Tipping at Palo and Remy

[steves100]

In reality, you may tip, or not (as it true with all tips/gratuitities onboard). It's up to you. So the "free" meal could have no extra charge. If you feel it's necessary to tip, it's up to you.

You are correct, but, anyone NOT tipping at either should be ashamed of themselves

 

[steves100]

I've been on 43 cruises (see cruises listed in my signature) and we have never ever eaten at a pay restaurant on any ship. I just can't justify paying more money for the meal or the tip - especially for what Disney is already charging. There is too much other food/dining rooms/menus to enjoy. That is just me.

You cannot compare the food at Remy nor Palo to the main dining rooms!!!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

You are correct, but, anyone NOT tipping at either should be ashamed of themselves

I'm not advocating non-tipping (we definitely tip), just pointing out that it's voluntary, not required.

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for the info. good advice and guidelines. We will be platinum after our next cruise in October. We've done Palo once, but may do it again when platinum. It was very good and the service was excellent.

 

[lbus42]

We are probably strange, but we tip the server as if they were a server in a regular (non cruise ship and non upcharge) restaurant. For example when having brunch at Palo, we would compare it to what brunch would cost at someplace like maybe Narcoosee's (as that is the only restaurant in common to Disney fans that I can think of that serves brunch). Even though we are only paying $30pp we get $60-70 (if not more) of value from our meal and tip on the value rather than the cost.

At Palo Dinner we compare it to what we would spend at a restaurant such as Napa Rose, and tip on closer to about $100pp, and if we ordered a lot of alcoholic beverages, we would factor the number of drinks, and not so much the cost. It isn't more difficult to bring a $45 glass than a $16 glass of wine. Both these experiences are based on our trips on the Wonder where we have had Hristo as our excellent server and he always took extra special care of us.

At Remy, we compared the tip as if we were dining at Victoria and Albert's, also we added on some Kobe Beef, both wine pairings and anything else they offered (besides expensive water and caviar). I don't remember what all the costs were, but I think our meal overall cost $400 with the extras, and we tipped a total of $200, $150 for the Server and $50 for the Sommelier. But then again, we are, I don't want to say "high maintenance" because we are very easy to please, however, we savor everything possible, the wines, the cheeses, the apertif, etc. We were there far longer than anyone else that night because we took our time to enjoy the meal as that was our "entertainment" for the evening.

I totally concur with your reasoning. I have only eaten at Palo so far, but I treated the tip like I was eating at an upscale Italion restaurant. I ended up tipping $100 for 4 of us, total price $220. This ended up as $55pp which I thought was a great price for the meal and the experience.

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

I'm not advocating non-tipping (we definitely tip), just pointing out that it's voluntary, not required.

I agree with this post and people should not feel ashamed if they do not tip because in all honesty, the majority of cruisers do not even read the Disboards. If I did not read them, I would not have realized it was expected on top of the service charge, or at least not upwards of $20 a person.

 

[wcw57]

years ago, wasn't a percentage of the Palo fee a gratuity? I think it was $5 worth of the upcharge. Do they include a gratuity with the fee now as well?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

years ago, wasn't a percentage of the Palo fee a gratuity? I think it was $5 worth of the upcharge. Do they include a gratuity with the fee now as well?

There's always been some murkiness with whether the Palo upcharge included the gratuity. At one time it was said to $5.00. Then it was said to be have been reduced to "less than $5.00". And it's pooled to be shared by all Palo servers on that particular cruise. Rumors have it that the upcharge no longer includes any tips. Direct (additional) tipping goes only to your specific server.

I doubt that you'll get a definitive answer one way or the other here.

 

[wcw57]

they MUST include a "fail-safe" tip for the staff BUT I can see how they don't want everyoneto know there is an included gratuity....
heck, its hard enough to get people to tip without telling them there is one (meager tip) included.

I have read some "way out there" estimates about the value of the meal......I can't wait to see what I think the value is.

Further, does the waitstaff get paid on a lower scale as do landlubber waiters/waitresses?

 

[franandaj]

I have read some "way out there" estimates about the value of the meal......I can't wait to see what I think the value is.

Another thing about Disney cruises that is nice is that you can do what you like when it comes to a meal at Palo.

I have read of some folks who go to Palo have the antipasto and order one entree (such as the rack of lamb or beef tenderloin) decline any dessert, and wonder wherein lies the value of the meal.

I've also known of couples who go with the antipasto, Fried Calamari, Caprese Salad, Tuscan Bean soup, appetizer portion of the Lobster Mascarpone Ravioli, Rack of Lamb, Beef Tenderloin and two orders of the Double Chocolate Souffle, and the server brought an additional dessert on top of it all!

Everyone has a different perspective on value, and no one can change what anyone thinks. It's best that we all asses it for ourselves, but it makes me happy that so many people will never pay for an upcharge restaurant because that means more availability for me!

 

[kiford]

Seems to me we tipped about $75-100 for Remy the last time. There was the upcharge of $75/person, we both had the wine pairing ($99/person) for a total of ~$350 plus tip. I seem to recall that our final payment was about $425-450. We tipped according to what we would tip if we had paid the full cost instead of an upcharge. We spent about 3-3.5 hours there and the service was impeccable.

 

[Sytrace]

I asked our server on our September Fantasy cruise, as he had worked in Palo before, and he told me that most people did not tip because they did not know that the servers didn't get anything from the fee. Add that to the wording on the bill/receipt of "Additional Gratuity" (which implies that there is a tip included) already on the upcharge and no tip.

 

[lucas]

You cannot compare the food at Remy nor Palo to the main dining rooms!!!

Difference of opinion. We all splurge in different ways. More food is not on my list. And, I don't like the idea of having to bring dressy clothes for this one meal.

 

[franandaj]

Difference of opinion. We all splurge in different ways. More food is not on my list. And, I don't like the idea of having to bring dressy clothes for this one meal.

See and this is why choice is good! If everyone wanted to eat in Palo or Remy there would be no availability for the rest of us!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Seems speculation on Palo servers income, and speculation on prior amounts of service fee going to servers, ( no longer the case). It would be helpful if posters show information of sources where they get thier information from.

Posts here have given the impression of authority or fact differ to my understanding. So it would be nice to find out where this " information " has actually come from.

A " search" here, on this subject, will give prior responses on this matter and also quote sources.

 

[RedSox68]

That's a little higher than we tip.....
I hate that they keep upping the price of Palo!

I can't believe that they now charge the same price for Brunch and dinner!

 

[steves100]

I agree with this post and people should not feel ashamed if they do not tip because in all honesty, the majority of cruisers do not even read the Disboards. If I did not read them, I would not have realized it was expected on top of the service charge, or at least not upwards of $20 a person.

There is NO excuse for not tipping at Palo/Remy!

This has nothing to do with DISBOARDS. It is common curtesy, at minimum to ask. We are not debating what the tip should be, just that you should do it!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

There is NO excuse for not tipping at Palo/Remy!

This has nothing to do with DISBOARDS. It is common curtesy, at minimum to ask. We are not debating what the tip should be, just that you should do it!

While it may be "common courtesy" here in the US, tipping is not such a part of the culture in other societies. It may not even dawn on those people to ask such a question.

 

[steves100]

I asked our server on our September Fantasy cruise, as he had worked in Palo before, and he told me that most people did not tip because they did not know that the servers didn't get anything from the fee. Add that to the wording on the bill/receipt of "Additional Gratuity" (which implies that there is a tip included) already on the upcharge and no tip.

I have been to Palo atleast 14 times, only to Remy once. I know the servers pretty well. We have discussed the tipping. The norm is not, not to tip

 

[steves100]

I can't believe that they now charge the same price for Brunch and dinner!

They always did I thought. I could be wrong