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View Full Version : What about tipping for Palo and Couples Massage?



TheDuckRocks
11-06-2007, 10:52 AM
Last night I stayed up until 12:01 AM to get my reservations made for Palo for dinner and the couples massage at Castaway Cay. I was so worried that nothing would left after everyone who could book reservations for activities 105 and 90 days in advance would have picked off the ones I wanted. This morning I'm a very happy woman with ressies for both of them.:woohoo::joy:
Now we once again get to the part where I'm not sure if tipping is expected and if so how much? I know if I were at home I'd be tipping for both of these services.
On some other cruise lines when you pay extra for a special restaurant the extra is considered the tip. Is this true for DCL?
What percent would be appropriate for the tip for the massage? As it is a couples massage will 1 or 2 people be doing it and do I split the tip?
Thanks for the help everyone, I so don't want to hurt someones feelings when they have gone out of their way to make your travel experience special.

ElenitaB
11-06-2007, 11:03 AM
Congrats, Kay, on getting the reservations you want.

Yes, people do tip extra for Palo's... I'm sure someone will pipe in soon with suggested amounts. I'm looking forward to Tea or brunch there on our cruise. :cloud9:

As for the couple's massage, two people will be attending to you and your DH. I would advise, when you fill out your card in advance of the massage, to write "no product sales, please" as they do get rather heavy into pushing their product line. (Kinda pulls the the relaxation vibe out of the room, as far as I'm concerned.)

RobWreck
11-06-2007, 02:02 PM
As for tipping at Palo's, when my wife and I went last October, we tipped as if we were getting this type of meal at this type of restaurant at home... Palo's is no $5-tip-at-Friendly's dinner, so we left what we considered an appropriate amount for a full dinner w/ appertizers and dessert. (probably a bit on the high side, but our server was top notch...).
Rob

PS: $40 tip for two adults.

TammiMcMan
11-06-2007, 10:49 PM
I can't find my spa receipt, but I'm pretty sure that they didn't automatically tack on a gratuity. Industry standards suggest 15 - 20% tip for each person you have treating you.

For Palo, I know that there is the $10 surcharge for eating out of your dining loop, but when all is said and done, your server gets significantly less than that. I do exactly what Rob suggested and tip according to the market value of our dinner. Again though, check your receipt because a tip may automatically be added for any alcoholic drinks you order, so you just want to estimate the cost of your food. We also factor in whether or not our servers table is able to be turned around for another diner. If we eat and leave, that's one thing, but if we linger and tie up his/her table, then we also add that into our tip amount. When we cruised without our kids, our Palo reservation would start at 7:30pm and we were rarely out of there until 11pm. I think the majority of our stateroom bill at the end of the cruise, was Palo tips :D.

TheDuckRocks
11-07-2007, 10:36 AM
Thanks for all the info.........this all was just about what I thought it would be.