How to tip

[kcashner]

Yes, DCL has always done it this way. My guess is that for every guest who stiffs them, another tips significantly over the recommended amount. DCL is very sensitive to the needs of the crew--example--when the Magic was in the Med and CMs weren't seeing their normal tips (as the tipping culture is quite different in Europe), the Magic instituted the "automatic tip" system.

I am surprised that the Magic has retained this automatic system while the other ships continue as always. There seems to have been a big push to standardize things across the line except in this area.

 

[clten]

This may be an old way to tip but I appreciate that DCL does it this way. I've cruised on other lines where the "tip" was automatically billed (and you get harrassed if you try to change or remove it) and the service has not been up to our standards. (We've always tipped the recommended or well above on our DCL cruises because we get great service. On our other cruises, we've left them at the standard service fee/tip and often feel we've over-tipped for the service we've received. Only once did we remove the tip and that was on Princess when we had Anytime dining. But even after a sit down meeting with the dining room manager because of the behavior of one server, we were harrassed about removing tips from our account. We'll just stick with the lines that are more traditional in service/tipping.)

OP, The only tip I usually give about when to hand out tips is regarding your head server. On the last night, we usually hand out tips to the server and assistant server as we leave and say good-bye. I recommend you DON'T do this with the head server tip. Since they cover a big part of the dining room, they could be anywhere when you are ready to leave. They usually make their rounds to all the tables at some time while dinner is being served. I recommend you have their envelope out and ready when they stop by. It will save you hunting them down later. The other positions -- server, asst server and cabin steward are all easy to find on the last night.

 

[paul436]

I am surprised that the Magic has retained this automatic system while the other ships continue as always. There seems to have been a big push to standardize things across the line except in this area.

I am sailing the Magic out of NYC in August and was planning on calling DCL to pre-pay the tips. Is that not necessary on the Magic? When/How are the automatic tips paid for?

 

[clten]

I am sailing the Magic out of NYC in August and was planning on calling DCL to pre-pay the tips. Is that not necessary on the Magic? When/How are the automatic tips paid for?

On the Magic, they bill the recommended tip amount to your stateroom account (so basically you pay them at the end of the cruise along with all of your other charges). If you want to pay them ahead of time (some people do it to get 0% financing on their Disney Visa cards, some do it just to have that part paid off in advance), you would have to call DCL. If you pre-pay them, they will know not to put through the charges to your shipboard account (in other words, you don't have to worry about getting double billed.)