The recommended minimum gratuity guideline for tipping on Disney Cruise Line has increased. Additionally, for the first time, guidelines are provided for guests sailing in Concierge.
Gratuities on Disney Cruise Line
It is customary for guests to give gratuities in recognition of exceptional service while sailing aboard Disney Cruise Line. However, often times guests are not quite sure as to how much tipping is recommended and who is to be tipped. Luckily, Disney Cruise Line provides a gratuity guideline.
After two years, Disney Cruise Line modified and increased the tipping amount recommended by their gratuity guidelines.
New Gratuity Recommendations
As of July 2022, Disney recommends a gratuity amount of $14.50 per night, per stateroom guest, including infants and children—which will be dispersed to the Crew Members who serve guests daily in the rotational dining restaurants and in guest staterooms:
- Dining Room Server – $4.75 per person/per day
- Assistant Dining Room Server – $3.75 per person/per day
- Dining Room Head Server – $1.25 per person/per day
- Stateroom Host – $4.75 per person/per day
For a family of four sailing on a 7 day cruise, the total gratuities paid per Disney Cruise Line guidelines would come to a total to $58 a day and $406 for the entire cruise.
Guests Sailing in Concierge
For the first time, Disney’s Frequently Asked Questions references Concierge guests. In the past it was confusing for guests to appropriately tip while sailing Concierge. There were no recommended guidelines. You can read about my experience HERE.
The new guidelines are the following:
- Concierge Lounge Team: Guests staying in Concierge accommodations are recommended a gratuity amount of $8.00 per night, per stateroom Guest. However, it is always up to the Guest to determine what they feel is appropriate.
- Stateroom assistant host: Guests staying in Concierge Staterooms and Suites are recommended a gratuity amount of $15.50 per night, per stateroom Guest. This includes gratuity for the Stateroom assistant host, who services the Concierge accommodations, in addition to the rotational dining team.
For a family of four sailing on a 7 day cruise, the total gratuities paid per Disney Cruise Line guidelines for the Concierge Lounge Team would $224 for the week and $434 for the Stateroom assistant host.
Additional Tipping
Pre-paying gratuities is available by contacting the Disney Cruise Line Contact Center. Guests who have booked their Disney cruise with a travel agent must contact them to apply payment. If guests do not get a chance to pre-pay before boarding the ship, Disney Cruise Line will automatically charge guests onboard account the suggested gratuity amount.
Once on the ship, guests can adjust the amount of their Pre-Paid Gratuities by using their Disney Cruise Line Navigator app to book an appointment with the Guest Services desk prior to the end of their cruise.
On the final night of the cruise, all guests are provided with envelopes to disperse to stateroom hosts and the rotational dining team. Guests who have prepaid gratuities are also welcome to add an additional tip that can be provided inside the envelopes or pre-paid at Guest Services.
What are your thoughts on the $1 increase for Disney Cruise Lines gratuity guidelines? When you sail do you provide an additional tip? Let us know in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group.
We went on Disney Dream in June 2022. The service was EXCEPTIONAL and SUPERIOR! Not only did we happily pay the gratuity, but we also added additional tips to all of our servers and host. We even tipped the entertainers in the District Lounge. That kind of service is hard to come by so so undervalued. We would do it again in a heartbeat! ❤
Hallelujah! Disney cruises are disproportionately expensive and should pay their employees fairly.
Get rid of tips. Pay the people appropriately.
We added more to our tips on our recent cruise. Those folks work hard and deserve it. I don’t understand the people who refuse to tip.
I only tip through prepaid and add nothing… and here’s why. I sailed on a very long cruise once, on a small ship. I met and socialized with many crew members, and I learned some interesting things. I was told that I should never give extra tips to crew because there is a mafia-type hierarchy on ship, and any cash money given as a tip must be passed up to the top of the chain, and if not, the crew would get beat up and possibly have their family threatened. They called it the Filipino Mafia. I listened, but I assumed it must be a joke. But, after the cruise was over, I did a little research and discovered it is no joke.
Every cruise line has a recommended tip schedule. They are all about the same amount. We have always paid our stewards and waiters personally rather than the automatic tipping. That way we know they actually get the money themselves. Also on some cruise lines they want you to tip those we have not even seen or talked to, eg. head waiter, maitre’d, head housekeeper. As we haven’t availed ourselves of their service we don’t feel we need to tip them. Even if they are being paid a livable wage we feel they deserve a tip. You tip a waiter in a restaurant don’t you?
We have sailed DCL a couple of times. Going in November for the Christmas cruise. First time to Western Caribbean. We are in our seventies and always appreciate the great service. So tipping is no problem. Now the parking fee is another matter.
Dear Kenny, the Concierge Gratuities information is a bit wrong. The $8 recommended amount is the basic suggested by the company. The $8 goes to the entire concierge lounge team which includes anywhere between 7 to 10 people. That includes the Concierge Hosts and the F&B staff in the lounge. Of course, it is up to guests to post their own gratuity to each one of team depending on the service provided. Ad hoc gratuity forms are available at the concierge desk. The information regarding the assistant stateroom host is also wrong, as the information applies for the stateroom host not the assistant.
the only people I tip are housekeeping. and of course at a restaurant if I pay extra for a meal. but the cost of how high everything is, Disney needs to pay its people.
As Jose stated, DCL pays Dining Room Servers and Assistant Servers $1 a day (not per guest, literally $1). Guest tips (obviously not yours) are what they earn. They work insane hours, 7 days a week for 3-8 months at a time with no days off. You’re correct, service should be included in the ticket price, so crew members that provided you service are paid for it.
Absolutely correct.
DCL allow guest to remove gratuities wich is unfear, crew works hard, platinum guest always suggest new guest not to tip “because is al ready add” just to let you know RESTAURANT, HOUSEKEEPING and BAR are the biggest department and ARE NOT PAY BY COMPANY they only receive gratuities and company doesnt pay them if they reach the minimun guarantee wage, concierge host and restaurant head server gets over too much in tips they shoulnt be recomended to tip due who works hardest is the regular crew who gets less than 1000 dollar a month for 12 hours daily plus training cabin inspections and drills crew deserves tips but not fear by company to be removed as disney does
For how much I paid for a four night Disney cruise and how the cost of living is so damn high. I think it’s wrong for Disney cruise to ask for a tip. The people that work on the ship get paid to do their job. Not my fault if they don’t get paid enough. They want to make more money. They need to find a job that pays more. I work hard for my money and nobody gives me a tip for doing my job. So no I will not tip while I am on my Disney cruise.
Before 2018 I had taken my 90 year old mother on several Disney cruises. We had 2 on Wonder and had the same stateroom host for both cruises. We were in an Accessible room and every time he was in the corridor and saw us coming he would run to our door and open it before we could get there. During the day, mom liked to sit on the pool deck and watch whatever show was playing on the screen in the pool area. I preferred the adult area and the staff in the pool area would move her in and out of the sun, give her towels and blankets if she wanted as well as getting her something to drink. On one of our first cruises our table host would cut up her meat (not that she needed the help) and do everything he could for her and she loved the attention!
We always prepaid our gratuities but we always added extra for those little things that made our trips so memorable. I’ve been on other ships and the Disney crew has always been the hardest working, most pleasant crew of any ship I’ve been on.
DCL crew members work so hard. We always give them a gift as well, especially on a Merrytime Cruise. I am curious why concierge suggested gratuity is less.
I think this is fine. Honestly I always tip more once on the ship because the crew work very hard & deserve it. So had they even raised it to a little bit more wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest.