I posted this on the "tipping" thread and thought I would add it here, also.
We just got back from the 6/24/06 Magic cruise. We had a concierge suite, and our teens spent a lot of time in the Stack. I know that concierge and the counselors cannot receive cash tips.
Before our trip, I took a picture created by Musicgirl (thanks, Lorie!). It was a picture of the Magic from a previous cruise. Musicgirl added our names and the words "Double Dip" and the June 24, 2006 date to the picture. I uploaded the picture to Walmart.com and for eighty-eight cents each, I created gift cards with this picture. I then loaded them with various denominations and used them for tipping the positions which cannot receive cash. I also tucked some in with our thank you cards and cash tips as "extra" for special services. I taped the receipt to the back of each just to make sure they wouldn't have problems using them.
The gift cards can be used at a
Walmart store (I checked, they do have a bus to Walmart every Saturday for CMs) or online at walmart.com (they could order something and have it shipped to themselves or their family).
They were well received. Concierge did tell me that they checked with their manager and they were given permission to keep them. They had mentioned that sometimes they couldn't keep gift cards (particularly if they were money cards like VISA gift cards). I am not sure why they worked ... perhaps because these had a special design specific to our trip, or because they were Walmart ... but I am glad they did.