Tipping concierge Fantasy

[tomjude]

This topic seems to come up a lot. Just thought I would add my two cents. There is very little guidance from the cruise line regarding concierge tips. There is however a preprinted envelope available at guest services, so it is likely expected. I would always tip personally...On the fantasy, there are three people acting as a single concierge service. I simply asked one of them how the gratuities worked and was informed that gratuities are accepted and always divided evenly between the three people. This avoids any impropriety on their part. I suspect that should you decide to slip a little extra to a personal favorite and he/she took it without fessing up, the results could be quite disastrous should it be discovered. They appear to take this very seriously. The amount is at your discretion. It seems reasonable for the service that they provided to us that we gave $40 per day for 7 day trip. The only other thing that I will mention regarding the concierge is that it appears that a lot of guests use these people as impromptu babysitters and drop their children at the lounge, disappear, and it was not uncommon to see one or even 2 of the concierge people entertaining small groups of children ranging in age from three or four up to about 8 with games or coloring books. This bothered me significantly as there are kids clubs for this reason. When I asked one of the concierge members about it, she seemed to indicate that it was not uncommon and not a particular problem but I could tell that it got old fairly quickly. They were never however too distracted to provide service when a guest needed something. You are greeted by first name when you enter the lounge and if you look like you need help, they are all over it. It was definitely worth it to book on this level. also, we tipped the bartender in concierge. I anticipate that this person is often overlooked with respect to gratuities. She poured wine or champagne for us all week, we were pretty low maintenance, but she did treat us well and for that she was rewarded. If you used a lot of her services for things like mixed drinks or special requests, I would hope that you would remember and take care of him / her.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We have always tipped appropriately and our children well are now adults were never left with anyone bar the kids clubs. The concierge hosts are very good.

I prefer the classic ship arrangement where one host does one side of the ship and the other host does the other side of the ship.

Having been B2B on the Fantasy and in the CL on the last night i was aware of how people tipped as they gave verbal instructions at the desk and the concierge host typed it in and confirmed.

A good number of cruisers specified directly who the tip was for, others gave one tip and that's pooled. If you instruct a tip for one host then it goes to that one host as thats your clear instructions. With no instruction its pooled.

For example one may also be supporting you as a cabana host so you want to add that to your tip.

Now you can have the option to go to guest services to add tips it is up to you.

 

[cheermom2four]

Great post and I would never leave my kid alone in Concierge (age 5 when we cruise) as I'm too paranoid and know there is a check in procedure in the kids club

 

[Subi WRX]

This is a huge pet peeve of mine as well.

At least two members of the concierge team have mentioned that parents leaving their kids in the lounge for hours and using them as a babysitting service is an issue.

They try to tell parents that if other guests come in, they cannot guarantee their children will be looked after. There were times we arrived in the lounge, and the concierge team looked grateful for the interruption of their babysitting duties.

If you're a parent, and the concierge tells you it's not an issue to leave your kids in the lounge, they're just being polite and want their end of cruise tip.

 

[GioCruise]

Uggghh it's like bringing your kid to a bar and having the cocktail waitress or bartender watch them....INAPPROPRIATE!!!!
Totally understand its vacation but manners and morals should always apply!
I'm a mom and it drives me crazy!! Watch your own kids people or get them to appropriately designated areas where childcare and supervision is provided....that goes for pools on the ship too!
(Just adding my 2cents)

 

[Alexle2007]

Wow, when is sailed concierge on the Fantasy at the end of April, I never saw children in the lounge without their parents. I did see the concierge team happily playing games with the kids but parents were there.

When I asked about tipping, I was told told that the amount of the slip was split between the 3 of them but if I wanted to give extra to use the envelopes. Since one of the team members never addressed me by name and besides handing me popcorn when I asked for it, he/she did not get extra. I discretely distributed the envelope with extra (in cash) to other two who were extremely friendly, always asked how our day was, if they could do anything for us and always went above and beyond.

The bartender and hostess (who restocked the food and beverages) are not tipped positions but we did give them a little something in envelopes in cash. They were extremely gracious about it.

 

[Eeyorebabies]

We were concierge on the Dream last year. Not only did we not leave our children alone in the lounge, but we were hesitant to even bring them in there unless it was necessary. When we did bring them, the hosts tried to engage them with games and stuff, but my children are very shy and they just preferred to watch the TV with the weird Mickey cartoons. We didn't tip the bartender because we don't drink and never used his services.

 

[Uncleromulus]

A good post by the OP!

DCL is deliberately vague about concierge tipping--for a reason that still eludes me.

Everyone is left to their own devices as to what amount to give and how to give it.

And we always tip the bartender/lounge host in cash at the end of the cruise.

And tho I can't swear to have seen concierge folks attending to children as babysitters, I will say that they spend a LOT of time with --and go out of their way to attend to--children.

 

[milliesmum]

We are sailing on the Fantasy in Aug, although we are not in concierge we did manage to snag a cabana on SB. What is the usual amount to tip the cabana host?

 

[Uncleromulus]

The cabana host on SB will not be a concierge staff member.

Anyway--we gave our guy $25. He brought us drinks once and then drove us to lunch (altho its an easy walk).

 

[milliesmum]

The cabana host on SB will not be a concierge staff member.

Anyway--we gave our guy $25. He brought us drinks once and then drove us to lunch (altho its an easy walk).

Thanks Unclerolmulus we will be sure to take some cash with us

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We are sailing on the Fantasy in Aug, although we are not in concierge we did manage to snag a cabana on SB. What is the usual amount to tip the cabana host?

The tip is down to you, how much you use them, ie drinks or clear up, or any special requests.

As we were on the FB and we knew our concierge we added the tip to their tip at the cruise end.

 

[1Winston]

We have sailed dream and fantasy concierge and have never seen children left unattended in the lounge. The staff spent a lot of time with all of the children that sailed those cruises and to be honest that is one of the reasons we sail concierge, the staff make the children feel special. They are not however babysitters and we were always with them while they are in the lounge and we tipped them well for their service. The children know the hosts and look forward to seeing who is on the cruises we sail. They are an incredible bunch!

 

[chloe77]

That's crazy - I've sailed in concierge as well and have never seen kids left in the lounge with the concierge hosts. I absolutely would never foist my two off on them! They should tell guests that they can't watch unattended kids for liability reasons. That's perfectly understandable and shouldn't affect their tips if they are dealing with reasonable people.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Key phrase "reasonable people"

 

[Cruzshipps]

Funny, I was on this same cruise (6/6) in concierge and I did notice that there were frequently kids left with the hosts. Mostly they were playing uno with them. I thought it was for the kids to kill time but I can see the OP point on this.
We absolutely loved the hosts this cruise, our last time on the Fantasy was in 2012 and don't really remember the hosts from that cruise. We tipped 200 for all of them and gave Marianne the bartender 50, she was awesome. I don't think we can go back on this ship or any for that matter and not do concierge, it is so worth it.

 

[Bear3412]

..... Having been B2B on the Fantasy and in the CL on the last night i was aware of how people tipped as they gave verbal instructions at the desk and the concierge host typed it in and confirmed.

A good number of cruisers specified directly who the tip was for, others gave one tip and that's pooled. If you instruct a tip for one host then it goes to that one host as thats your clear instructions. With no instruction its pooled.

For example one may also be supporting you as a cabana host so you want to add that to your tip......

This was not our experience, or others, nor the information we received from the three Concierges in fall of 2012 and 2014 aboard the Fantasy.

On the Dream and Fantasy all tips to the Concierges are pooled regardless of polite hospitality comments presented to the contrary. Trust me.
Even if you have the unlikely occurrence of just one Concierge encounter on CC.
Even if you give cash to one in an isolated hall or your cabin.

Tips are pooled aboard Dream Class.

Things have change recently.

I wish folks would only post if they were current, and had recent experience on said vessel, or had actually sailed recently on said vessels.

HTH

 

[Uncleromulus]

Interesting!

Should add yet again it would be nice if DCL officially had something to say regarding concierge tips, other than they are "appreciated".

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

This was not our experience, or others, nor the information we received from the three Concierges in fall of 2012 and 2014 aboard the Fantasy.

On the Dream and Fantasy all tips to the Concierges are pooled regardless of polite hospitality comments presented to the contrary. Trust me.
Even if you have the unlikely occurrence of just one Concierge encounter on CC.
Even if you give cash to one in an isolated hall or your cabin.

Tips are pooled aboard Dream Class.

Things have change recently.

I wish folks would only post if they were current, and had recent experience on said vessel, or had actually sailed recently on said vessels.

HTH

Hello very nice to see you back on the boards, you seemed to be away for some time.

As you know I have been concierge on DCL 2012 x 2 2013 and 2014 I think it's recent enough. And whilst you had a different expierience to mine it doesn't say one of us is wrong and one right. I know what I have seen and post it exactly and I know what I have asked . You do not have to believe it.

Interesting!

Should add yet again it would be nice if DCL officially had something to say regarding concierge tips, other than they are "appreciated".

Service is different to each cruiser and do with a tailored service it's not possible.

 

[Lizzards]

We just sailed concierge on the Fantasy last week! Those hosts are amazing! Above and beyond our expectations and they were so great with the kids! My children were never in there without me or my hubby, but I did notice kids in there playing games with the hosts and no parents. I thought that was odd. As far as tipping I too wished there were more guidelines! We struggled over what to tip and if we were doing too little or not.