gratuities

[lds0191]

If you use this website cruisetip.tpkeller.com it will tell you the recommended amount for each crew member, per person, per day.

 

[over50visits]

The cruise package Disney offers does not give the option of not reserving a table in the MDR. Whether you use it is your choice, but you do reserve one. The waiters are there every night, available to serve you. They are not assigned to someone else. They are reserved by you and for you. It's part of the package from Disney...that's the way it is.

I like to think of calling a taxi, having him wait outside an hour, then telling him never mind. Do you owe him for the time, even though you didn't use him? Of course.

If you change your mind, they have been there graciously awaiting your arrival, even night.

And, as others have pointed out, you do see them, though may not know it. They serve in Cabanas, they serve in the MDRs for breakfast and lunch, and they serve on Castaway Cay. The dinner meal is only one part of the service they give to you.

Yes, of course, at least the minimum suggested tip, if nothing else.

 

[Jodi Perez]

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/faqs/onboard-services/gratuities/

We are on the 4 night.. but the breakdown would be the same when you look at it in the point of view you mentioned!

 

[KBinCO]

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/planning-center/my-cruise-plans/faqs/onboard-services/gratuities/

We are on the 4 night.. but the breakdown would be the same when you look at it in the point of view you mentioned!

Those are totals for the 4 nights per person, so divided by 4 is what it is per night per person.

 

[Jodi Perez]

The cruise package Disney offers does not give the option of not reserving a table in the MDR. Whether you use it is your choice, but you do reserve one. The waiters are there every night, available to serve you. They are not assigned to someone else. They are reserved by you and for you. It's part of the package from Disney...that's the way it is.

I like to think of calling a taxi, having him wait outside an hour, then telling him never mind. Do you owe him for the time, even though you didn't use him? Of course.

If you change your mind, they have been there graciously awaiting your arrival, even night.

And, as others have pointed out, you do see them, though may not know it. They serve in Cabanas, they serve in the MDRs for breakfast and lunch, and they serve on Castaway Cay. The dinner meal is only one part of the service they give to you.

Yes, of course, at least the minimum suggested tip, if nothing else.

Again... I am not saying its unfair to tip them... I would definitely not want to stiff them being as they will be waiting on us and other guests for breakfast and lunch as well. (I think of it more like if everybody puts a tip in the pot for the waiters to split for their service .. that would be fair. Although it obviously isn't tallied that way.) However, I do disagree with your taxi analogy. It would be more like booking a flight and the airport offering a complimentary taxi to the airport... one that your are not interested in or in need of.. but they INSIST that it waits outside of your home for an hour anyway then expects a tip. If our waiters served us only dinner. I would very likely eliminate or decrease the tip because it is not my decision that disney has INSISTED on the meal being assigned.. it should definitely be optional. I know that would be unfortunate for the waiters but also totally out of my control. However, I completely see the sense in tipping because of the other meals they will be serving! So no one get worried about my waiters... I'll make sure we take care of them.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Again... I am not saying its unfair to tip them... I would definitely not want to stiff] them being as they will be waiting on us and other guests for breakfast and lunch as well. (I think of it more like if everybody puts a tip in the pot for the waiters to split for their service .. that would be fair. Although it obviously isn't tallied that way.) However, I do disagree with your taxi analogy. It would be more like booking a flight and the airport offering a complimentary taxi to the airport... one that your are not interested in or in need of.. but they INSIST that it waits outside of your home for an hour anyway then expects a tip. If our waiters served us only dinner. I would very likely eliminate or decrease the tip because it is not my decision that disney has INSISTED on the meal being assigned.. it should definitely be optional. I know that would be unfortunately for the waiters but also totally out of my control. However, I completely see the sense in tipping because of the other meals they will be serving! So no one get worried about my waiters... I'll make sure we take care of them.

I warned you this was a hot topic. Have a great cruise.

 

[Dug720]

If you want options other than traditional dining, there are other cruise lines out there that offer that option.

You have chosen to sail on Disney, which DOES consider traditional dining part of the total package. In buying a Disney cruise, you are choosing to buy the package.

 

[Jodi Perez]

Those are totals for the 4 nights per person, so divided by 4 is what it is per night per person.

Yes I understand... I can see that logic... its still a large chunk of money for us poor folk. - well maybe not poor but we will say... less than middle class folk.

 

[KBinCO]

Yes I understand... I can see that logic... its still a large chunk of money for us poor folk. - well maybe not poor but we will say... less than middle class folk.

I'm just saying, it's $8/day for the entire dining staff and not 16. So you're talking $8/day for all your meals (Palo/Remy aside) regardless of where you choose to dine.

 

[C6PT7]

Yes I understand... I can see that logic... its still a large chunk of money for us poor folk. - well maybe not poor but we will say... less than middle class folk.

And you're bringing a nanny/babysitter paid for on the cruise but a full tip to the wait staff is debatable?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

And you're bringing a nanny/babysitter paid for on the cruise but a full tip to the wait staff is debatable?

You may have missed Jodi's post - the "babysitter" isn't a paid sitter/nanny. They paid for her cruise, but no other payment is being made. I believe she's coming along to help out, not really as a job.

honestly.. I know this is going to probably sound silly to most of you but the "babysitter" is a friend of mine who has agreed to come and we have just covered the cost of her cruise she isn't being paid anything additional.. so I kinda feel guilty about sending her to bed with the kids and going to the dinner that she and her 3 year old daughter would probably enjoy....

[/QUOTE]

 

[perditax]

Hmm, a paid cruise seems like a really good salary for babysitting.

I don't know, this thread confuses the heck out of me.

 

[SirDuff]

You may have missed Jodi's post - the "babysitter" isn't a paid sitter/nanny. They paid for her cruise, but no other payment is being made. I believe she's coming along to help out, not really as a job.

I think that the PP's point is that they PAID FOR THE CRUISE (and possibly her daughter's). The OP is correct when he/she says that they aren't the "typical cruiser" - most cruisers cannot afford to pay cruise fare for their own babysitter.

 

[KBinCO]

We don't have a lot of money either. We paid for nothing extra- we did BBB with our on board credit, brought our own alcohol, and took advantage of everything included... but the only thing on our final bill was the tips and I just couldn't be stingy with those. I cut costs everywhere else.

 

[Jodi Perez]

And you're bringing a nanny/babysitter paid for on the cruise but a full tip to the wait staff is debatable?

It was actually only an extra $300 to bring a babysitter because we would have had to pay for two staterooms (and 4 adult tickets) anyway so in the end we ended up paying for one extra child ticket to bring another adult. And she's a friend not a nanny (we can't afford that as we live on one salary) And yes we did debate the tip for our waiter but we also debated splurging on a sitter and whether it was necessary. We splurged to bring a babysitter because.. what kind of sense would it even make to go on a (very expensive) cruise only to sit in our room for much of the time while are kids sleeping? In the end we decided that she will be providing an invaluable service to us where we did not believe (originally) that we would ever even meet out waiter. And also... We have been saving for this for 4 years and this is our first family vacation and it's doubling as a honeymoon of sorts. My husband worked a lot of overtimes to pay for it and we were simply attempting to be careful with the funds we worked so hard to save. I don't really see why questioning this is unreasonable. Its not as if I argued the point that the waiters do not deserve to be paid for their work... I was simply trying to determine whether they would actually be DOING any work. I think that we have worked hard enough and saved long enough to have earned a vacation even if we are on the low end of the income spectrum so I apologize if I have offended you with my "low class" questions.

 

[Jodi Perez]

We don't have a lot of money either. We paid for nothing extra- we did BBB with our on board credit, brought our own alcohol, and took advantage of everything included... but the only thing on our final bill was the tips and I just couldn't be stingy with those. I cut costs everywhere else.

Whats BBB?

 

[KBinCO]

No need to be defensive. The website states tipping for dining- as it usually is- is at your own discretion... but the question that you asked has a pretty standard answer. If you skip the MDRs, it is typical that the tips remain the same.

And then there's the sidenote that you should still give MDRs a try- just some peoples' suggestion.

 

[KBinCO]

Whats BBB?

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique- only on the Fantasy.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It was actually only an extra $300 to bring a babysitter because we would have had to pay for two staterooms (and 4 adult tickets) anyway so in the end we ended up paying for one extra child ticket to bring another adult. And she's a friend not a nanny (we can't afford that as we live on one salary) And yes we did debate the tip for our waiter but we also debated splurging on a sitter and whether it was necessary. We splurged to bring a babysitter because.. what kind of sense would it even make to go on a (very expensive) cruise only to sit in our room for much of the time while are kids sleeping? In the end we decided that she will be providing an invaluable service to us where we did not believe (originally) that we would ever even meet out waiter. And also... We have been saving for this for 4 years and this is our first family vacation and it's doubling as a honeymoon of sorts. My husband worked a lot of overtimes to pay for it and we were simply attempting to be careful with the funds we worked so hard to save. I don't really see why questioning this is unreasonable. Its not as if I argued the point that the waiters do not deserve to be paid for their work... I was simply trying to determine whether they would actually be DOING any work. I think that we have worked hard enough and saved long enough to have earned a vacation even if we are on the low end of the income spectrum so I apologize if I have offended you with my "low class" questions.

Unfortunately, because of the strong opinions involved with this issue, you got hit with a lot of extraneous jabs. I'm sorry you've been subjected to that. I'm glad you've gotten the answer you needed to make the decision to go ahead with the gratuities. Please don't let some responses color your cruise.

Whats BBB?

Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/s...bobbidi-boutique/?int_cmp=INS-intDCLtoDCL-BBB

 

[Jodi Perez]

No need to be defensive. The website states tipping for dining- as it usually is- is at your own discretion... but the question that you asked has a pretty standard answer. If you skip the MDRs, it is typical that the tips remain the same.

And then there's the sidenote that you should still give MDRs a try- just some peoples' suggestion.

thanks... the defensiveness was mostly in reply to the pp who seemed to think I was crazy for bringing a sitter but questioning the tip... I am honestly not trying to be stingy or wanting to stiff anyone... just wanting to be wise with our income... as PrincessShmoo mentioned... this is a hot topic..something I wasn't aware of before I posted. Guess I should have done more research