Tipping

[CACruiser]

I was looking at the current DCL reccommended tipping guide and was floored.

Here is for a 7 Night cruise. These rates are for SEVEN days, PER PERSON.

Stateroom Host/Hostess $25.25
Dining Room server $25.75
Dining Room Asst. server $18.75
Dining Room HEAD server $6.50
Dining Manager Your discretion
Room Service Your discretion

Okay, so by this chart, in my party will be four people. Two adults and two kids.

For seven days the following service people would be tipped

SR Host 101.00
DR server 103.00
DR Asst server 75.00
DR HEAD server 26.00

I showed this to my husband who flipped over the idea of
$300.00 plus in tips alone.

In our past cruises, we generally tip what we would at a high end land resort. We base it on PER server, PER day.
Our tipping will probably look more like:

SR Host 50.00
DR server 55.00
DR Asst server 40.00

You may notice I have taken off the Head server. I really do not think this it is necessary to tip the Head server AT ALL, unless something special has been done. (Special arrangements for a special occaision or dietary needs, etc)

On my first non DCL cruise, many years ago, the Head server did not make himself known until the last night and all he did was split open a pre-cracked lobster tail! Sure enough, when the tip envelopes were left on our bed by the cabin steward, there was his envelope. We tossed it away.

I can not even recall if I SAW a Head server on our last DCL cruise.

We both thought the DCL guidelines were very inflated and have decided to pay only for the adults in our party.

I know the staff works very hard and the majority really aim to please. Hubby and I both agree that more should be tipped for the "call above duty".

What do you other cruisers think?

 

[ivanova]

considering this is the bulk of their incomes, I don't reduce the amount tipped - unless service was not good.

I know some cruise lines including tipping in the price of the cruise, so DCL tips might seem inflated, but IMHO I don't think they are. Just my opinion though.

 

[Debbart]

I think most people on the boards are familiar with DCL recommended tipping guides so your post of the amounts doesn't come as a shock...I agree with the previous poster; this is a big part of the servers' income...you can debate whether or not it should be our obligation but we will pay for it one way or another...I'd rather see it go to good service...I also think (IMHO) your suggested tips are rather small for four people for seven days for a cruise or any "high end resort"

 

[ThreeCircles]

Not to be rude...

The DCL "suggested" tip amounts are by no means "inflated" when compared to other cruise lines.

The amounts that you put down on what you would probably tip would be sufficient if your party ONLY consisted of two people. Since you have four, the figures should be reflective of that.

Not tipping for the children in your party is not considerate nor appropriate at all. As you yourself stated, these individuals work very hard to make your cruise an enjoyable experience. They're going to provide service to the adults and the children. In fact, the vast majority of staff pay extra attention to children.

While I can see someone lowering their tip from the suggested amounts for extenuating circumstances (although, I have never experienced anything but outstanding service on DCL), I cannot see boarding the ship with this mentality. At the end of the week your servers, who will have most likely provided excellent service, will wonder what they did wrong or what they could have done better because their tips would be very poor for a group of four.

Just my opinion!

 

[ivanova]

I do think the Head Server maybe shouldn't be an "automatic tip" ... in Nov 2003 we had an EXCELLENT Head Server ... he came by our table EVERY night, he was VERY attentive to my husband's food allergy, and when we saw him at breakfast or lunch he called the kids BY NAME ... so we tipped him way more than the suggested amount. If we hadn't seen him until the last night, he would've gotten squat from us.

Then there was our stateroom host We tipped him less than the suggested amount ... the daily cleaning of our stateroom was so-so at best (and we aren't overly messy people either) ... we asked for ice to be provided 3 times a day and we were lucky if we even got it once a day ... on embarkation day we asked for more hangers, extra pillows, and for the bed to be split ... when we finally returned to our cabin around 10pm that night NONE of what we requested had been done ... we had to call Guest Services to get someone to do it (meaning no going to bed until someone finally showed up).

 

[aprilgail2]

I don't agree with that at all! In fact we tipped OVER what was suggested since I had my 4 year old with me and they worked harder with her than with an adult! The tips are the bulk of their money and I would not cheat them out of their pay. Funny thing is when it came time to tip I thought how cheap the recommened tipping guide was, they should make much more in tips, they are worth it! How could you possibly decide BEFORE your cruise how much the service is worth??

 

[Masonpips]

just wondering if I should subscribe to this thread, sit back and watch the fire? Or is that too much like those people that stop and look at car wrecks?

Fwiw, we tipped exactly the amount suggested on our first cruise and about 10-20% more on the second. The service *was* that good

 

[webray]

If you can't afford the tips..then don't cruise. These people are supporting wives, children back home. They have a very low hourly wage..and tips are their income.

 

[PhotobearSam]

I was planning on tipping the recommended amount and bring lots of $1 bills for room service and such.

We also plan on having extra phone cards and $$$ for anything over and above.

We are only going to be 2 people, should we tip more because they will miss out on the tips if we were 4 people in the room?

Now I will sit back and see what others will say but my predictions is HOT TOPIC here...

 

[PRaffen]

I tip generously when deserved and enjoy doing so. BUT if the service is substandard, I will also have no problem tipping less than the recommended amount. A tip, I always thought anyhow, was to reward and insure good service and should never be expected.

TIPS - to insure proper service

 

[Masonpips]

Originally posted by PhotobearSam
We are only going to be 2 people, should we tip more because they will miss out on the tips if we were 4 people in the room?

Now I will sit back and see what others will say but my predictions is HOT TOPIC here...

You tip per person; they realize not every room has 4 folks (some only hold 3 in fact) and I'm sure they try and make sure the load is evenly balanced between room stewards.

As for the dining servers; same thing - if you're a party of 2 you'll be really a party of 20 (or so) for a serving team - they balance the load amongst servers.

 

[NYDisneyMom]

I had the tips charged to my room account on Wednesday night. I tipped above the recommended amount because Sasha and Maria were fabulous with us -- my boys loved them. they knew what we liked and didn't like. By the time Friday night came around I added cash to their envelopes on top of what I had tipped. (on the other hand, the head server did an okay job and the room steward got the minimum recommended, also).

The servers are the hardest working people I have ever seen. They don't just serve you dinner. They work 14-16 hour days, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We saw Sasha on Castawy Cay, sweating bullets but he had a big smile for my boys!! He told me he liked it when he got to serve on Castaway because of the fresh air and sunshine. They are on the ships for six months at a time -- their staterooms are two decks below deck 1!

We also had a wonderful night at Palo with Salvatore as our server -- we tipped him nicely as well. I agree with the post above, if you can't afford the tips then don't cruise until you can.

 

[Rence]

CACruiser:

I would recommend making a final decision on tip amounts until you actually experience the service. What you have heard on here is so true, especially regarding the servers.

You will see the exceptional service and how much time they spend with the children. My bet is that by the end of the cruise you may be wondering if the recommended amounts are enough.

 

[kcashner]

The servers really work hard, no matter where they are assigned. At breakfast and lunch, they rotate thru the various venues (Topsiders, the restaurants, Pluto's, Scoops, etc.) In addition, servers not assigned to serving on Castaway are frequently assigned to duties like "lifeboat drill" where they demonstrate their competence in steering, navigating, setting off lights and emergency equipment in the lifeboats, etc. to insure our safety). All of these services are reflected in the tips they receive from their dinner guests.

Even if your children NEVER eat with you in the dining room, they are served by someone, somewhere, and the tip in the dining room reflects the time your server was assigned elsewhere...whether he/she served you and your children or someone else at those times.

I would consider the recommended tips amounts just that--recommended. If the service is "average," then go with that. We usually tip more as we rarely have "average" service. It is nearly always outstanding. And, yes, it is appropriate to consider the tip as a part of the cost of the cruise....the same way you plan on the tip at a restaurant. If you can't afford to tip....you order ice water instead of tea and use the difference to pay for the tip. If you can't afford to tip on the cruise, consider a lower category or don't cruise. Tips make up nearly all of the income for the servers, and many of them are supporting families at home. They really make the cruise special for us!

 

[NYDisneyMom]

Originally posted by kcashner
... They really make the cruise special for us!

Exactly!!! We all looked forward to dinner every night because of our servers! If I book again I'm going to request our servers -- and I'll probably tip even more the next time.

 

[alexandrew]

We've had some head servers on our cruises who were more visible than others....After speaking with servers, asst servers, and other CMs, we became aware of all the "behind the scenes" work that the head servers do to ensure an excellent dining experience - Thus, we tip accordingly, even if we dont see our head server often...

Maclean, you are the man!!!

 

[goingbacksoon]

For the most part, it actually represents only about 8% of the total cruise fare, or so it does for us with a quick and dirty calculation. Standard tip in a restaurant is closer to 20%. On a $2000 cruise, $400 WOULD be exorbitant.

Another way to think about it is to say "the kids will be the most picky and the servers will bend over backwards for them mostly." Chances are good that the servers will do something to impress the children and make their cruise magical. Despite them being children, the servers must cater to their needs too.

I can kind of see where you might think "well, if you multiply 25.75 X 20, you get $515, which isn't bad to have on top of your base salary." It isn't bad, but they serve full-time. I don't think your average waiter/waitress in an american restaurant waits tables full-time. (On a side note, it would be interesting to know what IS a servers'/hostess' base salary, if anyone had some light to shed on that)

Just some things to chew on for everyone

goingbacksoon

 

[NejTheLion]

<begin mini rant>

I'm always surprised that people think the recommended tips are overpriced. I can't believe how LOW they are!

So, it's around $25 per person for your server. For the three of us, that would be $75 for the week. Divided by 7 makes the tip a little more than $10 per day. If we were tipping 20%, that means the cost of our dinner would be $50. I don't know about the rest of you, but that kind of food and that kind of service for 3 people is NOT going to be possible anywhere for $50. More like $150, and that's low-end fine dining. A 3-course meal at a high-end restaurant can easily be $100 a person (with wine and all that). Not to say that Disney's quite at that level, but come on. A $10 tip is what we'd leave somewhere like TGIF or Ruby Tuesday's.

And don't forget that these people are also working during breakfast and lunch, too. So, if you consider their tips as part of those meals, it's even lower.

You've gotta think of it as eating out every night for a week. You're rarely going to do that, but if you looked back at the end, the tips would start to add up.

Now, if you go to Palo for dinner or eat casual with the kids in Topsiders a couple nights, fine. But if you're being served every night by those people, they really deserve more than that.

<end mini rant>

 

[ohiominnie]

Another one here who doesn't mind the suggested tip amounts. 90% of the time we tip over the suggested AND give a phone card.

This last trip was the first time we went up on the Head Servers tip. On AP night I asked if they had the mozzerella sticks on the menu....they have the best. They were not, but the head server came over and said he'd have them for us the next night. I said that wasn't necessary, but he insisted. Well, turns out, we made impromptu Palo reservations for the next night shortly after dinner that night. We went back to the dining room and told our head server we wouldn't be there the next night --didn't want the mozzarella sticks sitting on the table with no one to eat them. He wanted to know if the kids would be dining without us (WOW!--they weren't) Well, TWO nights later in Lumiere's, what comes to the table?? About 16 mozzarella cheese sticks!! I had forgotten about them!!! He also came to the table every night and talked with us for a few minutes. Kibbitzed with the kids (that goes a long way in my book)

Our server on the other hand....he was average. Our assistant server picked up most of his slack, so she got tipped quite well, the server got tipped the suggested amount--he provided ds with a bowl of raspberries and blueberries everynight he was there, so that attention earned him at least the standard tip.

Anyway....we love the service on DCL. We think the crew is worth their weight in gold! And when it comes down to the price we paid for our vacation, it's not adding that much.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by webray
If you can't afford the tips..then don't cruise. These people are supporting wives, children back home. They have a very low hourly wage..and tips are their income.

Well said...or book a cheaper cabin so you can afford to tip!