How much do they make?

[SandraLee]

Well, I'm not sure where the $400 / week for a server comes from. Doesn't add up to me. If we use the Disney recommended amounts for a Dining Room Server at $3.68 / day, that would mean they are only serving 16 people (8 people for each sitting) And, I'm sure they serve more than that.


If we assume they serve 15 guests for each seating that is 30 guests.

30 guests for 7 nights recommended amounts = $770.
20 guests for 7 nights recommneded amounts = $515


Am I missing something?

 

[Mike320]

Well, I'm not sure where the $400 / week for a server comes from. Doesn't add up to me. If we use the Disney recommended amounts for a Dining Room Server at $3.68 / day, that would mean they are only serving 16 people (8 people for each sitting) And, I'm sure they serve more than that.


If we assume they serve 15 guests for each seating that is 30 guests.

30 guests for 7 nights recommended amounts = $770.
20 guests for 7 nights recommneded amounts = $515


Am I missing something?

No, I realilzed I was wrong after reading Verandah Man's comment - I wasn't even considering the had two seatings, I was only thinking that it was 18 or 20 people x $20. Of course, at 30 guests at the recommended amount, they'd do much better.

$770 per week isn't peanuts I guess but they still work a ton of hours.

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[two-foxes]

I would be curious to hear what the servers think. It must not be too bad a deal or they wouldn't take the job. I had a nanny job years ago that included room and board. So, all the money I made could either be saved or spent. If they make $400. in tips a week, that's a pretty good amount. And being on a cruise ship for 6 months, where are they going to spend it? Sounds like a good opportunity to see some interesting places and make money at the same time, especially for young adults. I'm sure they do rely heavily on tips which is probably part of the reason the service has a reputation of being so good. I'm looking forward to my cruise and intend to tip well for the great service.

Our assistant server on our last trip had told us he had been working in the cruise industry for around 5 years and had spent most of those years working for Crystal (and one or two higher end lines) but he works for the Mouse because the "money is good" (that is a quote). He said he pretty much hates all the DCL ports and that is what he misses most about working on other lines. Evidently, according to him, DCL is where the money is at for the servers.

 

[madisonsmom]

Servers in the "real world" only make about the same a month, 2.13 an hour is the standard and legal wage; after taxes being taken out for what you make in tips you are lucky to get a paycheck at all...and you still have to pay rent and buy food to eat for yourself and your family. The servers on the boat are making great $$ considering they don't have to pay living expenses of any kind, unless they have outstanding ones personally. Anybody who works in the hospitality industry makes significantly less per hour and rely solely on their tips given. Trust me, I have worked in the hospitality industry for over 15 years and they would not be working there if they didn't make great $$ and think it was worth it. And as it should be as many have stated if you get exceptional and rememberable service you should always compensate your server, bartender, maid, etc.

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

Thanks Princess Snow. Yes, I've heard the same.

I've noticed that someone posted that a server can have up to 36 people per cruise. Don't forget, not every cruise is absolutely full.

On our 2nd cruise I saw a person turning in his "tip" sheet at guest services... he didn't leave any tips. I was appalled, but kept quiet.

Cruise ship employees work their tails off. We've always had excellent service on DCL and have tipped accordingly... more than the recommended amount. If we can afford to cruise, tipping is part of the cost.

If every server had a full dining rotation, they can do very well considering they have few expenses while on the ship, but they also work extremely hard.

 

[Joel110]

We just got off the Jan. 22 Magic sailing and were wondering the same thing. During the Thursday afternoon Bingo session, someone asked about DCL jobs and there's a website at DCLjobs.com. It pretty bluntly states to expect 70 hour weeks and working 7 days a week for your full contract. Of course, like many HR departments, this is probably understated and I wouldn't be surprised if hours are longer than stated. Servers work breakfast, lunch and dinner, but as everyone else has stated, their income is probably made at dinner through tips. I did notice on deembarkation that the Palo servers and even the Palo dining room host was in Topsiders cleaning up the continental breakfast tables.

The website says that there are generally 14-20 guests per server for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Again, I would imagine that HR is understating this, as we had a party of 14 and our servers were working at least 2 other tables, so they may have had 24-26 guests at our seating. So, if the head servers were to average 20 guests per seating times 2 seatings, that's 40 guests x $3.75 per guest suggested tip x 7 nights = $1050/week. Working an average of 9 months a year, the head servers could earn $41,000 per year with many expenses covered while on contract. The good servers probably do even better, as I think that a great majority of people try to be fair in their tipping.

Even in the U.S., $41,000 doesn't sound too bad, but it really would take a special person to do what the DCL CM's do. You go in told you'll be working 70 hour weeks for 26 straight weeks without overtime pay or days off, and this is probably understated. Your family life is greatly impacted, because of the time spent away. You have to restart every cruise getting to know the likes/dislikes of your guests and dealing with tired/crabby children by getting them excited about a "mickey ice cream bar with sprinkles". Your compensation can be impacted by things out of your control if a guest gets mad because of bad weather or illness and decides not to tip you, then you have to put on the "It's a happy, small world" face for the next guest. I bet it'd be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the backroom when they vent about some of their guests.

 

[tvguy]

No doubt about it hard, long work. And they made our vacation.
But put it in perspective. Our server on HAL's Amsterdam had been working on ships for 5 years, he was 27, and planned to work another 2 years and retire. He was from Indonesia. He said with tips, he makes in a week what he would make in a year at home. He works 6 months on, and 2 months off.
He really doesn't care for the work, but he doesn't show it with the passengers, but if in 7 years he can make enough to retire, he's got a lot of years to make up for those 70 hour weeks.

 

[pppiglet]

posted by Doogierunner...(.On our 2nd cruise I saw a person turning in his "tip" sheet at guest services... he didn't leave any tips. I was appalled, but kept quiet.)

I thought you could just put cash in envelopes and give to your servers? Could this be why no tips were listed or do you have to report to DCL what you tip?
someone clear this up for me.

 

[RickW]

While this discussion is interesting, it really doesn't matter to me.

I wouldn't tip less if they were making $200,000 a year, and I wouldn't tip more if they were making $5000 a year.

I figure that if they keep up their end of the deal (good service), I will keep up my end (recommended tip). If they go over and above, then I will as well (this seems to be the norm). If they perform poorly, then I will tip less (hasn't happened yet).

My employer pays me based on how well I do at the job. If I don't like what I am being paid, I can go elsewhere. If I performed poorly, and didn't get a raise for several years, then maybe I would want to find something that I was better at. I don't expect my employer to base salary decisions based on my "need" for the money, so I don't base my tipping decisions on my perception of the server's need.

 

[believe]

We are doing a land/sea cruise. I want to make sure I fully understand the 'whole' tipping thing. My understanding is that at the end of the cruise we turn in a 'tip' sheet stating what we want to give each individual. I have also heard that during the cruise we can give extra tips or items, such as phone cards, to the CMs. Is this correct?

I went to the calculator link and have two questions. What about the individuals in the Oceaneer's Club? I don't see them listed on the tip sheets. Should we tip them at the end of our trip or during the trip? What about the servers that aren't in the restaurants? How do they get tips?

 

[dwkwootton]

A comment and a question ~

Few years back one of our servers had told us that, as a raise, you got more guests/tables. If that info is right, not all servers have the exact same numbers to work with. You start out with maybe 15 guests per seating and if you do well move up to 20 or so guests per seating.

One of the posts talks about pooling tips for stateroom hosts, did that refer to DCL or other cruise lines? I will not be happy to hear that DCL is doing that without making it very clear to the passengers. We happily "overtipped" our stateroom hostess and I'd like to know that she is the only one that received the overage!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Something that our server told us while on our cruise was pretty interesting--he said that Disney pays for their flights home when they get their time off. He said that there was no other company who did that...some companies pay half, and some pay none at all...so that's a pretty good perk considering the price of airline tickets!

 

[smchan]

My employer pays me based on how well I do at the job. If I don't like what I am being paid, I can go elsewhere. If I performed poorly, and didn't get a raise for several years, then maybe I would want to find something that I was better at. I don't expect my employer to base salary decisions based on my "need" for the money, so I don't base my tipping decisions on my perception of the server's need.

I agree with everything you say, but the difference is that your employer is bound by certain standards and regulations that ensure (arguably) a decent standard of living.

I also don't think it's as black and white and someone choosing to work elsewhere. At the moment, it's pretty much an employers' market unless you work in a hot field like health care. And even some of those jobs which don't require patient or customer interaction is being outsourced to countries where people are willing to work for less than US minimum wage.

Sam

 

[mackymaddyconnorsmom]

I think that they should included your tips in with your sailing price and if you want to tip more you can do that. If you had a problem, you can go to the desk and complain to get your tip money back to keep the workers on their best behavior. Someone said to me that they weren't tipping because they wouldn't see them ever again. I told them I couldnt do that because it would be mean and I would always have a guilty feeling. The party that was with us at the 8:30 seating came a few nights then switched around on the 6:30 seatings on the rest of the nights (saying their son was tired) and skipped the departure breakfast. Why??? They never tipped the servers. So our servers were kind of upset by that . They lost 3 persons tips and they were good at their jobs

 

[princess Snow]

IMO Disney's recommended tips should be the minimum amount you pay. If your servers/stateroom host go above and beyond, you tip more. If you were dining in a fancy restaurant on land each night, your tip would add up to more than $3.75 a person. I think that's a modest amount if you are receiving adequate service.

 

[momemouse]

We asked our stateroom host how much Disney paid him in addition to tips and we were shocked at the answer - NADA! In addition, when they bring in extra people to clean the rooms for the next sailing, guess who pays them? The stateroom host/hostess pays them out of his/her tips! Shame on you, Disney!

 

[jrabbit]

We asked our stateroom host how much Disney paid him in addition to tips and we were shocked at the answer - NADA! In addition, when they bring in extra people to clean the rooms for the next sailing, guess who pays them? The stateroom host/hostess pays them out of his/her tips! Shame on you, Disney!

If this is true, then that's NUCKING FUTZ!!! (sorry about the strong language )

 

[jrabbit]

Someone wanted to know "how much they make in tips". Here's my guess.

DCL Tipping Worksheet

First the acronym for TIPS:
To Insure Prompt Service - or – Tourist Input Prevents Starvation

The wait staff makes $50/month from Disney plus room and board (when they can fit eating and sleeping in to their 16+ hour days)

Here is the break down for each dinning room
Dinner Seatings: 2
Seats 475 guests
20 Serving Stations with a Server and Assistant server
2 Head servers per dinning room (there MAY be 4 – in the past on the ship I’ve heard 2, on these board have heard that there are 4)

For a 7 night cruise the suggested tips are:
Server: 25.25
Assistant Server: 18.75
Head Server: 6.50
For the servers on the Wonder their recomended tips for a 7 night period work out to about the same amount.

The following is NOT justification for “shorting” the wait staff on their tips, it’s just the way the math works out.

OK from here on the numbers get “scary” and the numbers are “tax free” and based on the recommended tip.

Lets assume there are 350 guests per dinning room that tip which probably is high (1-the room won’t be filled to capacity and 2-not everyone tips (unfortunately) and 3-that’s 2,100 total guests that tip (ships capacity is 2,600). And remember these folks work at least 16 hours per day, 7 days a week for 112 hours per week.
Each Server and Assistant Server are assigned to approximately -- 35 tipping people per cruise
(350 people / 20 stations) = 17.5 people per seating or 35 people for both seatings.

Earnings
Server: 25.25 * 35 = $885 per week or $7.90/hour (3,540/month or $46,020/year – NO time off - and they get 2 to 4 months off per year)
Assistant Server: 18.75 * 35 = $655 per week or $5.85/hour (2,625/month or 34,600/year – NO time off)

Now hold on to your hats…
Head Server – if there are only 2 per dinning room they have on average
350 people / 2 head servers = 175 people, but with 2 seatings they have 350 people tipping them so
Head Server: 6.50 * 350 = $2,270 per week or $20.25/hour ($9,100/month or drum roll please…$118,000 /year – NO time off)
If there are 4 Head Servers per room then each would receive $1,137/week or $10.13/hour, $4,550/month or $59,000/year.

Just for arguments sake, lets say that DCL attracts more guests that don’t tip. Only 1,800 people per cruise tip that’s 300 people per dinning rotation (6 of them). Then the weekly tips are: $757/Server, $562/Asst. Server and $1,950/Head Server (if 2) or $975 (if 4) of them.

 

[Lynderella]

Our server and asst server said they rotated each week who was head or asst. Therefore, they are only receiving server pay half of the time.

 

[LuvThatMouse]

If they make good money in tips, more power to them. It sounds as though with the level of service they provide, they deserve it!