Why do the changing tip policies . . .

[tiggspring]

I'm not sure why this is such a heated topic. Almost every other cruise line out there charges auto gratuity to your folio at the beginning of the cruise.

DCL and RCL were of the main lines the two that didn't. I would bet RCL will follow suit soon.

Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Cunard, Holland, MSC, Princess, and a lot of others do the auto gratuity.

Maybe this is DCL just moving to the industry standard?

My friend said that when she prepaid one of her cruises they taxed the entire bill including the tips and that she had heard from staff that the line took a cut to boot. Do you know if DCL does that or just other lines? She only pays cash now.

 

[DizDays]

My friend said that when she prepaid one of her cruises they taxed the entire bill including the tips and that she had heard from staff that the line took a cut to boot. Do you know if DCL does that or just other lines? She only pays cash now.

To the best of my knowledge cruise fares aren't taxed - at least they weren't when I worked in the industry.

 

[RedSox68]

In 9 Disney cruises we had one really bad cabin steward (can you say invisible) and one very rude cabin steward. The bad one was not even there on embarkation day to greet us and never finished our room -- there were no hand towels or soap! We had to ask another steward to help. Really wish we had HIM as our steward since he covered most of the time. We saw our steward ONCE and then got an earful about how this was his last cruise and he couldn't wait to go home. No ice was ever delivered upon request either. We actually lowered his tip -- one and only time we did that. We did mention him on the survey also.

The rude one was, well, incredibly rude throughout our whole stay. He actually pushed his way past me to check in our closets and under the bed as we were packing to leave! I finally had to tell him to please leave our stateroom so we could finish. He was VERY weird.

 

[tiggspring]

To the best of my knowledge cruise fares aren't taxed - at least they weren't when I worked in the industry.

Thanks thats good to know!

 

[momof2minnies]

I just found out about this today.

Honestly, if they're automatically charging us for tips, then they just need to bundle it into the cruise fare. The way I see it, "tipping" is to show appreciation for outstanding/above-and-beyond service. It shouldn't be mandatory; the reason the staff goes out of their way for you is because they want to impress you enough to leave a tip.

But I know that those in customer service, particularly in housekeeping and wait staff, get paid beans. So, I have to have a pretty bad experience to pay less than a recommended tip amount. I've never considered not tipping on a cruise, even to those that I had never seen or experienced any extraordinary service from. But it's kind of irksome that in order for me to adjust an automatic gratuity, I have to essentially wait in line at guest services and explain myself. You wouldn't believe the pressure that was put on my family by our waitstaff on the Dream to rate them all "excellent" on the survey--if we referred to anything less than excellent, they cornered us with demands to know why. Don't get me wrong, they were nice, and we tipped them the recommended amount, but none of them went out of their way for us. It should still be our decision on whether or not we do, though.

If they'd just paid their crew better, tipping would be what it's meant to be--icing on the cake. This just seems to be (any cruise line's) answer to making the guest pay for the "raise". Oh well, this won't stop me from sailing on DCL--but service better not slack off as result.

Could not have said it better myself!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I just found out about this today.

Honestly, if they're automatically charging us for tips, then they just need to bundle it into the cruise fare. The way I see it, "tipping" is to show appreciation for outstanding/above-and-beyond service. It shouldn't be mandatory; the reason the staff goes out of their way for you is because they want to impress you enough to leave a tip.

But I know that those in customer service, particularly in housekeeping and wait staff, get paid beans. So, I have to have a pretty bad experience to pay less than a recommended tip amount. I've never considered not tipping on a cruise, even to those that I had never seen or experienced any extraordinary service from. But it's kind of irksome that in order for me to adjust an automatic gratuity, I have to essentially wait in line at guest services and explain myself. You wouldn't believe the pressure that was put on my family by our waitstaff on the Dream to rate them all "excellent" on the survey--if we referred to anything less than excellent, they cornered us with demands to know why. Don't get me wrong, they were nice, and we tipped them the recommended amount, but none of them went out of their way for us. It should still be our decision on whether or not we do, though.

If they'd just paid their crew better, tipping would be what it's meant to be--icing on the cake. This just seems to be (any cruise line's) answer to making the guest pay for the "raise". Oh well, this won't stop me from sailing on DCL--but service better not slack off as result.

2 thoughts:

1) You don't have to wait in line, just stop by when there isn't one. And AFAIK, you don't have to explain why you're removing them.

2) I know the CMs can sometimes be quite agressive about the "please give us all excellents" thing. The problem is, what they are really trying to say is, "I will try to be excellent, please let me know if I'm not, so I can fix it". I will let them give me the "we try our best to be excellent" spiel once, and then I tell them I don't want to hear it again. That usually works. If it doesn't I will speak to the head server.

 

[DizDays]

What part of "it is NOT mandatory" is everyone missing?

Doing it this way is certainly in the best interest of the crew member as s/he will not get stiffed (unless someone intentionally swings by GS to do so). They know tips can be changed so its not like we're captured clients and they dont have to work for it, plus I'm sure they would love to impress you enough so you would tip more than the recommended amount. (Which you can still do in two different convenient ways.)

This is a convenience for the guest in that you never have to bother with it or think about it again if you don't want to. It has been pre-assigned and you're good to go unless you want to vary the amount on what I consider to be a very conservative tip considering all they do for you and when comparing it to what is usually spent at home on tips.

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, you would then have no control over the amount. What is the difference whether the amount hits your credit card at the time of the purchase or the time of the cruise? It's all the same.

I'm a little shocked at the fervor over this.

 

[OrcaPotter]

What part of "it is NOT mandatory" is everyone missing?

Doing it this way is certainly in the best interest of the crew member as s/he will not get stiffed (unless someone intentionally swings by GS to do so). They know tips can be changed so its not like we're captured clients and they dont have to work for it, plus I'm sure they would love to impress you enough so you would tip more than the recommended amount. (Which you can still do in two different convenient ways.)

This is a convenience for the guest in that you never have to bother with it or think about it again if you don't want to. It has been pre-assigned and you're good to go unless you want to vary the amount on what I consider to be a very conservative tip considering all they do for you and when comparing it to what is usually spent at home on tips.

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, you would then have no control over the amount. What is the difference whether the amount hits your credit card at the time of the purchase or the time of the cruise? It's all the same.

I'm a little shocked at the fervor over this.

I'm sure some of the motivation was to cut down on the number of people lining up to set their tips in order; a convenience for guests, yes--particularly those of us who just charge the tip to our stateroom accounts anyway. But if it's already going to be charged to us, why not do what a lot of restaurants do and just automatically factor in tip to the fare? I would rather avoid any extra expenses for my cruise, so if you're going to charge me anyway, just bundle it in so I've already paid it before I leave port. In theory, the extra charge for "service" goes into the crew's salary and thereby theoretically boosting morale. Then, so when your room steward or waiter does an even better job, he actually gets tipped. Honestly, unless they do a really poor job, how many people are going to line up to adjust the automatic gratuity? So, since you no longer go out of your way to tip them, what motivation do they have to do better by you unless then want more than standard? So the "non-mandatory" tip become mandatory, but oh, if you want it changed, just see guest services.

*shrug* I don't know. I understand automatic gratuity, but I'd rather have all my expected expenses paid up front. Seems to me that charging me later is defeating the purpose of a "tip". Like I said before, I won't stop cruising because of anything like this, but it seriously makes me roll my eyes because of the pressure of having to tip for good service. Good service should be automatically expected of any employee dealing with customers. And as for being bullied for "excellent" ratings--it's understandable why, but it's a behavior that is not only unprofessional, it's makes me want to think otherwise. My one and only experience on DCL (so far) included an unremarkable dining team, but they pressed hard for our "excellent" ratings to the point of keeping us from leaving. We made sure to comment on the survey about it.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I'm sure some of the motivation was to cut down on the number of people lining up to set their tips in order; a convenience for guests, yes--particularly those of us who just charge the tip to our stateroom accounts anyway. But if it's already going to be charged to us, why not do what a lot of restaurants do and just automatically factor in tip to the fare? I would rather avoid any extra expenses for my cruise, so if you're going to charge me anyway, just bundle it in so I've already paid it before I leave port. In theory, the extra charge for "service" goes into the crew's salary and thereby theoretically boosting morale. Then, so when your room steward or waiter does an even better job, he actually gets tipped. Honestly, unless they do a really poor job, how many people are going to line up to adjust the automatic gratuity? So, since you no longer go out of your way to tip them, what motivation do they have to do better by you unless then want more than standard? So the "non-mandatory" tip become mandatory, but oh, if you want it changed, just see guest services.

*shrug* I don't know. I understand automatic gratuity, but I'd rather have all my expected expenses paid up front. Seems to me that charging me later is defeating the purpose of a "tip". Like I said before, I won't stop cruising because of anything like this, but it seriously makes me roll my eyes because of the pressure of having to tip for good service. Good service should be automatically expected of any employee dealing with customers. And as for being bullied for "excellent" ratings--it's understandable why, but it's a behavior that is not only unprofessional, it's makes me want to think otherwise. My one and only experience on DCL (so far) included an unremarkable dining team, but they pressed hard for our "excellent" ratings to the point of keeping us from leaving. We made sure to comment on the survey about it.

By bundling gratuity into the cruise fare, with no way to modify it - you've moved from a gratuity into a service charge. I, personally, don't care for that.

For those that prefer as many expenses as possible paid up front, they can have prepaid gratuity added to your cruise total before you board the ship.

There's a LOT of times, I believe Disney skews their research questionnaires so that they can say "Due to guest demand" or "Due to popularity". However, in this instance, I believe that the majority of people ARE happy that they don't have to wait in line at Guest Services. One of the cruise tips (advice - not gratuity! ) I used to see frequently was to go to Guest Services at the beginning of your cruise to pay gratuity because there are lines toward the end of the cruise. This eliminates that.

As for the whole discussion about pressure to rate excellent - IMHO, they really shouldn't be doing that. I think a comment card is the best way to take care of that issue. On the one hand - I'm sure there's a LOT of pressure from DISNEY on the cast members to receive those excellent ratings. And I'm truly glad of that. Holding your workforce to a high standard is what ensures that excellent service is and continues to be provided. But there is definitely a line. As another poster said - I have no problem letting them advise me, once, that they strive to provide excellent service. More than once, and I would simply tell them "I'm aware you need to be rated excellent. But thanks for letting me know." with a pleasant smile.

 

[srferson]

My one and only experience on DCL (so far) included an unremarkable dining team, but they pressed hard for our "excellent" ratings to the point of keeping us from leaving. We made sure to comment on the survey about it.

We're going on our first cruise next month. Would someone mind explaining these ratings you keep mentioning? Is it a survey? A little comment card? Is there a certain time and place it must be done? Any info would be helpful. TIA

 

[OrcaPotter]

We're going on our first cruise next month. Would someone mind explaining these ratings you keep mentioning? Is it a survey? A little comment card? Is there a certain time and place it must be done? Any info would be helpful. TIA

You're given a guest satisfaction survey the last night of your cruise with a scale rating, "excellent" being the highest. It'll ask you about basically everything you could possibly experience during the cruise. Doing it is not mandatory, but your wait staff will likely remind you frequently about it. A lot appears to ride on guest feedback.

As for the debate on the new tipping policy, it's all a matter of opinion. If you think it's great and a convenience, good for you. As for me, any future cruise I take will include how I feel about it on the survey. I will have to ensure I have the cash to cover the automatic charges at the point of sailing. And I'd have to be seriously "wowed" to bother doing anything more *shrug*

 

[srferson]

My one and only experience on DCL (so far) included an unremarkable dining team, but they pressed hard for our "excellent" ratings to the point of keeping us from leaving. We made sure to comment on the survey about it.

You say they pressed hard for the ratings to the point of keeping you from leaving? What kept you from leaving?

(I'm not trying to be a PITA, it's just the kind of situation I imagine I'd feel uncomfortable in and so I'm curious about what you experienced.)

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

[SNIP] As for the debate on the new tipping policy, it's all a matter of opinion. If you think it's great and a convenience, good for you. As for me, any future cruise I take will include how I feel about it on the survey. I will have to ensure I have the cash to cover the automatic charges at the point of sailing. And I'd have to be seriously "wowed" to bother doing anything more *shrug*

But wouldn't you have the money on you in cash if you chose to tip that way, or funds available on your credit card before the policy change and now after?

And do let DCL know how you feel about the change in policy.
I guess the feedback from the Magic was positive, however that obviously does just apply to the proportion of Guests that have sailed on the Magic (less than 25% of the fleets capacity) under that Policy and not Fleet wide.

I wouldn't expect them to change the policy, not sure why the Dream isn't part of it, but at least you have made your feelings heard.

Ex Techie

 

[htmlkid]

I for one am not happy with their new policy. Tipping is suppose to be based on the service YOU HAVE RECEIVED... how can you charge me for something I have not received!!!!!

I have two upcoming cruises with DCL and the first thing I will do when I get onboard is remove these charges and as always tip at the END based on services RECEIVED after I RECEIVE them.

I also agree that DCL is pricing themselves out of the market. With current pricing you can take almost two cruises on most other cruse ships like Royal Caribbean for the price of one DCL cruise.

I love mickey but there is a limit to how much he's worth!!!!

 

[extechie rbd/wdt]

In regards to DCL pricing themselves out of the market, they have traditionally always been more expensive than some other lines.

I guess until Guests start voting with their feet and then DCL are unable to fill the ships, prices will stay the same or increase due to demand.

Ex Techie

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I for one am not happy with their new policy. Tipping is suppose to be based on the service YOU HAVE RECEIVED... how can you charge me for something I have not received!!!!!

I have two upcoming cruises with DCL and the first thing I will do when I get onboard is remove these charges and as always tip at the END based on services RECEIVED after I RECEIVE them.

I also agree that DCL is pricing themselves out of the market. With current pricing you can take almost two cruises on most other cruse ships like Royal Caribbean for the price of one DCL cruise.

I love mickey but there is a limit to how much he's worth!!!!

The tips are not paid to the people who receive them until the end of the cruise, so you're not tipping before you receive the service. You're just putting that money aside for tipping use later.

DCL cruises have always been priced higher than (similar) cruises on other lines. With fewer ships than, say, Carnival or Princess, they can do that. As long as people are willing to pay it, they will continue to do so.

 

[DizDays]

If I recall correctly, the guest comment card at the end of the cruise actually asked if anyone mentioned or pressured you to grade them as excellent. I remember what an annoyance it was on a different cruise line and was pleased to see it on the DCL card. For the record, no one one the DCL cruise mentioned anything about rating them as excellent and I found it refreshing. We had two good diningroom servers and an outstanding cabin steward.

 

[RedSox68]

If I recall correctly, the guest comment card at the end of the cruise actually asked if anyone mentioned or pressured you to grade them as excellent. I remember what an annoyance it was on a different cruise line and was pleased to see it on the DCL card. For the record, no one one the DCL cruise mentioned anything about rating them as excellent and I found it refreshing. We had two good diningroom servers and an outstanding cabin steward.

We had problems with our head server on our October 2009 cruise doing that the first two nights -- that whole speech about excellence and grading and rating, etc. We finally told him to stop, we know all about it and not to mention it again. He stopped, but what an annoying sales pitch!

 

[suemouse]

I for one am not happy with their new policy. Tipping is suppose to be based on the service YOU HAVE RECEIVED... how can you charge me for something I have not received!!!!!

I have two upcoming cruises with DCL and the first thing I will do when I get onboard is remove these charges and as always tip at the END based on services RECEIVED after I RECEIVE them.

I also agree that DCL is pricing themselves out of the market. With current pricing you can take almost two cruises on most other cruse ships like Royal Caribbean for the price of one DCL cruise.

I love mickey but there is a limit to how much he's worth!!!!

Instead of going to guest services twice during your cruise, you can just go once at the end of cruise to remove the tips if you don't want to give them to the staff.

DCL is just trying to make it more convenient for guests to give tips (no more long lines at guest services to get the tip vouchers ). And probably to "remind" non-U.S. guests that tips are not included in the price of the cruise. The typical bills received in Europe (restaurants, hotels, etc) already include the tips, so the non-U.S. guests may not realize that they should give out separate tips to the cruise staff.

 

[dew]

by some of the "haters" out there. I have read this whole thread, which was a little redundant at times, here is what I would like to say... I think tipping stinks as a whole. Why is it, and who started it, that because you are in the "service" field you are entitled to a tip. I have worked since I was 17 years old, so-called "servicing" whichever employer I happened to be working for at the time. I was hired at a certain wage and I either said yes I will take that job at that salary or, no, I cannot make ends meet on that salary. I did my job, to the best of my ability every day, servicing my employer by completing every task I was asked to do, even it if was to go a get a cup of coffee or a lunch or to pick up dry cleaning and was never given a "tip", was never offered one, never asked for one, never even thought I deserved it, I was doing my job. The job that I had agreed to do at the salary I had agreed to do it at. I guess I am done with being TOLD to tip and how much and when and who and blah blah blah. Who decided that it was my responsibility to make up for the employer not wanting to pay a wage. Tipping, my definiition of it, is to give you a token of appreciation because I feel you have gone ABOVE AND BEYOND what you have been hired to do. No tip should be given for just doing your job. Tipping used to be a personal preference and now it has become mandatory. Kind of takes all the "personal" out of it. As for waiting in line, not waiting in line, I am on vacation, I do not want to be having a tipping discussion. Did I say, I AM ON VACATION. I don't want to do lines on vacation. I first started crusing back in 1991 and have been on over 20 cruises. In 1991, they gave you envelopes in your room on the last night of your cruise, you put cash in it (might I add, whatever you wanted not what someone told you and then charged you) gave it to the staff member, said thank you and were on your way. No waiting in lines, no adjusting, no saying I didn't like my, fill in the blank, because...

I tip because I have to not because I want to. Tipping has become an obligation and I do not like it. I am an extremely generous giver, I give to my chuch, first and foremost, I give to my family and friends, I give to all sorts of charities and if I happen to find out you are in need from an acquaintance, I may give to a friend of a friend. But it is my choice, I am not being told I have to. This isn't just about cruise ship tipping, I feel this way about all tipping. Why doesn't the cashier in the grocery store demand a tip, she has serviced me as a customer by checking out my groceries and asking me if I have found everything and if I haven't, getting someone to help me find it. I could go on and on but, I will put my soapbox away.

I await the tar and feathering......