jeroenalex
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
This May, I'll go to WDW and I'll also go on a 4 night DCL cruise. It will be my first visit to the resort and also my first cruise. In fact, I've only been to the US once (when I was 16 years old ), and that was a trip from a week to New York City.
I've been reading the DISboards for weeks now, and they're a great information source. There's one thing though, that I keep getting suprised about every time: Tipping. It seems like tipping in the US (Or at least at WDW and DCL) is completely different from the way we do it here.
For example, here in the Netherlands (and many other European countries), if you get great service, you give a good tip; If you get normal service, you give a small tip; and bad service means absolutely no tip (and a complaint if it's really bad). Also, tipping isn't compulsary at all.
From what I understand from several websites and also from this board, not tipping is considered absolutely not-done. I remember reading a post where a waiter who delivered bad service got a tip 'below average', and the person who gave it felt a little guilty. This sounds so strange to me, why should you give him any tip at all if you're not satisfied about the way he served you?
Also, I've never before seen things like 'tipping guidelines' on official brochures before, and I've been to quite some different countries. Even in Disneyland Resort Paris it's not usual to leave a tip for your chambermaid, and in the restaurants I think about 40% doesn't tip at all.
So my question basically is: Why is the 'tipping culture' so different in the US than in Europe? Is the service so much better? Are the standard wages lower, and are the tips considered a part of that wage? And also: How do you know who to tip, and who not? What about Guest Services? Or the bus driver?
I'm very curious about this, and hopefully I'll get some reactions that will help me become a real 'tipping-expert'
Jeroen
I've been reading the DISboards for weeks now, and they're a great information source. There's one thing though, that I keep getting suprised about every time: Tipping. It seems like tipping in the US (Or at least at WDW and DCL) is completely different from the way we do it here.
For example, here in the Netherlands (and many other European countries), if you get great service, you give a good tip; If you get normal service, you give a small tip; and bad service means absolutely no tip (and a complaint if it's really bad). Also, tipping isn't compulsary at all.
From what I understand from several websites and also from this board, not tipping is considered absolutely not-done. I remember reading a post where a waiter who delivered bad service got a tip 'below average', and the person who gave it felt a little guilty. This sounds so strange to me, why should you give him any tip at all if you're not satisfied about the way he served you?
Also, I've never before seen things like 'tipping guidelines' on official brochures before, and I've been to quite some different countries. Even in Disneyland Resort Paris it's not usual to leave a tip for your chambermaid, and in the restaurants I think about 40% doesn't tip at all.
So my question basically is: Why is the 'tipping culture' so different in the US than in Europe? Is the service so much better? Are the standard wages lower, and are the tips considered a part of that wage? And also: How do you know who to tip, and who not? What about Guest Services? Or the bus driver?
I'm very curious about this, and hopefully I'll get some reactions that will help me become a real 'tipping-expert'
Jeroen