How do servers, assistant servers and host/hostesses get paid????

[schmaksi]

By these calculations, the servers make more than I do from just tips...plus free housing and meals. No wonder they are happy. I have a 4 year degree and 20 years experience. Maybe I should go into serving...or get a teaching job somewhere other than Florida? jk....you go servers!

 

[WallaceFamily]

I agree with Nancy, too. Also, I'm not tipping more because the ship isn't at capacity. That is not my business. DCL should charge less so that more people can cruise so that there are more people who can tip. I definitely don't tip more at regular restaurants during the non-busy times at home.

I plan on tipping the suggested amount and filling out a comment card truthfully.

 

[crisi]

By these calculations, the servers make more than I do from just tips...plus free housing and meals. No wonder they are happy. I have a 4 year degree and 20 years experience. Maybe I should go into serving...or get a teaching job somewhere other than Florida? jk....you go servers!

Keep in mind they work really long hours. Their day starts at breakfast and ends after last seating. Your main room dining servers can be found dishing burgers at lunch or working the buffet at breakfast. Not every day do they have the long hours, some days they get to have breakfast and lunch off. The ship is sailing every day, so days off are rare. Your cabin is tiny.

Then again, if you are a teacher in Florida, you are working pretty much the same schedule for a lot less money! Maybe cruise ship staff wouldn't be too bad!

(Retiring to Indonesia doesn't sound bad either. I know people who have done that - your retirement income goes a LOT farther in Indonesia).

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We tipped quite a bit extra to our servers and room host. They were outstanding! As a former waitress, I normally tip well. When I looked at the recommened tip amounts there is no way I thought they were enough. Since I feel the amounts were too low FOR THE LEVEL OF SERVICE WE recieved, I added more.

When calculating how much servers make, keep in mind it is reported that some guests remove the tips from their accounts so the servers get paid $0 from entire families.

 

[tvguy]

Then again, if you are a teacher in Florida, you are working pretty much the same schedule for a lot less money! .

Can't let a teacher comment go undocumented.

The average salary paid to a Florida public school teacher in the 2010-11 school year was $45,723. This represents a decrease of $973 (-2.08 percent) from the average salary of $46,696 for the 2009-10 school year.

http://www.teachinflorida.com/Recruitment/FloridaTeacherSalaries/tabid/77/Default.aspx

Working in a job with an average salary of $27,500, THAT looks pretty good.

 

[dsneygirl]

Keep in mind they work really long hours. Their day starts at breakfast and ends after last seating. Your main room dining servers can be found dishing burgers at lunch or working the buffet at breakfast. Not every day do they have the long hours, some days they get to have breakfast and lunch off. The ship is sailing every day, so days off are rare. Your cabin is tiny.

Then again, if you are a teacher in Florida, you are working pretty much the same schedule for a lot less money! Maybe cruise ship staff wouldn't be too bad!

(Retiring to Indonesia doesn't sound bad either. I know people who have done that - your retirement income goes a LOT farther in Indonesia).

Yes I have several friends who worked on the cruise line after their stint in the Canada pavillion on the international program. A server can work from 6am-midnight some days if they are doing buffets etc. We met up with a friend at Atlantis for lunch. Lunch was her only meal off on a 3 day cruise. They easily work 15-18 hour days.

 

[sandrakit]

Cruise ship workers are under paid . My friend currently works for Disney Cruise Line and her wage is 56.00 a month plus tips . She told me she would make a good living working there if everyone paid their suggested tip amount but the problem is many people do not tip at all . I was facebooking with her last week & she said she had a table of 16 that didn't tip at all on the first seating and a table of 6 for second seating that tipped the suggested amount plus a little extra .She told me her and the assistant cried after as 16 is a lot of people to not tip . Those same people that didn't tip showed up and wanted their pictures taking the last night and were very demanding all week long .
12-15 hour long days are hard and they are always under the microscope to be perfect .
I have cruised with Disney 5 cruises and everytime I am so happy with my service . I bring along lots of treats from Canada for all my assigned workers and room service plus lots of $1 & $5 bills .

 

[insureman]

Cruise ship workers are under paid . My friend currently works for Disney Cruise Line and her wage is 56.00 a month plus tips . She told me she would make a good living working there if everyone paid their suggested tip amount but the problem is many people do not tip at all . I was facebooking with her last week & she said she had a table of 16 that didn't tip at all on the first seating and a table of 6 for second seating that tipped the suggested amount plus a little extra .She told me her and the assistant cried after as 16 is a lot of people to not tip . Those same people that didn't tip showed up and wanted their pictures taking the last night and were very demanding all week long .
12-15 hour long days are hard and they are always under the microscope to be perfect .
I have cruised with Disney 5 cruises and every time I am so happy with my service . I bring along lots of treats from Canada for all my assigned workers and room service plus lots of $1 & $5 bills .

How is this possible when DCL now add the tips automatically to your onboard account? Is your friend saying that passengers are going to guest services to remove the tips from their bill?

 

[cris0809]

How is this possible when DCL now add the tips automatically to your onboard account? Is your friend saying that passengers are going to guest services to remove the tips from their bill?

Yes, unfortunately some people do this.

 

[TheLanes]

Yes, unfortunately some people do this.

All 16 people? Find those odds hard to believe...

At what point during the cruise are the staff informed as to when their guests tipped and how much?

 

[over50visits]

?...I was facebooking with her last week & she said she had a table of 16 that didn't tip at all on the first seating and a table of 6 for second seating that tipped the suggested amount plus a little extra .She told me her and the assistant cried after as 16 is a lot of people to not tip . Those same people that didn't tip showed up and wanted their pictures taking the last night and were very demanding all week long .

That is a tragedy. People like that hurt us all. Shame on them. I'm embarrassed on behalf of most passengers who would never treat servers like that.

Please, please support your servers by treating them with respect, by being an undemanding guest, and tip them according to their service. What goes around comes around.

 

[thegales]

All 16 people? Find those odds hard to believe... At what point during the cruise are the staff informed as to when their guests tipped and how much?

I think it was a table of 16, so it is likely the entire group left no tip. The staff do not find out until the last night (or even early the final morning).

 

[TheLanes]

I think it was a table of 16, so it is likely the entire group left no tip. The staff do not find out until the last night (or even early the final morning).

That's more than 1 cabin, so all of them stiffed? And the friend made it sound like they knew the stiff happened before the end of the cruise.

 

[holula]

That is a tragedy. People like that hurt us all. Shame on them. I'm embarrassed on behalf of most passengers who would never treat servers like that. Please, please support your servers by treating them with respect, by being an undemanding guest, and tip them according to their service. What goes around comes around.

But if they give you poor service then what? Are you meant to feel sorry for them and still give a tip? We have not tipped our server before because he was awful. The head server got involved and eventually another server had to bring us our meal on one night. We didn't tip that server. The assistant was fine and he did receive his tips.

 

[racingfandj]

All 16 people? Find those odds hard to believe... At what point during the cruise are the staff informed as to when their guests tipped and how much?

They receive the slips with amounts at the end of the trip when the families hand over the gratuity envelopes. I would believe it after the conversation I was overhearing this week and the only thing to interrupt it was the text from the kids club to pick up my daughter. It was getting to the point of annoying and I was about to get up and move away from the people. It was something like this -

Sitting on the open pool deck and a large family that were all traveling together; day 4 after guest services has applied the automatic tip to their account (siblings, parents, grandchildren, so 16 would be easy). Discussion started that they were astounded that one of the kids had charged $60 to their account. One had been to guest services and figured out what the auto tip system was, and then they continued to argue the merits of their kid being required to tip. Continues to their shock that bar servers had gratuity on the ticket and that it was in addition to the tip expected by restaurant staff at the end of the week! I had to keep resisting the urge to point out that these were all different people and that they had just taken one of their kids to the arcade, which evidently was okay to spend money on. Also that their kids created messes in the dining, pool, buffet and room areas just as they did and therefore the tip was per person and not per body size ratio.

Thankfully, Oceaneers Lab called and my DD wanted picked up so my mouth stayed closed. I'm one that over tips when warranted and not to overcompensate for anyone else's wrongdoing, but because I think they busted their butts for my time there. We've had some so-so servers and we had a wonderful team on this last trip on the Magic! Kadek saw me cutting my mother's steak for her the first night at dinner (she's disabled). He come running back over saying No No, took the plate and knife and cut her food so I could start eating while mine was hot, just like they do the kids. Every evening after, they prepared her plate and would feed her a bite or two while he was cutting it. The girls got the biggest laugh out of it and how spoiled she was going to be.

 

[CruznLexi]

My husband worked for 7 years as a waiter for RCI yes they get paid $50 and must pay for cabin cleaning and uniforms to be cleaned. If they get less than excellent they will get smaller stations for as long as they do not get excellent. They must pay for there flights back and home and back to ship too. Money is good and they choose to live this way. But most are supporting family back home. Most work 6 months or longer.

 

[gumbypee]

My husband worked for 7 years as a waiter for RCI yes they get paid $50 and must pay for cabin cleaning and uniforms to be cleaned. If they get less than excellent they will get smaller stations for as long as they do not get excellent. They must pay for there flights back and home and back to ship too. Money is good and they choose to live this way. But most are supporting family back home. Most work 6 months or longer.

Disney servers don't pay for flights-at least one I knew did not have to do that

 

[gomagic]

Disney servers don't pay for flights-at least one I knew did not have to do that

...

 

[06loriann63]

This is good to know before we set sail.

 

[sandrakit]

All 16 people? Find those odds hard to believe...

At what point during the cruise are the staff informed as to when their guests tipped and how much?

She had a large family group , no one tipped. Yes you can go to guest services and remove your tips its done all the time . Very sad indeed !