My thought on Suggested Gratuities

[kiford]

We prefer not to give cash in case we don't see our servers or room attendant on the last day or don't have an opportunity to give it to them. If we want to increase the tip, we always go to Guest Services to adjust. At least I know that it won't go astray.

I can say, that I have had waiters that remember us years later and made it a point to say hello even thought they were not our waiter/server that time.

So have we - Palo waiters as well as bartenders and servers in Cove Café. I always add an individual tip when I order a drink on top of the 15% gratuity. I can't say for sure that's why they remember us later or if that's why we always get good, prompt and attentive service or the occasional treat (like chocolate covered strawberries or caramels) but it certainly doesn't hurt. And adding $0.50-$1.50 each time isn't going to break the bank. And at least I know that those will go to the individual bartender. I also try to make a point of trying to get the same server/bartender each time.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

I see your point here. It's something I didn't think about. And yes I did have higher expectations...will need to adjust for the future.

Adjust your attitude or adjust your tip?

As someone who has been in food service and now own my own restaurant. I never looked at a tip while guests were around, it's just not a proper thing to do. Also, in my time as a Food and Beverage Manager for Disney, (not DCL however), we never ever took anything that was for a cast member, I never even took anything that was ear marked for me, always split that amongst others.

 

[genki3]

Adjust your attitude or adjust your tip?

Neither. There's nothing wrong with my attitude or my tip. I was humbling myself to say that I shouldn't have high expectations that they will acknowledge my extra tip, above the standard amount. I understand that I'm probably in the minority when it comes to "expecting" some form of gratitude for this extra bonus. Maybe I'm mistaken and everyone gives above this standard amount so I shouldn't think that my extra was anything special. I don't know what other guests give. But I do know that I gave extra, and I would've liked being acknowledged for it by the CMs I gave it to. It's just how I roll. I don't think I should be made to feel bad about this.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I came across an article about RCI raising the suggested daily gratuity from $12 to $12.95 pp/day. http://www.travelweekly.com/cruise-travel/royal-caribbean-raises-gratuity-by-8-percent

Another article hinted (without proof) that this increase doesn't go directly to the crew member, but instead goes into the pocket's of the higher-ups.

That got me to thinking...

Back in the early 2000s, I cruised with Carnival and I remembered giving all-cash gratuities. Nowadays, cruise lines add automatic gratuities either prepaid or in your stateroom account. They say you can adjust it, however, I was under the impression (after reading these boards) that if one goes to adjust their account, it'll seem like they're trying to "give less". So...on my recent first DCL cruise, I never adjusted the suggested amount but instead put the slip of paper given by Disney into the envelope along with some extra cash.

I personally thought my addition of extra cash was a nice bonus and I thought my servers and room attendant would be thrilled to get it, but only one out of the 4 CMs reacted. It was a bit off-putting. I wondered, didn't they like getting the extra cash???

Now reading the 2nd article about the possibility that not all of our gratuities go entirely to the intended crew member if we prepay our gratuities or leave it to the cruise lines to dole out, it makes sense that my servers weren't all that thrilled.

For me, the next time I cruise, I'm going to make sure I pay ALL my suggested gratuities in CASH and give it DIRECTLY to my deserving CMs.

Any thoughts?

We have become friends with our server so I specifically asked him what his preference was...he preferred the slip of paper but said if guests wanted to give cash then they should what made them comfortable. But since I asked him that would be his choice. And Disney gives them every penney we leave for them.

the tip envelope and ticket is only so you can hand them something. Unless you place cash or something else in the envelope is complete worthless. They don't NEED the ticket for anything unless they want to keep track of what DLC owes them. So, if you aren't placing anything in the envelope you don't have to hand them anything. We have done that on occasion. They got busy, we didn't want to wait around just for that.

You should try to give them the slip that way they can be sure they got credit for it. Disney does make bookkeeping errors but without that slip, they can't prove that they weren't credited for a tip that they deserved. It doesn't happen often, but it has happened to them.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Neither. There's nothing wrong with my attitude or my tip. I was humbling myself to say that I shouldn't have high expectations that they will acknowledge my extra tip, above the standard amount. I understand that I'm probably in the minority when it comes to "expecting" some form of gratitude for this extra bonus. Maybe I'm mistaken and everyone gives above this standard amount so I shouldn't think that my extra was anything special. I don't know what other guests give. But I do know that I gave extra, and I would've liked being acknowledged for it by the CMs I gave it to. It's just how I roll. I don't think I should be made to feel bad about this.

I'm so sorry, I guess I should have written that better to say your attitude towards your expectations. I was just curious if that's what you meant. I in no way, shape or form meant for you to feel bad, I really do apologize. I was just trying to say they probably didn't look at the extra until after you were off the ship.

 

[bumbershoot]

After we gave the envelopes to each server and head server at different times, they left and out of sight for a good 5 minutes. I'm making an assumption that they went to check how much they got.

They are SO busy that last night, there's just no chance they are taking the time to look into all the envelopes they are getting. They went back to put in orders and get drinks and take other orders, etc.


I would be VERY uncomfortable if a server, etc reacted to the contents of the envelope...

I can say, that I have had waiters that remember us years later and made it a point to say hello even thought they were not our waiter/server that time.

I don't think that we are "big" or "heavy" tippers; I think we're pretty average. Maybe below average when staying concierge on Dream, because we just don't ask all that much from them. BUT the one concierge we saw more than once (who moved on and is no longer with Disney, sadly) remembered us, remembered names, remembered when she was our concierge. And this was on our Inside cabin cruise, withOUT concierge. And she saw us on the pool deck. And when she saw DH and DS later and DH mentioned an issue I was having, she *insisted* on helping out with it. She made a world of difference to that cruise, and wasn't even working within her position at the time. And, again, we aren't huge tippers, and she might very well not have been impressed with what we left her and her colleagues 9 months prior. It's just that cruise personnel are really good employees! (not specific to Disney; our service on Royal has been fabulous as well)

 

[mmouse37]

I don't think there is a right or wrong when it comes to tipping, as long as we tip. By the way, I tip the last thing on the final dinner night. I always just eat at Cabanas on the departure morning. Quicker so we can get off the ship faster.

This is what we do as well. I give the envelopes as the last thing at dinner. I truly believe the CM's do not have time to go check what they got right away. I think they are more professional than that. I also do not expect more of a reaction based on what I gave. A thank you is sufficient and when I add more cash to the envelope they know I was more than pleased with their service.

We had a wonderful Head Server on the EBTA (can't believe it is over already!!). Luis was fabulous and spent tons of time at our table (and his other tables) all the time. We loved talking with him about his family and his home. I would say he was one of the best head servers we ever had onboard.

MJ

 

[Bruiserknits]

We just got home and had a wonderful service team. Our server and assistant server were the best. Friendly, happy, and it was quite genuine. I will be asking for Artadana the next time I sail on the Dream as he truly seemed to care about us. We tipped the last dinner of our cruise and saw them again at breakfast. Art and Ivan were fabulous and we had a great conversation with them the next morning. They thanked us for our kind words the night before, gave us hugs and talked about what they are going to be doing while the Dream is in dry dock (Art is actually going to be working on the ship with the changes). I gave the standard tip, but left some extra cash after debarkation breakfast. I wrote on the envelope my thanks in taking care of me (I have weird allergies so there was lots of prepping and pre-ordering to make sure I could eat my food without dying on board) and he told me how much my sentiment meant to him at breakfast and gave me another big hug and hoped I saw him again. Perhaps the way one expresses their appreciation varies by person. We also loved our stateroom host. A Foster Foster (Foster is not his last name) was fabulous and also gave me a hug when we left our stateroom for the last time and I was crying. He promised he would see me again.

 

[Tara619]

I'm glad I read this post. On our last cruise, I added cash to the envelopes/tickets. This year I'll just increase the ticket amount at GS so it's easier on them.

 

[ahain]

I wanted to add...I don't think we should ever NOT expect further acknowledgement of our additional tips. They should recognize that we gave extra. The reason I'm giving additional gratuity is because I want them to know that they deserved this additional amount. For them not to acknowledge this makes me feel as if it wasn't appreciated.

My assumption has always been that they are far too busy serving to open the tip envelopes until later - perhaps even the next day - and even though we add extra cash to the tip envelopes, we have never expected any additional reaction or mention from them beyond the initial "thank you" that we received when we handed over the envelopes at dinner.