by around 25.00 each as the dinner service was far from meeting our expectations...

Also on tipping of servers, the automatic 15% was left as is for some but more added for others (servers who brought us multiple drinks at once etc)..but for room service we didn't add more to the tab etc...15% is plenty when your comparing it to the average hotel etc..

Good for you! I think what you did by lowering the tips for service that was below expectations is not done enough. DCL has a smart system with autogratuities that allow them to analyze the data for their CMs. So, if you went to the trouble to lower a tip for below average service, I am sure that fact does not escape the CM's supervisor. That is the best way to improve service. We have had spectacular servers where we went out of our way to mention them in the cruise survey and we have had really mediocre at best servers. When your servers are not very good, it does take away from the cruise experience, no doubt. One thing I have decided for future cruises, is to have a low threshold to discuss any issues with the head waiter. We generally do not complain, but if there are problems, I would rather try to resolve them early in the cruise than sit and sulk for days.

DWF

 

[TempusFugit]

I could not agree more about discussing issues with your head server or guest services as soon as possible. If done politely usually everyone will be better served.

 

[10MouseEars]

I am new to DCL, but have been on four other cruise lines in the last few years, both with our children and without. We have had great service and mediocre service. We generally tip according to the service, using their suggested amounts as a guideline.

Only one cruise line ever took the time to call us down to interview us with regard to our changing the recommended tip amounts. The man in charge of the dining asked us several questions and when we explained our reasoning, he agreed that it was appropriate and thanked us for our time.

On our last cruise, we had excellent wait staff and commented as such to the head of the dining staff. We had a large party who also provided excellent feedback. On the last night, we learned that because they had been receiving such good feedback, that our waiter and assistant waiter had been promoted.

So, at least for those two instances, feedback - written, spoken, and monetary - are closely observed, both when good and bad.