Paying for Tips *** DCL Makes a Change ***

[torontodisneyfan]

Nothing.

As you probably noticed the website isn't just for DCL but many other cruise lines as well.
Some may suggest a gratuity for a Dining Manager, DCL do not and therefore it isn't part of their suggested gratuities. You can tip them if you wish to though!

Just the Dining Room Server, Dining Room Asst. Server, Dining Room Head Server and Stateroom Host/Hostess

HTH's!

Ex Techie

Thanks Ex Techie... and based on the general tone of this thread, thanks for not yelling at me!

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

My cruise leaves in 9 days (April 30th) DCL has had this policy onboard the Magic (which I'm sailing) for A YEAR - and they didn't bother to tell me. Even if DCL refunded me the cruise money, I would lose other travel costs that are now non-refundable.

And I only know about this because I read it on a message board - no email from DCL, no email from my TA.

I don't "just have to let them know". I have to line up to tell someone at guest services that I want to remove my tips, and will be asked for an explanation.

It's not about them charging the tips - it's about them not being open and clear that they are going to do it. If they have known about it for A YEAR, with all of the other junk emails they've sent me, why wasn't this in at least one of them. Other cruise lines are open about their tipping policies, DCL is not being open.

It's on the website by the way.....


"You can choose to pre-pay gratuities for your party up to three days before your vacation begins by contacting Disney Cruise Line; or, for the convenience of our Guests who have not pre-paid, the suggested gratuity amounts may be added to your onboard account, dependent upon the ship you are sailing on, based on the length of your voyage as shown in the table above.

If you wish to modify or make changes to the gratuity amounts or would like to pay in cash, please stop by our Guest Services desk, located on Deck 3, Mid-ship, at anytime during your sailing."

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Have you read your cruise contract word for word?

Because I'm pretty sure there is a line or two that says they can change this that and the other at any point before or during your cruise.

I'm guessing you accepted the terms and conditions of that contract right?

So it is what it is and you most likely will have great service deserving of your suggested gratuity.

Ex Techie

Yes I have read my cruise contract and while it contains the general boiler plate about changes to itinerary, etc I did not see anything about charges to your account for the recommended gratuity.

Again, I don't see why DCL wasn't open about this and posted on their website in advance. I checked tonight and it is now updated with,

the suggested gratuity amounts may be added to your onboard account, dependent upon the ship you are sailing on, based on the length of your voyage as shown in the table above.

Why didn't they do this a year ago when they started doing this on the Magic?

 

[PrincessTrisha]

It's on the website by the way.....


"You can choose to pre-pay gratuities for your party up to three days before your vacation begins by contacting Disney Cruise Line; or, for the convenience of our Guests who have not pre-paid, the suggested gratuity amounts may be added to your onboard account, dependent upon the ship you are sailing on, based on the length of your voyage as shown in the table above.

If you wish to modify or make changes to the gratuity amounts or would like to pay in cash, please stop by our Guest Services desk, located on Deck 3, Mid-ship, at anytime during your sailing."

Yes - I just posted that as well - it was not however there when I made my final payment two months ago - the last chance I had to cancel without penalty.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

Thanks Ex Techie... and based on the general tone of this thread, thanks for not yelling at me!

lol! There was nothing to yell about in your post as it was a genuine question!
TBH DCL should have that calculator on their website for people to work it out.

At least you weren't just whining!

Ex Techie

 

[lark]

My cruise leaves in 9 days (April 30th) DCL has had this policy onboard the Magic (which I'm sailing) for A YEAR - and they didn't bother to tell me. Even if DCL refunded me the cruise money, I would lose other travel costs that are now non-refundable.

And I only know about this because I read it on a message board - no email from DCL, no email from my TA.

Well, I guess, just hope you get good service. I bet you will, and then it won't be an issue. You can cancel any future cruises, and it turned out just being upset over something that turned out to be a non-issue on one cruise.

If you don't get good cruises, how much are we talking about? Even if you think service was only half good, what's that? $50? Given all the changes that they can make to a cruise without giving you notice, this seems pretty minor to me.

Finally, I really don't understand the 9-day point. What if they had changed the tipping policy today? That it changed a year ago doesn't really seem relevant. If they had changed it today, you'd still be in the same situation.

The reality is this: A cruise line can make changes that you don't like at any time, including 9 days before your cruise, or even one day before the cruise. That's the gig. If it's a significant change, you can usually talk your way into a free cancellation. I think one can debate whether this is a significant change. I view it as up there with a change in the hours of the pool, but either way I think DCL is usually pretty good about these and will let you out if you press it. If you're not prepared for the fact that changes can happen in cruising that can cause you to want to cancel, and nothing less than reimbursement of your ancillary expenses in such event will be palatable to you, you'll always have potential issues. But even so, have you tried to get them to pay for your expenses? Why not have your travel agent call them and see, or if you booked yourself, just give them a call. Tell them your concern, ask them to cancel you, and ask for reimbursement of your reasonable expenses and see what they say. Or perhaps they would even change the tipping policy for you in a way that doesn't require you to go to GS.

 

[srferson]

Unfortunately in the cruise industry it is traditional to pay a service charge called a tip or gratuity.

Sorry, but to me, if it's mandatory it's a service fee. If it is optional, it is gratuity. And as this is still technically optional, it's still a gratuity. If they want it to be a service fee, they should call it a service fee.

I wasn't arguing with you either, just pointing out that although not mandatory, it's a cost involved with cruising that traditionally is paid. (if you receive good or great service)
Any cash above the suggested is kind of thought of as a gift or a token of appreciation.

So are we then going to get to the point that you are not only considered a cheapskate if you reduce the amount of the gratuity, but you are also considered a cheapskate if you don't add more cash to it?

If so then they just need to suck it up, call it a service fee, and actually pay their friggin' employees.

The fact is, this is not a problem for me. I'd be shocked if I see a reason to reduce the gratuity and this being Disney I expect I'll end up feeling that the service was great and we'll add more. That's one of the reasons we love Disney.

I'm just being a stickler about semantics.
I am really not a fan of calling something what it isn't.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

Yes I have read my cruise contract and while it contains the general boiler plate about changes to itinerary, etc I did not see anything about charges to your account for the recommended gratuity.

Again, I don't see why DCL wasn't open about this and posted on their website in advance. I checked tonight and it is now updated with,

the suggested gratuity amounts may be added to your onboard account, dependent upon the ship you are sailing on, based on the length of your voyage as shown in the table above.

Why didn't they do this a year ago when they started doing this on the Magic?

Why does it matter this much?
The effort you have spent this evening getting yourself all worked up over a change in policy, that just means they will charge you the full gratuity amount unless you tell them otherwise by stopping by at GS at your convenience, and it is unlikely you will have the need to anyway doesn't make sense to me?

I would just call DCL and complain/explain your disapproval to them tomorrow rather than complain to us as we can't change things?

It's on the website now so anyone who books a cruise as of when it was posted or at least today now knows they may be charged in advance for the full gratuity amount unless they stop by GS to increase or decrease the amount.

Ex Techie

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Well, I guess, just hope you get good service. I bet you will, and then it won't be an issue. You can cancel any future cruises, and it turned out just being upset over something that turned out to be a non-issue on one cruise.

If you don't get good cruises, how much are we talking about? Even if you think service was only half good, what's that? $50? Given all the changes that they can make to a cruise without giving you notice, this seems pretty minor to me.

Finally, I really don't understand the 9-day point. What if they had changed the tipping policy today? That it changed a year ago doesn't really seem relevant. If they had changed it today, you'd still be in the same situation.

The reality is this: A cruise line can make changes that you don't like at any time, including 9 days before your cruise, or even one day before the cruise. That's the gig. If it's a significant change, you can usually talk your way into a free cancellation. I think one can debate whether this is a significant change. I view it as up there with a change in the hours of the pool, but either way I think DCL is usually pretty good about these and will let you out if you press it. If you're not prepared for the fact that changes can happen in cruising that can cause you to want to cancel, and nothing less than reimbursement of your ancillary expenses in such event will be palatable to you, you'll always have potential issues. But even so, have you tried to get them to pay for your expenses? Why not have your travel agent call them and see, or if you booked yourself, just give them a call. Tell them your concern, ask them to cancel you, and ask for reimbursement of your reasonable expenses and see what they say. Or perhaps they would even change the tipping policy for you in a way that doesn't require you to go to GS.

And the changes that they can make (itinerary, etc) I agreed to when I booked my cruise and accept that this may happen.

That tips will be automatically added to my on board account - I did not.

It goes back to my original points

1. DCL knew a year ago that they started charging tips to on board accounts on the Magic, yet they chose NOT to tell customers.

2. DCL changes the policy for 2 of their other ships with 2-4 days notice.

I don't find that to be very open of the company and it feels to me like they are being backhanded about it.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Why does it matter this much?
The effort you have spent this evening getting yourself all worked up over a change in policy, that just means they will charge you the full gratuity amount unless you tell them otherwise by stopping by at GS at your convenience, and it is unlikely you will have the need to anyway doesn't make sense to me?

I would just call DCL and complain/explain your disapproval to them tomorrow rather than complain to us as we can't change things?

It's on the website now so anyone who books a cruise as of when it was posted or at least today now knows they may be charged in advance for the full gratuity amount unless they stop by GS to increase or decrease the amount.

Ex Techie

I'm glad that you seem to have access to a crystal ball that tells you that I will "unlikely" have to change my tipping amount. No one knows in advance what their service will be like.

I do plan to express my displeasure to DCL by writing a letter letting them know that I don't agree when they change policies without even notice for people to cancel without penalty.

And I don't understand why anyone else who is okay with this short notice is concerned that I don't like it What effect does it have on you if I don't like it? Why does it seem to matter to a bunch of people if I tip (and it seems to be a question that I've been asked by 2 or 3 posters)

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

Sorry, but to me, if it's mandatory it's a service fee. If it is optional, it is gratuity. And as this is still technically optional, it's still a gratuity. If they want it to be a service fee, they should call it a service fee.

So are we then going to get to the point that you are not only considered a cheapskate if you reduce the amount of the gratuity, but you are also considered a cheapskate if you don't add more cash to it?

No that is ridiculous to suggest that if you do not add extra cash or other gift you are a cheapskate, if that is your opinion then you are entitled to it, but my opinion is that you have duly compensated the Servers and Stateroom Host for their work.

If so then they just need to suck it up, call it a service fee, and actually pay their friggin' employees.

I could turn that around and say you just need to S it up and accept that's the way cruise lines work
DCL are not by any means the only cruise line to operate that way

The fact is, this is not a problem for me. I'd be shocked if I see a reason to reduce the gratuity and this being Disney I expect I'll end up feeling that the service was great and we'll add more. That's one of the reasons we love Disney.

I truly hope that is the case that you are overwhelmed with how great they all are and reaching for your wallet or purse at the end of the cruise to add to it because they made you vacation the best they could and you had such a great time above and beyond your expectation.

I'm just being a stickler about semantics.
I am really not a fan of calling something what it isn't.

I know! I hate hate hate it when people call a Ship a Boat!
They are similar BUT different in many ways!

Replies in RED

Ex Techie

 

[lark]

And the changes that they can make (itinerary, etc) I agreed to when I booked my cruise and accept that this may happen.

That tips will be automatically added to my on board account - I did not.

It goes back to my original points

1. DCL knew a year ago that they started charging tips to on board accounts on the Magic, yet they chose NOT to tell customers.

2. DCL changes the policy for 2 of their other ships with 2-4 days notice.

I don't find that to be very open of the company and it feels to me like they are being backhanded about it.

I think you're moving the ball a bit here. If your point is that you think they are being underhanded, that's a different point from the one you were making, which was that you didn't have a chance to cancel.

If you really wouldn't cancel and are just mad about a change in policy, then your point really doesn't have any steam -- different strokes for different folks. It's time for you to move to a different cruise line. If you're being genuine that you would cancel, you should at least give them a call and see what they will do for you.

If instead, this debate is really that you don't like the new policy, that's a different argument. I personally don't think it's a case of disney being underhanded in the least. I think they would be genuinely surprised that someone feels so burdened about going to GS that they would cancel a cruise. I'm not saying you don't genuinely feel that way. You clearly do. But I don't think it's particularly reasonable and certainly not a position that I would fault DCL for not being able to predict.

Again, though, this really only affects you for one cruise. You know the policy now. You can make decisions about who you want to cruise with accordingly in the future. The language you think disney should have included before, they include now. So, what's left to say? I hope you have a great cruise, are happy with your service, and don't need to go to GS. If it doesn't work out that way, you won't be the first to have been annoyed at something that didn't go perfectly on a cruise -- whether it's showing up and seeing your Palo reservation didn't go through or having the slide closed down for an hour when you hoped to use it.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

I'm glad that you seem to have access to a crystal ball that tells you that I will "unlikely" have to change my tipping amount. No one knows in advance what their service will be like.

I do plan to express my displeasure to DCL by writing a letter letting them know that I don't agree when they change policies without even notice for people to cancel without penalty.

And I don't understand why anyone else who is okay with this short notice is concerned that I don't like it What effect does it have on you if I don't like it? Why does it seem to matter to a bunch of people if I tip (and it seems to be a question that I've been asked by 2 or 3 posters)

The Crystal Ball is located in the Trip reports section of the boards.
As most people do tend to complain about bad service and those that do receive great service I would say it is a good place to start when looking for percentages of DIS members who didn''t get it.

I guess people just don't understand why your whining because DCL used part of the cruise contact you agreed to to change something that will most likely not affect you or cause you any problems, and if you do feel the need to reduce your tips for whatever reason, the line at GS will be less due to all of the other people that do not now need to go there? Maybe? Just a guess?

Ex Techie

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I think they would be genuinely surprised that someone feels so burdened about going to GS that they would cancel a cruise.

Unfortunately I don't think Disney would be surprised at all. There is a percentage of cruisers that have no intention of cruising. This makes it a little more difficult for them.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I think you're moving the ball a bit here. If your point is that you think they are being underhanded, that's a different point from the one you were making, which was that you didn't have a chance to cancel.

If you really wouldn't cancel and are just mad about a change in policy, then your point really doesn't have any steam -- different strokes for different folks. It's time for you to move to a different cruise line. If you're being genuine that you would cancel, you should at least give them a call and see what they will do for you.

If instead, this debate is really that you don't like the new policy, that's a different argument. I personally don't think it's a case of disney being underhanded in the least. I think they would be genuinely surprised that someone feels so burdened about going to GS that they would cancel a cruise. I'm not saying you don't genuinely feel that way. You clearly do. But I don't think it's particularly reasonable and certainly not a position that I would fault DCL for not being able to predict.

Again, though, this really only affects you for one cruise. You know the policy now. You can make decisions about who you want to cruise with accordingly in the future. The language you think disney should have included before, they include now. So, what's left to say? I hope you have a great cruise, are happy with your service, and don't need to go to GS. If it doesn't work out that way, you won't be the first to have been annoyed at something that didn't go perfectly on a cruise -- whether it's showing up and seeing your Palo reservation didn't go through or having the slide closed down for an hour when you hoped to use it.

If they had told me about this policy before booking, I may have chosen not to book with DCL; and certainly telling me 9 days before I go (and sorry, not even DCL telling me, but reading on an unofficial message board) doesn't give me time to cancel.

As I stated, even if DCL refunded me every dime for my cruise, I still end up losing money because I have other non refundable costs for this vacation. Calling them to cancel, does nothing for me at this late date.

I still go back to, DCL knew and wasn't open about it. If they really considered it a "non issue" then why didn't they post this on their website a year ago? I'm sure part of it is because they were trying to guage how most people felt about the sneaky way they were telling people - a letter in their cabin after they had boarded - judged that most people didn't complain about the tips being added to their account - so they decided to implement on most of their ships and did so with basically no notice.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

The Crystal Ball is located in the Trip reports section of the boards.
As most people do tend to complain about bad service and those that do receive great service I would say it is a good place to start when looking for percentages of DIS members who didn''t get it.

I guess people just don't understand why your whining because DCL used part of the cruise contact you agreed to to change something that will most likely not affect you or cause you any problems, and if you do feel the need to reduce your tips for whatever reason, the line at GS will be less due to all of the other people that do not now need to go there? Maybe? Just a guess?

Ex Techie

I think fewer people report the "not so good" because if people say anything bad about DCL, they get shot down on this board. Every cruise for every person isn't all peaches and cream - there are issues.

I thought this board was for open opinions - and that is what I'm expressing - an opinion.

Calling my post "whining", is no different than for me to call yours "bullying". But I've refrained from doing so because I realize that you are just expressing your opinion.

 

[srferson]

Why does it matter this much?
The effort you have spent this evening getting yourself all worked up over a change in policy, that just means they will charge you the full gratuity amount unless you tell them otherwise by stopping by at GS at your convenience, and it is unlikely you will have the need to anyway doesn't make sense to me?

I would just call DCL and complain/explain your disapproval to them tomorrow rather than complain to us as we can't change things?

It's on the website now so anyone who books a cruise as of when it was posted or at least today now knows they may be charged in advance for the full gratuity amount unless they stop by GS to increase or decrease the amount.

Ex Techie

To be fair, it does not appear that PrincessTrisha got herself "worked up" over the issue itself. I think she got worked up because she repeatedly stated her opinion which, whether or not you agree with it, is a valid opinion. And each detail was picked apart but no one seemed to recognize that her main point was just that Disney could have been better about communicating these changes. Which, I think, is a fair point.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

To be fair, it does not appear that PrincessTrisha got herself "worked up" over the issue itself. I think she got worked up because she repeatedly stated her opinion which, whether or not you agree with it, is a valid opinion. And each detail was picked apart but no one seemed to recognize that her main point was just that Disney could have been better about communicating these changes. Which, I think, is a fair point.

Thank you - you are currently my most favourite person in the world.

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

I think fewer people report the "not so good" because if people say anything bad about DCL, they get shot down on this board. Every cruise for every person isn't all peaches and cream - there are issues.

I thought this board was for open opinions - and that is what I'm expressing - an opinion.

Calling my post "whining", is no different than for me to call yours "bullying". But I've refrained from doing so because I realize that you are just expressing your opinion.

The difference I see is that you know DCL can change what they want when they want and you don't like it (for whatever reason).
But as I've said previously, your now 9 days out, and it is what it is.
If you have a problem with it, which you obviously do and I think it is clear, as I suggested contact DCL and express that displeasure to DCL.
Because not every one agrees with your opinion doesn't mean they are bullying you. I do apologize for saying you are whining, I should say complaining.
But again it is what it is, and without my crystal ball, I would expect you do have and hope you do have a great cruise with fantastic servers and Stateroom hosts that deserve the suggested traditional gratuity/tip I know you will give them for the hard work they put in to making your vacation special.

Ex Techie

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

To be fair, it does not appear that PrincessTrisha got herself "worked up" over the issue itself. I think she got worked up because she repeatedly stated her opinion which, whether or not you agree with it, is a valid opinion. And each detail was picked apart but no one seemed to recognize that her main point was just that Disney could have been better about communicating these changes. Which, I think, is a fair point.

Would "I wish DCL would have communicated these changes to me via email or mail, not to find out via internet board, not that it matters to me really" have been a better way of saying it then?

Ex Techie