Graduities on cruises?

[Samantha_Mommy]

A question, I just came back from my first Disney cruise (3 night cruise). Prior to sailing I paid graduities. I had a great time with great service. Our next trip is 7 nights!

A question what is normal to tip and how much?

 

[OregonDisneyDreamer]

A question, I just came back from my first Disney cruise (3 night cruise). Prior to sailing I paid graduities. I had a great time with great service. Our next trip is 7 nights!

A question what is normal to tip and how much?

In the cruise booklet Disney sent with our luggage tags it had the following information for our 3-Night Cruise. I would assume you would just multiply by 7 for a night trip once you figure out the per diem.

(per person, including children)
Restaurant server - $12
Restaurant Assistant server - $9
Head Server - $3
Stateroom Hostess - $12

So that would be daily tips of:
Restaurant server - $4
Restaurant Assistant server - $3
Head Server - $1
Stateroom Hostess - $4

 

[PrincessShmoo]

A question, I just came back from my first Disney cruise (3 night cruise). Prior to sailing I paid graduities. I had a great time with great service. Our next trip is 7 nights!

A question what is normal to tip and how much?

Assuming you are talking about a DCL cruise.

Gratuities are usually figured on a # of nights per cruise. It breaks out to $12 per person/per night. This is suggested amount. You can tip more or less as you feel. You may prepay these tips or pay them at the end of the cruise.

On other cruise lines the "gratuties" are called a hotel service charge, usually about $11 or $12 a night that is added to your onboard account daily. Again, you may add to those tips, but subtracting from them is not as easy.

 

[kcashner]

Just to be clear (because some on these boards have come up with strange numbers....) tips are suggested to be $12 per GUEST per night of the cruise. So on a 7 night cruise, the suggested tips for the 4 tipped positions are $84 per guest. If there are 4 people in your cabin, it would be $84 X 4.

To make it easy, for budgeting I figure $100 times the number in our family or group. That way, I've allowed a bit for room service, porters, and increasing tips to the tipped positions.

 

[Samantha_Mommy]

thanks all, I guess the real question is how much more do you normally tip?

 

[HiMagicFan]

Don't know if I spelled that correctly but I will tip what is recommended.

then if the service goes above and beyond, I have little envelopes that I give out to those who did for me...i.e. my last cruise (not diusney but princess) I tipped the pursur gentleman who assisted me with all my payments to my bill (I pay as I go so that by the end of the cruise I don't have a huge bill~I use envelopes to budget for this which I learned on these boards!). He was quite surprised by this. I also tipped my bar tender because by the end of the cruise I didn't have to ask for my morning hot chocolate - when he saw me he was already off and making it...these things made it a pleasant trip and for that I gave extra ~ $5 each on a 15 night cruise.

Hope that gives you one perspective. Just know that it is at your discretion if you tip more than what is recommended.

 

[Cerberus9]

thanks all, I guess the real question is how much more do you normally tip?

Unless the service is truly exemplary, why would you tip more than the suggested amounts?

Overtipping is just as gauche as undertipping. Unless you feel that your server, etc. truly went above and beyond, I think the suggested amounts are perfectly fine.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Does it bother anyone else tipping the Head Server when he does nothing for you? Last week on the Magic I tipped the HS the recommended amount, but we only saw him two nights - the first night he stopped by and said hi and the last night when we handed out tips. What did he do to deserve a tip?

 

[kcashner]

How much is truly personal.

I start with the suggested. I've only downgraded a tip once. In that case, our server was a real dud, but the assistant more than made up for the guy. I "reversed" the tip amounts, giving the server an assistant's amount and giving the very hard working assistant what the server would have had plus a little more.

The service is usually exemplary. I will sometimes add a little when someone has been really exceptional. The other thing to do in that case is to name them on your comment card--positive guest feedback results in small perks on the next cruise (an extra hour or two off, a preferred shift, etc) and accumulated positive comments have better effects--being allowed to dine in Palo, promotions and raises!

Frankly, I probably went over the suggested more when DD was small (with the above exception). Somehow being special to my kid really went a long way with me!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

From what I have read it seems as though on DCL you tip in cash in the envelopes. But I want my tips on my credit card, I don't want to carry that much cash (I'm going on a 14 night cruise with a family of 4, so we're talking a serious wad of money). So how would that work?

 

[WolfpackFan]

From what I have read it seems as though on DCL you tip in cash in the envelopes. But I want my tips on my credit card, I don't want to carry that much cash (I'm going on a 14 night cruise with a family of 4, so we're talking a serious wad of money). So how would that work?

We did this last week on the Magic. About two days before the cruise is over, you will get a form in your cabin that basically asks you how much you want to tip each person. You fill it out and take it to Guest Services (they have a drop box there to put them in). They will then send you little vouchers for each server which you put in the little envelopes they also give you. You then give the envelope to the server. Worked very well.

 

[Anal Annie]

thanks all, I guess the real question is how much more do you normally tip?

If the service warrants it then we usually tip extra by about 10-15% over the recommended amounts - we find a nice round number to give that doesn't involve cents. (For Example for the 3 of us the $12 for the Server or the Stateroom attendant would add up to $36. $36 x 10% = $3.60. $36 x 15% = $5.40. We would round off to an extra $5.) If the service is average tho then we just leave the recommended amount. We have yet to have a Head Server who has done anything special for us. In fact the last time we did back-to-backs and we asked him on the first cruise if we could have the same serving team (server and assistant) on the next cruise and he said sure...but then it ended up that we did not have them so he was lucky to even get the recommended amount.

We do not pre-pay our tips nor do we tip in cash but rather wait to see how our service is and then go to Guest Services sometime on the next to last day of the cruise and add the tips to our account so we have the paid slips to put in the envelopes (hint - there is usually no line at 10 or 11:00 pm...the last day the line is too long).

 

[kcashner]

From what I have read it seems as though on DCL you tip in cash in the envelopes. But I want my tips on my credit card, I don't want to carry that much cash (I'm going on a 14 night cruise with a family of 4, so we're talking a serious wad of money). So how would that work?

You can go to Guest Services at any time during your cruise (or wait till the form appears in your room). Complete the tip charging form, sign it, and give to GS or place in the box. Within a few hours (minutes if you choose to wait), tip coupons will appear in your cabin/hand. Instead of placing cash in the envelopes, you place 1/2 of the perforated tip coupon. The other 1/2 is for your records. The appropriate CM will get a check and a print out showing your tip and everyone else who charged tips for him/her.

As to the head server who never showed up/did anything--that's unacceptable. At the very least, he/she should show up at your table each night to be sure everything is OK. This is a position that does a lot "behind the scenes," deals with allergies, celebrations, and keeping things smooth for your serving team. We have seen the head servers become a lot more active as more of them have come up thru the ranks. If you never saw him and he never did anything for you, consider that in your tipping!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Thanks for the info everyone.