Disney Cruise Line Gratuities (What to Know about Tipping)

If you’re preparing for a Disney Cruise Line vacation, you may be looking for information on the tipping process. Some first time cruisers assume that gratuities are included in the price of the cruise fare, and they don’t realize that tips are actually an added cost. 

Since tip amounts are automatically added to your onboard account at the end of your trip, it’s a good idea to know exactly how much to budget for gratuities. This way, you aren’t completely shocked when you receive your final statement.

In this post, we will discuss the price of Disney cruise gratuities, including a breakdown each cast member position who receives these tips. We will also explain the Disney Cruise Line tipping guidelines for concierge guests along with other crew members you may want to tip during your vacation.

How much are gratuities?

If you’re wanting to plan ahead and determine the amount to budget for Disney cruise gratuities, it’s actually super easy to calculate. You just need to know the length of your cruise and the number of people in your cabin.

It’s also handy to have a calculator nearby, so you can multiply the numbers easily. Disney Cruise Line recommends a gratuity amount of $14.50 per person per night. So, in order to calculate the amount your family will owe for gratuities, you would multiply:

$14.50 X Number of People in Cabin X Length of Cruise = Amount You Owe

For example, a family of four who is taking a seven night cruise would owe $406 for gratuities. 

$14.50 X 4 People X 7 Nights = $406

It’s important to note that every member of your family is included in these calculations. Many families often ask if they have to pay gratuities for a baby or a toddler. The answer is Yes. And, after cruising with a toddler, I totally see why! I think my family’s stateroom attendant and dining team worked harder for my toddler than they did for any of the other members of our family.

From removing soiled diapers from our cabin to preparing bite-sized foods at each meal, the crew members really go out of their way to ease the stress off of the parents.

Prepaid Gratuities

You can pay your Disney Cruise Line gratuities in a couple different ways. Many families like to pre-pay their gratuities, so they don’t have to worry about the cost after their vacation. This allows the cruise to feel more like an all-inclusive trip.

In order to pre-pay your tips, you just need to login to your Disney Cruise Line account and follow the directions to pay gratuities upfront. (Note that travel agents will need to do this for cruisers who booked through a travel agent.)

If you do not want to prepay your gratuities, you can pay them on the ship at the end of your cruise. On the final evening, your stateroom attendant will place disembarkation instructions in your cabin. These directions will outline the procedures for your last night and final morning onboard the ship.

Disney Cruise Tipping

In addition to the debarkation instructions, your stateroom attendant will leave gratuity tickets and envelopes in your cruise cabin. Each envelope will name a specific service position, including server, assistant server, head server, and stateroom attendant. (To those new to the Disney rotational dining rooms process, the three servers rotate with your family each night of the cruise so that you have the same serving team every evening at dinner.)

The serving team and stateroom attendant receive a specified gratuity amount from the recommended $14.50 per person per day. In other words, Disney Cruise Line breaks down the $14.50 as follows:

• $4.75 to your server in the rotational dining restaurants
• $3.75 to your assistant dining room server
• $1.25 to your dining room head server
• $4.75 to your stateroom attendant 

If you want to figure out the total amount of gratuities for each position, you just multiply the amount for that cast member times the number of people in your stateroom times the length of the cruise.

Note that you don’t have to actually calculate any of this onboard. The amounts are printed directly on the gratuity tickets, so it’s a super easy process. I just wanted to explain what the formula for each position looks like.

$4.75 for Server X 4 People X 7 Nights = $133 Total for Server

Each gratuity ticket in your stateroom will list the amount that the specified crew member gets tipped. For example, a family of four on a 7-night cruise would find gratuity tickets that look like this:

• Server – $133
• Assistant Server – $105
• Head Server – $35
• Stateroom Attendant – $133

All you have to do onboard is just put the ticket labeled “server” into the envelope that says “server” and so forth until each ticket is inside its corresponding envelope. At the end of the cruise, each tip amount will be automatically taken out of your account with the credit card on file.

Also, you are free to make adjustments to the amounts listed. In order to do this, you can visit Guest Services. Or you can just add cash to the envelope if you’re wanting to increase the tip amount.

Concierge Tip Calculator

Disney Cruise Line recently announced recommendations for concierge Level tips. concierge guests will see total recommended gratuity amounts of $15.50 per person per day. These gratuities are broken down the same as above with the addition of an assistant stateroom host.

The stateroom hosts (aka stateroom attendants) clean your cruise cabin and bathrooms each morning. They also provide turndown service each evening and even leave special treats and towel animals for guests. The concierge gratuities can be broken down as follows:

• $4.75 to your server
• $3.75 to your assistant server
• $1.25 to your head server
• $4.75 to your stateroom host 
• $1.00 to your stateroom assistant host

Additionally, one of the concierge perks for guests is the use of a private lounge with food and beverages. Concierge guests also have access to a Concierge Lounge Team who provide extra services.

Since these cast members are not included in the recommended gratuities listed above, Disney Cruise Line has a suggested gratuity amount of $8.00 per stateroom guest per night for these concierge hosts. So, a family of four sailing on a seven-night cruise would tip the Concierge team:

$8.00 X 4 People X 7 Nights = $224

Again, this is in addition to the recommended gratuities of $15.50 listed above. You can read more about my family’s experience with Disney Cruise Line’s Concierge Level in this post – Upgrading to Concierge at the Port.

Additional Charges

In addition to the service positions listed above, guests sailing on the Disney Cruise Line ships may also tip at other times. Some items and people you may need to tip on your cruise include (but are not limited to):

• Specialty Drinks in the Dining Rooms
• Alcoholic Beverages
• Senses Spa Services
• Adult-only Specialty Restaurants
• Room Service
• Porters at Cruise Terminal
• Port Adventures

It’s always a good idea to bring along several $1 and $5 bills for tipping crew members. Even though the cast members onboard the ship are easy to tip through your card on file, you will probably want to have cash on hand for others you come into contact with throughout your trip. For example, my family and I like to travel with small bills to tip people like the porters who handle our luggage and the driver who drops us off at the cruise port.

You can find more tips like this in our post on Disney Cruise Line Secrets for First Timers.)

Final Thoughts on Tipping on a Disney Cruise

Overall, the tipping process onboard the ships is really straightforward and easy. If you choose to take advantage of pre-paid gratuities, you won’t have to worry about the main Disney cruise gratuities at the end of your trip. Those families who prefer to pay gratuities on the final night of their trip will find the procedures super easy as well.

You just place each pre-printed ticket into the correct envelope. If you have any questions while on board, you can visit the Guest Services desk to speak to a cast member for additional guidance. We hope you enjoy the world-class service you’ll receive on your Disney cruise as you make life-long memories with your family!

On a side note, if you’re looking for a way to organize all of your Disney Cruise Line planning tips and budget information, check out my printable Disney Cruise Planner! Featuring over 30 pages of planning help, the Disney Cruise planning guide helps you organize your trip from beginning to end.

The printable planner includes the following:

• Cruise Packing List
• Blank Packing List
• Outfit Planner
• Daily Itinerary
• Flight Comparison Sheet
• Hotel Comparison Sheet
• Transportation Comparison Sheet
• Cruise Budget
• Sample Itineraries (from my personal cruises)

Do you prepay your Disney cruise gratuities? Comment below to share your own tips!

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