Tipping "rant" by our assistant server

[Zeppelin]

OP here.... this is exactly what happened with our AS - she wasn't nearly as nice as she had been the previous nights. I guess at that point she knew she didn't have to be since she had already gotten her tip and was just venting her piled up frustrations to us. I forgot to mention in my original post that she also told us that Americans are hard to please.

I think we're going to stick to Cabana's on debarkation morning from now on.

something like that i would report.....considering my background i would have to be held down and really bite my tongue so as not to tell her to get the heck out of America if it was such a problem to please us...and the first cruise line i was on was Costa in 2000 on my honeymoon which left out of Venice, Italy- let me tell you, the passengers on DCL were a picnic compared to that experience...

my daughter would never let us eat at Cabanas on disembarkation morning....she grows very attached to everyone and is heartbroken enough leaving the ship without the ability of saying goodbye to her new friends...

 

[lbgraves]

... So I think there is also some benefit to servers being "excellent" up to the last minute. For us frequent cruisers, it's an incentive to request them next time. I realize that's rare, but it can be profitable for a server to be popular.

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Servers get "points" if you request them for your cruise. If I know one of our favorites will be onboard, I make sure to request them and let them know when we will be on the ship.

 

[texasgirl29]

I've read through this thread and can't help but think back to our last morning on the Fantasy last summer. We didn't realize we were supposed to hand them an envelope the night before as we had prepaid the tips and i find the whole handing over of tips and envelopes kinda awkward anyway. That evening our asst server had a birthday and the table next to her sang. We all clapped and hugged and said goodbye. The following morning there was more hugging and photo taking. Our server had just found out the night before she was to disembark and head home earlier than expected. She seemed happy to be heading home to see her family but a bit flustered over the suddenness of it. Our assistant was also flustered a bit because she did not know who her new partner would be. So, despite all the flurry of goodbyes and uncertainty, they seemed genuinely emotional with us.

I am amazed at how the CMs manage to get to know people and after the hugs and goodbyes, do it all over again. I don't think I would have the physical or emotional stamina.

 

[Zeppelin]

Servers get "points" if you request them for your cruise. If I know one of our favorites will be onboard, I make sure to request them and let them know when we will be on the ship.

and we did that on our early cruises...

 

[rcchello]

I am amazed at how the CMs manage to get to know people and after the hugs and goodbyes, do it all over again. I don't think I would have the physical or emotional stamina.

I am amazed that some CMs remembered us and we only sail once a year.

 

[rolliev60]

We liked our AS way more than the HS. Our food arrived cold every night and no matter how often we mentioned it, it didn't change anything. We saw the (can't remember the term) supervisor server at breakfast our second day and while we didn't seek him out when he asked us how things were we told him our food was cold. It didn't make any difference, cold food every night. Our AS got way more then the HS because she tried to help as best she could.

 

[disneyfan888]

I just thought I'd throw this out there for discussion because I'm still perplexed by the whole DCL tipping thing...

We were on the Fantasy a few weeks ago, and at breakfast on debarkation morning our assistant server (AS) went on a mini-rant about tips. She said that she kept getting assigned to a new server almost every cruise and that it made it harder to get good tips. I understand why it would be easier to stay with the same server, but honestly they worked fine together as a team. We tipped both the server and AS slightly above the recommended amount the evening before, and then what she told me made me feel bad that we didn't leave more.

Our server on the Dream last year was excellent. He really went above and beyond and we really bonded with him. Therefore, we left him almost double the amount of recommended tip. On that same cruise, our AS was adequate and met our needs so we left a little over the suggested amount.

On the Fantasy, our server and AS met our needs but they didn't blow us away with their friendliness or Disney magic. But they did the minimum job I expected them to do, and we left them a few dollars more than the suggested tip. So, I'm just curious why the AS would not be okay with the standard tip DCL suggests? I'm sure most people aren't going to GS and reducing her tip amount but she made it seem like she was expecting much larger tips than what she was getting. It made us feel kind of cheap, but if you don't go over and above what you're expected to do, I'm not going to give you much more than the recommended tip, kwim? Do most people just tip the standard amount for okay service or is everyone tipping way over and above what's expected?

Did she actually complain about the tip you left? If she did I am speechless.
We have always left the suggested tip, only twice did we leave a bit more because they did an amazing job. Even so, it is very poor etiquette for servers to discuss tips. Not pertaining necessarily to DCL, but a tip is at a persons discretion and while I unlike DH leave tips even when the service was not that great because they still did a job, in the same manner that servers are hoping to get a high tipped, if they really did not do a good job, that tip can be reduced.

We have gotten the "excellent service" speech every cruise in honestly that has not bothered us, but if someone came up to us complaining about tips, I would be praying for their sake because DH would not tolerate that at all. Quite frankly it takes away from the experience. People do not want to be badgered. I also understand that sometimes servers discuss certain things to try to get more tips and sometimes it works, but to complain or discuss tips with the people you are attending to is just not right.

Do not feel cheap, if you left the suggested amount you are fine! Sorry to hear about this.

 

[mmouse37]

I find the whole cruise tipping business rather annoying--and complicated.

As I understand it, the servers have no idea what tip they are getting until the last day??? Prepaid or not?? Extra or not??? Perhaps nothing????

I know it's a tough thing since you aren't paying for your meal as in a restaurant, but isn't there a better way to do this????

We're going on our very first cruise in Oct. (Fantasy) and already I'm bewildered (and a bit irritated) by this whole tipping business---

PS--We always tip 20% to our bartender or servers at "regular" restaurants.

This is the way it has been done all throughout cruising industry history. You should not feel awkward or irritated about tipping. Remember that the servers signed onto this position knowing the policy and practice of getting their tips and I am sure that would not want you to feel irritated about it.

I think it is pretty straightforward....you hand them their envelopes at the last dinner with a verbal thank you. Or, you can leave them on the table if you don't want to hand them to them personally. DCL recommends the amount to leave each tipped position and you can leave more or less than that depending on how you felt your service was.

MJ

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is the way it has been done all throughout cruising industry history. You should not feel awkward or irritated about tipping. Remember that the servers signed onto this position knowing the policy and practice of getting their tips and I am sure that would not want you to feel irritated about it.

I think it is pretty straightforward....you hand them their envelopes at the last dinner with a verbal thank you. Or, you can leave them on the table if you don't want to hand them to them personally. DCL recommends the amount to leave each tipped position and you can leave more or less than that depending on how you felt your service was.

MJ

Exactly!

 

[caribbeandreaming]

Did she actually complain about the tip you left? If she did I am speechless.
We have always left the suggested tip, only twice did we leave a bit more because they did an amazing job. Even so, it is very poor etiquette for servers to discuss tips. Not pertaining necessarily to DCL, but a tip is at a persons discretion and while I unlike DH leave tips even when the service was not that great because they still did a job, in the same manner that servers are hoping to get a high tipped, if they really did not do a good job, that tip can be reduced.

We have gotten the "excellent service" speech every cruise in honestly that has not bothered us, but if someone came up to us complaining about tips, I would be praying for their sake because DH would not tolerate that at all. Quite frankly it takes away from the experience. People do not want to be badgered. I also understand that sometimes servers discuss certain things to try to get more tips and sometimes it works, but to complain or discuss tips with the people you are attending to is just not right.

Do not feel cheap, if you left the suggested amount you are fine! Sorry to hear about this.

No, I don't think her statement was directed at us. We were just the family that she chose to go on a rant to the morning of debarkation. It was more of a blanket statement that it was hard to get good tips when she kept being assigned to different servers. She was almost done with her contract and stated she had earned a lot less money than she expected. She also stated that Americans are hard to please which could be part of the reason why her tips weren't as high as she wanted them to be. Like I mentioned, she did a fine job. It wasn't over the top great, but it was enough to earn a little more than the suggested tip in our view. I have a feeling most people gave her at least the suggested gratuity, so I don't really know what her problem is.

 

[BK2014]

I am slightly confused - if you prepay the tips, do you still have to give the staff an envelope on the last night?

 

[luv2sleep]

This is the way it has been done all throughout cruising industry history. You should not feel awkward or irritated about tipping. Remember that the servers signed onto this position knowing the policy and practice of getting their tips and I am sure that would not want you to feel irritated about it.

I think it is pretty straightforward....you hand them their envelopes at the last dinner with a verbal thank you. Or, you can leave them on the table if you don't want to hand them to them personally. DCL recommends the amount to leave each tipped position and you can leave more or less than that depending on how you felt your service was.

MJ

Whether or not it's always been done this way doesn't take away my discomfort with the process of handing out or leaving the tip envelopes. Why do we have to do that if we don't want to? Why can't guess services just keep the envelopes and deposit the money onto their accounts?

And this is not directed at you specifically. I'm asking the question in general. Your post just happened to have the most succinct summary of the issue that concerns me.

 

[DisneyNurse19]

I am slightly confused - if you prepay the tips, do you still have to give the staff an envelope on the last night?

Prepaying your tips means that you will have paid for them now and they will appear as a credit on your final bill. You will still receive envelopes to hand out but as others have said if you find this awkward just leave them on the table

 

[DisneyNurse19]

Whether or not it's always been done this way doesn't take away my discomfort with the process of handing out or leaving the tip envelopes. Why do we have to do that if we don't want to? Why can't guess services just keep the envelopes and deposit the money onto their accounts?

And this is not directed at you specifically. I'm asking the question in general. Your post just happened to have the most succinct summary of the issue that concerns me.

The money is deposited into their account even if you have not given them a envelope. If you want to give more your best option is to go to Guest services and have it added instead of leaving money in the envelope.

 

[Uncleromulus]

So if it's prepaid than they DO know what they are getting???

I had thought DCL just recently changed (from what I don't know) to this current tipping policy??

I guess I am still operating on our usual restaurant tipping practice of tipping folks when the actual service is delivered--not in advance, or at the end of a weeks worth of meals.

Ah well--maybe I'll understand it all better once we're on board

 

[DisneyNurse19]

So if it's prepaid than they DO know what they are getting???

I had thought DCL just recently changed (from what I don't know) to this current tipping policy??

I guess I am still operating on our usual restaurant tipping practice of tipping folks when the actual service is delivered--not in advance, or at the end of a weeks worth of meals.

Ah well--maybe I'll understand it all better once we're on board

I don't think they know if you have prepaid or not and yes the policy has changed as tips were never automatically added to your stateroom bill. You can always go to Guest Service and changed it though. We have never had bad service on the DCL so would not consider changing the amount but then we didnt know that we could add to the amount either. Tipping is so confusing

 

[PrincessTrisha]

So if it's prepaid than they DO know what they are getting???

I had thought DCL just recently changed (from what I don't know) to this current tipping policy??

I guess I am still operating on our usual restaurant tipping practice of tipping folks when the actual service is delivered--not in advance, or at the end of a weeks worth of meals.

Ah well--maybe I'll understand it all better once we're on board

I think the best advice for you is to separate tipping "on land" and tipping "at sea" in your mind.

What you pay on the cruise (whether you pre-pay or let it be charged to your account) is more of a service charge for the week (like a hotel resort fee except it goes to your dining room server, your assistant server and your room steward). It's standardized and expected.

Should you experience exceptional service, you can add to that amount (more like a regular "tip") at any time, but usually it would be done at the end of your cruise. Sort of like when you're on land - slipping the maitre d a $20 for a great table or the hotel concierge a little something for all their help arranging for those great theatre tickets.

For someone used to being the one to take care of the bill (and the tip), the first few times you just get up from the table and leave, it will feel odd doing this without having to sign something or put down cash. Even after 9 cruises, it still feels a little odd to me.

 

[CarolynU]

We tipped our assistant server a bit over the recommended amount and a little bit more over for the server and a lot over for the head server who really took amazing care of the allergies in our party. They all seemed pleased, but we did receive the whole please rate everything as excellent speech from our server on our last night which did irritate us somewhat.

 

[luv2sleep]

Btw I've never enjoyed the last morning breakfast in the MDR. It's rushed and the servers seem too busy to deal with you anymore. I've given the tips out the night before each time. I'd prefer to just leave the tip on the table the night before and skip breakfast that last morning. We can grab cereal, milk, and some fruit the day before and store it in the fridge, get room service to bring bowls and spoons the night before and just eat in our room. On the Fantasy we can go to cabanas that morning. Definitely doing that.

ETA: and I am not a high maintenance person who insists on excellent service, etc. It's just that the last morning breakfast is a little uncomfortable given the huge difference in how we are treated that day as compared to the other days. We also have the early seating so I feel bad for even going there and taking up their time because they seem so rushed. I'd rather just eat somewhere else and not feel that way.

 

[lbgraves]

DCL started automatically adding the tips to the Magic's guests the last time the ship was in the Med. It was said that this was due to the fact that it is not customary to tip in that region, so the CMs in many cases were not being tipped. I know that a CM we have seen on several cruises on the Magic told us that he just planned to not make much money when the ship was in the Med due to this. DCL stated doing this across the board on all their ships the following year, possibly around the time the Fantasy was introduced.