I need help with tipping

So I am sitting here going through everything I need to prepare and pack for our trip in 10 days.

One thing that hit my mind was gratuity. I think I figured out all the tips I will need to provide for the land portion, but the cruise portion was a bit boggling.

We have planned a Rasul Treatment at the spa. Do we tip anyone for that? We don't exactly have a masseuse for it, but would I tip the person that takes us to the room?

Finally, how do tips work with excursions? We are doing an eco tour at Castaway Cay and assume tipping would be appropriate for our tour guide, but how much? Is it 15% or is it a simple 5-10 dollar tip?

Any other tips I should factor into our budget besides the typical servers & stateroom host? Which brings up another question I had.

How much do you typically tip the dining manager? Everywhere I look it says to your discretion.

BTW- Merry Christmas!

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Originally Posted by angedeaile

We have planned a Rasul Treatment at the spa. Do we tip anyone for that? We don't exactly have a masseuse for it, but would I tip the person that takes us to the room?

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It's not a treatment done by spa personnel, so I would not tip.

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Finally, how do tips work with excursions? We are doing an eco tour at Castaway Key and assume tipping would be appropriate for our tour guide, but how much? Is it 15% or is it a simple 5-10 dollar tip?

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Excursion tipping is optional and at your own discretion. Personally, I would just figure a $5 or $10 dollar tip.

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Any other tips I should factor into our budget besides the typical servers & stateroom host?

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Some tips are automatically added to your bill (ie beer, wine, deck service), so be careful to read your receipt to see if a gratuity should be factored in, or if it was already done for you. If you are going to utilize the porter service for dropping off or retrieving your luggage at the port, you may want to have some tip money readily available.

How are you getting to Port? We take the DCL busses and I include tips for the drivers in my budget as well.

Besides your server and asst server, there's the head server (in our case he really was helpful), your stateroom host/hostess... we also brought along a gift for the Lab staff (a huge bag of candy) as they cannot accept tips.

The DCL site has a suggested list of gratuities (click on "What about gratuities?"), and they mention the server, asst server, head server, dining room manager, room service (we tipped $2 per person), and your Palo server (if you're dining there... and there are several schools of thought re: the tip to be given there), as well as the spa, "babysitting," and shore excursions.

I might be crazy but I'm bringing a little something extra along for someone very special who made our cruise extraordinarily special last year, as well as for our server and asst server.

And to second what Tammi said, the tip we gave the porter upon debarking was some of the best money I've ever spent.

At the Walt Disney World® Resort, 15% is the customary gratuity at restaurants and bars.

Couldn't help but notice this at the bottom of the list from the offical Disney website link that Ellen mentioned. Don't you find the % interesting when they are now adding 18% for groups of 6 or more and all Disney Dining Experience bills for table service meals. Makes you wonder.:confused:

We have never cruised, so this is all new to me.
I found the following on disney web site,
would this be for the entire cruise?
And if given cash, do you give at the end of the cruise? Do they supply a evelope?

What about gratuities?

It is customary to give gratuities in recognition of service, which you will most likely be treated to in abundance aboard the ship. As a guideline, may we suggest the following:

Per Guest per cruise 3-Night 4-Night 7-Night
Dining Room Server $11.00 $14.75 $25.75
Dining Room Asst. Server $8.00 $10.75 $18.75
Dining Room Head Server $2.75 $3.75 $6.50
Stateroom Host/Hostess $10.75 $14.50 $25.25
Dining Manager Your Discretion
Room Service Your Discretion
Palo Gratuity included
Vista Spa & Salon Your Discretion
Babysitting Gratuity not expected
Shore Excursions Optional; not included in shore excursion price.
For your convenience, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your room charge.

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Originally Posted by PAMOUSELOVER

We have never cruised, so this is all new to me.
I found the following on disney web site,
would this be for the entire cruise?

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This is the same information Ellen linked to in her post above.

Yes, this is for the entire cruise- it is PER PERSON, and the 3 different columns represent the amounts for the length of your cruise (3, 4, 7 night).

My understanding is that Guest Services has the envelopes and you can pay cash or charge your tips anytime during your cruise.

PAMouseLover, the gratuities look a bit confusing, but they're actually pretty easy to figure out. First, are you on a 3, 4 or 7 night cruise? If you are on the 4 night, you want to pull the amounts shown in the 2nd column. Next, multiply that amount by the number of people in your stateroom. For example, if you are 4 night with 3 people:

Dining Room Server tip is $14.75 X 3 = $44.25

DCL will supply you with tip envelopes on the last full day of your cruise. They'll be delivered to your room with your daily navigator. I know ours had a sheet with the full breakdown, so it was easy to calculate. When you go to dinner that night, you bring your envelopes and distribute them to the dining room staff. It's up to you whether you want to enclose cash or stop by guest services to charge the tips instead.

Some tipping is done at the time the service is given. For example, any alcohol you order, is automatically charged 18% gratuity as is any deck service (non-alcoholic drinks delivered to you on deck). If you plan on utilizing room service, you should tip when the food is delivered to your stateroom. Spa treatments have a line to add tipping and if you want to tip an excursion guide, do that at the time of your tour.

Hope that helps to clear things up a bit.

Thank you!
Is it just me or does this tipping seem high?
We are a family of four. Do you really have so many servers? We tip well I always thought. I usally give $6 a day to mousekeeping at WDW resorts, and we are pretty clean people.

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Originally Posted by TammiMcMan

PAMouseLover, the gratuities look a bit confusing, but they're actually pretty easy to figure out. First, are you on a 3, 4 or 7 night cruise? If you are on the 4 night, you want to pull the amounts shown in the 2nd column. Next, multiply that amount by the number of people in your stateroom. For example, if you are 4 night with 3 people:

Dining Room Server tip is $14.75 X 3 = $44.25

DCL will supply you with tip envelopes on the last full day of your cruise. They'll be delivered to your room with your daily navigator. I know ours had a sheet with the full breakdown, so it was easy to calculate. When you go to dinner that night, you bring your envelopes and distribute them to the dining room staff. It's up to you whether you want to enclose cash or stop by guest services to charge the tips instead.

Some tipping is done at the time the service is given. For example, any alcohol you order, is automatically charged 18% gratuity as is any deck service (non-alcoholic drinks delivered to you on deck). If you plan on utilizing room service, you should tip when the food is delivered to your stateroom. Spa treatments have a line to add tipping and if you want to tip an excursion guide, do that at the time of your tour.

Hope that helps to clear things up a bit.

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My ex-wife worked in housekeeping, and she said that unfortunately, many Disney guests are VERY cheap with tips, and some do not leave anything at all! That just seems wrong! Another sad thing I heard is that all of the housekeepers have to pool their tips together, and sometimes don't even get to take them! A lot of the "maids" will take the money as soon as they see it sitting on the table before one of her co-workers does, so if you know you have a housekeeper that you REALLY like, especially if you stay for more than a day or two, and she does a really good job, then make sure you PERSONALLY give her your tip, and allow her to decide what to do with it. As for restaurants, I ALWAYS tip 20% or better, unless the service is alsolutely horrible, and I can safely say that I have only had that happen to me at Disney ONCE.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by PAMOUSELOVER

Thank you!
Is it just me or does this tipping seem high?

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Not when you consider that you are basically covering tips for 3 meals a day. Even if you don't have the same server for the open breakfast or lunch, this covers them all equally.

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Do you really have so many servers?

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Technically, you have 2 that do most of the work. You'll see that's reflected in the suggested gratuity amount.

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I usually give $6 a day to mousekeeping at WDW resorts, and we are pretty clean people.

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I think you'll quickly realize that there's not a lot of comparison between mousekeeping at a WDW resort and a stateroom host/hostess. They can do a lot more for you than just pick up the room and make your bed. You are assigned to the same person for the whole week, so they are in tune to exactly what your likes and dislikes are. They also take care of your room twice a day and are available to you at anytime if you need something. I think that if you poll people, you'll find that the majority of previous cruisers have given more than the suggested amount to their stateroom host/hostess.

What if we plan on only eating dinner, and buffet for everything else? Why do they tend to your room twice a day?
We have never cruised before, and I would not want to short anyone. Just tryign to get all the details. Thanks Tammie:mickey:

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Originally Posted by TammiMcMan

Not when you consider that you are basically covering tips for 3 meals a day. Even if you don't have the same server for the open breakfast or lunch, this covers them all equally.

Technically, you have 2 that do most of the work. You'll see that's reflected in the suggested gratuity amount.

I think you'll quickly realize that there's not a lot of comparison between mousekeeping at a WDW resort and a stateroom host/hostess. They can do a lot more for you than just pick up the room and make your bed. You are assigned to the same person for the whole week, so they are in tune to exactly what your likes and dislikes are. They also take care of your room twice a day and are available to you at anytime if you need something. I think that if you poll people, you'll find that the majority of previous cruisers have given more than the suggested amount to their stateroom host/hostess.

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We always tip mousekeeping, some day they did not take it. So I made sure to tape them both to the mirro.

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Originally Posted by DrWorm2008

My ex-wife worked in housekeeping, and she said that unfortunately, many Disney guests are VERY cheap with tips, and some do not leave anything at all! That just seems wrong! Another sad thing I heard is that all of the housekeepers have to pool their tips together, and sometimes don't even get to take them! A lot of the "maids" will take the money as soon as they see it sitting on the table before one of her co-workers does, so if you know you have a housekeeper that you REALLY like, especially if you stay for more than a day or two, and she does a really good job, then make sure you PERSONALLY give her your tip, and allow her to decide what to do with it. As for restaurants, I ALWAYS tip 20% or better, unless the service is alsolutely horrible, and I can safely say that I have only had that happen to me at Disney ONCE.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by PAMOUSELOVER

What if we plan on only eating dinner, and buffet for everything else?

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The ship is a small world and you will most likely see your server working a shift in Topsiders or even at the late night buffet. There's just no way to tell who is going to eat 3 meals a day in a restaurant and who isn't. That's why DCL uses "suggested" tipping and not gratuity included cruises like many of the other lines. If you feel that strongly about only eating dinner, then adjust your gratuity to reflect that at the end of the cruise.

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Why do they tend to your room twice a day?

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Not only do they clean your room and make your beds in the morning, but then they come back in the late afternoon to do lighter housekeeping (emptying trash, taking out room service trays, replenishing towels used during the day, refilling ice buckets, etc) they also turn down your beds and make up the pull down berths (if you have that type of room). They also deliver laundry if you utilize that service, bring your daily navigators, extra pillows, basically anything you ask them to do, they'll try their best.

WOW you are right!
What is a berth?

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Originally Posted by TammiMcMan

The ship is a small world and you will most likely see your server working a shift in Topsiders or even at the late night buffet. There's just no way to tell who is going to eat 3 meals a day in a restaurant and who isn't. That's why DCL uses "suggested" tipping and not gratuity included cruises like many of the other lines. If you feel that strongly about only eating dinner, then adjust your gratuity to reflect that at the end of the cruise.

Not only do they clean your room and make your beds in the morning, but then they come back in the late afternoon to do lighter housekeeping (emptying trash, taking out room service trays, replenishing towels used during the day, refilling ice buckets, etc) they also turn down your beds and make up the pull down berths (if you have that type of room). They also deliver laundry if you utilize that service, bring your daily navigators, extra pillows, basically anything you ask them to do, they'll try their best.

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Originally Posted by PAMOUSELOVER

What is a berth?

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Some staterooms have beds that pull down out of the ceiling. I'm pretty sure they call them berths.