Gratuities vary from cruise line to cruise line ... not only does the dollar amount vary, but also, how they are distributed also varies. Some cruise lines (such as Royal Caribbean) take the gratuities paid on your stateroom account (folio), and divide them evenly among the staff for the entire dining room. This means, if your servers were phenomenal, but servers at other tables were horrendous ... all are sharing in the gratuities you paid. With the possible exception of bar tenders in certain situations,
DCL does not share or divide gratuities. Every dollar you designate for your specific head server, server, assistant server and stateroom host goes directly to that cast member. In the rare instance an alternate cast member had to replace your scheduled cast member (temporary illness, etc), the gratuities are divided based upon the number of days of service by each cast member.
Have you ever NOT given a gratuity to a cast member on your stateroom account? Whether you gave them cash, or thought their service was abysmal, I personally believe someone at DCL monitors the gratuities (and/or lack thereof) as paid on your stateroom account. Accordingly, if a cast member may not be up to 100% on a particular day ... I do not hold that against them with respect to gratuities (many of us would be in trouble at work, if we were paid based upon our daily performance). On the other hand, if I truly appreciate the extraordinary service of a cast member, I typically provide them with the suggested gratuity (paid on my stateroom account), and offer additional cash on the night before debarkation. While it may not be the most personal method of showing appreciation, cash speaks volumes, and everyone can use cash.
In the event you are sailing on a cruise to a region which does not use U.S. currency, consider offering your cast members bonus (cash) gratuities in the local currency (Euros, etc). This is a good time to check your pockets to see if you have any foreign currency previously set aside to purchase trinkets or beverages while in a foreign port. Let's face it ... those 3 Euros will not do much for you in Orlando, but your cast member will be in a position to use those Euros while in port!
