What If Im Unhappy With My Service Do I Still Have To Pay Gratuities
Disney is renowned for its Customer Service but if for whatever reason you are unsatisfied, please speak to a Cast Member first who will work hard to correct your concerns. ;Waiting until the end of the cruise and then withholding gratuities will not improve your service experience.
Nothing is more frustrating for the crew member or the cruise line to find out after the fact that there was a problem. You will be happier to have the issue resolved while you are still enjoying your cruise.
However, should you decide that you want to make an adjustment to your pre-paid gratuities, you should speak with the Guest Services Team aboard the ship.
Happy Cruising!
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Is Every Passenger Charged Gratuities Even Babies
The vast majority of passengers are charged these tips, no matter if they are young, old, have special requests, eat in the main dining room, or only hit the buffet.
That said, some cruise lines make exceptions for small kids. For example, Carnival does not charge tips for kids under two years old. Norwegian Cruise Lines doesnt charge gratuities for kids under three. However, for the most part you can expect that every passenger on your trip will see a charge.
Here are the policies for major cruise lines at the moment:
- Carnival: Guests under 2 years old dont pay gratuity.
- Disney: All guests pay gratuities.
- Holland America: All guests pay gratuities.
- Norwegian: Guests under 3 years old dont pay gratuity.
- MSC Cruises: Guests under 2 years old dont pay gratuity. Guests over 2 years old and under 12 years old pay half amounts.
- Princess: All guests pay gratuities.
- Royal Caribbean: All guests pay gratuities.
Disney Room Service Tips
Most items on the Room Service Menu are free. There are exceptions, such as alcohol and bottled water, but mostly you will not be charged for room service.
However, it is customary to give a tip to the Cast Member who brings your food to you.;
You can use cash for this so keep some $1s and $5s handy in a drawer by the door. Or they will give you a bill with zero charges and you can add a gratuity if you wish.
There is no set amount to tip for room service, but I would suggest at least $1 to $2 per plate. But it really is up to you.
This is one of the only times when you might use cash to tip on a Disney cruise.; The other is if you add an additional tip to any of your Servers or Stateroom Steward.
You can do this at the end of the cruise more about that later.
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If I Cancel My Cruise Will Prepaid Gratuities Be Reimbursed
If you added prepaid gratuities to your booking, it will be reimbursed should your cruise be cancelled. If it is a perk offered by your travel agent or the cruise line with the purchase of your cruise, there will not be a monetary value to be reimbursed.
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What Is The Cheapest Way To Book A Disney Cruise
The cheapest way to book a Disney cruise is to book as far in advance as you can for the best price. Disney sometimes offer discounts for Florida residents and for the US military, so be sure to claim these if they apply to you.
When it comes to booking your cruise, a good travel agent will be able to get you a discounted rate compared to booking direct, so its always worth getting a quote. If you live in the UK, . Shes Disney-mad and will help you with every aspect of booking your cruise.
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Palo And Remy Gratuities
This one can get pretty heated on the Disney forums and groups on Facebook. Do we tip the servers at Palo and Remy?
Disney Cruise informs guests that tipping the staff in Remy and Palo is at your discretion. What does that mean?
The service fee you paid to dine at Remy and Palo does go directly to your server. This has been confirmed by Disney Cruise managers and severs at both Remy and Palo.
Basically, Disney Cruise pays the wait staff the sitting fee that you pay to eat at these signature restaurants.
That being said, weve provided an additional tip to the servers every time weve eaten at Palo or Remy. We are Castaway Club members so our service fees are complimentary. Since our service fees are free, we do always tip a little extra.
The service is simply outstanding and we feel the need to provide just a little extra.
When youre ready to leave Palo or Remy, you will receive a bill just like you would at any restaurant. It will show the additional charge for the dining experience and the option to add an additional gratuity. Both charges will be added to your room account.
Tipping On A Disney Cruise
When we think of tipping on a Disney cruise there are really four main Cast Member positions that you will tip. This is what is included in the automatic gratuities.
As you will see later, there are other times that you will be charged a tip.
However, when we are talking about the automatic gratuities which are charged at the end of your Disney cruise, these are given to these four people:
- Stateroom Host. This is the person who cleans your stateroom every day.
- Server. This is your main server in your rotational dining restaurant.
- Assistant Server. The is the one who will get your drinks and assist your main server.
- Head Server. In each rotational dining restaurant, there are 4 head servers. You will be assigned one who will make sure you are happy with your dining experience overall.
These people work incredibly hard and rely on your gratuities to make a living. They work very long hours with little time off.
And most of the time there are smiling! Like our fabulous server Netasha who is pictured below.;
Each of these four people is allocated a specified amount of automatic gratuities. You can see how these are calculated in the next section.
If you do not pre-pay them this is fine. They will simply be added to your onboard account. You can change this by either increasing or decreasing the amount we will talk more about this later.;
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How Much Are Cruise Gratuities
The amount you pay will vary by cruise line, but they are all in the same ballpark. You can expect to pay about $14 to $15 per person, per day. So a couple traveling together will see about $30 per day in gratuities, or about $200+ over the course of a week-long cruise.
Below, weve listed the current tip amounts charged by major cruise lines as of the time of this writing:
- Carnival:;$13.99 per person, per day. $15.99 per person, per day for guests in suites. Guests under 2 years old dont pay gratuity.
- Celebrity: $15.50 per person, per day. $16.00 per person, per day for those in Concierge Class and AquaClass cabins. $19.00 per person, per day for suites. Celebrity has moved to an Always Included offer that includes gratuity in the cabin fare automatically.;
- Disney: $40.50 per person for 3-day cruise. $54 per person for 4-day cruise. $94.50 per person for 7-day cruise.
- Holland America:;$14.50 per person, per day. $16.00 per person, per day for guests in suites.
- Norwegian: $15.50 per person, per day. $18.50 per person, per day staying in suites, Concierge, and The Haven. Guests under 3 years old dont pay gratuity.
- MSC Cruises:;$12.50 per person, per day. Guests under 2 years old dont pay gratuity. Guests over 2 years old and under 12 years old pay $6.25 per day.
- Princess: $14.50 per person, per day. $15.50 per person, per day staying in mini-suites. $16.50 per person, per day for guests in suites.
How Much Should I Tip
The recommended gratuity is $4.50 for the stateroom host, $1 for the head server, $4.50 for the server, and $3.50 to the assistant server per day and per person. This means that total Disney cruise tips per day are $13.50, per person.
This only applies if you are staying on the concierge level: If your stateroom is on the concierge level, you should tip the concierge hosts and bartender at your discretion. Be aware that many guests over tip so tipping expectations are high. Guests regularly tip $100 per night to the concierge hosts and $50 to the bartender at the end of their cruise. Others tip $25 per night and leave $20 to the bartender on the last day. Frustratingly, Disney does not give tipping guidelines, perhaps because it encourages over tipping.
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Wait How Much Does A Disney Cruise Cost
Sherri Eisenberg
Family cruisers hear a lot about how wonderful Disney Cruise Line;ships are especially from us. We love the high level of service, the cabins designed just right for travelers with multiple kids , the industry-leading kids clubs that are constantly being updated with cool new areas , and the giant roster of activities for little cruisers of all ages.
Disney Cruise Line includes a few things in its fares that cost;extra on other lines. For example, there is no additional charge for soft drinks on Disney ships at meals and at the self-serve taps by the pool. The line also doesnt charge for loaner strollers or sand strollers for use on its;private island , nor is there a fee to borrow;jogging strollers or wagons to pull your kids and all of their toys around the island. Carnival charges a fee to borrow strollers on its;ships, whereas;Norwegian and Royal Caribbean dont offer strollers at all.
Disney Cruise Line includes a few things in its fares that cost;extra on other lines. For example, there is no additional charge for soft drinks on Disney ships at meals and at the self-serve taps by the pool. The line also doesnt charge for loaner strollers or sand strollers for use on its;private island , nor is there a fee to borrow;jogging strollers or wagons to pull your kids and all of their toys around the island. Carnival charges a fee to borrow strollers on its;ships, whereas;Norwegian and Royal Caribbean dont offer strollers at all.
Up next
Disney Cruise Gratuities Explained
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One of the things which first time cruises tend to get very confused about is how Disney Cruise Gratuities are calculated and charged.
However, the Disney Cruise Gratuity system really isnt that complicated. You can follow our simple guide to Disney cruise tips and gratuities so you will know exactly how it works.
These Disney Cruise Tip amounts are correct and updated in November 2020. They increased in March 2019 after remaining the same for some considerable time.
There are certain Crew Members onboard who rely on tips as their salary. These are mostly your Rotational Dining Room Crew Members. ;Tips are expected for your Server, Assistant Server, and Head Server.
All of these people work extremely hard and we have always found that they are very much deserving of the standard amount of tips that Disney recommends. ;Usually, we leave more than the recommended gratuity amounts as their service is so good. They really are worth it.
Your Cabin Steward is also part of the team who receives the gratuities. They work very hard and rely on your generosity.
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Final Thoughts On Debarkation Day
If you are wondering when is the latest you can disembark the Disney cruise ship, DCL requires all passengers to be completely off the ship by 9:15.
Although debarkation morning isnt the most exciting day of your trip, Disney Cruise Line does a great job of organizing the whole process. Their procedures for disembarking help this bittersweet morning run smoothly.
And then its back to reality!
What Youll Spend On A Disney Cruise
Just like any vacation how much you spend on a Disney cruise depends largely on your own personal budget, below, weve provided three options a bare bones budget, a moderate budget, and a high-end budget.
For our comparison, we created a hypothetical family of four all staying in one cabin or room for a four-night cruise. And to make the comparison fair, we selected a cruise departing Port Canaveral , departing in August.
Bare-Bones Budget If you want to simply get on the ship, we found a cruise aboard the Disney Dream departing in August that runs a total of $4,725 for an inside cabin.
The cruise departs Port Canaveral, with a stop in Nassau, followed by a stop at Disneys private island Castaway Cay before heading home.
Keep in mind that this includes four people sharing a small cabin . However, you have full run of the ship. Furthermore, meals and entertainment are included, but extras like alcohol or shore excursions are not.
Moderate Budget The funny thing about taking a Disney cruise is that while most other cruise lines have large discrepancies between what you pay for an interior cabin and a balcony, Disney offers the upgrade for relatively little.
In our search, we found you could upgrade to a verandah cabin for just about 10% more, or $5,077. In this case, you not only get your own balcony, but you upgrade your cabin space from 169 square feet to 246 square feet. If you like, there is also a larger verandah cabin thats 299 sq. feet for $5,293.
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Whats Included In A Disney Cruise
Disney cruises generally include a little more than you would get on other cruises. For example, youll get free soft drinks, ice creams and room service throughout your cruise. Those small extras can add up when you have to pay for them every day.
That said, on Disney cruises you will need to budget extra for the daily gratuity charge, alcoholic drinks and wifi. These are extra on most other cruises too, although some premium cruise lines like Celebrity Cruises include those in the cruise fare.
Your Disney cruise ticket includes:
- Accommodation on the ship
Is A Disney Cruise Worth The Cost
The Disney Fantasy launched in 2012.
Disney is known around the world for its family-friendly entertainment offerings.
But family fun doesnt always come cheap.;
On Disney Cruise Line, you may end up paying a pretty penny for a vacation. But is the higher price worth it all?
Compare the cost of an Alaskan cruise. On Carnival Cruise Line, a seven-day round-trip from Seattle starts at $849 per person, substantially less than the just-over-$1,400 Disney charges for a weeklong round-trip from Vancouver.
Castaway Cay is Disneys private island.
Both cruise lines have cabins that can accommodate multiple generations, and both include fine dining, stage shows, film screenings, kids programs and areas just for adults.
But its the details in these features that set Disney apart.
When sailing with Disney Cruise Line, you get more bang for your buck, says Laura B. Ebersohl, a travel professional for Disney-specialist Fairy Godmother Travel.
Ebersohl notes that Disney offers free room service , unlimited soft drinks and Broadway-caliber Disney based theater productions ; and its currently the only line offering a fireworks show at sea. Plus, you get to pal around with Goofy, Minnie and Mickey.
Excursions
In the cruising world, shore excursions are priced pretty uniformly across lines, but Disneys feature port adventures that tailor to traveling families with scheduled breaks, free snacks and activity sheets for children.
Family-friendly amenities
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Reasons You Might Not Need Dcl Travel Insurance
-
Cost of Vacation is Minimal
Not spending much on flights or other travel? Got a screaming deal on a 3-day cruise and it just wasnt that expensive?
-
Your Domestic Health Insurance Will Cover Medical Emergencies Abroad
Check with your existing carrier to find out what they will or wont cover overseas.
-
Youre Comfortable with Risk of Lost Luggage
You can deal with the inconvenience of lost or stolen baggage.
-
Youre Okay with Losing Any Amount of Money
You can handle the loss of the cost of your trip plus any additional costs you incur due to medical emergencies, evacuations, or added travel expenses.
How Much Is A Disney Cruise For A Family Of Four
While Disney cruises arent just for kids, far from it actually, its fair to say that most people taking Disney cruises are families. So lets take a closer look at Disney Cruise Lines family prices
The price of a Disney cruise for a family of four ranges from $2,313 for a two-night cruise from San Diego in an inside cabin, to $27,383 for a 14-night Christmas cruise along the Panama Canal in a concierge stateroom with a verandah.
The average seven-night Disney cruise for a family of four costs around $8,087 for a room with a verandah.
On a Disney cruise, the price for a family of four depends on the ages of your children.
- Children aged 13 and over are charged the full adult fare
- Children aged 3 to 12 are charged the child rate
- Children aged 0 to 2 are charged half of the child rate
Whilst most other cruise lines show the prices per person, Disney Cruise Line shows the total price per stateroom. This can make it almost impossible to know how much youre paying for the adults and how much the child rate is.
Disney Cruise Lines pricing also depends on how many people are sharing a stateroom. All prices are based on two adults in the stateroom So a single parent with one child will pay the same as two adults. Solo cruisers also pay the same as two adults.
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