Disney Magic Eastern Caribbean (03/14-21) and tipping of staff

[tigger61]

We just got back from a GREAT 7 Day cruise on the Disney Magic. We did the Eastern Caribbean (St Maarten/St Thomas/Castaway Cay) and, as usual, we had a great time on board. This is our fourth Disney Cruise (14th overall cruise) and we always enjoy the Disney Cruises.

My rant? While we were waiting for the show on Friday night a couple behind us started to decide which nights they ate in the restaurants so they could only have to "pay" for those nights. In other words, if they only ate 3 nights out of 7 at their arranged dining they'd only have to pay $12 each instead of $28 for each of them. So, instead of paying $56 for the waiter for 7 days at sea they'd pay him $24 since they only went to 3 dinners. Unbelievable. That type of cheap attitude is unbelievable.

My wife was angry as she couldn't believe how cheap these people were acting. Those same staff are working (including working at Topsiders, Palo, etc...) even if you don't come and sit down for your evening dinner in one of the 3 restaurants. C'mon, people. Those staff work hard and deserve better than cheap people who try to cut corners and cheat the staff. We were more than proud to give them every dime they deserved (and we did and gave a little more) as they work hard to make the cruise a great experience.

Anyway, if you are going on a cruise....tip your service staff for the week! Not for a "few days" when you ate at Lumiere's or Parrot Cay.

Rant done.

Disney Cruises rock!

 

[Had2disneycruz]

Looking forward to your trip report! We are doing the Eastern itinerary in April!

 

[tigger61]

First, the cruise was great from start to finish. We flew in the night before.(we learned years ago to fly in the day before to prevent problems such as flight delays, etc...which might end up meaning missing the ship as it leaves port!).

We stayed at the Orlando Airport Hotel (Marriott? Hilton? I can't recall) and the great thing was that since we were going on a Disney Cruise we simply left our luggage (we took our carry ons to the ship) in the hotel room and Disney took them to the ship!

We had a junior suite (5630) with a great room stewad (Jo Jo) who was top notch in every way. Our waiter (Ronald) and his assistant (Romain) were also outstanding as was the Head Waiter (Jeff).

The first two days were spent at sea just relaxing. My wife used the spa (twice) and was really pleased with the service and the masseuse. We took in the shows, watched some movies in the theater and participated in some activities on the ship, but also spent time snoozing, relaxing and soaking in the time on the ship.

St Maarten/St Martin. Hmmmm.....I was not too impressed with this nation. Both sides of the island had beautiful areas, but the poverty is clear and being nations that depend on tourism for their very existence told me everything I needed to know. We went to the butterfly farm in St Maarten and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly (cool place, great education stuff for kids, beautiful butterflies everywhere). We did a little shopping, but I have to say that I think Disney should skip St Martin/St Maarten if they can do better on another Caribbean island.

St Thomas was excellent. We took the excursion to St John for the island tour. Every turn on the truck/van was another scenic view that took your breath away. The island is 2/3 a wildlife nature preserve so it is virtually untouched by man. The people were friendly, the shops and restaurants were good and we had a great day on ST John and then back at St Thomas we enjoyed some good shopping and sightseeing.

Castaway Cay - what else can be said as it is just one beatiful private beach that does Disney proud. There is so much you can do that day or you can just soak in the beauty that is Castaway Cay.

I'd take this cruise again tomorrow morning. The cruise staff was excellent in every way. I'd like to see them add the Caicos Islands or Totola and skip St Martin/Maarten, but that's just my thought.

 

[frdeb1999]

Glad you enjoyed your trip! And I deffinately agree with you on the tipping thing.

 

[disneychic]

Thanks for the TR. I give you credit, I would have turned around and "explained" how tipping works. The waitstaff really bust their butts. I just have no patience for ignorance when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

[sagira]

I agree. Dining room staff and room stewards works so hard on the ship. I spoke to our room steward and they dont really get paid that much money compared to other positions. They are just happy earning US dollars and they are just hoping each week to get decent tips. We had dinner at Palo for 2 night but we still tip our Dining Room Servers for 7 nights. It is not their fault that we are not at the dining room. They also do such a wonderful job and they deserved a great tip.