One thing to keep in mind for your cruise budget are gratuities. It is expected that you will receive excellent service you are sure to while on your Disney cruise and you will want to reward those individuals who helped provide that!
There are few things you should know about gratuities. First, gratuities are always at your discretion. While Disney does have some suggestions you are in control of how much you tip. Some gratuities will added as you go. This includes spa services, room service and bar services. Others, like your stateroom host and dining servers will be given at the end of your cruise.
You have the option to prepay your gratuities for you Restaurant Server, Restaurant Assistant Server, Head Server and Stateroom Host. You can prepay them up to 3 days before your sailing. If you do not opt to prepay your gratuities Disney will automatically charge the suggested amounts to your stateroom on embarkation day. You can make modifications to these amounts if you like and you will receive a letter in your stateroom explaining this. You will receive gratuity tickets and envelopes to be handed out on the last night of your voyage with the gratuity amounts on them.
So, what are the suggested amounts? Disney recommends the following PER PERSON: Restaurant Server: $4/night, Restaurant Assistant Server: $3/night, Head Server: $1/night and Stateroom host: $4/night. So that's about $12 per per night/ per person.
There are some auto-gratuities for bar services while on board or at Castaway Cay. If you get a drink at any of the bars you will automatically be charged 15% gratuity. Tipping for spa services is at your discretion but the standard amount is 15 - 20%.
As always, here at The Mouse Connection we are here to help you navigate the waters and answer any questions you have about gratuities or anything Disney cruise related!
