One Little Spark Travel are often asked about gratuities for Disney Cruises. Whilst gratuities are intended to be a discretionary ‘Tip’ for receipt of good services, many cruise lines, including Disney Cruise Line, now state a recommended daily amount, per person (including all children), per day. Disney Cruise Line now automatically add this amount to your On Board Account automatically. You can visit guest services and chose to opt out of this automatic addition, as well as changing the amounts given (either increased or decreased).
For the most part, passenger just accept this as part of the cost of their cruise. To assist you working out what your gratuities may run to, One Little Spark Travel have included a handy gratuity calculator on this site.
There are 4 people for whom gratuities will automatically be added to your on board account – Those are:
- Your Dining Room Server – $4.00 per guest per day
- Your Dining Room Assistant Server – $3.00 per guest per day
- Your Dining Room Head Server – $1.00 per guest per day
- Your Stateroom Host/Hostess – $4.00 per guest per day
One Little Spark Travel has built a Gratuity Calculator, which can be found here – Just select the number of people in your cabin and the number of nights your cruise is and the calculator will work out exactly how much you gratuities should be.
You may also opt to pre-pay your tips in advance – This amount will be placed on your On Board Account as an On Board Credit equal to the amount automatically added for gratuities.
Remember – There are other people to whom gratuities are customary – Some of these are automatically added to your bill, some are not
- Bar Staff – At 15%-18% Gratuity is automatically added to all drink purchases made on board (or on Castaway Cay) but you may choose to add additional if you wish
- Palo/Remy Staff – Whilst a cover charge is added to your On Board Account, this does not cover any gratuity – Please remember to add a gratuity if you feel you have received good service – NOTE: If you dine as part of a larger group, you may find that a gratuity has been added – Check your bill when it arrives at the end of the meal.
- Concierge Team – If you are traveling in a Concierge Level cabin and you have taken advantage of any of the services offered by the team, you should consider a gratuity. The amount here is discretionary
- Room Service – Most of the items available from Room Service are complimentary, however you should remember to tip the server who brings these to your cabin. A customary $1-$2 per person would be appropriate.
- Porters – Whilst not On Board the ship, you should be prepared to tip the ports who take your bags when you arrive at the port. This would usually be somewhere between $1-$5 per bag