Tipping is it really necessary??!!

[perdy1234]

Thanks MarkRG for your response. I do agree with alot of what you are saying. For us this cruise is a real struggle to afford to do. The extra recommended amount for tips means then that we would not be able to do excursions because we are on a really tight budget. I plan on tipping some but it will be within my means not what everyone tells me I should be doing. i know that I am not the only person in this situation either.

 

[~Piglet~]

Do you really not tip at restaurants either? That hurts the server!

well said! during my 15 years working in various restaurants the staff always remembered the good tippers and would make sure we gave them the biggest portions, best cuts of meat, best tables etc

Even if I receive a low standard of service I still tip, but not as much as I would for good service

 

[kcashner]

Thanks MarkRG for your response. I do agree with alot of what you are saying. For us this cruise is a real struggle to afford to do. The extra recommended amount for tips means then that we would not be able to do excursions because we are on a really tight budget. I plan on tipping some but it will be within my means not what everyone tells me I should be doing. i know that I am not the only person in this situation either.

I understand a tight budget, but part of the cost of cruising is the tipping. If you can't afford to tip, maybe you should choose a shorter cruise, cheaper dates, a different cabin, or whatever and treat those who serve you as recommended. It's sort of like ordering water at a restaurant instead of a soft drink so that you have at least what would have been the cost of the drink as the tip.

Maybe you could take some photos on your own...or do excursions on your own...or whatever.

 

[MarkRG]

Exactly! There are ways to make it happen. I fully understand the pricetag being daunting. I was one of the people discussing it in the 'is DCL on something' thread when the 2010 rates came out and I too think they are a bit out of line. Just penalizing the serving teams for that thought isn't going to accomplish much.

We are so put off by that right now there is nothing booked for '10, and that new ship Oasis of the Seas that will be sailing the Caribbean in '10 is looking tempting. DCL may have set the standard for family cruising, but I think some of the other lines are seeing that and catching up.

 

[Sully]

After digesting all of the above comment and being on 9 Disney cruises, the cruise industry enjoys keeping it a secret on what the help is actually paid. Hence, you feel obligated to tip generously for excellent service. If this is a problem with you, then do something different that a cruise. This is just the way it is. Try figuring out how to tip in St. Martin, the french side. We enjoy cruising with Disney and expect to pay the tips.

 

[Forever42]

The extra recommended amount for tips means then that we would not be able to do excursions because we are on a really tight budget.

And that's exactly what we did when we had a tight budget on our first cruise - we skipped doing excursions and did things on our own.

I understand a tight budget, but part of the cost of cruising is the tipping. If you can't afford to tip, maybe you should choose a shorter cruise, cheaper dates, a different cabin, or whatever and treat those who serve you as recommended. It's sort of like ordering water at a restaurant instead of a soft drink so that you have at least what would have been the cost of the drink as the tip.

Maybe you could take some photos on your own...or do excursions on your own...or whatever.

I agree.

 

[o0lissa0o]

I do think that tipping has gone way overboard and cruise line especially Disney are making you feel guilted into tipping and I don't think that is right. And yes I can afford to cruise but we are on a very tight budget and I don't think that my family shouldn't get to go on cruises because I don't feel that tipping is essential. I do not tip in general at a restaurant unless I get exceptional service and that is the way I feel about tipping while cruising. On our previous cruise the service was not exceptional, it wasn't bad but not great. If I am going to ip someone I should not have to be tracking them down for more water or bread, which I had too and still did not get it! In Canada our min wage where I live is over $9.00'hr starting next year. With tips these people are making more than I do with a college education. What incentive is there for these young people to go to college?? I feel that the cm working on cruises are there for life experiences and that is what they are getting. I am not going to cruise to pay for their bills which most would hardly have living on a cruise ship.[/QUOTE]

Allow me to walk you through a day of a server or asst server on DCL. They are in their dining room for breakfast by 6:30am, where they work thorugh multiple seatings of patrons, then immedeatly being setting up for lunch. Generally they more to a different dining room or to Topsiders, where they clear tables, refill drinks, make sure the buffet is stocked and everyone is happy in the dining room. This continues until appx 2:30-3:00, where they then get a break for a little over an hour. Around 4:30 they are back at their dining room preparing for the first rotation of guests...they run for you countless times, fill your drinks, get your food, wipe up spills, and entertain your children. Sometimes they perform a show for you too. This continues for the next 6 hours, then they begin setting up the dining room for tomorrow. They leave the dinin g room usually a little after 11:00. They work for you all day, whether you see them or not, and they make $50 a month from Disney. They do this 7 days a week, with no day off until their contract ends. Your room steward? He gets 4 hours of sleep a night, max.
Also allow me to point out that they are not college students "out for an experience". These are adult men and women from other countries, with families to support. Their bills at home don't go away jsut because they are sharing a shoe box sized room on a boat. Many of them have multiple children at home. They don't leave their families for months on end for a great experience, it's to make a living to support their family. If they make more than you, it's because they probably work harder and longer hours than you, and they sacrifice a lot to be there to support their families. They work to give you the vacation you pay for that they could never imagine bringing their children on. Sacrifice buying a drink at the pool every day or another Disney sweatshirt that will get stuffed in the closet when you get home to show these people that you recognize and appreciate their hard work.

As a person that worked as a server while I was in college, I assure you that $2.83/hr doesnt go very far. It pays your taxes and thats about it. Tipping is your paycheck, and there is nothing more frustrating than working your butt off to give your customer quality service and provide them with everything they ask and to be left with nothing. Would you work for free? I don't think so. 15% in a restaraunt is a base line, exceptional service should be rewarded with more.

 

[disney1990]

I somewhat agree with the previous poster. But I think that tips should be included in the price of the cruise. Disney cruise lines is charging more than enough with their prices to cover crew tips. It truly is a matter of opinion. I will still cruise regardless of whether or not I tip.

I can't believe that you said that. Would you go out to dinner at a nice restaurant and not tip? This is the same thing. If I could not afford to tip, I would not eat out. And if I could not afford to tip, then I would not cruise. These Cast Members are counting on tips to survive.

If you gave an approximate cost to each of the meals that you eat on the cruise line and then figure what the tip amount would be on those meals, you would find that the Disney cruise tip amounts are low.

Please reconsider how you feel about this.

 

[perdy1234]

That is exactly it I will not tip at a nice restaurant if the service is not there. Why would you?? And not all the workers on the boat are from some foreign country . We meant many workers that were there for the experience, then to pay for a family.

 

[disney1990]

The definition of gratuity is such: "something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service." I only say this as a prelude to my opinion.

I really am not a fan of the way society has played some sort of guilt card on the tipping business. (in ALL aspects, not just cruising) It used to be a personal preference, and now it is an expectation. The way I have always been raised is that you only tip if the service is good. The way it is nowadays, 10-15% is the expected tip, and you are expected to tip higher for good service, as if the 10-15% is the base tip, even if service is poor.

I was watching the Today Show or Good Morning America a few months ago, and they said that EVEN if the service is bad, EVEN if that pizza delivery guy takes 2 hours to get there, you should still tip at least 15%, because if you don't, the next time you will get worse service (spit in food, etc etc). To me, that is just wrong. I know this is not how it would be on DCL, but still, in general, to be guilted into leaving a tip for subpar service is bad enough. It is even worse to be forced into it, at the risk of being treated worse in the future......just plain wrong.

Not to be nasty, but the way I look at it, if these servers get only the expected tips from just 3 families, they are making more a week than I am. So, again not to be rude, I do not feel THAT sorry for them. I am sure they are bringing in a decent amount of money.

That said, I do plan to leave tips, as I expect service to deem it worthy. But, I will not leave tips, because it is expected, I feel guilty, or anything like that.

Really? You can say that? For a 7 day cruise for 4 people the recommended tip is $112. Times that by 3 rooms and you get $336. So you would a 70 hour week and only make $336???? I think you need a new job because that would only be $4.80 an hour.

 

[disney1990]

That is exactly it I will not tip at a nice restaurant if the service is not there. Why would you?? And not all the workers on the boat are from some foreign country . We meant many workers that were there for the experience, then to pay for a family.

If you can do this and not feel guilty, then by all means go ahead. But personally, I couldn't live with myself if I ever didn't tip appropriately in a restaurant or on a cruise ship. And I think that most people that cruise feel the same way.

I'm going to leave this thread now before I say somethng I regret saying.

 

[perdy1234]

Source http:// www.cruiseshipjob.net/canada/

Here are some examples of what they are making on a cruise ship maybe not necessarilly Disney but most cruise lines Its pretty interesting

 

[lbgraves]

Really? You can say that? For a 7 day cruise for 4 people the recommended tip is $112. Times that by 3 rooms and you get $336. So you would a 70 hour week and only make $336???? I think you need a new job because that would only be $4.80 an hour.

Just to clarify the number of potential guests each server is responsible for on each cruise is one section, which usually consists of an 8-top, a 6-top and a 4-top table each seating (up to 18 people); which means that on a really good week IF everyone including kids and infants tips them on a 7 day cruise they could receive tips for 36 people.

 

[NJFabFour]

Do what you feel is right. The Golden Rule is always a good one...Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You. Would you be willing to work the way they do? Their minimum work week is 70 hours...with the option of adding 24 overtime hours.
We have always had servers and room stewards that have gone out of their way for us. We try to thank them appropriately.

We too did not want to spend a lot onboard as we spent quite a bit on the cruise and excursions BUT . . . once onboard, we were truly humbled by the work that these hard-working and dedicated individuals demonstrated for us. To add to the 70 hour work week, our server told us that he works 6 months and does not have a single day off during those 6 months! If I worked 70 hours a week for 6 months continuously, I think I'd be dead! We were more than happy to go above and beyond the recommended guidelines after realizing how well-earned it was.

Do you really not tip at restaurants either? That hurts the server!

Also there are lots of professions that make a lot of money without a college degree - plumber, electrician, server...? Anyone who makes a lot of money doing something I would never want to do - great for them!

If I could not afford to tip, I could not afford to eat out.

Exactly, I think it was out of such true and sincere admiration and appreciation for their ability to do what I am so clearly not capable of that I felt they so well-deserved an honest reward!

 

[Im_A_Princess]

HOW much do they make before tips??????????

 

[lbgraves]

Not much at all. As stated somewhere on this thread it is estimated to include room and board on the ship and about $50 a month from DCL.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Let me ask this question - would you go out to a restaurant and not tip?
Personally that is how I view my meals on the ship.

The only person I haven't tipped at times is the head server if all they did was come by the table the last night of the cruise to show his face for the tips.

This is probably not how you intended the question, but in a restaurant, if the service is shoddy, I would not tip. I know that they say to ask to speak to a manager and still tip, but I don't see the point in this for two reasons. I suppose I am a big optimist and I always hope for some improvement. So if I would complain, I would do this right at the end, when I can be sure that there won't be any service recovery. As chances are that I would never eat there again, why go through the trouble to complain. Even if I did complain, I would still not feel comfortable to tip as this would mean to reward bad or non-existant service.

As a case in point, when we were in Orlando in November, we had a meal at one of my favourite restaurants. They have one dish there that I love and eat every time I go there. A couple of years ago they changed the side dishes around and now this comes with fried plantains. The trouble with this is that I am severely allergic to bananas. I always order this dish without plantains, explaining about the allergy and never had a problem. I did this again in September and when the food came out, it had plantains on the plate. In all honesty, I don't think that this was the fault of our server as I saw her make detailed notes when she took the order. The kitchen must have messed up. Still, I called her over to advise her. Rather than just taking the plate and putting it right, she called the head server over. He asked what the problem was and then apologised and said they would redo my meal without the plantains. Fair enough, that was all that I wanted. Not long after the restaurant manager came over to again find out exactly what had happened and made a great deal of fuss. I was embarassed and mortified and would not willingly put myself through this again. I did tip (even more than convention dictates) the server, as I was convinced that it really was not her fault and her service was exceptional and she really knew her stuff.

Now on a cruise the situation is different. I have only ever cruised on DCL so I don't know how other cruise lines handle this, but on DCL you are with your serving team throughout the cruise. That means that you do build up a relationship with them and knowing that somebody I have got to know won't get paid if people don't tip would make this an unacceptable option. More to the point, as you are spending a number of nights with your serving team, there is actually a point in raising the issue. It is not quite so easy in this scenario to just put it down to experience and to vow not darken their doorstep again. You are a captive audience for how ever long the cruise takes. As I also know that the dining room experience was one of the highlights of my cruises, having shoddy service might well spoil my vacation. We had a fantastic serving team on the Magic and they really made our evening special. We then got on the Wonder the next day and the service on that first night was beyond bad (we waited for the menus for a good 20 minutes and finally got our appetizer when the table next to us had just finished their entree). It was actually so bad that our head server realized on her own and actually started to clear our table in between courses and tried her best to improve the situation. She apologized and came up with some thoughtful touches (like having chocolate covered strawberries sent to our room the next afternoon and giving us some free wine with our dinner the next evening). I really don't know what went on that night, but the next evening it was a completely different experience. Service was exceptional, our serving team seemed relaxed and were chatting with us between courses and it remained fantastic for the rest of the cruise. After this first evening, I had every intention to just tip the recommended amount, but when tipping evening came, we tipped significantly more.

dolphingirl47

 

[auntyaba]

I do think that tipping has gone way overboard and cruise line especially Disney are making you feel guilted into tipping and I don't think that is right. And yes I can afford to cruise but we are on a very tight budget and I don't think that my family shouldn't get to go on cruises because I don't feel that tipping is essential. I do not tip in general at a restaurant unless I get exceptional service and that is the way I feel about tipping while cruising. On our previous cruise the service was not exceptional, it wasn't bad but not great. If I am going to ip someone I should not have to be tracking them down for more water or bread, which I had too and still did not get it! In Canada our min wage where I live is over $9.00'hr starting next year. With tips these people are making more than I do with a college education. What incentive is there for these young people to go to college?? I feel that the cm working on cruises are there for life experiences and that is what they are getting. I am not going to cruise to pay for their bills which most would hardly have living on a cruise ship.

It seems that most people do not understand that regardless of what the "minimum wage" in your country is in the US restaurant workers are not paid that wage. My daughter is a server in a restaurant and makes 2.85 an hour, clearly she is not coming home with a big paycheck from her employer so she relies heavily on tips to pay bills. Whether it is right or wrong that is the way it is done and she has been disappointed on many occasions when she has given good service, documented by comment cards and yet left little or no tip at all when a table spends $$$ on a meal. While I understand this is a personal preference I have to say that not tipping is not a punishment to anyone other than the server.

And whether most people realize it or not, everywhere you patronize you are paying someone's salary, only in the service industry is it at YOUR discretion how much you pay them.

As far as the comments about the CM's receiving room and board, I should hope so, its not as if they have the option of getting off the ship after their shift has ended. Just my opinion.

 

[mmackeymouse]

It seems that most people do not understand that regardless of what the "minimum wage" in your country is in the US restaurant workers are not paid that wage. My daughter is a server in a restaurant and makes 2.85 an hour, clearly she is not coming home with a big paycheck from her employer so she relies heavily on tips to pay bills. Whether it is right or wrong that is the way it is done and she has been disappointed on many occasions when she has given good service, documented by comment cards and yet left little or no tip at all when a table spends $$$ on a meal. While I understand this is a personal preference I have to say that not tipping is not a punishment to anyone other than the server.

Listen, I understand where you are coming from. However, we as a society have been conditioned to think that we should always leave a tip, regardless of the service we receive, because these people are dependent on tips to make ends meet, and then tip really high for good service.

I do not like being fed this kind of propaganda, just to guilt us into doing something that is technically supposed to be voluntary, based on the service we receive.

I never just not leave a tip just because I don't feel like it. But, I believe, like you said, that it is a personal preference. If I receive less than stellar service or worse service than I had received in the past, I have no problem leaving a very small tip. If the server rarely comes around to refill drinks or check on us, I have no problem leaving no tip at all.

 

[goofy4tink]

This thread has been really incredible. I can understand if someone comes from a country that doesn't 'tip' but tipping is the custom here. If I go to Japan, then I try to learn the customs before I go, so that I don't offend anyone there. I would think that good manners would dictate that others do the same when coming to this country.
It's a known fact that our servers/hosts make very little in pay from Disney on the ships. It is expected that we make up the difference by tipping them. If Disney included the tips in our overall cost, the motivation to provide great service would dwindle away. Now, we get to decide what the service was worth. Yes, we are given a guideline as to what is expected. But, I will tell you that on my first ever cruise, we tipped at higher than the stated tip. We had wonderful service, on all levels. In fact, I would be hard pressed to come up with any other experience that came close to the level of service I got from those Disney cruise folks.
I suppose that if you had less than wonderful service, you are certainly free to tip less than the recommended amount. If the cost were folded into the total cruise cost, that wouldn't be possible, would it? You would be paying, automatically, what Disney decreed to be the right amount. I, personally, like being able to tip what I want to tip.

For crying out loud people, tipping is expected on a cruise ship. Don't like the idea of tipping? Then don't get on the ship. It's pretty easy. How many of you go to a restaurant and leave nothing at all?? Not many of you.
You try to justify your 'cheapness' by saying that these CMs are making more than college educated people?? Well, so are plumbers (sorry Joe the Plumber!!). What's your point?? The majority of these CMs are trying to support their families, back home in less priviledged areas of the world. Sure, there are going to be some CMs who are there for the experience. And I think I would be pretty close to the truth when I say most of them don't sign on for a second 'experience' very soon!!