If you’re planning a Disney cruise, you may be wondering how gratuities work on Disney Cruise Line. Gratuities are a customary way of showing appreciation to the crew members who provide exceptional service throughout your voyage. Here is information on what you need to know about the gratuities system onboard the Disney Cruise Line!
How much should you tip?
The recommended gratuity amount for Disney Cruise Line is $14.50 per person, per night for guests, including infants and children, and $15.50 per person, per night for guests in Concierge-level staterooms. These gratuity amounts cover your dining room server, assistant server, head server, and stateroom host/hostess. For Concierge-level staterooms, it also includes the stateroom assistant host.
If you receive exceptional service from any other crew members, you can choose to tip them additionally.
When are gratuities charged?
You can choose to pre-pay your gratuities before arrival if you wish. This must be done at least three days prior to sailing. Otherwise, they are added to our onboard account before the end of the cruise.
How are gratuities charged?
Gratuities are charged to your onboard account automatically, but you have the option to adjust the amount based on your experience. If you wish to change the gratuity amount, you can do so by visiting the Guest Services desk on the ship prior to the end of your cruise.
If you receive exceptional service from a crew member, you may choose to provide them with an additional tip. You can do this by providing cash directly to the crew member or by adding an additional amount to your final gratuity charge on your account. Many guests travel with thank-you cards and envelopes for this purpose!
What is NOT included in your pre-paid gratuities?
All spa services, as well as any bar service (including soft drinks), wine or beer packages, alcoholic beverages with meals, or beverages in shops are by the pool, will have an 18% gratuity automatically added.
All adult dining locations, such as Remy, Palo, or Enchanté, are not part of the rotational dining service and therefore not included. A recommended starting point for these locations is 18% or more.
Gratuities for room service are not included, as well as for your guides on Port Adventures. These are not automatically added and are based on your discretion.
Also, not included, the recommended gratuity for the Concierge Lounge Team is $8.00 per guest per night when staying in Concierge accommodations.
Most of the above, with the exception of gratuities for room service and Port Adventures guides, can be added to your onboard account.
Are gratuities mandatory?
While gratuities are not mandatory, they are strongly recommended. If you choose not to tip, providing a reason to Guest Services as to why would be helpful in ensuring that Disney Cruise Line continues to provide the exceptional service that they are known for!
And all too soon… it’s time to go home!
The evening before disembarkation, your stateroom host/hostess will leave envelopes in your room along with a sheet of cards, showing the amount going to your server, assistant server, head server and stateroom host/hostess. You will receive these even if you have pre-paid your gratuities, so don’t panic. The envelopes will just show the amount going to each person. You can add more in cash and/or you can add a thank you message to these envelopes if you wish. Using the envelopes is also optional and not mandatory.
If you have any additional questions about gratuities on Disney Cruise Line, please reach out! Our agents have collectively been on hundreds of Disney Cruise Line cruises so we should have the answer!
Disney Cruise Line advises a baseline amount of $14.50 per night, per each guest. This includes infants and toddlers as well. For example, our family of four on a 7-night voyage would pay a total of $406 in baseline gratuities ($14.50 x 4 people = $58 per day. $58 x 7 nights = $406).
If you did not get a chance to pre-pay before boarding the ship, we will automatically charge your onboard account the suggested gratuity amount per Guest per night. Once on board the ship, if you wish to adjust the amount of your pre-paid gratuities, please visit Guest Services for assistance.
An 18% gratuity will automatically be added to your bill for parties of 6 or more. An automatic gratuity charge may also be added to your bill for certain items you order that are not included in the Disney Dining Plan.
You can, just like you can go to a good restaurant and pay the bill without giving a tip. It's possible to not pay gratuities on any cruise ship but its insulting to the staff who waited on you.
Depending on the cruise line and type of room, you should expect a daily charge of $16 to $23 for gratuities. There are a couple of good reasons why you might want to prepay, including getting to spend less during your trip and locking in the current rate.
So using a prepaid one fixed amount means you are leaving it up to the ship to divide the money fairly. That doesn't mean you can't give out additional cash tips to those who did an extra special job for you.
Not included in base Disney cruise prices, however, are Port Adventures (Disney's shore excursions), shopping, spa and salon services, onboard photography services, nursery babysitting, ship-to-shore phone calls, arcade games, alcoholic beverages and drink packages and adults-only specialty dining at Enchante by Chef ...
Tipping on top of a 20% automatic gratuity is not required. The automatic gratuity is intended to cover the customary tip. However, if you feel the service was exceptional, you are welcome to tip additionally.
Pre-paid gratuities can be added to a reservation up to 3 days prior to sailing. In recognition of all that they do, the total recommended gratuity is $14.50 per person/per day based on the length of the cruise.
Auto gratuity is a legal service charge added to a party's bill that goes directly to the waitstaff serving that table. Usually, this gratuity equals 18% of the check and is only applied to parties of six or more to ensure that servers receive ample compensation for their efforts.
Gratuities for room service are optional, but it is customary to tip your servers a dollar or two per item, depending on what you order and how you feel about the quality of the service. Given how much I travel on land and seeing how much room service costs in hotels, having it included feels like such a luxury.
Will I need to bring cash, credit cards or foreign currency with me on my cruise? Onboard your Disney Cruise Line® ship, all expenses will be charged to your stateroom, so you do not need cash or a credit card. You may wish to carry cash or a credit card to buy snacks or souvenirs during stops at ports of call.
Most leave these in place for the crew but you can remove all of these auto gratuities by going to guest services who will take them off for you at any time. Gratuities are added to every drink purchased which cannot be removed.
Automatic gratuity charge: $18 to $20.50 per person, per day. Details: Passengers staying in most cabins, including junior suites, pay $18 per day. Passengers in higher-level suites pay $20.50. Additionally, an 18% gratuity is added to bills at bars, minibars, salons and spas.
The only time there is an actual advantage is if you hear gratuities are going to go up. Prepaying locks in the current rate but that is something you can do at any point before sailing.
For guests booked through travel advisors, their advisor may add pre-paid gratuities to the guests' booking prior to sailing*. If gratuities are not prepaid prior to sailing, they will be automatically added to the guests' folios once onboard.
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