Question about how to tip concierge staff

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

I‘m about to sail concierge for the first time. We don’t like to travel with a lot of cash so I was planning to add concierge tips to my onboard account. It is my understanding you are supposed to use the concierge desk for anything account related, but it seems like it would be awkward to ask them to add their own tips. What do most people do? Talk to guest services instead? TIA!

 

[allashore]

On the Fantasy beginning of March, there was a note with a form to fill out that was put in your cabin, along with various envelopes,
the letter was in our cabin the 2nd to last night on our 7 night cruise, along with all the other envelopes and pre-paid tip forms
Also, on the last full day envelopes for servers, etc are available in the lounge
you could also ask guest services

 

[Marc D]

On my previous cruises, I would need to go to guest services to get the Concierge tip added to my account because of the awkwardness of doing it directly with them. That is still you solution if you do not want to put cash in the dedicated envelope they started giving out with the others on the next-to-last night.

On my last cruise however, we were very comfortable with all three hosts so I simply asked one to add their tip to the account and it went perfectly well.

 

[bethsg]

Who at the Concierge Level do you tip, in addition to the traditional tip?

 

[TestingH2O]

Getting off the Dream this morning.

With the standard tip envelopes, there is a concierge note you can fill out and put it all there. No need to speak to anyone.

We also had 5 other people working in the lounge, but only 3 of them could get tips through the onboard account. If we wanted to tip the other 2, we had to use cash. Something to keep in mind. For us, the two who could not get tips through the account made a huge difference in our experience, so I was very glad that I had cash.

 

[ggfred32]

We always need to have the hosts print out a larger form that has room for us to add in tips for the other people in the lounge that we can pay via our onboard account. That usually includes the bartending team (1-4 people depending on the bar cart situation). The lounge servers (2-4 people), who stock and serve the food and non-alcoholic drinks) usually can't be paid from your onboard account and you will need cash. We also have had an extra stateroom attendant who we had to tip in cash as well. It can be a little awkward to have them enter in their own tip, but I would never stand in line at guest services after the ease of doing it in the lounge!

Your concierge hosts will let you know who needs tipping in cash and who you can add to your account.

 

[JWelch62]

Who at the Concierge Level do you tip, in addition to the traditional tip?

We tip the hosts, the bartender, and the person who maintains the food service. We tip in cash and my wife brings cards so that we can write thank you notes.

 

[Blondie58]

We take thank you notes with us and include tips and present both with words of thanks to those that make our vacations wonderful experiences. We do the same at WDW as we stay on concierge floors when at the parks unless we are using our DVC points. We usually do spilt stays and do some of both.

 

[Lillebelle]

There is a form to fill out with the tip adjustments (including changing the concierge tip from nothing to something) which we've always just given directly to the concierge host to process. Yes, it feels awkward from my side, but they've always been very professional about it.

+1 you have to have cash if you want to tip the food attendants, and we've had some that really went out of their way so we were glad to have cash on hand for them.

 

[KashasMom]

We tip in cash. We bring it and leave it in the safe until the end of the cruise.

 

[CindyLouB]

How much are you tipping each of the concierge folks ?

 

[lucille104]

I thought I read somewhere, Dreams Unlimited or perhaps on DCL website that you could tip before your cruise. Am I dreaming this up?

 

[Dug720]

I thought I read somewhere, Dreams Unlimited or perhaps on DCL website that you could tip before your cruise. Am I dreaming this up?

You can “prepay” the standard gratuities but really all that does is put that amount on your account. Theoretically they could pull any charges from that and then use your method of payment for gratuities.

 

[Marc D]

How much are you tipping each of the concierge folks ?

That’s the recurring question that brings the widest set of answers. Some tip 150$ for 7 days for all three hosts, others tip 100$ each night per host… Tip what you feel comfortable with, based on how much the hosts get to help you during the cruise.

 

[lovingeire]

How much are you tipping each of the concierge folks ?

I feel like this is the million-dollar question! And the one that is probably the biggest hurdle for first-time concierge guests. I know it is one of the things I'm contemplating as we get ready to sail concierge for the first time. I like to prepare and budget, but of course, you have no clue what kind of impact someone will have on your cruise. And I didn't think about the bar cart folks. Will they be the same throughout the cruise or should we tip them as we use them?

 

[Lillebelle]

I feel like this is the million-dollar question! And the one that is probably the biggest hurdle for first-time concierge guests. I know it is one of the things I'm contemplating as we get ready to sail concierge for the first time. I like to prepare and budget, but of course, you have no clue what kind of impact someone will have on your cruise. And I didn't think about the bar cart folks. Will they be the same throughout the cruise or should we tip them as we use them?

+1 to this being the great mystery of concierge. For the bar cart guys, on our first cruise with them, I didn't tip them at all during the cruise, figuring I'd give them something at the end like everyone else...and then we missed them the last night so I never actually tipped them and felt bad. So on our second cruise, I just did some cash nightly when we got something from them since we didn't always catch them. Like everything else to do with concierge tipping, I'm guessing there's a wide variety of approaches here.

 

[CindyLouB]

+1 to this being the great mystery of concierge. For the bar cart guys, on our first cruise with them, I didn't tip them at all during the cruise, figuring I'd give them something at the end like everyone else...and then we missed them the last night so I never actually tipped them and felt bad. So on our second cruise, I just did some cash nightly when we got something from them since we didn't always catch them. Like everything else to do with concierge tipping, I'm guessing there's a wide variety of approaches here.

 

[CindyLouB]

Thank you ! First time concierge cruise (resorts many times ) so just want to make sure we are tipping generously enough , everyone is short staffed and Disney does such a great job regardless, they deserve it !

+1 to this being the great mystery of concierge. For the bar cart guys, on our first cruise with them, I didn't tip them at all during the cruise, figuring I'd give them something at the end like everyone else...and then we missed them the last night so I never actually tipped them and felt bad. So on our second cruise, I just did some cash nightly when we got something from them since we didn't always catch them. Like everything else to do with concierge tipping, I'm guessing there's a wide variety of approaches here.

 

[Cruising Girl]

Another first time concierge guest sailing soon! Would someone please tell me the number of cast members working in the concierge? Please include the servers, cleaners, bartenders etc.... Also are there envelopes for all workers or do I need to bring small envelopes to put gratuities in? Which ones can I definitely add to their onboard account and which do I need to add cash? I know there is such a HUGE range for tipping but can someone please tell me approximate amounts for a middle of the road average person to pay? I know it also depends on who has helped you and who hasn't ---but I do have two rooms with two people in each room and just want to make sure I do the right thing! Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[Jsoenning]

Cruising Girl, I think the number of folks dedicated to concierge varies based on the ship size, guessing it varies because there are more concierge rooms on the Wish versus say the Magic. I believe I've read that there are 9 folks on Wish and 7 on Magic / Wonder but am unsure on Fantasy / Dream. Believe Magic Wonder are 3 hosts, 2 bar, 2 food?

Disney apparently has shared a recommended $8 / person per day that the concierge team splits based on pre-set percentages of the total. I saw on Facebook where someone had the break-down. I've seen and added the math before but was chastised by folks, but you can do the math by multiplying the number of concierge rooms (e.g. 44 on Magic) by a reasonable number of guests per room (likely 3-4) by the $8 / day and you'll see that it seems Disney set a good minimum target that if everyone in concierge paid the team would likely be taken care of beyond the salaries the hosts already receive.

I've seen some say they tip $30 / day per person and if you do the math there each person would potentially receive well over six figures in tips per year.

At the end of the day I think you have to tip what you think is reasonable based on your interactions with the concierge team. In the past when we've sailed concierge we didn't make much use of the team on board but still tipped closer to the range that Disney is recommending (again $8 / day / person). We interacted more with the bar team for 1-2 drinks each night versus the actual hosts.