TheRealDrDisney
Disney World guest since 1971!
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2011
On my first cruise, the serving team treated us like we were their friends - so nice and welcoming. It was great. We got the "excellent" speech, and we provided the all excellents - which they didn't really deserve, but hey they were so friendly (and it was my first cruise so what did I know?)
We added cash to the envelopes and put in a handwritten note about how nice it was to meet them and learn about their lives and share about our families, etc. My wife even encouraged me to put in our email addresses so that maybe we would hear from them or stay in touch with our new friends.
The rest of the story is (now) predictable. We gave them their envelopes the last night at the MDR, then the next morning at breakfast they were all business, no smiles, and didn't care whether we were there or not. I can just imagine it like a kid at a birthday party where he rips open the card, dumps out the money, and moves on. It's a 50/50 bet whether they took the time to read our notes and laugh at them, or if they just dropped them right into the trash without a second glance.
We haven't made that mistake since then. We tip exactly what Disney requires, we are polite and friendly but remember that these people don't give a rat's azz about us really, and we fill out the survey honestly
Live and learn.
We would all do well to remember that it's a business transaction. We pay for what we get, and if they want a frank response at the end on a survey then we should provide it.
We added cash to the envelopes and put in a handwritten note about how nice it was to meet them and learn about their lives and share about our families, etc. My wife even encouraged me to put in our email addresses so that maybe we would hear from them or stay in touch with our new friends.
The rest of the story is (now) predictable. We gave them their envelopes the last night at the MDR, then the next morning at breakfast they were all business, no smiles, and didn't care whether we were there or not. I can just imagine it like a kid at a birthday party where he rips open the card, dumps out the money, and moves on. It's a 50/50 bet whether they took the time to read our notes and laugh at them, or if they just dropped them right into the trash without a second glance.
We haven't made that mistake since then. We tip exactly what Disney requires, we are polite and friendly but remember that these people don't give a rat's azz about us really, and we fill out the survey honestly
Live and learn.
We would all do well to remember that it's a business transaction. We pay for what we get, and if they want a frank response at the end on a survey then we should provide it.
Last edited: