tipping while on the Cheer's beverage package

[kaseyj79]

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise on the Horizon and tipping left us fairly confused. Even though we pay 15% on top when we buy the package we felt very uncomfortable not tipping when we would our receipts w/ $0 on them. We ended up adding $1-$5 on each drink and that added up on top of already spending $719 for just the drink package. I have to ask how everyone else handles this situation? Do you add more or leave it blank?

 

Another thing that bugged me about the drink package was the bartenders always seemed so unhappy like they absolutely hate their jobs. It was quite annoying at times. Did anyone else notice this on their cruises? Its like they knew people pre-paid their tips so why bother? 

[LC12065]

I generally tip an extra dollar for each drink in cash. Have never experienced unhappy bartenders have always been pleasant and great service 

[coevan]

we tip a dollar a drink, $5 is absurd for a $6 drink. The only time we did not tip is when we had a bartender who was awful, rarely looked up, never said, "be right with you" and she never got a tip. We actually stayed away from that bar when she was serving

[WLHyatt]

We tip a dollar extra per drink usually (unless the service was bad). We have asked the bartenders on several trips and all of them have said that the pool tips on cheers go across all the bartenders, but the tips that you put on the line go to the bartender/barwaiter that served you.

 

We have not had bad service with cheers, but I think after the first few drinks they know who is going to tip and who is not. 

[riclop]

1 hour ago, kaseyj79 said:

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise on the Horizon and tipping left us fairly confused. Even though we pay 15% on top when we buy the package we felt very uncomfortable not tipping when we would our receipts w/ $0 on them. We ended up adding $1-$5 on each drink and that added up on top of already spending $719 for just the drink package. I have to ask how everyone else handles this situation? Do you add more or leave it blank?

 

Another thing that bugged me about the drink package was the bartenders always seemed so unhappy like they absolutely hate their jobs. It was quite annoying at times. Did anyone else notice this on their cruises? Its like they knew people pre-paid their tips so why bother? 

You did not have to tip extra especially if they were not very nice.

[TNShadyLady]

I've never bought Cheers but I always get DOU in the casino, and I always tip $1 cash for every drink. I've often wondered if the casino is comping my drinks, are they also picking up the gratuity to pay those servers? I had heard about the pooling, but by tipping with cash I know it goes into the right pocket.

 

On the other hand, I just came off an elite cruise where several of us had free drinks anywhere on board and I swear I might have been the ONLY one tipping extra cash.

Edited October 19, 2018 by TNShadyLady

[PhillyFan33579]

We always tip an extra $1-2 per drink using the Cheers program, and we have always had great service from bartenders.  We also talk to bartenders when they aren’t busy and enjoy getting to know them better over the duration of the cruise. 

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, coevan said:

we tip a dollar a drink, $5 is absurd for a $6 drink. The only time we did not tip is when we had a bartender who was awful, rarely looked up, never said, "be right with you" and she never got a tip. We actually stayed away from that bar when she was serving

 

$6 drink? What ship are you on? 

[Lottacruises]

6 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

$6 drink? What ship are you on? 

 

It was at the quarter arcade....

[Havingfun2010]

11 hours ago, kaseyj79 said:

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise on the Horizon and tipping left us fairly confused. Even though we pay 15% on top when we buy the package we felt very uncomfortable not tipping when we would our receipts w/ $0 on them. We ended up adding $1-$5 on each drink and that added up on top of already spending $719 for just the drink package. I have to ask how everyone else handles this situation? Do you add more or leave it blank?

 

Another thing that bugged me about the drink package was the bartenders always seemed so unhappy like they absolutely hate their jobs. It was quite annoying at times. Did anyone else notice this on their cruises? Its like they knew people pre-paid their tips so why bother? 

 

I went to a restaurant in Miami.  At the bottom of the receipt, a line item for 15% was already on the bill.  I had no issue NOT leaving anything extra.  Same thing for a drink package.  I already paid the tip.  It's not my business how tips are distributed.  I really don't care what happens to my tip. 

 

For some reason, when people get on a ship, they feel sorry for the people who serve them.  That's nice, but it is their choice.  When I get the receipt, I put a big X on the slip.  I don't sign it.  (Not required).  They only throw the blank ones out. 

[Saturngrl]

I like to find a bartender early in the cruise, hand him/her a $10 or $20 and ask the bartender to take special care of me and my friends.  This is always a success for great service!  

 

[schazzy]

10 hours ago, WLHyatt said:

We tip a dollar extra per drink usually (unless the service was bad). We have asked the bartenders on several trips and all of them have said that the pool tips on cheers go across all the bartenders, but the tips that you put on the line go to the bartender/barwaiter that served you.

 

We have not had bad service with cheers, but I think after the first few drinks they know who is going to tip and who is not. 

 

This! We budgeted out extra money just so we could tip a dollar per drink (which is about an average of what is usually added automatically when we bought drinks à la carte on our non-Cheers cruises) because we felt the 15% added to Cheers package is just really like the daily auto gratuities that is divided up and each bartender and drink server may get a buck or 2 out of the $55 pp we paid for the week and we felt that wasn't enough for all they do for us. 

[Alaskan Joe]

If you frequent a certain bar on your cruise, trust me tipping $1 per drink extra to the same person will get you a long ways. My DW and I do this every cruise, and we will find the one bartender/maid that will hook us up. Like when we are walking up, we get greeted by name and a huge smile. They drop everything and start waiting on you (unless they are making drinks for another guest). One cruise a group of people came in and ordered a round of shots (Washington Apples) it was like 12 of them. When the bartender was done making them it was like OOPS I made 13. So he gave it to my DW its just the little things like that, but then again it to each his/her own, it worth it for us.

[Alaskan Joe]

4 minutes ago, Saturngrl said:

I like to find a bartender early in the cruise, hand him/her a $10 or $20 and ask the bartender to take special care of me and my friends.  This is always a success for great service!  

 

This will work also 🙂 

[CruizCuz]

I usually tip $1 per drink when I purchase Cheers.  I realize that is on top of 15% already.  But when I receive good or great service in a restaurant, I usually tip 18-20%, so I do the same here.  I also put $15 each am in my wallet.  That's how I know where I am in my Cheers drink count.  I simply count my one's and know how many drinks I've had and how many are left.   I figure out on day 1, who the good bartenders are, and who are just so-so.  I return time and again to the ones who go above and beyond for me.  

[mdsgu]

We generally tip $1 extra per drink, even with Cheers.  That, and chatting a little with the bartenders, usually gets us recognized more quickly.  Works especially well at Alchemy and on the pool deck.

[BENHANDEL]

2 hours ago, Havingfun2010 said:

  When I get the receipt, I put a big X on the slip.  I don't sign it.  (Not required).  They only throw the blank ones out. 

 

Can you explain the significance of throwing out receipts? If it has an X is it not blank? Why would either matter to me?

 

This will be our first CCL cruise and we plan or purchase CHEERS!, but continue to waver because we are not big boozers....but the "Tip included" is a big reason for us to buy the package. Adding $1/drink more is another $30/day, or a 30% tip on the amount of the package, and $180 more over the length of cruise. If this is the expectation, the math equation changes for us back into the "no CHEERS!" decision. 

[d12j28]

1 hour ago, BENHANDEL said:

 

Can you explain the significance of throwing out receipts? If it has an X is it not blank? Why would either matter to me?

 

This will be our first CCL cruise and we plan or purchase CHEERS!, but continue to waver because we are not big boozers....but the "Tip included" is a big reason for us to buy the package. Adding $1/drink more is another $30/day, or a 30% tip on the amount of the package, and $180 more over the length of cruise. If this is the expectation, the math equation changes for us back into the "no CHEERS!" decision. 

You do not have to tip each drink. We stopped tipping $1 a drink a few years back. Now we just tip the good ones 5 or 10 here and there throughout the cruise. 

[kerryincork]

1 hour ago, BENHANDEL said:

 

Can you explain the significance of throwing out receipts? If it has an X is it not blank? Why would either matter to me?

 

This will be our first CCL cruise and we plan or purchase CHEERS!, but continue to waver because we are not big boozers....but the "Tip included" is a big reason for us to buy the package. Adding $1/drink more is another $30/day, or a 30% tip on the amount of the package, and $180 more over the length of cruise. If this is the expectation, the math equation changes for us back into the "no CHEERS!" decision. 

If I get the drinks package I never tip extra. If they give me a slip to sign I just draw a line through the tip extra line.

at the end of a cruise if I liked a particular bartender I might give them $10 extra.

[coevan]

10 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

$6 drink? What ship are you on? 

A beer is a drink

[Saint Greg]

6 minutes ago, coevan said:

A beer is a drink

 

I call a beer a beer and a drink a drink...but okay. We're assuming OP was drinking beers.

[Burtonair01]

Do the bartenders free pour or are they required to measure out the pour?

[Saint Greg]

3 minutes ago, Burtonair01 said:

Do the bartenders free pour or are they required to measure out the pour?

 

Depends on the bartender. I've seen a guy come up to one order a drink  and say the tip depended on the pour. He ended up giving the bartender $5.

[laumicmah]

17 hours ago, kaseyj79 said:

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise on the Horizon and tipping left us fairly confused. Even though we pay 15% on top when we buy the package we felt very uncomfortable not tipping when we would our receipts w/ $0 on them. We ended up adding $1-$5 on each drink and that added up on top of already spending $719 for just the drink package. I have to ask how everyone else handles this situation? Do you add more or leave it blank?

 

Another thing that bugged me about the drink package was the bartenders always seemed so unhappy like they absolutely hate their jobs. It was quite annoying at times. Did anyone else notice this on their cruises? Its like they knew people pre-paid their tips so why bother? 

Just off the Horizon too. Although it was my 10th cruise it was our first with the drink package. I too felt weird not tipping extra so every time DH and I got drinks (usually together) we tipped $1. DH was doing 50 cents and wanted me to do 50 cents but I felt that was absurd so I said I'd put $1 and suggested he put 0. Took him a while to listen to me so for 1st few days they got $1.50 on our 2 drinks. We were with friends and they brought a wad of ones and would tip a $1 bill each time. That was smart. But the weird feeling about tips and realizing, with the already paid 15%, we were tipping way more for bar service than we would if we were just paying for our drinks (we usually do 15% at most for bar drinks)....we won't get the drink package again. And it was too much drinking for me. There were a few days I didn't want any drinks but felt I had to get my money's worth. And it makes us hesitant to buy drinks off the boat in ports. Will go back to paying OOP. Cancelled drink package we had bought for our Jan Royal Carib cruise.

 

How did you like the cruise though? What were your negatives and positives? 

[Joebucks]

Tipping an extra $1-2 per drink puts your alcohol bill at nearly $1000 for the week. That is an absurd amount.