Tipping at the Kids' Lab/Club?

[PoohJen]

Any thoughts on how/how much/who to tip at the Kids' clubs? How many CMs are involved?

I'd be interested in hearing people's opinions and ideas, and especially on how people have handled this in the past.
THANKS!!!

 

[fcrouch]

I looked at a recent navigator (from Dave's website) - and counted the number of counselors - from this board I'd read they liked WalMart gift cards - I brought with me enought $10 gift cards for each one.

Our daughter loved the kid's club - we hardly saw her. So we tipped them all with a $10 gift card (actually we gave them to the "head' counselor who said she'd disburse them all - she told me they go to wal-mart almost every saturday). (In fact she indicated they'd pool them to buy stuff together - perhaps larger size shampoo, I don't know - can't imagine they'd have room!)

Now before I'd done this, I asked a couple of the restaurant staff (including our own) about whether they'd prefer some tip in walmart cards and some in cash - they said Walmart is out of the way - and would rather have cash - in fact they all preferred the cash to be through the ship's direct deposit format rather than via cash from us - so I took my tip cash to guest services and they applied it just as I directed.

We also tried to give a little extra cash to a couple of the counselors but they refused the cash.

 

[CM_Mom]

The counselors in the Club/Lab are salaried positions and they aren't allowed to keep cash. If you do give them cash, it's turned in and saved for a group activity.

Although they don't expect tips, it's very kind of many of you to want to do something extra for them. The kids clubs are closed the morning the ship docks at Port Canaveral so the counselors can often get two or three hours off and they do go to WalMart for necessities and "stuff".

For those of you who want to recognize the counselors without spending quite so much money, what about letting your children create home made thank you cards before the trip and maybe enclose a lollipop or candy bar. Making the cards helps your children share the excitement of the tip and plan to have a fun time.

The Servers and Stateroom hosts rarely get off the ship because they are too busy on debarkation/embarkation days to have the time off. They're serving meals or getting the rooms cleaned up and all ready for the next group to get on the ship. Making sure the ship is sparkling clean and up to the excellent Disney standards takes a lot of work. On our next cruise, we're going to up the tip amount and add a nice note instead of the phone cards we gave last time. As more folks get cell phones, the phone cards become less of a "perk".

 

[kcashner]

CM mom is probably more up to date than I am....(she has an inside source!).....

I have been told by CMs that if you put a gift (not cash) in an envelope with their name on it that they are allowed to keep it. If they are given cash, they are supposed to pool it, and any gift cards or other stuff without a specified name is pooled and then sort of raffled off to the group. Since there are about 12 CMs in each kid area, a meaningful tip/gift is somewhat difficult.

I ask DD if there were one or two counsellors who made her time special. THen give a Walmart or Target gift card in an envelope with a thank you note from child to those people. I try to give it to them the last night, but if they are off, it can be left at the desk for them. That way, I feel that I am rewarding those that she felt were special. Of course, I find out in the cabin, in private, who she feels was special--there are CM photos on the kid's navigator, so your child doesn't have to remember the names.

 

[PoohJen]

Thanks for all the info and ideas!

I'll have kids in both the club and the lab, so maybe a group gift for counselors for both venues.... Hmm, lots to think about!

 

[dislvr75]

Thanks PoohJen for making this a separate thread for discussion! That was my first posting EVER, and was so glad glad to get so many comments and ideas. I appreciate everyone's suggestions. Can't wait until our first Cruise in May 2005!

 

[AnnMorin]

Never thought they wouldn't need them with cellphones
I guess I will run to walmart before I go and pick up a bunch of gift cards, heck if no one impresses me I can go on a shopping spree when I get back

 

[CM_Mom]

I think another problem with the phone cards is that lots of us have been reading the Passporter and the Boards. DisBoard folks are some of the nicest and most generous around but there's a limit to how many phone cards you can reasonably use. I imagine that the servers we all rave about are giving that level of service to everyone...some names come up pretty consistently...so they may be getting more phone cards than they can use.

One of our friends on the board, Tagrel, has created some delightful CM appreciation cards besides making one of the best trip reports I've seen. Check out http://tagrel.com/APP/CMCards.shtml
That's another alternative for some of us creatively challenged folks.

 

[drarill]

I gave Wal-Mart cards to a few of them. My kids first language is spanish, they speak some english and understand a lot but I couldnt believe that they didnt have more bilinguals counselors. You can find someone that speaks spanish on every corner in WDW Florida, But DCL is a different story. My kids enjoy the club, but I think that not having anyone that speaks their language didnt help. On the Magic they have only two or three spanish speaking counselors, and all of them are on the 3-4 y/o group, it will make more sense to have at least one on every group. And, before anyone says something, yes, some of them are bilinguals, the problem is that english is their second language. I still cant believe that Disney cant find more college educated counselors that speak spanish as a second language.