Gratuities -- Pay in Advance or Not?

This is a fallacy.

Straight from Disney Cruise Line site:
'Q. Is there an expected amount for gratuities, and how should I pay them?
A. It is customary to give gratuities in recognition of exceptional service, which you’ll receive in abundance aboard the ship. The following amounts are provided as a suggestion, but the gratuity you pay is always at your discretion:'
Following this is the gratuity table.

As stated, the gratuity table is 'a suggestion', not a minimum (or standard). And it is 'at your discretion', again not a minimum (or standard). And it is 'in recognition of exceptional service', again not a minimum (or a standard).

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/faq/onboard-services/gratuities/


Thank you. I contacted Disney Cruise Line after reading a lot of erroneous information involving gratuities (like the above) and they assured me I can removed the auto-gratuities in full from my bill and then tip as I please at the end of the cruise in cash.


Because the business/company/corporation already failed. If I have paid for an experience that is suppose to include stellar guest service and then I have to ask for stellar guest service, you have failed. If is included, I should not have to ask. I was reading the 'Concierge vs. non. Is it worth it?' thread and one poster was saying you have to know what is included so you can ask for it. Umm, no, if it is included and therefore paid for, it should be automatically provided. If it is not, it is a fail.

Is grading a business/company/corporation on a pass/fail basis a hard line? Yes. It's hard line because these days so many businesses/companies/corporation have no problem diminishing their product/service/experience in order to increase their bottom line. Just look at Disney.

So no, I am not wasting my expensive cruise time complaining about less-than-exceptional service. I can live with service that is good, average or inconsistent. If it is outright poor or bad and negatively impacting my enjoyment, then I might, depending on the situation. Typically, as long as my grandchildren, who are pretty low maintenance, don't care, I am not going to create a fuss. They are my priority, period. So if the assistant server fails to bring my Mai Tai in a timely fashion, I will live with it but, yes, their tip is going to suffer.

Well your Mai Tai will come from the bar and will have an automatic 15% gratuity added to it that cannot be removed so that tip won’t suffer.

Noted on your official link
 
Thank you. I contacted Disney Cruise Line after reading a lot of erroneous information involving gratuities (like the above) and they assured me I can removed the auto-gratuities in full from my bill and then tip as I please at the end of the cruise in cash.

You can. You should then expect follow up phone calls and/or visits from guest services managers wanting to know what they can do to improve your experience. They will be concerned that you removing gratuities is a sign that you were unhappy.
 
You can. You should then expect follow up phone calls and/or visits from guest services managers wanting to know what they can do to improve your experience. They will be concerned that you removing gratuities is a sign that you were unhappy.
This is another fallacy.

Disney does not bother their guests to ask why they have chosen to not tip in advance of service.
 
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No. That's not how gratuities on a cruise work. There is a minimum. It is not difficult to "track down mgmnt". Your head server is right there in the dinning room each night. Also you are not prepaying tips and your servers have no idea how much money is in your online account.
Again... was not talking about restaurants..
Happy travels all..
 


This is another fallacy.

Disney does not bother their guests to ask why they have chosen to not tip in advance of service.

Believe what you like, but I am speaking from personal experience. My curmudgeon uncle was very determined about having guest services remove the standard gratuities. On a 3 night cruise there were calls, notes and one officer even stopped by our Palo table to follow up with him. He was frustrated with all of us for ordering beverages, due to the automatic tip on bar service.
 
Believe what you like, but I am speaking from personal experience. My curmudgeon uncle was very determined about having guest services remove the standard gratuities. On a 3 night cruise there were calls, notes and one officer even stopped by our Palo table to follow up with him. He was frustrated with all of us for ordering beverages, due to the automatic tip on bar service.
Yep. That's been my experience also. They want to be sure that you're satisfied, and removing the gratuities is often the first indication that you're not.
 
I don't see the point. Why give DCL my money before they need it. It doesn't actually go to the staff any earlier than if I pay it later. You're not really prepaying gratuities; you're only paying DCL a sum of money equal to the minimum amount of the gratuities that they then hold onto until they charge them to your account near the end of the cruise. It has absolutely no impact on your service.

We have a reasonably good idea how much our credit card will be charged so we are just ready to pay it off when we get home. And even if I only earn one cent interest by hanging on to it for a few months, I'd prefer that over letting someone else earn it. Even if I don't earn anything, what if I cancelled - that's a few more dollars I'd have to wait to get back. I'm an accountant - we never give anyone money before we absolutely have to!

If you can purchase a gift card for a discount, and use it to pay off the gratuity (or pre-load your account), you can get at a minimum a 4-5% discount. A 4-5% discount is essentially a 4-5% "interest" on the money. E.g., you pay $95 and get $100. That is far greater than you can get from interest on any banking account for 1 month of time. The risk, though, is that if the cruise is cancelled, then you will be stuck with a Disney gift card. In such a case, you will have to hold the card longer. Even if you had to hold it for 1 year, the 4-5% is more than you would get in a savings account unless you were in some super crazy savings account or CD. On the other hand, if this is a one time deal, and you really aren't Disney fans, then this really won't make sense. Then again, if you're not Disney fans, then why spend the premium on a Disney Cruise?

Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter.
 


If you can purchase a gift card for a discount, and use it to pay off the gratuity (or pre-load your account), you can get at a minimum a 4-5% discount. A 4-5% discount is essentially a 4-5% "interest" on the money. E.g., you pay $95 and get $100. That is far greater than you can get from interest on any banking account for 1 month of time. The risk, though, is that if the cruise is cancelled, then you will be stuck with a Disney gift card. In such a case, you will have to hold the card longer. Even if you had to hold it for 1 year, the 4-5% is more than you would get in a savings account unless you were in some super crazy savings account or CD. On the other hand, if this is a one time deal, and you really aren't Disney fans, then this really won't make sense. Then again, if you're not Disney fans, then why spend the premium on a Disney Cruise?

Anyways, just my thoughts on the matter.

I know that a lot of people get the gift card discounts and if that works for people I applaud their (your) budget skills. Honestly for me though, I don’t have a target red card or shop at a warehouse membership store, so all the extra effort that people put into the gift card churn just doesn’t seem worth it for the $4 per $100 in gift cards for me. I know some people finance their whole cruise and save 5% for $300 or $400, but I cannot imagine being stuck with $6k in gift cards for Disney if I end up changing plans and while we like Disney we aren’t spending money with them annually. A change in plans means having to carry those cards for 3, 4 years. Having that much tied up in gift cards is even worse than giving the money to Disney early for me. I’m getting way more than 5% in the market right now though so just a different kind of gamble
 
I know that a lot of people get the gift card discounts and if that works for people I applaud their (your) budget skills. Honestly for me though, I don’t have a target red card or shop at a warehouse membership store, so all the extra effort that people put into the gift card churn just doesn’t seem worth it for the $4 per $100 in gift cards for me. I know some people finance their whole cruise and save 5% for $300 or $400, but I cannot imagine being stuck with $6k in gift cards for Disney if I end up changing plans and while we like Disney we aren’t spending money with them annually. A change in plans means having to carry those cards for 3, 4 years. Having that much tied up in gift cards is even worse than giving the money to Disney early for me. I’m getting way more than 5% in the market right now though so just a different kind of gamble
Well, you don't have to finance the WHOLE cruise with gift cards. For us it's no issue getting them. I have had a Red Card for years, and we belong to Sam's Club. We only purchased enough gift cards to cover our planned excursions and gratuities. If all else fails and we had to cancel the cruise and the gift cards get credited back the funds, we can use them any any Disney facility (Disney store, Disneyland, WDW, resorts, etc).
 
I know that a lot of people get the gift card discounts and if that works for people I applaud their (your) budget skills. Honestly for me though, I don’t have a target red card or shop at a warehouse membership store, so all the extra effort that people put into the gift card churn just doesn’t seem worth it for the $4 per $100 in gift cards for me. I know some people finance their whole cruise and save 5% for $300 or $400, but I cannot imagine being stuck with $6k in gift cards for Disney if I end up changing plans and while we like Disney we aren’t spending money with them annually. A change in plans means having to carry those cards for 3, 4 years. Having that much tied up in gift cards is even worse than giving the money to Disney early for me. I’m getting way more than 5% in the market right now though so just a different kind of gamble

If the Disney Cruise was cancelled and you wouldn't book another Disney Cruise, or go visit Disneyland/Disney World, then I agree, it's not worth it for the whole cruise. However, you don't have to put the whole trip on Disney gift cards. It's just a matter of what your habits are and the amount of risk you are willing to take. Keep in mind, Disney GC can also be used at Disney stores and the online shop.

However, there is absolutely no shame in not buying Disney GC. Everyone's habits and risk tolerance are completely different.
 
We remove the auto gratuities at the beginning of every single cruise since they started doing it and have never gotten any follow up whatsoever. Maybe it's the fact we tell GS when we do it that we prefer to tip in cash.
 
We considered prepaying as our CC has a monthly limit of 5000. and our trip was 3 weeks and we were concerned we might max out and wanted to leave a couple grand as emergency. We wanted as much as possible paid in full before we left home ( rental, hotels) so we didnt have to exchange so much as we are from overseas. Tips was one thing I planned to PP but honestly I forgot to do it.
 
I like to wait until the cruise to tip only because of one incident we had with a homophobic waiter. He was terrible and we were able to decrease his tip significantly due to his behavior at guest services. 12 cruises down and he was the only one we have given a lower than recommended tip to. I say wait and see how your service goes and tip accordingly. We have given above the recommended amount around 50% of the time.
 
I like to wait until the cruise to tip only because of one incident we had with a homophobic waiter. He was terrible and we were able to decrease his tip significantly due to his behavior at guest services. 12 cruises down and he was the only one we have given a lower than recommended tip to. I say wait and see how your service goes and tip accordingly. We have given above the recommended amount around 50% of the time.
Even if you pre-pay, the money is still retrievable. When you pre-pay, the cost of the gratuities is added to the cost of the cruise. But the excess above the cost of the cruise only goes to a credit on your onboard account. You can still remove them, if you wish.

"Pre-pay" is a bit misleading. Yes, you pay for that charge ahead so that there's no "sticker shock" at the end of a cruise, but the credit actually can be applied to anything that's charged to your onboard account. It's not specifically earmarked for gratuities.
 
This is the first time in 8 cruise that we've prepaid. The only reason was I get a Disney Visa card, just for the $200 sign up bonus, which is a credit on the account, so I used that credit to pay the gratuities for the next two cruise and ear the 2% Disney Dollars, which I can cash in and also use on the cruise. Other than this time I never bother, just had it added to my account at the end of the cruise since I've always given more to most of the staff.
 
Well, you don't have to finance the WHOLE cruise with gift cards. For us it's no issue getting them. I have had a Red Card for years, and we belong to Sam's Club. We only purchased enough gift cards to cover our planned excursions and gratuities. If all else fails and we had to cancel the cruise and the gift cards get credited back the funds, we can use them any any Disney facility (Disney store, Disneyland, WDW, resorts, etc).

No I get it, it’s just a lot of people use the “whole cruise” save HUNDREDS argument and I get the extra hassle/risk for huge savings. Saving $4 on a $100 card though just isn’t even worth my hassle. I can’t even get a morning coffee for that...that’s where for people like me the great gift card advice isn’t worth it. Just the other side of the argument for people who think they are really missing out. There are a lot of us that cruise Disney but don’t go to the parks or shop at a Disney store so those cards are really limited and that’s okay too.
 
Thank you. I contacted Disney Cruise Line after reading a lot of erroneous information involving gratuities (like the above) and they assured me I can removed the auto-gratuities in full from my bill and then tip as I please at the end of the cruise in cash.

...

So no, I am not wasting my expensive cruise time complaining about less-than-exceptional service. I can live with service that is good, average or inconsistent. If it is outright poor or bad and negatively impacting my enjoyment, then I might, depending on the situation. Typically, as long as my grandchildren, who are pretty low maintenance, don't care, I am not going to create a fuss. They are my priority, period. So if the assistant server fails to bring my Mai Tai in a timely fashion, I will live with it but, yes, their tip is going to suffer.

Ordinarily I tend to agree with the idea that if tipping is meant to recognize exceptional service, then one should not tip if the service is indeed not exceptional. The only reason I disagree when it comes to cruising is because I know that the staff rely on the tips for their income. For better or for worse, the cruise lines have chosen to under compensate their staff by paying a very small wage and making them rely on tips to make up the rest of their income... then by flipping the responsibility to guests to pay those tips. I do not like 'forced' tipping, but the way I see it, I am the one who chose to cruise knowing that the staff are not well paid, so I would rather they not suffer due to my indignance against auto-gratuities. In a way I view my choice to cruise as 'supporting' the corporation's choice to pay crappy wages, and maybe that is true... in any event, that is why i leave auto-gratuities alone and tip extra in cash when I can.

And if your server fails to bring your Mai Tai in a timely fashion I am not sure their tip will suffer since drinks have an automatic (lol) 15% gratuity.
 
I know that a lot of people get the gift card discounts and if that works for people I applaud their (your) budget skills. Honestly for me though, I don’t have a target red card or shop at a warehouse membership store, so all the extra effort that people put into the gift card churn just doesn’t seem worth it for the $4 per $100 in gift cards for me. I know some people finance their whole cruise and save 5% for $300 or $400, but I cannot imagine being stuck with $6k in gift cards for Disney if I end up changing plans and while we like Disney we aren’t spending money with them annually. A change in plans means having to carry those cards for 3, 4 years. Having that much tied up in gift cards is even worse than giving the money to Disney early for me. I’m getting way more than 5% in the market right now though so just a different kind of gamble
We did a family cruise (16 people in 5 staterooms) where the cruise cost was over $33000, so saving 5% using discounted gift cards was worth it.
 
This is another fallacy.
Disney does not bother their guests to ask why they have chosen to not tip in advance of service.
Believe what you like, but I am speaking from personal experience. My curmudgeon uncle was very determined about having guest services remove the standard gratuities. On a 3 night cruise there were calls, notes and one officer even stopped by our Palo table to follow up with him. He was frustrated with all of us for ordering beverages, due to the automatic tip on bar service.
Yep. That's been my experience also. They want to be sure that you're satisfied, and removing the gratuities is often the first indication that you're not.
Update: I removed my gratuities upon boarding. It was not questioned or commented upon. Nor did I receive any calls, notes or stop-bys afterwards on the matter.

One comment on service: If you get the dining server Ivan, you are being blessed. Enjoy and appreciate. Oh wait, two comments.: Mina (from Japan) at the front desk, if she say's it can't be done, it can't. Because if it can, she will do it. Even if Disney Port Adventures hangs up on her eight times. She got our tour time moved, it was great and we are indebted to her for the experience.
 
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