Palo automatic gratuity

[Thumper99]

Yes, I do. Palo on the Fab Four (I've never dined there on the Wish, so can't comment about that) has a peaceful and elegant atmosphere, unlike the MDRs, and higher quality food and service than the MDRs. For Remy, that is all true to an even greater degree.

I like some of the MDRs, such as Animator's Palate on the Magic class and Royal Court and Royal Palace on the Dream class, but for the most part MDRs are loud and the food is mass-produced and the service can be slow.

In my opinion, dinner has better food than brunch at either restaurant. Especially since the brunch buffet (which was the best part) is no longer offered, I would not pay for brunch at Palo. I also find that lunch at MDRs is a lot more peaceful than dinner, and the lunch food at the MDRs is a lot better than what you'll get at Cabanas.

A Disney cruise costs thousands of dollars, so an extra $45 ($52 including the 18% gratuity) for a better dinner experience isn't a big deal to improve my vacation imo.

Thank you. I appreciate that response since I agree that sometimes it’s too noisy in the MDRs! I know the cost is minor compared to the cruise cost so there is that. But then I have to worry about dressing up too. Lol

 

[Thumper99]

W

The only part of palo dinner we enjoy is the chocolate soufflé otherwise I have no interest paying more a just okay meal. We do however enjoy the brunch, but dinner no thank you.

That’s what my hubby says!! He’ll only dress up for the chocolate soufflé!! We reach Platnium after this trip so hopefully they’ll still have that as a benefit and I’m sure we will give it a try!!

 

[Thumper99]

You can adjust or remove the gratuity in the app. Takes ten seconds.

What? How do you do that? For every transaction? Sorry. Completely lost on this.

 

[tidefan]

What? How do you do that? For every transaction? Sorry. Completely lost on this.

Me too

 

[MomOTwins]

Me too

On the ship, you can see all the charges in your cruise folio any time. Click on a charge and it will let you add gratuity.

 

[Annabell]

On the ship, you can see all the charges in your cruise folio any time. Click on a charge and it will let you add gratuity.

Wow, didn´t know that.

 

[71 Truck]

There was a time (years ago) that the extra cost included the gratuity to the server. But it was like pulling teeth to find out how much of it actually went to the server, and many people just added their own tip to ensure that their server got something.

This is something my wife and I did extensive research on before we started doing the Palo brunch. You are correct we could never find out how much if any of the price we paid went to the server.
We have always tipped accordingly based on what the meal in a restaurant similar to a Disney World restaurant would cost.
We are Platinum and have not paid for brunch for a few years so the extra cost is minimal to us.
We also try to request the same servers (there are two of them) if they are on the ship.

 

[tidefan]

On the ship, you can see all the charges in your cruise folio any time. Click on a charge and it will let you add gratuity.

No offense to anyone, but I don't see the need to add an 18% gratuity for the purchase of a cooler bag (with nothing in it).

 

[SL6827]

No offense to anyone, but I don't see the need to add an 18% gratuity for the purchase of a cooler bag (with nothing in it).

Disney would just love to make more of their employees into tipped positions. Take the cost off of them. This looks like it could be a foot in the door for such.

 

[MomOTwins]

No offense to anyone, but I don't see the need to add an 18% gratuity for the purchase of a cooler bag (with nothing in it).

I think there must have been an error, in my experience the price of the cooler bag includes bottled waters—it is considered a water package purchase and the gratuity is charged, just like when you buy bottled water at the theater or waters for your stateroom through “onboard gifts and amenities.”

I’m not sure why waters were not provided with the cooker, perhaps they ran out of water bottles but the system still rang it up as a water package. But definitely not the norm.

 

[NAB]

I think there must have been an error, in my experience the price of the cooler bag includes bottled waters—it is considered a water package purchase and the gratuity is charged, just like when you buy bottled water at the theater or waters for your stateroom through “onboard gifts and amenities.”

I’m not sure why waters were not provided with the cooker, perhaps they ran out of water bottles but the system still rang it up as a water package. But definitely not the norm.

I’m guessing it was bought at the bar on the top deck. Anything that comes from the bar gets 18% tip I believe.

 

[tony67]

18% is a lot less than I normally tip when using my platinum benefit so no issue on my end.

yup - more than once I have had an automatic tip added by various places and its almost always less than I would have tipped.

If the server was really good I might leave an additional token amount - but since they added it automatically I usually just leave it as is

She thought that she should get the automatic gratuity AND a tip on top of that?

yeah that is ridiculous - but who knows how Disney categorizes it and what actually gets to the server - IDK if the staff on the ships has the same protections as the folks in the parks. They may also share tips with cooks etc.. in many cases the cooks\chefs who went to school often make less then the person who caries it out to the table.

 

[tony67]

No offense to anyone, but I don't see the need to add an 18% gratuity for the purchase of a cooler bag (with nothing in it).

I feel the tipping thing has gotten out of hand with the pandemic in general - I read recently about someone who bought a chair online and was then prompted to tip. I am thinking we are going to end up more in line with Europe as far as tipping over the next few years.

 

[tidefan]

I think there must have been an error, in my experience the price of the cooler bag includes bottled waters—it is considered a water package purchase and the gratuity is charged, just like when you buy bottled water at the theater or waters for your stateroom through “onboard gifts and amenities.”

I’m not sure why waters were not provided with the cooker, perhaps they ran out of water bottles but the system still rang it up as a water package. But definitely not the norm.

On the MV of the Wish, they were selling a special MV Cooler Bag. You could get it with or without water/beer. It was a good bit more with drinks in it. However, they made you buy it at the bar. Literally, the guy just reached into a box and handed us a bag… and it charged an extra 18%.

Still trying to figure out the “extra” service i got on that one that CMs in the main shop don’t provide…

 

[DisneyConvert]

We decided to leave the automatic gratuity and give them a good review (they were nice, trying and overwhelmed), we gave extra gratuity to our room attendant and Palo server. They went above and beyond!

I would not subtract from the auto-gratuity unless a server or room attendant was deliberately doing a bad job. Tip (w. cash!) above & beyond, if they go above & beyond . . . .which I recall DCL castmembers doing regularly.

This 18% on top of the $45++ at Palo is very helpful news, as it's less than we would often tip for the exceptional meals we've received there. Plus, I believe as Platinum, the first $45 is comp'd.