How much do you tip generally?

[TiggerBouncy]

First off, thank you for all the answers! I wasn't sure if I had said this or not, but even when I didn't see the head server, I didn't reduce their tip for the small amount they get. I was asking more for future ref. However, I do personally believe that no matter what, a good head server finds the time to stop by every table and introduce themselves. My first cruise the head server came by, asked about our cruise - told us how much confidence he has in our servers, but that he was also there if we needed anything. It made me feel better - or least more in touch with him.

Tipping is something that will forever drive me crazy -- like you and a lot of other posters. I don't mind tipping, just not always sure who and how much.

That was my reason for asking. I like to feel I am being generous to people who give good service. But what is generous? What I think might be generous may be insulting for what they thought they did for me. To be honest, the amount we spend on a cruise, I won't even miss it if I give someone an extra $5 or $10 over what I was planning. For 2 people on a 7 day cruise, the head server gets $56. I may have pushed that to $65 for normal and $80 if they were good...… Is that good? I mean I look at that and go "heck. that's almost 50% over the Disney recommended amount". It *sounds* like a lot in that perspective. Would it hurt me to give them $100? I doubt I would even miss it. But you have to draw a line somewhere. What *is* stingy? What *is* generous? I have absolutely no concept if $75 is generous or $100 is generous or if that is "overdoing it" or what.

For someone who went above and beyond, I want to give them enough that they feel rewarded for the extra service they gave. I just don't know if in the culture is that $5 is considered "WOW! I got an extra $5" or if $50 or what. Of course, they won't (and shouldn't) tell you - I mean could you imagine??? and neither will guest services. So it's a tough topic to discuss.

 

[apathetic]

Part of the job of the Head Server is to make sure you have no issues with your dining. If you have problems, you can go to the Head Server and thus see that the problems are taken care of. What you often don't see is that the Head Server may have intervened before there was a problem, or is good enough to make sure that there are no problems and thus you don't see what they do, only the outcome but are unaware of their impact on that outcome.

When we first cruised I laughed about the tip for someone we barely met. Eventually I realized that many times the Head Server is probably doing stuff you don't see, not affecting you, but allows your serve team to work without delay. If there wasn't an HS, it would be easy for stuff to bog down like it does at restaurants outside DCL. It is worth the tip. If you do require the HS to intervene, definitely consider bumping up the tip a bit.

 

[All about me]

I bring the suggested amount in cash and then tip according to service. Personally, I feel the suggested amounts are already generous. The only time I can remember tipping extra was the cabin steward on our 2008 Disney Magic cruise. I cannot name all the little extras he did to make our days smoother as we rushed from one activity to the next, I just remember being amazed each time we returned to the cabin to find something else taken care of for us.

I don't remember any of us tipping the head server until our 2011 Royal Caribbean cruise. The man was outstanding. He was at our table at least twice during each dinner and not only spoke to the table in general, answering any questions and asking about our experience, he spoke to the children separately, gently teasing my friend's son for ordering the same (specially made) pasta and cheese each night and my grandson on his adventurous palate.

An aside: since this question came up a month or so ago, I have spoken to a couple of people who have worked on cruise ships (not Disney, but P&O Princess pre-merger and Carnival post-merger). One thing they suggested for a cabin steward, aside from tips, is a gift bag of necessities as these are not sold to them cheaply onboard (unlike booze) so they either have to pay ridiculous prices for them or waste part of their few precious hours in port purchasing them. Just a thought.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

When we first cruised I laughed about the tip for someone we barely met. Eventually I realized that many times the Head Server is probably doing stuff you don't see, not affecting you, but allows your serve team to work without delay. If there wasn't an HS, it would be easy for stuff to bog down like it does at restaurants outside DCL. It is worth the tip. If you do require the HS to intervene, definitely consider bumping up the tip a bit.

But - and don't get me wrong - as I said, I have never reduced their tip below the recommended amount - however, to be a devils advocate. Going with this explanation:
"the Head Server is probably doing stuff you don't see, not affecting you, but allows your serve team to work without delay."

what about the chefs? The Sous chefs? Do they not make sure your server can do their job?

What about the manager who oversees the room host? Surely the host depends on that person.

Back closer to home if you stay at WDW, mousekeeping can't replace your sheets if they do not have clean sheets. What about the laundry people who allow them to do their jobs? Or the trash people? It could be an infinite list. What about the mechanics who make sure the AC works?

There is a general recognition in the hospitality world that only the people who have direct interaction with a guest should be tipped. This is true whether you are staying on a cruise ship or a hotel or eating at a fine restaurant. That person will pass on a portion of the tip to others who may have assisted them.

If the Head Server is being tipped, they should be having direct interaction with you. Otherwise, they fall in the category as the captain, officers, chefs, swabs, mechanics, etc where their pay should be commensurate with the job and they are not tip dependent or they get a portion of the tip handed out to the person who has direct interaction.

To get a tip when they are not interacting with you - to me as someone who has studied hospitality - implies they are getting paid for not doing their job.

 

[mousefan73]

We give the suggested amount. I think that is plenty.

That is what we will do, if they do the job at the level of service required ( good) they earned their tip.. WE might consider tossing a few bucks in for exceptional service.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We leave the suggested tip in place, then will tip extra for really good service. On our last cruise we felt that our server and room steward/host were both excellent and went out of their way to provide good service so we gave an extra $20-30 each. Our assistant server was great about always making sure our drinks were in place when we got there. I believe we gave her an additional $10. We don't tip the head server extra. I don't mind that they get some portion of the tip as I understand the head server's job can be a demanding one, but if they don't interact with me then I don't add extra.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We are like you, we normally do a little more and bump it up further for really good service.

Given the pittance the head server gets, we don't make a fuss about it if they are absentee. But then it is just 2 of us so it's almost nothing.

This is us. Once or twice we really enjoyed the head server and tipped according. As far as servers and assistants only once did only give what was normal. This has been in 28 DCL Cruises.

 

[Pkltm]

On our cruise last fall (3 day), we tipped our room host an extra $15 and server an extra $15. We had issues with drinks not being refilled and missing bread so we didn't add to the assistant server, but kept the suggested amount. The head server came by and introduced himself I think this is essential as then you know who to look for to resolve and issue or give a compliment.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

I think it is important to keep in mind that there are tipped and non-tipped positions on board. Yes, they all contribute to your cruise experience, but most of these people are in salaried positions. The tipped positions rely heavily on those tips as their source of income, just as wait staff does in American restaurants. While the child care staff may be outstanding with your children, and I truly hope that they are, they are not a tipped position. No bias and no favoritism toward any particular children over others whose parents may tip them better. You can help these people who are not in tipped positions by mentioning their outstanding service on the comment card at the end of the cruise or the after-cruise survey.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We always leave the recommended gratuities in place. In fact, we always prepay them when we make our final payment in advance of the PIF date so they don’t get added to our stateroom account to be settled at the end of the cruise. No surprises that way. We then add cash to the gratuity envelopes based on quality of service, from no additional tip for just routine service to an additional tip of about 50% of the recommended amount. So, for the two of us, an additional $4 per day for server and stateroom host, $3 per day for the assistant server. The exception is the additional amount for the head server. This formula would add $1 per day from the two of us, but we generally round up to at least $10 extra for a 7-night and $20 extra for the longer 13- or 14-night repositioning cruises that we’ve had the opportunity to sail. Our head servers have proven to be the most important people in proper management of DW’s gluten allergy, and we like to show our appreciation in a tangible manner.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We’ve only done one cruise and we tipped the recommended amounts. The only person I would’ve been tempted to give extra to was our room steward. He was nice and did a good job taking care of the room.

But our dining staff was pretty meh. The main waiter wasn’t great and would forget things that I asked for - like some fruit for my toddler so she’d be happy to sit without screaming. Instead we got screaming. He also forgot my bacon on disembarkation day and I got it as we were done eating and about to leave. And the head waiter just rubbed me the wrong way. The whole, “Everything is excellent, RIGHT??” Attitude made me uncomfortable pointing out that no it wasn’t excellent.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

I have never tipped less than the recommended amount, and likely never would unless I saw one of the servers spitting in my food or the room steward beating my children. Life as a cruise ship staff member (with the possible exception of senior officers) is very hard, and I feel bad about how hard they have to work for what they receive.

I typically add roughly 20% (in cash) to the assigned gratuity (i.e., an extra $30 for the room steward and server, extra $20 for the assistant server and extra $10 for the head server on a seven night cruise for a family of five).

In the one or two cases where the assistant has been as good or better than the head, I have tipped them enough in cash to equal the amount the server gets.

The one situation where I have not given an extra cash tip is for the disappearing head server who only makes an appearance the night before the tips are due--the majority of the head servers we have had on seven cruises have been by every night or almost every night, and really only one was basically MIA (and that was for a 16 person table).

 

[Agent 86]

We generally give the recommended amount as a minimum and then put in extra for those who really work hard (e.g. room host, server and/or assistant server).

On one cruise, we deducted money from the head server as we never met them until the last night. That money went to the server from memory.

On our last cruise, I think we may have also deducted money from the assistant server (who was terrible, but a nice person) and gave that to the server who had to do both his job and the assistant server's job most nights (as well as an extra amount).

To be honest, as we're not from the US, we find the whole tipping procedure / culture uncomfortable. I wish Disney would just build the tips into their pricing and pay their employees a decent wage.

 

[cadien]

Where I cost us money and I really need to pay more attention next time was buying drinks. I kept forgetting the auto-gratuity. Or remembering it but feeling guilty not leaving a few dollars anyway. Just out of habit. So I always added them.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

and it's extra work for them to have to find/go to Western Union when they have extra cash.

Pretty sure they can directly add cash to their onboard account to have it included in the check sent home.

 

[party-of-five]

Head server story.... our very first cruise ever, our very first night... after many “obstacles” at the start of our day, we brought 4 young kids to the Animators Palate on the Dream for dinner, we had late dining. We were experiencing rough seas, and with every rock of the ship the kids were turning greener and greener. The noise and hustle of the dining room wasn’t helping with our oldest son who has trouble with sensory input. Anyways.... we knew we were in over our heads and politely told our assistant server (as he was asking for our drink orders) that we were just going to go back to the room to get some rest.

As DH and I were trying to get the kids settled and figure out what we would like from room service, our phone rings. It was our head server checking in on us - making sure we were ok. We told him the situation and no worries we look forward to meeting him and the other servers the next night. He insisted on telling us the menu and sending anything we wanted to the room. We were so humbled that during a busy dining time, he was making this effort for our family. So we graciously accepted (I was a little bummed at not being able to try the pursettes I had read so much about on the boards... but I was able to get them!).

Not much later we had children feeling better and a delicious meal for DH and I. And then the phone rings again.... again it was our head server asking if we received our meal, were we satisfied, could he send us anything more. We were blown away by the level of service. His actions (and the concern from our stateroom hostess) totally turned our evening around and kept our vacation on track. He even came by our table the next night to meet us and make sure everyone was having a better day/evening.

That’s just an example of what the head servers are doing.

 

[aboveH20]

Not but a related question about tipping based on very limited past experience (and because I think I did it wrong).

When something "extra" is ordered such as a specialty coffee or adult beverage the server will provide a paper bill to be signed. Correct so far? Does the paper he presents already have the tip/service charge or is that something I write in?

And while I'm asking, for room service there is no bill so is that why people tip in cash?

Thanks

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Not but a related question about tipping based on very limited past experience (and because I think I did it wrong).

When something "extra" is ordered such as a specialty coffee or adult beverage the server will provide a paper bill to be signed. Correct so far? Does the paper he presents already have the tip/service charge or is that something I write in?

And while I'm asking, for room service there is no bill so is that why people tip in cash?

Thanks

To answer your question regarding the tip/gratuity/service charge:
Pulled from the DCL website.
"A 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your stateroom folio." There is still the spot for additional gratuity but I agree that it can be confusing. I usually write in a few bucks when it comes to ordering alcohol but it's totally guest discretion.

Yes to question two.

 

[southerngirl528]

When something "extra" is ordered such as a specialty coffee or adult beverage the server will provide a paper bill to be signed. Correct so far? Does the paper he presents already have the tip/service charge or is that something I write in?

And while I'm asking, for room service there is no bill so is that why people tip in cash?

Dis_Mike is correct on both counts, aboveH20. There is a gratuity automatically added to any specialty coffee or adult beverage you order (and maybe those smoothies you pay for too?), so no need to add more unless you would like or if the bartender/server gave extra good service.

Room service actually DOES have a ticket you can sign and add a gratuity if you don't want to mess with taking lots of small bills to pay in cash. You can do that whichever way you like.

Enjoy that room service this cruiseruise, Dis_Mike!

 

[cruiser21]

I guess I'm cheap. I pre- pay my tips and rarely add extra. I usually tip the bartenders extra.