Disney Cruise Tipping Guide: Everything You Need to Know + Common Mistakes to Avoid

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Tipping on a Disney Cruise confuses many first-time cruisers, but once you understand the basics, it’s actually quite straightforward.

After sailing on multiple Disney cruises over the last 20 years, I’ve learned all the ins and outs of the tipping system.

Let me break down exactly who you tip, how much, and when.

Understanding Automatic Gratuities: The Four Key Positions

When Disney charges automatic gratuities to your stateroom account, your money goes to four essential crew members who work directly with your family:

• Stateroom Host – Cleans and maintains your stateroom daily. Our stateroom hosts have consistently gone above and beyond.
• Main Server – Your primary server in your rotational dining restaurants. After just one meal, our servers typically remember drink preferences and are always incredibly helpful and knowledgable about dietary needs.
• Assistant Server – Handles beverages, bread service, and assists your main server.
• Head Server – Supervises your dining experience and ensures any issues are resolved quickly.

These crew members work extremely long hours with minimal time off. They rely on gratuities as a significant portion of their income, and most provide exceptional service with genuine smiles.

You can pre-pay these gratuities up to 3 days before your cruise starts. You can do this using your Disney Cruise Personalizer.

If you do not pre-pay them this is fine. They will simply be added to your onboard account.

Disney Cruise Gratuities Calculator

This Disney Cruise Gratuities Calculator below shows the amounts which will automatically be added to your stateroom account. These amounts are per person.

	3 Nights	4 Nights	5 Nights	6 Nights	7 Nights
Server	$15.75	$21	$26.25	$31.50	$36.75
Asst. Server	$12.75	$17	$21.25	$25.50	$29.75
Head Server	$3.75	$5	$6.25	$7.50	$8.75
Stateroom Host	$15.75	$21	$26.25	$31.50	$36.75
Total	$48.00	$64	$80	$96	$112

Important note: Children of all ages are included in gratuity calculations. While some guests question this, consider the extra work involved. When traveling with toddlers, stateroom hosts clean up countless snack crumbs, and servers patiently bring replacement drinks after spills. They absolutely earn those gratuities.

For Australian and New Zealand cruises: The automatic gratuities for your dining team and stateroom host remain exactly the same as for elsewhere in the world and are charged in US dollars.

You can adjust these amounts if you want to. This can be adjusted either up or down. They can be adjusted by visiting Guest Services and asking them to charge your account for extra or to reduce the charges.

We really do strongly suggest you don’t reduce them unless you have truly received substandard service. If it is something to do with your dining team, always try and resolve the matter with your Head Server first.

If it is an issue with your Stateroom Host mention your issue to Guest Services or directly to your Host. Most things can be resolved.

Disney really does go above and beyond with customer service. If you encounter any problem at all, tell someone. You will probably be amazed at just how good they are when problems arise.

Do I Need Cash On A Disney Cruise?

You really don’t need cash on a Disney cruise. You will be required to link a credit card to your stateroom before you check in. You can do this on your Disney Cruise Navigator.

You can’t use cash on a Disney Cruise to pay for things directly. Everything is charged to your Key to the World Card.

If you want to use cash or gift cards to pay your onboard account you have to visit Guest Services as soon as you board your Disney Cruise.

You simply give them the cash or the gift cards that you want to use and this will be put onto your account.

At the end of your cruise, you will only need to visit Guest Services if there is an issue with your account – you can check this on the App or your stateroom television.

If you paid in cash this will be given back in cash.

If you paid with a Disney Gift Card or Rewards Card be sure to keep your card. The reason is that if you have credited it will go back on this card – not much use if you have thrown it away!

Related: Enchante – Exceptional Experience or Over Priced and Over Rated?

Disney Cruise “Extra” Gratuities

Beyond the standard gratuities that we have just talked about, Disney automatically adds tips to certain services.

The two main areas where this will happen are for drinks purchases and at the spa.

Note for Australian and New Zealand cruises: Tips are already included in the menu prices for drinks, spa services, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Palo and beverage tastings, so you won’t see additional gratuity charges. Room service delivery tips are still appreciated.

Beverage Purchases: Every alcoholic and specialty beverage automatically includes an 18% gratuity. This appears on the receipt you sign, with space to add additional gratuity if desired.

This means that if you order a $15 cocktail you will see $17.70 on charge slip that you sign. Always factor in that extra 18% when budgeting for drinks.

Spa Services: All spa treatments, including access to the Disney Cruise Rainforest Room, automatically include an 18% gratuity.

So if you book a $180 spa treatment you will see $212.40 on your account. This can significantly impact your spa budget, so factor this into your planning.

Also, do not double tip. Understanding where the tip is added will prevent you from double tipping. You can of course add extra, but there is nothing quite like only realizing that you just tipped 20% on something where the tip was already added.

Beverage Tastings: While not automatic, it’s customary to tip 18% for wine, beer, or champagne tasting seminars. The sommeliers and bar tenders are incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining, making these experiences well worth the additional gratuity.

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’s customary to tip the crew member who delivers your order. I keep a small envelope with small bills by our stateroom door specifically for this purpose.

During our cruises, we often order room service breakfast on sea days, and crew members always arrive with smiles, even for early morning deliveries.

A general guideline is $1-2 per plate, though you can adjust based on order size and service quality.

You can use cash for this – so keep some $1’s and $5’s 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.

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 and want to add it in cash instead of visiting Guest Services.

Tipping at Palo, Enchante and Remy

There is an 18% automatic gratuity at the adult restaurants on a Disney cruise (except on Australian/New Zealand cruises).

If you are sailing on an Australian or New Zealand cruise then the cost of the fixed menu or a la carte item will be increased to include the tip. So for example the $50 fixed menu for Palo will be $60.

Here’s something important I learned during our last Palo dinner: the server explained that any automatic gratuities go to the entire serving team, but when you add extra gratuity, that goes specifically to your individual server. This is helpful to know when you want to recognize exceptional personal service.

An 18% gratuity is a good starting point, though exceptional experiences often warrant more.

Disney Cruise Concierge Tipping

How much do you tip Disney Cruise Concierge? For many years Disney Cruise Line did not give any guidelines for how much to tip if you were staying Concierge.

However, in July 2022 Disney suggested what you should tip if you are staying in Concierge. And also increased it in October 2024.

Disney Cruise Line now suggests $23.50 per person per day for Concierge guests. This covers your standard dining and stateroom team, plus the Concierge lounge staff and assistant stateroom host who services Concierge accommodations.

This includes gratuity for the assistant stateroom host, who services the Concierge accommodations, and the Concierge Lounge team, in addition to the positions listed below:

• Dining room server
• Dining room assistant server
• Dining room head server
• Stateroom host

During our Concierge cruises, the teams have remembered coffee preferences, made dinner reservations without being asked, and arranged special celebration deliveries.

The service truly justifies the higher gratuity amount, and many guests choose to tip above the suggested amount.

Who You Can’t Tip on a Disney Cruise

Disney policy prohibits certain crew members from accepting gratuities:

• Kids Club and nursery staff are not permitted to accept gratuities.
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique staff are not permitted to accept gratuities.

If you want to recognize these Cast Members, and indeed any other person who has made a difference to your cruise, mention them on the Survey at the end of the cruise. DCL takes these comments seriously and Cast Members receive perks and promotions taking passenger feedback into account.

Tipping at the End of a Disney Cruise

On your final day, your stateroom host will leave envelopes and cards showing each crew member’s gratuity amount.

You do not have to do anything with these envelopes unless you want to.

You have several options for additional gratuities:

1. Cash in envelopes – Add cash directly to the envelopes for individual team members. Hand it to them at the final dinner or breakfast. Or leave it in the stateroom for your Stateroom Host.
2. Increase through Guest Services – Visit Guest Services to increase gratuity amounts, which will be charged to your stateroom account. Guest Services will then give you a new print out to reflect the amount of the gratuity. You can put this in the envelope so that the Cast Member knows you have increased the tips.

During our cruises, I’ve used these envelopes to give additional cash tips to exceptional team members, along with handwritten thank-you notes.

You can use these envelopes to give additional cash tips if desired, but they’re not required if you’re satisfied with the automatic amounts.

You can continually check the amount that is being charged to your account on the DCL App or on your television. You can also get a print out from Guest Services.

On the last day of your Disney cruise, you can see all your stateroom charges on your account. This will include the automatic gratuities unless you have already prepaid them.

All of the automatic gratuities will be charged to your onboard account. Always double-check that you agree with your final charges.

Ideally, don’t wait until the final evening of your cruise to do this. Everyone else will be doing this, so the lines for Guest Services will be longer than at any other time on the cruise!

Final Thoughts

Disney Cruise Line crew members work incredibly hard to ensure your family has an exceptional vacation. After so many cruises, I can honestly say the service consistently exceeds expectations.

The automatic gratuity system makes tipping simple and ensures these hardworking individuals are fairly compensated for their service.

If you receive exceptional service, don’t hesitate to add extra. Remember that additional cash tips go directly to your specific server, while automatic gratuities are shared among the team.

If you have concerns about service quality, address them early in your cruise so issues can be resolved. Disney’s guest services team is incredibly responsive and wants to ensure you have the best possible experience.

Do you have any questions about tipping on a Disney Cruise? Leave me a comment below and I will answer whatever questions you have.