Tipping for Mediocre Service

[sbell111]

Tips are per person per day. So if I get bad service on day one, my tips will reflect that. If the service improves after I mention the issue, the tips will reflect that as well. But if someone needs to be corrected, they are not earning their tips. These people go into their contracts knowing full well what Disney pays them and the rest will have to be made up in tips. If that was unsatisfactory, there are other non-tipped positions they could apply for. It is not my job to make up someone's salary. I am showing my appreciation (or lack of appreciation) with a cash gift.

I like your method. It makes the tip calculation process nice and quantitative.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Our head server was amazing,he got extra,lovely last am
Our assistant server was poor to fair and got recomended amount, aloof last am.
Only time ive been in palo the server was sos sosososo annoying and over the top, took our plates away before we were finished, hang over us the whole time. Never gave a tip.If I thought she was getting nothing I probably would have but I assumed she got part of the fee.

 

[sbell111]

Our Palo servers have also teatered on irritating. We always tipped them the recommended amount, but probably aren't going to bother with Palo any more.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I disagree. If my service was bad and I have to complain about it to get it corrected, then it wasn't 'good', by definition. Therefore, it should not be rewarded with the recommended tip amount.

exactly how we feel

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Only had one bad service experience on one trip. I did not have to complain. The Head Waiter noticed. The service did not improve. The Head Waiter contacted Palo's as that was our last night and our dinner there was comped courtesty of the Head Waiter.

Guess who received a Big Tip and guess who received a very low tip.

Maybe that is why service at breakfast the last day was so poor

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Our Palo servers have also teatered on irritating. We always tipped them the recommended amount, but probably aren't going to bother with Palo any more.

We've always had awesome servers at Palo. Not too overbearing or irritating in the least. Our server at Palo actually ended up marrying our main dining room server! Over the course of 3 cruises, we kept up with their relationship.

To the primary topic of this thread. We don't tip as well for mediocre service. We generally tip the recommended amount, but will tip extra for truly outstanding service which we've had more than once. We did tip less than the recommended amount for the head server once (the one who oversees groups of individuals). Like Andrew mentioend earlier, he never showed up the entire cruise until the last night. That was unacceptable for us. On another cruise, the head server did lots of extras for us and was there every night helping out our very slow assistant server who was counting the days to get off the ship as his first and only contract was over and he was heading home as he hated it.

We've never had problems with the "cold shoulder" that was mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[indigodisney]

our servers were average - very slow though - we had prepaid the tips and just maintained those recommended levels. Our head waiter was not very nice at all, he didn't bother with us and when we had a request, he barely acknowledged us. The stateroom host was amazing, just top notch. We gave him extra. and mentioned all of this on the comment card, because at the end of the day, I think Disney listens (or at least I hope so)

And for the record, I hate those last night speeches about the comment cards - it used to be worse and it feels out of place. And on the magic we did get the cold shoulder mentioned by a few here = it was weird because we tipped them way over and we did notice they were not showing us the love anymore at breakfast, I did chalk it up to the craziness of ship turnover at the time.

In general, I will tip extra for my drinks, etc. because I am sensitive to the fact that this is a service industry. We were on Carnival recently and appreciated that we didn't have to tip extra for drinks when we sign for them, there was no line to do this....made things easier and we prepaid tips there as well.

 

[slg]

Since I'm always planning my next cruise, I worry if I don't tip well that the servers, staff will remember and give me terrible service next time.

We've only been to Palo once and we found that we got "too much" service. He was nice but kept bringing us food we didn't request! For example we asked for advice between two dishes and then ordered one, well we brought us both, plus several desserts!

I just found that wasteful and unnecessary!

 

[granmaz]

I have felt the 'cold shoulder' on the last morning on a couple of cruises, and we had given over the recommended amount. I was a little put out at first, but now wonder if they are a bit embarrassed and don't want to keep saying thank you???

Just remember, if you go to Topsider', tip the staff separately. I've been told by insiders that MDR servers don't share their tips with Topsider's staff.

Just back to this post. I didn't know this, how would we know if we aren't told? The servers at Topsiders dinner are not mentioned on the info about tipping. I now feel bad for the twice we have eaten there for dinner.

 

[castaway13]

KSDisneyDad We've always had awesome servers at Palo. Not too overbearing or irritating in the least. Our server at Palo actually ended up marrying our main dining room server! Over the course of 3 cruises, we kept up with their relationship.

Al little off topic here but do you happen to be talking about Cedomir and Pearl? If so we love them too

 

[tvguy]

I disagree. If my service was bad and I have to complain about it to get it corrected, then it wasn't 'good', by definition. Therefore, it should not be rewarded with the recommended tip amount.

I have to wonder how many people here rated their service was poor because the pace of the dining was too slow or too fast for them?
Judging from the comments elsewhere on these boards, I see a vast difference in what folks like in that regard. I've seen folks complain that dinner took 40 minutes. And DW and I, as old school cruisers, expect dinner to take 90 minutes to 2 hours, which is why we always have late seating. For us, that leisurely dinner is part of the classic cruise experience. My first cruise, on the Mermoz, dinner typically took 2 hours, and formal nights (there were 4 on our 2 week cruise) took 3 hours. But there was only one seating, at 6 pm, on that ship, and the one performance of the evening show was at 9:30 pm. The night clubs didn't even open until 11 pm.

 

[dylan'smom]

I have to wonder how many people here rated their service was poor because the pace of the dining was too slow or too fast for them?

I agree. So much of this is subjective: too slow, too fast, not friendly enough, too friendly... this thread worries me.

There is no changing someone's subjective opinion, I just would hope that cruisers keep a generous spirit and try to judge intentions as well as performance...and consider tipping the DCL 'suggested' amount.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I have to wonder how many people here rated their service was poor because the pace of the dining was too slow or too fast for them?
Judging from the comments elsewhere on these boards, I see a vast difference in what folks like in that regard. I've seen folks complain that dinner took 40 minutes. And DW and I, as old school cruisers, expect dinner to take 90 minutes to 2 hours, which is why we always have late seating. For us, that leisurely dinner is part of the classic cruise experience. My first cruise, on the Mermoz, dinner typically took 2 hours, and formal nights (there were 4 on our 2 week cruise) took 3 hours. But there was only one seating, at 6 pm, on that ship, and the one performance of the evening show was at 9:30 pm. The night clubs didn't even open until 11 pm.

I think that is a large part of the problem. People have such widely varying expectations for what good service is that the staff has to do its best to guess what you want based on your reactions. If you take a moment to TELL them, we have found 9 times out of 10 they are very happy to do their best to give it to you (there is a limit to how fast the can get you through dinner, but they will try to get you through much faster if that is what you want. We also love the slow dinners but have asked to rush through on Pirate's night twice. No big deal--we just told the waitstaff the night before and reminded them when we were seated).
I think reducing tips for poor service is the right thing to do--it is how you encourage the "right" people to continue working onboard. However, I think it is wrong to reduce a tip if you donot clearly communicate your expectations so that the service member has a chance to meet them.
An example, DH and I drink a lot during a meal. We are always thirtsy. On the very first night, when we put in our drink orders we let the assistant waiter know that we tend to go through beverages very fast and tha tthe best thing the team can do to keep us happy is to keep us in drinks so they may want to grab two of everything each time they go up for beverages (as we have seen it takes them quite a while to get to whereever they get the drinks from and back). It takes me all of about 2 minutes to do this and then I am happy and the server is not run ragged teh first day or two racing for drink refills before realizing on their own accord that we drink like crazy at dinner.

In 7 DCL cruises we have had one negative experience in the main dining rooms (in Palo we have had from "just okay" to down right rude--never really good, we seem to have bad luck there). It was with an assistant server who was not up to par. We let the server know on the third night (of 7). The assistnat never got any better but the head server went well above and beyond to take up the slack. In that case we only tipped the assistant about 60% of the recommended and gave all of the difference to the main server. Otherwise we have generally tipped at recomendations or slightly above with a couple of big tips for the very brightest experiences and we have never once been given a cold shoulder on the last day. Not in the slightest.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I mentioned before but pre paying tips actually takes this worry and subjectivity away from you knowing its all paid.

I can relax, and enjoy, not look or audit, what anyone is actually doing.

I do think there is a number of people here who just are looking for any reason whatsoever, to reduce their tips and save money for themselves. They are not objective in, the logistics of serving a lot of people at the same time and as posted everyone's person eating arrangements at home are different.

Basically, look at $8 per person, per day for your overall food experience, excluding, Palo and Room service. Isnt that very good value for Breakfast, lunch and Dinner, and snack foods?.

That $8 is main server, assistant server and head server. Three people helping you, -you see these at dinner, but then they serve 'everyone' at breakfast, lunch, and Castaway cay.

On the odd occassion you get bad service, complain and or give feedback so it can be corrected.

 

[MouseLovinMom]

Yes...I also think lack of communication and misaligned expections between server and guest can be the root of the perception of poor service. Maybe there are some who hear about others' experiences with their serving team and feel let down because they didn't get the same "treatment" as someone else, for example magic tricks, special dessert. And sometimes mediocre service is just mediocre service, no excuses.

We had "expectations" issues on our last cruise. For 4 straight cruises we had the same Head Server on the Wonder. We were used to really great service and all of the little personal touches that come with having a Head Server who has known you for years.

We didn't cope well with our transition to the Magic The first night at dinner felt very strange, the servers were pleasant and efficient; however that "welcome back, so happy you're here" feeling was missing (obviously). We barely saw our Head Server that night (barely, like in passing on our way out the door). We definitely weren't excited about our serving team

As luck would have it, we were "randomly surveyed" the next morning at breakfast about our dining experience the previous evening. We gave honest feedback (positives included).

Fast forward to dinner...Our serving team came and talked to us about the survey. It was a pleasant, positive conversation. Our server said she was grateful we took the time to share our feedback, and she was sincere. The team worked very, very hard that evening to make things right. At the end of dinner, the Head Server delivered a special treat. She had to have taken the time to get in touch with our fave Head Server on the Wonder to know about this one. Definitely an above an beyond moment. They turned out to be a spectacular team, enough so that we canceled our Palo reservation so as not to miss an evening with them. A great cruise and a happy ending. Glad we spoke up.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Yes...I also think lack of communication and misaligned expections between server and guest can be the root of the perception of poor service. Maybe there are some who hear about others' experiences with their serving team and feel let down because they didn't get the same "treatment" as someone else, for example magic tricks, special dessert. And sometimes mediocre service is just mediocre service, no excuses.

We had had "expectations" issues on our last cruise. For 4 straight cruises we had the same Head Server on the Wonder. We were used to really great service and all of the little personal touches that come with having a Head Server who has known you for years.

We didn't cope well with our transition to the Magic The first night at dinner felt very strange, the servers were pleasant and efficient; however that "welcome back, so happy you're here" feeling was missing (obviously). We barely saw our Head Server that night (barely, like in passing on our way out the door). We definitely weren't excited about our serving team

As luck would have it, we were "randomly surveyed" the next morning at breakfast about our dining experience the previous evening. We gave honest feedback (positives included).

Fast forward to dinner...Our serving team came and talked to us about the survey. It was a pleasant, positive conversation. Our server said she was grateful we took the time to share our feedback, and she was sincere. The team worked very, very hard that evening to make things right. At the end of dinner, the Head Server delivered a special treat. She had to have taken the time to get in touch with our fave Head Server on the Wonder to know about this one. Definitely an above an beyond moment. They turned out to be a spectacular team, enough so that we canceled our Palo reservation so as not to miss an evening with them. A great cruise and a happy ending. Glad we spoke up.

Yes, worth speaking up, they will pull out the stops for you if you do speak up.

 

[Rominet]

tipped the standard amount:

"03-08-2009, 01:46 PM #9
On our last cruise, I was caught by surprise by the dining room server and tipped the standard amount because of fear of being rude. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the terrible service after everything I read here. The service in general was terrible, but main server was just AWFUL. So fake. He couldn't hide that he hated his job and the cruisers, despite his fake syrupiness."

It's hard to explain, but this guy had crazy eyes. Have you ever been around someone in a manic state? Eyes too wide, etc? They speak like a shot gun firing at you and there's no time to reply? We had a good laugh about the serial killer posing as a server on DCL, but down deep my creep-o-meter was dinging away very loudly. He was like a crazy person pretending to be a server, but you could see the crazy behind is eyes. He went through a "show", fake jokes, no two-way conversation, babbling, frantic. We thought maybe he was on his last cruise and then he was going home? I would have asked, but he never stopped long enough to chat and when he was at our table it was ongoing crazy banter. We could see the hate and disgust behind his eyes.

I think it is too easy to assume people think bad service is the dinners taking too long. They can leave if they don't want to stay for all the courses. Plus, by the second night it is apparant that this is the way the meal is served. Bad service is not so simple as a missed drink or long meal.

By the way, the next two cruises after this were everything I read about DCL's service. Truly amazing service. We just had the poor luck of this guy being our first experience on DCL.

Valerie

 

[inkkognito]

We were asked several times how we felt about the service during our cruise this past week so we had many chances to communicate our expectations if needed. Fortunately the pace was great so we didn't request any adjustments (we like it pretty quick and that's exactly how it was...and our servers were quite talented at making funny hats out of napkins). We generally start with the standard amount and go up for really good service. We almost always end up tipping more, and I can only remember one time when we tipped a little below...can't remember the specifics but that is very rare for us.

I did notice they put a question on the survey now that asks if you were pressured to rate "Excellent." We had no pressure and got no "speech."

 

[hollybud68]

We were on a 7 night cruise last November and had ok service. Honestly, the head waiter seemed flustered, and he told us that he had been with Disney for 10 years so it's not like he was new at this.
With that said, we did say something to our head waiter and she could not do enough to make us happy.
We sat at dinner one night (filet mignon night, my favorite!) and did not get served our dinner until everyone else was served dessert (and we were on time for the seating). Then when they brought us the dinners, the meat was raw. I do not blame that on the waiter, but the kitchen staff.
The next night, our head waiter brought the chef out to us who explained that one of the staff members had cut themselves and had to be tended to.
Whatever the reason, I feel that they went above and beyond to make us happy and that's why I love Disney!!!

 

[shaylahc1]

tipped the standard amount:

"03-08-2009, 01:46 PM #9
On our last cruise, I was caught by surprise by the dining room server and tipped the standard amount because of fear of being rude. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the terrible service after everything I read here. The service in general was terrible, but main server was just AWFUL. So fake. He couldn't hide that he hated his job and the cruisers, despite his fake syrupiness."

It's hard to explain, but this guy had crazy eyes. Have you ever been around someone in a manic state? Eyes too wide, etc? They speak like a shot gun firing at you and there's no time to reply? We had a good laugh about the serial killer posing as a server on DCL, but down deep my creep-o-meter was dinging away very loudly. He was like a crazy person pretending to be a server, but you could see the crazy behind is eyes. He went through a "show", fake jokes, no two-way conversation, babbling, frantic. We thought maybe he was on his last cruise and then he was going home? I would have asked, but he never stopped long enough to chat and when he was at our table it was ongoing crazy banter. We could see the hate and disgust behind his eyes.
I think it is too easy to assume people think bad service is the dinners taking too long. They can leave if they don't want to stay for all the courses. Plus, by the second night it is apparant that this is the way the meal is served. Bad service is not so simple as a missed drink or long meal.

By the way, the next two cruises after this were everything I read about DCL's service. Truly amazing service. We just had the poor luck of this guy being our first experience on DCL.

Valerie

This had me LOL. I am sure it wasn't funny at the time but YES I know what crazy eyes look like....it's what DH calls the "Heaven's Gate Cult leader" look. Like, they don't ever blink

I'm sorry you had a bad server experience