Disney Cruise Line to automatically add gratuities to bill

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

From MousePlanet...

Disney Cruise Line to automatically add gratuities to bill

This week we learned that Disney Cruise Line is rolling out a mandatory pre-payment policy for onboard gratuities. Dining room servers, assistant servers and head servers, as well as stateroom hosts / hostesses (housekeeping), earn the majority of their wages from tips. Until this week, Disney offered passengers the opportunity to pre-pay the suggested gratuity (about $12 per day per passenger) before they boarded. Passengers who opted not to pre-pay their gratuities could do so once onboard, but this practice resulted in long lines near the end of every cruise.

Now Disney has announced they will automatically add the suggested gratuity to the shipboard accounts of passengers who have not pre-paid their gratuities by the time they check in for their cruise. The policy is already in place on the Disney Magic, and rolled out to the Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder this weekend. Disney has not yet determined when the policy will go into effect on the Disney Dream.

Passengers who wish to increase or decrease the amount of tip, or who wish to change the form of payment (paying cash instead of by credit card) can still do so at guest relations after they board.

This change helps reduce the frequently long lines at guest services, and also eliminates the chance that a passenger might "forget" to arrange gratuities for their service team, both benefiting Disney and their crew. However, some passengers object to being forced to pay the nominally-discretionary gratuity before ever boarding the ship, and question whether the service on Disney's ships will be impacted by the change. Will servers and stateroom hosts go that extra mile if they know that their tip is already on the books, or will pre-paid tips result in the same decrease in service often experienced at character dining restaurants and other locations where an automatic gratuity is applied?

Thanks to Mary Kraemer with MousePlanet sponsor MouseEarVacations.com for the heads up on this latest DCL policy change.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/9951/Walt_Disney_World_Resort_Update

[Lou... 3,118]

That's been the policy for CM reservations all along.

I'm curious on how it works out for the ships tipped position CMs.

We felt that the mandatory tip was low and added to it, but how many guests would be paying more before but now will just settle for the pre-determined amount.

If you do go on a Disney Cruise, and I realize that they are more expensive, are happy with your cabin and server CMs, show it. Be generous and add to the mandatory amount.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

That policy doesn't bother me at all.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That policy doesn't bother me at all.

It doesn't bother me either.

I have always cringed when I have heard from guests who allegedly didn't understand about the tips, and ended up stiffing or short-changing the staff.

One thing that does cause me some concern, though, is that it is only natural that some of the crew will not try as hard, knowing that their tips have already been paid. I have heard similar complaints about along those lines from guests with large parties at WDW restaurants, where there is a policy that a automatic tip is included.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

One thing I hope is that even with the automatic tipping, they still put a lot of weight on the crew surveys. It was always impressed on us that getting another contract relied heavily on those surveys, so hopefully instead of worrying about tips, their service will be motivated by the surveys!!

[Lou... 3,118]

One thing that does cause me some concern, though, is that it is only natural that some of the crew will not try as hard, knowing that their tips have already been paid.

A mandatory tip is always the case when I go to a TS restaurant. I have never found that the service was ever less than what it should be, just the opposite. The servers are more themselves and seem to be more comfortable.

That was also the case on our recent cruise. Our servers new that we were a CM group, so they also new that the tip was already paid, but they were absolutely great for the entire five days.

The service and the great attitude couldn't have been better.

But remember that they also know that we can add to the prepaid tip.