Help me with tipping

[DharmaLou]

I did a search but didn't get an exact answer.

I understand that it's $1/item for room service - easy enough
At least $1/bag to porters/bellservice; we'll likely have 4 bags so I'll likely tip $10

We have prepaid gratuities but I also understand that many people pay in excess of that as well if service warrants it, and I am always a 25% tipper standard, so I likely will. How many people MAX should I be prepared to tip if I tip everyone extra?

Anyone else I'm forgetting and how much?

Just trying to figure out how much cash to bring with me since I never carry cash.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Aside from the porters, very little cash is required. You might choose to bring cash to tip your room steward and waiters extra but you can also add it to your onboard account if you don't have cash. I think there are varying opinions on the boards about what is better, but personally I am not sure cast members care as much as people on the boards do about, well, anything. Anyway: room steward, waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter are the main people - and the people to whom your prepaid gratuities go. When you order a drink, there will be an auto-gratuity added. You can add more right on the bill itself.

As for how much, that's another personal thing, IMO.

 

[RedHead0186]

We have prepaid gratuities but I also understand that many people pay in excess of that as well if service warrants it, and I am always a 25% tipper standard, so I likely will. How many people MAX should I be prepared to tip if I tip everyone extra?

For those included in the prepaid gratuities, it's your stateroom host, and then in the main dining rooms it's the head server, server, and assistant server. How much to tip them extra is really up to you and how well you feel they treated out. The amount will also vary-we never interact with the head server very much (not because they're bad, it's just the nature of their role), so we'll leave them a small increased tip, but not as much as, say the server and assistant server, who we really interacted with a lot and they took great care of us. As PP said, you can do that in cash, or go to guest services and have them add the additional amounts to your onboard accounts.

Any other person who you could tip, you can do so at the point of sale (Palo/Remy servers, bartenders, etc.). This doesn't have to be cash either, you can add it just like you would when paying with a credit card.

 

[SnappySerape]

Extra tipping is definitely a personal thing but the general rule of thumb I have for the stateroom host/hostess and the server is 1-2% of the cruise fare (so for a $3800, I'll tip 40-80 dollars extra). I'll give the assistant 0.5% of the total cruise fare. I'll adjust this slightly based on whether they were subpar or go above and beyond (I haven't had a subpar experience yet personally). These folks work hard so I want to give them a bit more for their efforts. I'll usually tip an extra 5 to the head server and if there were a crew member who really made my trip special, I'll sometimes give them a 10. I usually use the envelopes at the end of the cruise to tip the extra in cash.

 

[European]

What about the bartenders, but also if you get drinks in the main dining room? Should you pay on top of the gratuity that is automatically charged and if so how much?

 

[RedHead0186]

What about the bartenders, but also if you get drinks in the main dining room? Should you pay on top of the gratuity that is automatically charged and if so how much?

For a drink like that, I usually don't pay above the auto gratuity, personally. If you wanted to you easily could, though, as you get a receipt to sign like a credit card bill and can add more gratuity.

Tipping is really personal preference, so it's hard to say what you 'should' and 'shouldn't' do. If you think the person deserves than what they're already getting, then add more.

 

[tvguy]

Aside from the porters, very little cash is required. You might choose to bring cash to tip your room steward and waiters extra but you can also add it to your onboard account if you don't have cash. I think there are varying opinions on the boards about what is better, but personally I am not sure cast members care as much as people on the boards do about, well, anything. Anyway: room steward, waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter are the main people - and the people to whom your prepaid gratuities go. When you order a drink, there will be an auto-gratuity added. You can add more right on the bill itself.

As for how much, that's another personal thing, IMO.

For tipping yes, but cash is VERY handy to have in many Caribbean ports because they will take U.S. dollars and there may be situations where you're not comfortable paying with a credit card, IF they take them (taking street vendors).

 

[kiford]

What about the bartenders, but also if you get drinks in the main dining room? Should you pay on top of the gratuity that is automatically charged and if so how much?

I usually add an additional tip. The auto tip is split amongst the staff at the particular bar/venue but if you add an additional tip, it goes to the specific server or bartender who served you. I don't add as much as the autogratuity but I will leave a bit more. If my assistant server is particularly good - being attentive to asking if I want another drink, figuring out that I usually just order the wine pairing, etc. I will add a larger additional tip each night (I always add another tip but it may be larger for a particularly good one).

I never use cash even if I increase for the standard four positions because I don't know if I'll see them on the last day or night and I want to make sure that they get it. This way it gets into their pay and they don't need to deposit it into their account.

I usually have a few dollars for room service although we never order it so I've never actually used it. I bring some small amounts for tour guides, etc. always assuming we plan to leave the ship which we often don't - or don't do a lot - on the Caribbean or Bahamian cruises.

We typically take DCL transfers either from the WDW resort, Disney booked hotel or MCO Hyatt so our luggage is automatically picked up. The few times that I do, I usually tip $2/bag plus $1-2 more depending on how many bags I have.

 

[Akck]

In the past, we’ve doubled the prepaid gratuity. For the head server, it depends on how they interact with our servers and guests around us. We did generously tip our head server once. There was I mishap in the server area (dropped food tray). First thing our head server did was make sure nobody was injured and then he expedited getting replacement meals, running to get it himself. No admonishing the servers for the accident. I also learned how to pop a lobster tail from the shell from watching him. Works well on shrimp tails too.

 

[CarolynFH]

the general rule of thumb I have for the stateroom host/hostess and the server is 1-2% of the cruise fare (so for a $3800, I'll tip 40-80 dollars extra). I'll give the assistant 0.5% of the total cruise fare.

So you tip 1-2% of the cruise fare on top of the standard gratuity or total including it?

 

[SnappySerape]

So you tip 1-2% of the cruise fare on top of the standard gratuity or total including it?

On top of. I leave the standard gratuities as charged (14.50 per night per person) then bring cash for the extra. It's also a one time extra thing. I don't give them 1-2% every night, just once at the end of the cruise. As for bartenders, I'll usually add an extra dollar but I'll admit that I buy maybe 2-3 drinks a day (that includes 1 specialty coffee) on Disney.

 

[DisneyConvert]

Good thread.

We often tip a bit extra to thr Head Waiter as DW has many food restrictions and they have often "watched out for us" reviewing the next evening's menu for what might be suitable. Saves us time and indecision/worry.

Cabin Host's who fill my ice-bucket in the room each evening, oh yeah, that will be "appreciated" as well.

Another test is getting one's salad or 1st course in the "themed" restaurant before the show begins . . . (not a fan).

Finally, Palo used to be the big mystery, yes? But now it's an easy 20% or whatever.

 

[RedHead0186]

Another test is getting one's salad or 1st course in the "themed" restaurant before the show begins . . . (not a fan).

I'm curious why you don't like that? In some of the restaurants, the show doesn't start right away so not getting your salad/first course before it starts means you're sitting around for a while not eating anything. To each their own, I'm just curious why that's your preference.

Also, I don't think it's fair to call that a "test." I'm sure a lot of people would like to get their food pretty quickly after they order. If you don't tell your servers that's your preference I don't think it's fair to hold that against them.

 

[Girl of the South]

I tip a minimum of $3 for room service and $1 more for any item over 1.

So for 2 items - $4
3 items - $5

 

[Betsyp]

Do we have the same cleaning staff or should we leave tips every morning before we leave (as opposed to at the end of the cruise)?

Thanks!

 

[RedHead0186]

Do we have the same cleaning staff or should we leave tips every morning before we leave (as opposed to at the end of the cruise)?

Thanks!

You will have a stateroom host assigned to you for the duration of your cruise. Tips for them are factored into the $14.50/day amount recommended by DCL. However, if you'd like to tip them more you can to to guest services to change that amount or leave cash for them on the last morning.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Do we have the same cleaning staff or should we leave tips every morning before we leave (as opposed to at the end of the cruise)?

Thanks!

This is one great thing about cruising - the stateroom hosts are usually great and they will often try to introduce themselves to you on the very first day. Typically they will even have a little notepad while they ask whether there's anything you need/want. We have sometimes made requests where we will tip right away - e.g. we asked for door stops to keep the connecting doors between our staterooms opened, or we needed a pullman opened earlier than usual, etc.

Something I also wanted to mention is that if you receive great service, mention the CM by name on your end of cruise survey. It can result in bonuses for the staff including extra time off etc.

The stateroom hosts and server/assistant servers work SUPER hard on the cruise. You will see your servers in Cabanas or MDRs for breakfast/lunch or even at the pool deck food locations sometimes. The stateroom hosts have a lot of rooms to maintain and they work long of hours to keep up. We do always tip above the standard amount for these folks. For the head waiter, it just depends on whether we have had interaction with him/her or not.

 

[Betsyp]

You will have a stateroom host assigned to you for the duration of your cruise. Tips for them are factored into the $14.50/day amount recommended by DCL. However, if you'd like to tip them more you can to to guest services to change that amount or leave cash for them on the last morning.

So we need to leave at least that much in cash per day? It’s a good thing I took out a lot of money today, lol

Thanks!

 

[Betsyp]

This is one great thing about cruising - the stateroom hosts are usually great and they will often try to introduce themselves to you on the very first day. Typically they will even have a little notepad while they ask whether there's anything you need/want. We have sometimes made requests where we will tip right away - e.g. we asked for door stops to keep the connecting doors between our staterooms opened, or we needed a pullman opened earlier than usual, etc.

Something I also wanted to mention is that if you receive great service, mention the CM by name on your end of cruise survey. It can result in bonuses for the staff including extra time off etc.

The stateroom hosts and server/assistant servers work SUPER hard on the cruise. You will see your servers in Cabanas or MDRs for breakfast/lunch or even at the pool deck food locations sometimes. The stateroom hosts have a lot of rooms to maintain and they work long of hours to keep up. We do always tip above the standard amount for these folks. For the head waiter, it just depends on whether we have had interaction with him/her or not.

Oh I definitely want to reward them for making my cruise as pleasurable as possible …and absolutely I’ll mention them by name in surveys

Can I leave the tips at the end of the cruise? And should it always be in cash?

Thank you!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Oh I definitely want to reward them for making my cruise as pleasurable as possible …and absolutely I’ll mention them by name in surveys

Can I leave the tips at the end of the cruise? And should it always be in cash?

Thank you!

You can tip any time, it can be in cash, but it doesn't have to be. You can adjust your gratuities at Guest Services too where you can add on and it will just all be added to your card at the end of the cruise. DCL will also leave envelopes for you with little slips of paper for the last day or two of the cruise where you can add cash if you want, etc.