So how much do Room Hosts make?

[2Princes2Princesses]

I was told by a CM on the Wonder that they work for 6 months and then are required to go home for 4 or more (he was French). So they are not making that much, since they are actually only working for 6 months per year.

 

[DVC Mary]

I believe they must pay taxes, but I don't know how much. I think a good room steward is the most important person on your cruise. We always tip the minimum and then give extra in cash/phone cards which will escape taxation, but we are not the norm. On our last cruise, there was a problem w/ the bathtub in our room leaking, and our room steward had maintenance down multiple times to deal with it. She always made sure there were extra towles on the floor in between the showers we took at all different times of the day. When we gave her the tip w/ little extra, she bust into tears of gratitude. She's probably thought we'd hold the tub against her.

Teacher's pay is often the subject of discussion in many communities. Thank you to the many who support teachers, as well as other great workers who are often not paid enough--soldiers, firefighters, police, etc.

If you are one of those people who goes online & looks up the teacher's salaries in your district and responds w/ anger. Please note that most of those salaries include the $$ they must pay towards a state retirement system. If someone sees an average person's salary, they don't see how much the company pays towards a pension plan for that individual. The salaries you see online, also include extra duties that teachers do as coaches, club sponsors, extra administrative duties, etc. A h.s. teacher who chooses to coach 3 major sports for example is going to have a significantly higher salay, but those teachers don't get nights, weekends, and the whole summer off. They are at aways games, tournaments, and must run summer camps for their teams (often w/o any additional pay). If you worked your regular job & took on several part time jobs, wouldn't your salary be higher too.

Just an FYI--be aware of what $$ mean before making your judgement.

Tip the minimum b/c DCL gives them little to nothing and if you can afford to give a little extra for those people who do work exceptionally hard. They can really make a cruise. I cried when I got off the Magic the 1st time, b/c I didn't want to leave and it hit me that I didn't want to go back home to all the cooking, cleaning, and tidying up. I wanted to take our room steward home w/us & anyone of the great chefs.

Sincerely,

A greatful who appreciates supportive parents! You make our jobs a lot easier.

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I don't envy teachers at all. I think they should make good money. The only thing we have an issue with in this area is that in a certain district (which is so broke it stopped offering music and sports completely) the teachers have a fully paid elective cosmetic surgery rider on their health insurance.

That is a bit much, but I do believe they deserve their $$ AND all their other benefits.

 

[cruisinluver]

They do NOT PAY US TAXES. They are not employed in the United States!!! Many do not pay taxes in their own countries.

 

[MrsMork]

Thanks. That means a lot.

The point I was trying to prove was that being away from your family is worth no amount of money. No dollar can give you back the moments you have lost with them. I was trying to prove that no matter how much these stateroom hosts make, it can never make up for what they have lost.

I think I came on a little strong comparing to the military life. Deployments can make you go insane. Sorry!

I think your post was fine, not strong and your point well made.

 

[Brucemcc]

I am retired CANADIAN military and now work as an engineer in the Athabasca oil sands in northern Canada so my family and I are somewhat isolated from the real world and see the almighty $$ of the oil.I, like many Canadians have served over seas in many conflicts from Cyprus, Somalia, Afganistan and Bosnia, we have 33 million people in Canada with an "Army" of aprox 10500 "full" time soldiers, we partake in almost every conflict that comes up, some being peace keeping, some being to stabilze a country after or during war.We are small compared to other countries and the demand on our soldiers is massive, most are gone for 3 years out of every five.In my 20 years of service, I was out of my country for 84 months give or take. I can tell you first had what it is like to be away from my home and family for extended periods of time and it isnt something most can relate too. I also calculated how much our room host made on our cruise and was very surprised, $750-900 U.S. per week or $400+/- more than I made as a soldier 5 years ago and yes TAX FREE. I still am in contact with our host and he is also from the Philipines where he does have a massive extended family that he supports. My point is that there is not a $$ amount out there that can replace home time or time watching your children grow up.My family and I gave a pretty large tip for his service and it was mostly based on his quality of work and that this "Marine Engineer/Host" was working so far away from his family for extended period of time. His families only wish was/is to come to Canada to see what so many around the world envy and want.My families tip is nothing compared to what most on the ship have to endure daily, weekly and for the most part, their entire lives, just hope it helped in some way. Support your soldiers, if you cant find one, hug and thank a teacher, both need it. Just my opinion

 

[bunny]

Please remember to tip. These people do an excellent job. But I also feel they choose to do this type of work because it is quite good money for them. What they make is probably equivalent to 5 to 10 years of work in their own countries.

It is a sad thing to note that the room stewards on a cruise ship are getting paid more than our military people and are are commended more than them also. We don't support our military enough in this country. They spend a large amount of time away from their families for little pay and in terrible working conditions. They aren't on a luxury cruise liner. Even if the room stewards live 3 to a room, they aren't living in a tent with mortars exploding overhead or waiting for a road side bomb to blow them up. I thank God often that we have people in this country who are willing to fight for our freedom. Because freedom isn't free. And our soldiers aren't getting tipped.

 

[Babs417]

I would just like to know what outher peoples pay has to do with tipping a person that waited on you? I dont make alot but I can afford to go on the cruise I will reward the person that waited on me.

 

[VCruiser66]

Does anyone know if Disney skims when tips are charged?

 

[CarolAnnC]

Not sure if this was mentioned in the thread, but do not forget that Disney deducts from their wages (tips) their room, board, medical care etc. I understand it is quite a large sum.

These people are not making a fortune as room hosts, trust me.

 

[rejobako]

On our last cruise, our host told us that on every sailing, an average of 40% of the rooms don't tip. I was very surprised but not shocked.

I dunno -- that would certainly shock me. I can't imagine that looking at a boatload of Disney cruise guests, 4 out of 10 of them stiff the room host. Are you that certain your host wasn't playing his violin just a bit for you?

 

[cruisinluver]

Not sure if this was mentioned in the thread, but do not forget that Disney deducts from their wages (tips) their room, board, medical care etc. I understand it is quite a large sum.

Um...no they don't. Room, board and medical care is part of their wages. Not sure where you got that tall tale.

 

[misseulalie]

I dunno -- that would certainly shock me. I can't imagine that looking at a boatload of Disney cruise guests, 4 out of 10 of them stiff the room host. Are you that certain your host wasn't playing his violin just a bit for you?

When he told me that, yes I did think he was just trying to get more $$ out of me, but throughout the cruise, I would talk to others and I met a lot of people who assumed the tip was automatically charged to their account like Carnival. So, if they didn't make the effort to fill out the card and bring it to Guest relations, there was no tip.

My former sister in law used to work in the busiest TGI Fridays in the country (Next to Downtown Disney)
She said even though the resaturant was always packed, the tips were lousy because the tourists never tipped (they thought the tip was automatically in the bill as it is done in their home country)
They actually had little cards that accompanied the bill that stated that the tip was not included and to please tip the server. (this was a few years ago, so I don't know if they still do it)

 

[rejobako]

When he told me that, yes I did think he was just trying to get more $$ out of me, but throughout the cruise, I would talk to others and I met a lot of people who assumed the tip was automatically charged to their account like Carnival. So, if they didn't make the effort to fill out the card and bring it to Guest relations, there was no tip.

I believe you, but it also sounds like there are an awful lot of people who are intentionally selective with their reading habits. My guess is that most of the people in the "gee, I just didn't know the gratuity wasn't included" category probably have their Navigators memorized by the time they've had their morning coffee, but for some reason they just don't see the 3 dozen reminders all over the place that they need to take care of the people who have been taking care of them for the last few days.

I would agree that there are probably some foreigners who don't get the concept, since gratuities are typically added on in Europe and some other places.

 

[cruisinluver]

Absolutely, we never believe anyone whose livelihood depends on tips. We make our decision based on service to us, not what others pay or don't pay, or how hard their life is, or how much they miss their family.

 

[ScouterJT]

Does anyone know if Disney skims when tips are charged?

When I asked at Guest Services, I was told the full amount goes to the host/server

 

[VCruiser66]

My only thought is that if the job was as well paid as some posters suggest, I beleive that the jobs would be staffed by more americans. We must remember that the ship is not registered under the American flag and the wages and tips are very good when compared with what is available in their home countries.

 

[crainbow]

My only thought is that if the job was as well paid as some posters suggest, I beleive that the jobs would be staffed by more americans. We must remember that the ship is not registered under the American flag and the wages and tips are very good when compared with what is available in their home countries.

But if they go over a certain amount of Americans on the staff, they have to follow US maritime wage laws. At that point, no one would be able to afford the vacation cost. This is the main reason that so few ships are flagged with the US.

Chuck

 

[CarolAnnC]

Um...no they don't. Room, board and medical care is part of their wages. Not sure where you got that tall tale.

Not sure where you got YOUR information, but I know my sources are EXTREMELY reliable.

It is a fact. The room, board etc is deducted from the wages earned by the CM's on board the ship. So any way you cut it, there is no "free" room and board.

 

[Barbossa]

Teachers have a thank-less job that I would challenge anyone to try for one day. Yes weekends are free... and so are holidays and summers but please think before you speak. You have no idea how hard some teachers work. (Please notice I wrote "some". Not all teachers go above and beyond but MANY do.)

Amen to that! DW is in education, and I bristle when people say that they only have to work 9 months out of the year with holidays. They don't mention all of the after hours work, the school supplies that they have to pay for, the massive workloads, not to mention the 1% of parents (the other 99% are cool) who think the world revolves around them and will sue good teachers in a heartbeat for simply doing their job. By the time May comes around, my DW is completely burnt out. They don't pay her nearly enough to do what she does.