Cash on cruise ship?

[BrytEydBelle]

First time Disney cruiser here and I am wondering about the need for cash on the ship. I prefer to travel with as little cash possible and to use credit cards or ship account for everything else. Are gratuities charged to ship account? I plan to have small bills for room service tips.

Is cash needed for anything on Castaway Cay or does it go on ship account? I am not planning to leave the ship in Nassau so nothing will be needed there.

Thanks in advance! I am trying to plan my day before the cruise and carrying large amounts of cash may impact my plans.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

First time Disney cruiser here and I am wondering about the need for cash on the ship. I prefer to travel with as little cash possible and to use credit cards or ship account for everything else. Are gratuities charged to ship account? I plan to have small bills for room service tips.

Is cash needed for anything on Castaway Cay or does it go on ship account? I am not planning to leave the ship in Nassau so nothing will be needed there.

Thanks in advance! I am trying to plan my day before the cruise and carrying large amounts of cash may impact my plans.

There is no need to have cash on the ship or carry it around your cruise card debits your stateroom account and you can support that by a credit card.

You need small amounts to tip porters if used on embarkation and disembarkation, and for post card stamps at castaway cay. Your cruise card works throughout castaway day bar postage stamps, and food and self service soda us included in cruise fare.

All tips can be charged to your stateroom account, however most people top cash notes for room service, but you can charge that as well.

 

[n2mm]

I had a friend tell me we didn't need any cash for our first cruise. That was not correct. We dropped off our luggage at the port and hadn't realized how it worked and didn't have any small bills so had to overtip or not tip at all. Then the next morning room service arrived and we were not ready with any small bills so again were left in an awkward situation. So we went to guest relations to get some smaller bills and we're ready for room service the rest of the mornings and the porter on departure day. I'm thinking my friend didn't tip either service because I asked her several times don't I need some tip money and she told me no. Ugh.

 

[xlxo]

Aren't the cabin staff tipped with the daily gratuities?

 

[n2mm]

Aren't the cabin staff tipped with the daily gratuities?

Yes your room host does get a daily tip. If you order room service,esp morning coffee, or late night snacks, it is customary to tip the person delivering your items. Those were the tips I forgot to allow for. Keep in mind you can go to guest relations to get change.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Aren't the cabin staff tipped with the daily gratuities?

Yes your room host does get a daily tip. If you order room service,esp morning coffee, or late night snacks, it is customary to tip the person delivering your items. Those were the tips I forgot to allow for. Keep in mind you can go to guest relations to get change.

Just for clarity, the tips are charged every day to your stateroom account and then you give the tip by a ticket supplied at the end of the cruise on the last night.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes your room host does get a daily tip. If you order room service,esp morning coffee, or late night snacks, it is customary to tip the person delivering your items. Those were the tips I forgot to allow for. Keep in mind you can go to guest relations to get change.

The tip for room service can be added to the bill when the food/drink is delivered. Sometimes you have to ask for the "bill" as there are only a few things that actually have a charge from room service.

 

[mom2cookies]

Going on my first ever cruise November this year, I am soooooo lost and confused. So afraid it will a disaster like the first WDW visit because of lack of experience and poor advice. So who do we tip and when and how?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Going on my first ever cruise November this year, I am soooooo lost and confused. So afraid it will a disaster like the first WDW visit because of lack of experience and poor advice. So who do we tip and when and how?

You will tip as follows:-

Stateroom host, main server at dinner, assistant server at dinner and Head server, these are calculated every day debited to your account each day but you pay them last night of the cruise.

Look at this:- Cruise Tip Calculator link

• Palo brunch and dinner, you get a charge slip, you add a charge to that and sign it and it debits your stateroom account.
• Booze 15% is automatically added to your charge slip.
• Spa 18% is automatically added to your charge slip.
• Porters on embarkation and disembarkation your choice say $2p bag. Or $10 for four bags.
• Room service up to you, say $2 per time to a full meal at max $10 for a family.
• Port trips, guide, driver, and activities, up to you.
• Concierge if concierge up to you.

 

[Dug720]

I had a friend tell me we didn't need any cash for our first cruise. That was not correct. We dropped off our luggage at the port and hadn't realized how it worked and didn't have any small bills so had to overtip or not tip at all. Then the next morning room service arrived and we were not ready with any small bills so again were left in an awkward situation. So we went to guest relations to get some smaller bills and we're ready for room service the rest of the mornings and the porter on departure day. I'm thinking my friend didn't tip either service because I asked her several times don't I need some tip money and she told me no. Ugh.

Those tips (room service and porters) are completely at your discretion and are not required. Nothing says you HAVE to. As far as room service goes, there is a slip you can sign a tip to.

 

[mmouse37]

Going on my first ever cruise November this year, I am soooooo lost and confused. So afraid it will a disaster like the first WDW visit because of lack of experience and poor advice. So who do we tip and when and how?

Don't worry, it is not really complicated. As mentioned your tips will be automatically billed to your onboard account. On or about the 2nd to last night of the cruise you will find tip vouchers on your bed at turn down service. You will also find 4 envelopes with the following positions printed on them: Room Host, Head Server, Assistant Server and Server. Each voucher will have name of the 4 tipped positions and the amount being tipped. You separate the vouchers and put each voucher in the corresponding envelope. There will be a portion of the voucher that you retain as a receipt. At this point you can add cash to each envelope if you feel service warranted it. That is a personal decision. Typically tip envelopes are given out personally at the end of your last dinner in the dining room. Some tip at the last breakfast. Your choice. Room Host tip envelope can be left in the room before you leave for dinner on the last night or handed to your host if you see them.

Room service is usually tipped about $2-4 per delivery but you can certainly give them more if you order a lot or prefer to. We prefer to tip in cash and usually keep a stack of singles in the nightstand for tipping room service deliveries.

Note that all beverages already have an auto gratuity added into the price so if you want to tip above that you certainly can. Any beverage receipt will show the auto gratuity but many cruisers don't realize a tip is already added in and will tip above the auto gratuity either in cash at bar or by adding more to the receipt. Of course you can tip more if you want if for instance you develop a nice rapport with a bartender or wandering pool deck/lounge drink server during the course of the cruise.

DisneyFantasy covered the rest.

MJ

 

[over50visits]

First time Disney cruiser here and I am wondering about the need for cash on the ship. I prefer to travel with as little cash possible and to use credit cards or ship account for everything else. Are gratuities charged to ship account? I plan to have small bills for room service tips.

Is cash needed for anything on Castaway Cay or does it go on ship account? I am not planning to leave the ship in Nassau so nothing will be needed there.

Thanks in advance! I am trying to plan my day before the cruise and carrying large amounts of cash may impact my plans.

You will never need cash while on the ship. Ever. Also, you don't need it anywhere on Castaway Cay except as listed below.

We use cash for:
- tipping the luggage porters on embarkation and debarkation
- tipping the tour guides and drivers on shore excursions
- tipping the Cabana host on Castaway Cay
- shopping while on shore at the various ports of call

Optional use of cash on the ship, though you can charge to your room:
You can tip the room service person with cash if you wish.
You can add cash to the tip envelopes at the end of the cruise if you want to add to the standard tip charged to your room.

 

[mom2cookies]

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Annette P.]

Out of curiosity, is the amount that is calculated for tips an absolute? What if someone just does an awful, or at least a subpar, job? I would assume everyone will be great but on my last RC cruise, we had someone who just didn't seem to care at all.

 

[jahber]

Out of curiosity, is the amount that is calculated for tips an absolute? What if someone just does an awful, or at least a subpar, job? I would assume everyone will be great but on my last RC cruise, we had someone who just didn't seem to care at all.

You can change your tip amounts at guest services at any point during the cruise (before disembarkation day).

 

[SillyInventor]

Yep, you can adjust up or down, as much as you wish. So if you wish to tip more, but want to live cashless just go to guest services, have the amounts changed to what you wish and you will recieve new vouchers. The difference will be charged or refunded to you stateroom account, so do this before that account is settled on disembarkation day.

 

[renda460]

Going on my first ever cruise November this year, I am soooooo lost and confused. So afraid it will a disaster like the first WDW visit because of lack of experience and poor advice. So who do we tip and when and how?

Before your trip, I would strongly recommend getting familiar with the ships map and reading some recent navigators. We were so overwhelmed on our first cruise that we missed out on all the good first day's activities. Getting a head start on those things will help a lot.