Additional tips?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

What I am saying is that I give the server a $2 bill when I place my first order.  The server recognizes the $2 bill and associates it with me.  In a night or two of this, the server knows me, knows I tip an extra $2 per drink, and I often find that my drink and my butt hit the table at about the same time.  By watching the bartender and by the taste, I can tell that pretty soon I'm often getting a better pour.  Sometimes I'll see the server working the buffet in the morning and sometimes they will drop off a mimosa as they pass by or a bottle of water if I'm going ashore.

 

That's been my experience.  Too bad if it upsets some here, but I'm simply sharing my experience.

 

It doesn't upset me, but if I was the F&B manager I would be very unhappy!

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

But it is quite clearly stealing. The cruise line expects to sell 40 (say) measures at $20 each, so will generate $800 from  the bottle. If bar staff give bigger measures at a lower price, the revenue may be only $600. The bar staff have therefore stolen $200.

 

Let's say the cruise line offers a beverage package for $59 plus 18 % gratuity or around $70 per day.  The beverage package allows me up to 15 drinks a day (with complimentary detox at the end of the cruise).   If the cruise line or TA includes the beverage package as part of the cruise price, corporate or the TA is paying for it somehow.  If I get my wee dram or three in the evening and that's it, I've paid around $23.00 per drink from the beverage package.  Trust me, the cruise line and the F&B manager are happy to give me a top shelf pour for my three drinks rather than 15 pours from the well.

 

If I don't have a beverage package included, I still have my wee dram or three in the evening and my $2 often gets me a better pour.

 

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Let's say the cruise line offers a beverage package for $59 plus 18 % gratuity or around $70 per day.  The beverage package allows me up to 15 drinks a day (with complimentary detox at the end of the cruise).   If the cruise line or TA includes the beverage package as part of the cruise price, corporate or the TA is paying for it somehow.  If I get my wee dram or three in the evening and that's it, I've paid around $23.00 per drink from the beverage package.  Trust me, the cruise line and the F&B manager are happy to give me a top shelf pour for my three drinks rather than 15 pours from the well.

 

If I don't have a beverage package included, I still have my wee dram or three in the evening and my $2 often gets me a better pour.

 

I'm  merely saying that you are paying the bar staff to give you something to which you are not entitled.  Justify it how you like.

[SargassoPirate]

33 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm  merely saying that you are paying the bar staff to give you something to which you are not entitled.  Justify it how you like.

 

If I have a drink package, I am "entitled" to 15 two ounce pours. If those come from the well, it costs the cruise line for 30 ounces.  If I have three drinks, let's say even generous 4 ounce pours, that's 12 ounces and I'm leaving 18 ounces on the table, so to speak.  Trust me, any F&B manager or bar tender worth their margarita salt would be happy to give me some top shelf scotch at that rate. Plus a simple pour of scotch saves the F&B manager the extra costs of juices and fruits for the chi chi cocktails.

 

Have you ever worked in the food and beverage industry? A good friend that we occasionally cruise with owns a bar and he explained the drink package profit margin to me by using the cost per pour example.

 

I don't feel "entitled" but if my little $2 bill produces a benefit I'm happy, and if not, I'm just as happy.

 

Perhaps you should station yourself at the end of the bar to observe, track, and report "stealing".  Or, you can just not worry about my $2 bills.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by SargassoPirate

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Have you ever worked in the food and beverage industry

Oh yes ! For longer than I care to remember.

[SargassoPirate]

56 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Oh yes ! For longer than I care to remember.

Then I trust you recognize customers who are nice, who respect you, and who show their appreciation by giving a little extra.  

 

We've all had to deal with difficult members of the public and one generally gets back what they put forth.

 

Karma.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Then I trust you recognize customers who are nice, who respect you, and who show their appreciation by giving a little extra.  

 

We've all had to deal with difficult members of the public and one generally gets back what they put forth.

 

Karma.

Absolutely, but not when the staff member ruins my profit margin by giving away expensive drinks for a $2 tip.

[Thrak]

15 hours ago, LynnForestgate said:

I have never looked at it in this regard.

 

Apparently you have never been an employer.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, LynnForestgate said:

 

mmmm.

amazing how you can know a persons career from one sentence.

Have I finally met Mystic Meg ?

 

Because the fact that you failed to understand the impact on profit by giving away drinks, showed a lack of understanding of the catering trade.

[caribill]

On 12/2/2021 at 2:16 AM, mcrcruiser said:

Don't forget that there is a tip of 18% already added to the cost of that drink .Thus ,imo ,a pretty decent xtra service tip 

 

The 18% tip, whether for an individual drink or as a part of a beverage package, goes into the bar staff tipping pool, not directly to an individual. A cash tip stays with the person you gave it to.

[SargassoPirate]

21 hours ago, wowzz said:

Absolutely, but not when the staff member ruins my profit margin by giving away expensive drinks for a $2 tip.

Chew on this one:

 

Who Are Best and Worst Cruise Ship Tippers? | Crew Center (crew-center.com)

[wowzz]

20 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

Chew on this one:

 

Who Are Best and Worst Cruise Ship Tippers? | Crew Center (crew-center.com)

Shows that us Brits and Aussies have more common sense than most, with the Scandi's coming a close second ! 

[mcrcruiser]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

 

The 18% tip, whether for an individual drink or as a part of a beverage package, goes into the bar staff tipping pool, not directly to an individual. A cash tip stays with the person you gave it to.

That seems  fair to us 😄

[Bgwest]

Tipping threads just never dissapoint!🍿

[Thrak]

6 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Tipping threads just never dissapoint!🍿

 

And are never of value.

[Bgwest]

1 minute ago, Thrak said:

 

And are never of value.

But then there's the entertainment value. 

[jimbo1683]

On 12/1/2021 at 8:12 PM, Justin_Case said:

I absolutely tip extra for these hard working employees. For one, pre-paid gratuities are included in Princess Perks, so that's not out of my pocket. Also, they are trying to financially recover from the very long pause of operations.

 

On my 10/31/21 Ruby Princess sailing, it showed the amount paid Princess paid for crew incentives was something like $118 for a 7 day cruise. For my 10 day in December, it's $155 and January's 10 day is $145. None of these amounts seem like a lot to be spread out to employees who are providing a stress-free respite away from the real world.

 

I make sure to take a stack of $1's and $5's, as well as twenties for the cabin steward. I tip(ped) my room steward at the start and end of the cruise; for every beverage delivered to me whether it's in the casino, poolside or to my cabin; for every room service delivery; and for the table servers in the buffet. If I dined in the dining rooms or ordered at a bar, I'd tip the staff there as well.

 

Of course, it's up to every individual cruiser if they want to or not, just adding my $1 to $20 (two cents goes nowhere) since the question was asked.

 

Happy cruising!

So you tipped twice for everything in summary.

[jimbo1683]

On 12/1/2021 at 8:36 PM, brovol said:

Just got back from the sky, which had great service.  We didnt tip extra for our drinks, but at the end of the cruise we did ask for envelopes and gave cash tips the last night to certain individuals, in addition to the prepaid gratuities which were covered under our princess plus plan.  They seemed to be appreciated.

Why did it require the theatrics of an envelope?

[jimbo1683]

On 11/30/2021 at 2:14 PM, disneyochem said:

LOL!  The $2 were for the servers who brought me coffee and drinks.  I tipped others from $100 (my food guide who helped me with the menu and spoke the the chefs) to $50 (wait staff, housekeeping) to $20 (woman at guest services who walked us to our room to make sure our plumbing issues had been taken care of) for other services!

Maybe it’s being mean but it’s what we feel comfortable doing…

 

Good lord, where to start. You needed somebody to help you with a menu and speak to a chef. Isn't that a waiter? 

$20 to someone who walked along a corridor with you and checked the maintenance team had done what they had been asked? 

Goodness me.

[Thrak]

I think it would be great if they would put a "sticky" at the top of the posts stating there will be no "tipping threads" allowed and then they could just delete any threads that violate that directive.

[rbtan]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:42 PM, sun&sea said:

It has been a while since we have cruised, and obviously things have changed. With the gratuities included, are people tipping the waitstaff that bring drinks, etc? I have been visiting some all-inclusive resorts, and we usually tip a dollar here and there for bringing us drinks. I just wonder if this takes place on the cruises now?? Like when ordering from the app while sitting at the pool, etc?

Please don't turn this into a battle about tipping! 

 

Janet

 

The waitstaff that handle the bars get a pretty good gratuity(near 18%) For us, we don't give "cash" until the end of the cruise. There we take care of the cabin attendant & dining room staff(if we do traditional) If we do anytime dining, we just leave the auto tip in place. Those who "remove" the auto tip & pocket it(they know who they are LOL!)should not be allowed to step foot on a ship. I AM very happy that it is harder to remove the auto tip. You do NOT have to tip over & above, but it is appreciated. We're both in the hospitality industry, so we do tip above & beyond(but that's our choice)

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, rbtan said:

The waitstaff that handle the bars get a pretty good gratuity(near 18%) For us, we don't give "cash" until the end of the cruise. There we take care of the cabin attendant & dining room staff(if we do traditional) If we do anytime dining, we just leave the auto tip in place. Those who "remove" the auto tip & pocket it(they know who they are LOL!)should not be allowed to step foot on a ship. I AM very happy that it is harder to remove the auto tip. You do NOT have to tip over & above, but it is appreciated. We're both in the hospitality industry, so we do tip above & beyond(but that's our choice)

That sums up my approach as well, but I will be called a stingy Brit ! 

[rbtan]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

That sums up my approach as well, but I will be called a stingy Brit ! 

There's this guy(Toad of Toad Hall)from Cunard. Not sure if he's even around anymore. He used to brag about removing the auto tip before the end of the cruise. Just gave all Britain a real black eye.

[OCruisers]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:47 PM, franktown said:

I almost always tip extra.  Not necessary put always appreciated.

Same here!  

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, rbtan said:

There's this guy(Toad of Toad Hall)from Cunard. Not sure if he's even around anymore. He used to brag about removing the auto tip before the end of the cruise. Just gave all Britain a real black eye.

Haven't heard about him. Personally,  if autotips are part of the package,  so be it. I would never remove them.

But as more cruise lines do away with autotips  (Viking, Celebrity, P&O, Princess,  Saga, Tui etc) hopefully,  this sort  of  discussion will die a death.