Gratuities are now $13.50/day

[DCLDVC1]

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2019/01/disney-cruise-line-increases-base-gratuities/

 

[dclpluto]

https://disneycruiselineblog.com/2019/01/disney-cruise-line-increases-base-gratuities/

About time they had a pay raise. I’m all for it. Sure people can give extra if they want but this will make it better for them. It’s been a long time since they had a raise.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

I'm good with this. Too long w/o a raise IMO

 

[lorimay]

I'm fine with this. these people deserve the raise.

We're prepaid for our cruise next month, says we won't have to pay the difference, maybe I should call and bump it up.
I guess it all works out when we add the cash to the envelopes though.
I have all 3 of my cruise gratuities prepaid until 2020.

 

[Arianabtd]

Very happy about this. They all work so hard and deserve it!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

They deserve a raise for all the great work and attention to detail our personal CMs do for us. Will probably slip a little extra into the envelope as we have always done.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Not complaining about the increased suggested gratuities.

But, I wouldn't call this a pay raise. Tips are not wages. Wages are paid by DCL.

Article says the last time the suggested gratuities increased, not the last time they had a pay raise.

Just a point of comparison I happen to know off hand, Carnival recently increased theirs from $13 to $14 pp/day.

 

[NaturalNine]

They can increase them to whatever they like, i’ll be decreasing / increasing to whatever I deem is fair on the day

Disney should pay their crew a sufficient figure which doesn’t necessitate passengers supplementing their income - it’s already the highest charging cruise line on the seas, justifies a higher wage

I certainly won’t be bullied or guilted into supplementing somebodies income

 

[Jess_S]

Technically tips are wages. That's something that comes up in the context of employers trying to keep tips that should go to employees.

But I get what you are saying. The cruise lines probably should be adjusting everyone's direct wages upward too in light of all the inflation that's been going on. We are happy to pay more in gratuities. We usually add extra cash to the envelopes anyway.

 

[jetskigrl]

I'm fine with this. these people deserve the raise.

We're prepaid for our cruise next month, says we won't have to pay the difference, maybe I should call and bump it up.
I guess it all works out when we add the cash to the envelopes though.
I have all 3 of my cruise gratuities prepaid until 2020.

I'm curious about this too since I prepaid for our April cruise. I assumed that meant that I prepaid $12 of the $13.50 now and they won't be charging me more ahead of time (it won't show up as money owed on the reservation). But then when the cruise comes, the $13.50 will still be billed per day to my onboard account and I will pay the difference then.

I have almost always added additional cash anyway so if they do leave it as $12 on the onboard account, I'll just add the extra in cash.

 

[connorlevismom]

Do they actually get this money, though? I have heard on more than one occasion of cruise lines raising gratuities and the actual employees not getting the money. The cruise line keeps it for themselves. I have read this over and over but never know if it is true or not. Some claim to have spoken to employees who say the don't see a penny of the increases.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Do they actually get this money, though? I have heard on more than one occasion of cruise lines raising gratuities and the actual employees not getting the money. The cruise line keeps it for themselves. I have read this over and over but never know if it is true or not. Some claim to have spoken to employees who say the don't see a penny of the increases.

I have seen those reports for other lines, as they move from the terms tip or gratuity to service charge. I have not heard it on DCL but it is possible it may eventually go that way. After all, they want to make sure they are maintaining the industry norms.

 

[Geomom]

Do they actually get this money, though? I have heard on more than one occasion of cruise lines raising gratuities and the actual employees not getting the money. The cruise line keeps it for themselves. I have read this over and over but never know if it is true or not. Some claim to have spoken to employees who say the don't see a penny of the increases.

On DCL, when you get the tip receipts, they have the names of your servers and stateroom host. From what I've heard, those auto gratuities are directly deposited into their accounts.

Probably part of the issue with other cruise lines is that you don't have the same serving team every night, with DCL, you see exactly who is getting the tips you've paid for. It may well be that some other cruise lines aren't passing along the increases...

 

[Dug720]

I'm curious about this too since I prepaid for our April cruise. I assumed that meant that I prepaid $12 of the $13.50 now and they won't be charging me more ahead of time (it won't show up as money owed on the reservation). But then when the cruise comes, the $13.50 will still be billed per day to my onboard account and I will pay the difference then.

I have almost always added additional cash anyway so if they do leave it as $12 on the onboard account, I'll just add the extra in cash.

No, as long as you prepaid prior to today, you will only be charged the $12. If you would like to bump it up in advance, I'm sure you could call and ask them to add the difference, or do it at Guest Services on board, or just add extra into the envelopes.

 

[lilsonicfan]

On DCL, when you get the tip receipts, they have the names of your servers and stateroom host. From what I've heard, those auto gratuities are directly deposited into their accounts.

I would love to know that this is the case, but I do wonder if it really is. But there isn't much transparency around this on any cruise line.

 

[lanejudy]

Do I understand correctly that the Head Server is not getting an increase in tips? Each increased $0.50 per night? I think that leaves the following break-down:

stateroom host $4.50
server $4.50
assistant server $3.50
head server $1.00 (remains unchanged)


edited to correct which position remains unchanged

 

[jiminyC_fan]

I am happy for this. They are extremely hard working and deserve it. It saddens me how many people moan and groan about tips. I think a few find excuses to lower the tip or not tip at all. If you can afford to cruise, you can afford the tips. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it was included in our fares to protect the staff. Are there some not so perfect CM's? Yep, but the majority are some of the best on the seas.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

Do I understand correctly that the Stateroom Host(ess) is not getting an increase in tips? Just the serving team, each increased $0.50 per night? I think that leaves the following break-down:

stateroom host $4.00
server $4.50
assistant server $3.50
head server $1.50

Seems that is the case, which is garbage. The stateroom host works pretty hard depending on the stateroom occupants.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I am happy with this change. The crew works very hard to provide people with magical vacations and an increase in the standard gratuity rate will no-doubt make a difference for them. Not everyone tips extra I am sure, so every little bit added to the standard gratuity helps.

 

[lanejudy]

Seems that is the case, which is garbage. The stateroom host works pretty hard depending on the stateroom occupants.

I agree, that's why I'm surprised tips were raised on only 3 of the 4 positions.