Gratuities: Everything you wanted to know about tipping!
I've read that you can charge your tips to your stateroom acct. Does that mean you could actually charges the tips to a credit card?
Yes. Everything on the ship gets charged to your room. You can pay off your room charge with cash, credit card, debit card, travelers check, first born, etc..
I saw someone saying there was a line to charge the tips - can anyone clarify how this works for me?
1)When you order room service there is a line on the receipt that you can add a tip to (it used to be that you had to tip in cash to the server - recently (in the last year or so)
DCL has added this capability to their system.
2)When you order drinks where there is a charge ("adult" beverages, smoothies, soda not at dinner, virgin "adult" beverages, bottled water) DCL automatically adds a 15% gratuity charge that you
cannot remove. There is a line where you can add more if you want to.
It was mentioned you get tipping envelopes (do they deliver them to your cabin or do you need to pick them up somewhere)?
Generally your room steward will place the gratuity envelopes on your bed the night before your last night of the cruise (i.e. 7 night cruise from Saturday to Saturday-last dinner Friday- you will get the envelopes delivered while you are at dinner on Thursday)
Also vouchers were mentioned (what does that mean)?
You can go to Guest Services and charge your gratuities (for the required tipped positions) to your room. They give you two slips of paper - one is a receipt for your records and the second is the voucher that you place in your tip envelope. You give Guest Services your room number and they KNOW who your server, asst. server, head server and room steward are. Their names/positions print out on the voucher so that you know which envelope to place each voucher in. Also, since tipping is not customary in Europe, sometimes the packages they purchase will include vouchers for the tips.
Who do you tip, how much?
Your
Server (takes your food order and brings you your food),
Assistant Server (takes your beverage order, brings the bread to the table and assists the server in delivering your food,
head server (the person that makes sure that your server and assistant servers are doing their jobs. Also comes around on the last night and introduces them self and says "remember to tip me please
) and
Room Steward (Cleans up your room several times per day, brings you ice for your cooler, usually makes towel animals, turns down your bed and makes up the couch into a bed and sets up the pull down bed every evening. We've found these folks to be some of the nicest/friendliest people working for you.
Now for the how much (the following amounts are PER GUEST for THE ENTIRE cruise). This is from DCL's web site.
What about gratuities? (September 2004)
We'll make it easy. It is customary to give gratuities in recognition of service, which you will most likely be treated to in abundance aboard the ship. As a guideline, may we suggest the following:
Per Guest per cruise______3-Night____4-Night____7-Night
......Dining Room Server___11.00______14.75______25.75
Dining Room Asst. Server____8.00______10.75______18.75
.Dining Room Head Server____2.75_______3.75_______6.50
..Stateroom Host/Hostess___10.75______14.50______25.25
Dining Manager Your Discretion
Room Service Your Discretion
For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine, and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.
At the Walt Disney World® Resort, 15% is the customary gratuity at restaurants and bars.
------------
This is me again to give a real world example
So if there are 3 of you on a four night cruise your tips would be:
Server________3*14.75 = 44.25
Asst. Server__3*10.75 = 32.25
Head Server___3* 3.75 = 11.25
Stateroom_____3*14.50 = 43.50
________________Total: 131.25
So here is how the tips break down PER GUEST
3 Night Cruise - $10.83 per day or $32.50 for the cruise
4 Night Cruise - $10.94 per day or $43.75 for the cruise
7 Night Cruise - $10.89 per day or $76.25 for the cruise
How do I find the current tipping guide?
Go to the DCL web site and do a search. Be sure to search for "Gratuities" NOT tip. Then to FAQ and onto the topic "What about gratuities?"
The truthful answer (legal) is no. The real answer (ethical) is absolutely. Many of us here use this guide as the minimum tip. Many tip a little over these recommended amounts and many more tip a lot over these amounts. If you receive very poor service from any of these positions you should tip less than the recommended amount AND make an appropriate comment on the comment cards that DCL requests us to fill out at the end of our cruise. If you received a "way above and beyond the call of duty" service from ANY cast member - be sure to comment about them too!
Should I tip my waiters at breakfast and lunch?
No - it's not required nor expected. If (and it's a BIG if) everyone tips to the published gratuity guide then all of the wait staff gets tipped for all meals because in reality your wait staff is working breakfast, lunch, dinner and special events (late night deserts, desert buffet, other buffets). Your standard tip covers breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire cruise - what a deal!!
Also, when is the best time to pay the tips? Do you hand each person their envelope on the last evening? Is it awkward doing that?
For the waitstaff when you are at the last dinner. No, it's not awkward - it's when they expect it. For me it's been an emotional time too because generally speaking your Server and Assistant Server are very good and you've had a chance to get to know them AND the end of your cruise is near. For your room steward, just find him/her sometime on the last evening and HAND them your tip.
When should I tip my Room Steward?
I like to hand my room steward their tip on the last evening of the cruise or the next morning. This is the best way to make sure that YOUR room steward receives the tip (especially if CASH is involved). It has been brought to our attention that if you leave the room stewards tip in your room they
might not receive it. Why? Because extra help comes onboard to help clean up the rooms (remember Disney is doing a 4hr turnaround on the ship - wow!). This extra "help" will frequently pocket any cash left in the room for the steward, so that YOUR steward won't receive it - some stranger will.
What other reason are there for tipping?
Well, thats how these folks get paid. DCL only pays these people about $50 per MONTH (yes month, not day, not week). Granted they also get room and board. But they usually work 16-17 hours per day 7 days a week
Anyone else we should tip?
Glad you asked. On embarkation and debarkation days porters are available to assist you with your luggage. Be sure to tip them $1 or $2 per bag. If you use their service when disembarking (and you should - they'll help you through customs) and if they take you out to the far parking lot or where the shuttles load, considering tipping them more because they will be taking longer helping you and won't be able to help as many guests.
What about gratuities for the Councilors in the kids clubs?
They are not in a tipped position therefore DCL has not made any arrangements for you to tip them. They are not allowed to accept cash. Rumor has it that they
CAN accept cash if you offer/insist 3 times. Any cash received by the councilors gets pooled and periodically the staff has a party using the pooled cash. They can accept gift cards and phone cards without any restrictions. So if you want your gratuity to go to the person you designate, you need to give one of these cards to them personally.
because we gave them phone cards at the end of our 4 night cruise. 
