Tipping servers

[Anna114]

I'm just curious what other people do. If you don't eat in the main restaurant every night do you still tip them the nights you are not there?

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

Yes, absolutely. It is our choice not to eat in the MDR any given evening, but they should not be penalized when we do. That's my opinion, at least.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

Yes, absolutely. It is our choice not to eat in the MDR any given evening, but they should not be penalized when we do. That's my opinion, at least.

Oops, I meant they should not be penalized when we DON'T.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Yes, tip them the full amount even if you don't eat in the MDR each night. The servers also work at Cabanas during lunch and breakfast, and on Castaway Cay. They don't get paid much so they make their living off the tips.

 

[The Sasquatch]

i agree and the tips are automatic, DCL is going to charge you at the end of the cruise.

You are assigned servers that are there to "serve" you while on the ship. If you dont go to dinner, they dont get to go home and they make a living from those tips.

 

[wcw57]

i agree and the tips are automatic, DCL is going to charge you at the end of the cruise.

You are assigned servers that are there to "serve" you while on the ship. If you dont go to dinner, they dont get to go home and they make a living from those tips.

tips can be adjusted manually..
they don't get to go home?! HUH?!?!?! Maybe you were using hyperbole for to make a dramatic point and I am too dense to get it.............

 

[Dug720]

tips can be adjusted manually..
they don't get to go home?! HUH?!?!?! Maybe you were using hyperbole for to make a dramatic point and I am too dense to get it.............

I think they were referring to how in a land-based restaurant, if it is not busy, managers will often send people home rather than have "too many" employees there.

 

[wcw57]

Oh, THAT never entered my mind. ......It's NEVER slow in a cruise ship at dinner, I'll bet

 

[The Sasquatch]

tips can be adjusted manually..
they don't get to go home?! HUH?!?!?! Maybe you were using hyperbole for to make a dramatic point and I am too dense to get it.............

maybe....if I was trying to be dramatic or pretending to not understand

"home" - dont get to leave their job as a server for the evening because you are not there. I guess you could possibly use "cabin" if you choose or look at it as if they were woking on land. Point being, they are still working if you dont show up and they only get paid tips from the tables they were assigned. There is no upside, no additional opportunity to make that money elsewhere or as I stated "go home" for the evening.

 

[wcw57]

That is correct, sir! Excuse me for never thinking that the service team would ever be sent home because it was slow. My mind just didn't go there....I did not infer what you implied.

 

[olookasquirrel]

But also - you're eating *somewhere*. You're eating at Cabanas or quick service on deck, or *somewhere*. Someone is serving you, for every meal. I think of the gratuity as a general service charge, and would only think of docking it if the food service on the whole ship, for every meal, was terrible - which, if that were the case, I would complain at GS before I started docking tips.

Do I wish it was just included in fares? Yep. Wouldn't notice an extra $80 tacked on to my $1500 cruise fare, but I hate planning for "ok 4 people times $12 a day, so there will be a decent charge on the cc AFTER the cruise is paid for & vacation was enjoyed". Then you could actually tip for service - I'm an infamous cheapskate and our serving team got extra out of me, they were that good.

 

[over50visits]

Absolutely. Not only do they serve at all meals, you have reserved their time for you during dinner whether you show or not. They will be there, for example, if you change your mind and go to dinner after all.

Disney does not offer a booking option where you can opt out of eating dinner. Part of the deal, you reserve waiters and a table, it is yours, and common courtesy dictates you'll at least offer the minimum gratuity.

 

[FamilyHolidayPlanner]

I'm just curious what other people do. If you don't eat in the main restaurant every night do you still tip them the nights you are not there?

Definitely yes!

 

[Shanti]

I'm just curious what other people do. If you don't eat in the main restaurant every night do you still tip them the nights you are not there?

Yes, you do.

 

[Anna114]

I really appreciate all of the feedback. My family does pay even if we don't partake. I just wasn't sure what others do. OK, just to put a spin. They are not serving you if you are not there. Would you be OK if you only gave a portion of a tip instead of the whole thing on the days you weren't there?

 

[Dug720]

I really appreciate all of the feedback. My family does pay even if we don't partake. I just wasn't sure what others do. OK, just to put a spin. They are not serving you if you are not there. Would you be OK if you only gave a portion of a tip instead of the whole thing on the days you weren't there?

If I ate ABSOLUTELY NOTHING one day, perhaps. And I mean no breakfast, no lunch, no dinner. NOTHING.

Actually even then I probably wouldn't. When I was on the Dream while my sister was working on that ship, she got permission to eat with me, and we were moved to a table just us. I left my tips in place for my original assignment (it never got officially changed in the system) AND tipped the servers we had all week. I felt bad taking it away from the initial servers because they didn't know I was changed to another table (when I did get officially changed, I didn't give my first night servers the whole week's worth). Plus, odds are they helped me at some point during another meal on the ship or CC.

 

[PlanoNana]

Yes, we tip all our servers and room steward at least the suggested amount no matter where we eat. We do avoid the hassle of calculating how much or a surprise charge at the end of the cruise by prepaying the tips with our reservation. It's an option and it just makes budgeting so much easier. Then we usually tip extra since we've always had fantastic service. We just made our final payment for our Very Merrytime Cruise after Thanksgiving and the tips are paid. When we go on the cruise, I want to relax and enjoy the time.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I really appreciate all of the feedback. My family does pay even if we don't partake. I just wasn't sure what others do. OK, just to put a spin. They are not serving you if you are not there. Would you be OK if you only gave a portion of a tip instead of the whole thing on the days you weren't there?

I don't think you're getting it. Even though the tip is for your dinner servers, it covers all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Even you don't get your specific server in Cabanas (for example) for breakfast, or serving you your hot dog on the pool deck, the "dinner" servers also work those locations. Your tip covers all meals. Are you planning on not eating anywhere onboard?

 

[CesD]

the way we look at it is - since we dont tip separately for breakfast, lunch and dinner separately, the tip to our dinner server covers all of these. Even if they didnt serve us at breakfast, we were still served somehow. If we all pay the suggested tips, it all evens out-- for example, my dinner server served Family A during lunch. Family A's dinner server served me during lunch. We both pay our tips and both servers get tipped. In theory, of course. They all work together and at different places for like 14 hrs a day. If I ate NOTHING for one whole day, maybe it would be justified not to tip but really we are talking a small amount compared to the entire cost of the trip.

 

[FigmentSpark]

It might be easier to think of tipping as the final payment for your trip. While this amount is up to you, DCL has strongly suggested a particular rate because it reflects how they pay their staff. If you don't want to pay, you don't have to. But if you don't, someone's paycheck will reflect that, whether you used their services or not. This trip is costing you a lot of money. This is not the place to look to save a few bucks.

This is why tipping is not an ideal way to pay for services. I'd much rather everything was rolled into the cost and no tipping allowed (with and increase in cost, I know). If there's a service issue, I would complain, just as I would with tipping. Who waits to show their displeasure in service to the moment of tipping? Sure, they have an opportunity to make more in tips, but isn't their job to provide excellent service? Just pay them a good wage and make that an expectation. I'll pay the premium for no tipping.