Just Curious How Cheers Gratuities are Distributed

[BubbaD123]

If anyone happens to know. For simplicity's sake, if I have a $15 per day gratuity added on to my Cheers and get 15 drinks. is the system smart enough to distribute it evenly amongst all drinks I order? Or are the tips just pooled and given to all bartenders/runners equitably? 

[Cruiser_1977]

It is my understanding that those tips are pooled. If you want a particular staff member to receive a tip, hand them cash.

[crewsweeper]

My understanding is that gratuities are paid in advance when you purchase your Cheers package. Thus those gratuities would go into a pool for all bartenders and waitstaff eligible.  Each drink you buy with Cheers creates a ticket, so there could be some remittance since the barkeep or wait staf printed the ticket. There is a space on the ticket for you to add extra and many do so.

[Virga]

For the record, I do not know the answer, I have just rolled it around in my head many times.  I am a logistics nerd and a former bartender, so the real answer is somewhat important to me.

 

I believe it is most likely that the gratuity (which ranges from $9.36 per day for an advance purchase on long cruises to $10.79 per day for an onboard purchase on a short cruise, it is NEVER anywhere near $15/day) is pooled for all staff who 'sell' Cheers inclusive products, and split evenly.

 

I believe it would be most sensible/fair, but somewhat less likely, that the daily fee is prorated against the total 'normal price' of all the Cheers inclusive products you 'purchase' - for simplicity, if in a day you order fifteen $10 alcoholic beverages and five $3 sodas or waters, each booze beverage will have a ~$.60 (sixty cent) tip assigned to the appropriate server/venue and each water/soda will have an ~$.18 (eighteen cent) tip assigned to the appropriate server/venue.  I imagine this amount would be lower if the Cheers package is from a discounted RU promo.

 

It's also possible that the system counts your total number of drinks - perhaps just booze drinks, maybe all your Cheers freebies - and splits your ~$10 a day equally - that's $.50-$.75 a drink in the above example, more if you're not a drunk like me (I mean, a heavy user of Cheers.). I also assume this amount would be lower if you have a Cheers RU discounted package.

 

It seems absolutely impossible that Carnival actually gives the appropriate server/venue a tip based on the actual price of the drink.  I am confident that Carnival doesn't give them any more than you give Carnival - so $10.79 a day at most, so ~$.75 a drink at most if you're a heavy user.

 

I would be SUPER interested in knowing how it actually works.  If I knew for sure, I'd be able to tailor my additional tips more appropriately.   Following with extreme curiosity!

Edited February 3, 2022 by Virga
wording

[Elaine5715]

7 minutes ago, Virga said:

For the record, I do not know the answer, I have just rolled it around in my head several times.  

 

I believe it is most likely that the gratuity (which ranges from $9.36 per day for an advance purchase on long cruises to $10.79 per day for an onboard purchase on a short cruise, it is NEVER anywhere near $15/day) is pooled for all staff who 'sell' Cheers inclusive products, and split evenly.

 

I believe it would be most sensible/fair, but somewhat less likely, that the daily fee is prorated against the total 'normal price' of all the Cheers inclusive products you 'purchase' - for simplicity, if in a day you order fifteen $10 alcoholic beverages and five $3 sodas or waters, each booze beverage will have a ~$.60 (sixty cent) tip assigned to the appropriate server/venue and each water/soda will have an ~$.18 (eighteen cent) tip assigned to the appropriate server/venue.  I imagine this amount would be lower if the Cheers package is from a discounted RU promo.

 

It's also possible that the system counts your total number of drinks - perhaps just booze drinks, maybe all your Cheers freebies - and splits your ~$10 a day equally - that's $.50-$.75 a drink in the above example, more if you're not a drunk like me (I mean, a heavy user of Cheers.). I also assume this amount would be lower if you have a Cheers RU discounted package.

 

It seems absolutely impossible that Carnival actually gives the appropriate server/venue a tip based on the actual price of the drink.  I am confident that Carnival doesn't give them any more than you give Carnival - so $10.79 a day at most, so ~$.75 a drink at most if you're a heavy user.

 

I would be SUPER interested in knowing how it actually works.  If I knew for sure, I'd be able to tailor my additional tips more appropriately.   Following with extreme curiosity!

You are 100% accurate.  The grat amount that is added to your CHEERS purchase is divided up equally per beverage, be it a soda, a latte or a handcrafted martini for the servers.  

[Brkintx]

While not cheers, the wait staff in the Horizon steakhouse answered my grat question directly saying all tips are pooled there, and showed me where cash tips are dropped when received. 
 

[wardwhitty]

I understand the cheers tips being pooled but what if we tip on top of that, does it go to the individual ?