Bring cash for tips or put on CC account?

[GenieDana]

Is is better to bring cash for tips (Stateroom Host, Server, Head Server, etc.) or better to put them on the stateroom account?

I hear guest services gets very busy the last evening, but if you settle up earlier in the day before debarkation, are receipts provided to put in the tip envelopes?

Thanks,

Dana

 

[CarolAnnC]

I always put my tips onto my account at Guest Services early in the cruise. Then if I want to add additional amounts later on I simply put cash with the tip voucher. I would not wait till the last day as the line does get long.

 

[aprilgail2]

I prefer giving cash....I have all the money seperated in envelopes and when it comes time to tip if I think they deserve more I just add another 20 to the envelope.

 

[ThreeCircles]

We've always tipped in cash on the last night of the cruise. It provides a great window to thank everyone for all of their hard work and dedication that goes into making the cruise so special.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We used cash for our first Disney cruise, but this past January we put our tips on the cards for both cruises. They give two receipts for each person you are tipping, one to put in their envelope so they know how much you're tipping, and one for you to keep. I wrote little notes to each person on their envelope, to make it more "personal" too. And that way we had extra cash for those delicious tropical drinks by the pool!!!

 

[MrsPotatoHead]

We found it very convenient to charge the tips to our stateroom account. We went to guest services on Wednesday to take care of the tips, as we'd heard the lines get longer later in the week. They gave us the receipts to put in the envelopes. Then on Friday during the debarkation talk (we watched it on tv in our room) they instructed everyone to leave their stateroom host's tip envelope on our pillow that night before leaving for dinner, and to give the tip envelopes to our servers personally that night at dinner. It was very convenient to take care of things this way. Just stop by guest services any time you wander by and see that there is a short line!

 

[WDWLVR]

I always put the cash for our tips in a different compartment of our ticket holder. We also give out phone cards to our server, asst. server, and room steward. If I do find myself running short of cash I can always use this stash and then charge the tips, but I've never had to do that. The cash and phone cards were very well received!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

That is one thing we're going to do differently this time. Last time I bought cute stationary and wrote a personal note, then put in the tip vouchers. THIS TIME, I'm going to still do the stationary, but I'm going to use cash. That way we don't waste any time waiting in line -- well, MY HUSBAND doesn't have to wait in lines unnecessarily!

I wonder what is better for the staff, vouchers or cash. I'm assuming they have to report the cash but is that a bigger pain than the tip envelopes? This would be something good to know.

Does anyone tip their bartenders more than the already-added gratuity? We tipped Willy and Ryan at Signals a bit more because they were super nice and 'giving' to us. LOL

 

[starwood]

I say charge it.

1. That much less cash you have to carry around (and risk losing).
2. Look at the extra points you can get on your credit card.

 

[kajohn]

Originally posted by CRSNDSNY

I wonder what is better for the staff, vouchers or cash. I'm assuming they have to report the cash but is that a bigger pain than the tip envelopes? This would be something good to know.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe the CM's pay any taxes, so cash versus a voucher shouldn't matter. (I was told this on RCCL when someone asked one of the cruise staff why he was the only american on the staff and he said american's have to pay taxes, the others don't, so american's rarely work on their ships, so I assume it is the same for DCL)

I would also assume even if a CM receives cash they probably have some sort of account on the ship that they deposit it in, since they don't really have time to leave the ship to deposit it in a bank, and I can't imagine they want to hold onto thousands of dollars of cash from several weeks on board of tips.

That being said, I personally use the voucher system, I always use a credit card that earns points of some sort, so it is adventageous to me to put them on my card, as well as I don't like handling large amounts of cash, and if an enevelope is misplaced by myself or the CM, the CM will still get the money in their account, and not just lose the money.