Bar service for veranda cabins

[lovetosew]

For those of us who may want to sail Viking Oceans but cannot afford a suite but want daily bar service; how is exactly that accomplished. Comments appreciated.

[Jim Avery]

What do you mean by bar service?

[Peregrina651]

Lots of choices.

 

All cabins DV and higher get the mini-bars replenished daily (or they are supposed to). DV cabins only get soft drinks.

 

V cabins can purchase additional soft drinks (or you snag a can or two at lunch and dinner). DV and V cabins can also pay for potent potables to be stocked in the bar. There is an order form in the cabin; ask the room steward if you can find the slip.

 

Or, you can order drinks from the bar via room service and they will be charged to you cabin.

 

Or bring your own. Viking has no restrictions on bringing liquor/wine/your favorite soft drink on board. Your own tipple may be consumed anywhere on the ship -- the bar will even supply clean glasses for the asking. There is no corkage fee in the dining room.

 

 

[MSEm]

We will often purchase a bottle of local wine.  It's nice to find a great local wine.

On another cruise line we spent an afternoon enjoying the wine from a local Turkish winery.

Yes Turkey does (or did) have winery and brewery.

[MSEm]

On Viking we will also order the Cheese & Fruit platter on the room service menu Good local wine & cheese, a nice way to spend an hour on our balcony after a tour.

[Oceans 8]

We are in a DV cabin on an upcoming Mediterranean Odyssey cruise and have purchased the Silver Spirits Beverage package.  Does anyone know if this entitles us to have our mini-bar stocked with liquor if we request them to?

[Peregrina651]

33 minutes ago, Oceans 8 said:

We are in a DV cabin on an upcoming Mediterranean Odyssey cruise and have purchased the Silver Spirits Beverage package.  Does anyone know if this entitles us to have our mini-bar stocked with liquor if we request them to?

 

It does not.

[Azulann]

take your best wine on board and store it in  your mini bar. There are wine glasses in stateroom. Have your  local wine on your balcony or while you are getting ready for dinner. Other option is bring it earlier to Restaruant  and they will pour it at your table. Lots of options. 

 Cheers!

Patti

[Moonlion]

13 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

It does not.

But with the SPBP, you can order alcoholic beverages through room service.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

We haven't really used room service, but thinking we likely will on our next cruise, even if only to get some extra fruit and milk.  We're tipping? And now much? 

 

Thanks...

[Peregrina651]

A good question with no solid answer.

 

It has been discussed in the past but as part of other threads, so finding the particular cites will be impossible. There are those who do and those who don't and if I remember correctly, the amounts suggested were in the couple of bucks range depending on what was being delivered.

 

Hopefully, folks will see your question here but if you don't get responses, I suggest starting a new thread with the question.

[MamaFej]

We are still awaiting our first Viking cruise in July (it's a Baltic one, so...)

 

However, on other lines, we tend to tip 2-5 USD or EUR, depending on where we are/where the ship is headed, for room service. Toward the lower end if it's just coffee and tea, toward the higher end if the tray is fuller and heavier. 

 

I am interested to learn from experienced Viking cruisers. 

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, MamaFej said:

We are still awaiting our first Viking cruise in July (it's a Baltic one, so...)

 

However, on other lines, we tend to tip 2-5 USD or EUR, depending on where we are/where the ship is headed, for room service. Toward the lower end if it's just coffee and tea, toward the higher end if the tray is fuller and heavier. 

 

I am interested to learn from experienced Viking cruisers. 

That’s what we do. 

[Heidi13]

7 hours ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

We haven't really used room service, but thinking we likely will on our next cruise, even if only to get some extra fruit and milk.  We're tipping? And now much? 

 

Thanks...

 

Surely that is based on personal preference and the value, quality and timeliness of the service you received from the cabin service crew.

[deec]

Viking...PLEASE add our tips/gratuities to our fare! I do not like searching for  a tip early in the am when I am trying SO hard to be organized, spitting for my covid test , finding our excursions cards, making sure I have  copies of Chile"s extraordinary forms that I have already submitted,  copies of the negative pcr tests results from yesteday,  figuring how many layers to wear and if it going to rain a little or a lot!!!

 

oh and don't forget my room key, mask, and contact tracer!

 

YES we are cruising again AND it is all worth it!!!  LIFE IS GREAT aboard Viking Jupiter!   We are having a great adventure!

[Clay Clayton]

12 hours ago, deec said:

Viking...PLEASE add our tips/gratuities to our fare! I do not like searching for  a tip early in the am when I am trying SO hard to be organized, spitting for my covid test , finding our excursions cards, making sure I have  copies of Chile"s extraordinary forms that I have already submitted,  copies of the negative pcr tests results from yesteday,  figuring how many layers to wear and if it going to rain a little or a lot!!!

 

oh and don't forget my room key, mask, and contact tracer!

 

YES we are cruising again AND it is all worth it!!!  LIFE IS GREAT aboard Viking Jupiter!   We are having a great adventure!

I don’t disagree with you that it would be fine with me if Viking included the daily service charge and I too don’t like searching for a tip in the early morning. But, an easy solution is to have a stash of dollar bills ready and place one or three on the coffee shelf before bed. 😂

[Hockeyump]

As you have the daily gratuities added to your bill at the end of the cruise (unless you prepay) why are you looking for an early morning tip?

 

[Jim Avery]

I have long said that Viking, given all the other things they do well and where they position themselves, should be including "gratuities" in the fare.  Just a bit tacky to "nickel & dime" by adding on daily gratuities.  

[Hockeyump]

They already do for UK and Australia customers.  I suspect even if they did this for US travellers the same question would arise regarding tips for room service etc.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

As you have the daily gratuities added to your bill at the end of the cruise (unless you prepay) why are you looking for an early morning tip?

 

Some folks (us included) usually tip the room service waiter a Buck or three

[Moonlion]

1 hour ago, Hockeyump said:

They already do for UK and Australia customers.  I suspect even if they did this for US travellers the same question would arise regarding tips for room service etc.

Interesting point.  On our 2018 Viking river cruise, daily gratuities were not automatically billed to our account as they are now.  There were recommended tipping amounts (for the cruise director, stateroom steward, waiters, etc.) and passengers either directly tipped individual crew members or anonymously left the tips in an envelop at the end of the cruise.  That changed on our 2019 river cruise with Viking adding fixed gratuities to our onboard accounts.  The justification at the time was that all crew, including those working behind the scenes, should receive a share of the tips and not just those working out in front.  I remember there was a lot of heated discussion about this on the Viking river forum, both for and against - for example: it's not a tip if automatically billed.  Why not just increase the cruise fare? Will the crew actually get the tips or will there be an expectation down the line to tip staff on top of the automatically billed gratuities?  I try to stay out of it but American tipping is a controversial topic!  

[stretchcruz]

We always tip $2-$4 for room service. Just because. We bring a lot of singles with us. We also tip favorite bar waiters throughout the cruise. I know, not necessary, but I feel that they deserve it. They work so hard. And they are so friendly. And when we go ashore we bring stuff back for our stewards or waiters (just little things like local chocolates, or if one of our waiters said he likes Pringles we get those...silly stuff) We always ask our stewards if they need anything...toothpaste, etc, and have been taken up on it more than once. I just try to be kind and appreciative, and if a few dollars helps, so be it.

[MICHE99]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:00 AM, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t disagree with you that it would be fine with me if Viking included the daily service charge and I too don’t like searching for a tip in the early morning. But, an easy solution is to have a stash of dollar bills ready and place one or three on the coffee shelf before bed. 😂

So is it not possible to sign for the order and add a tip?

[MICHE99]

14 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

We always tip $2-$4 for room service. Just because. We bring a lot of singles with us. We also tip favorite bar waiters throughout the cruise. I know, not necessary, but I feel that they deserve it. They work so hard. And they are so friendly. And when we go ashore we bring stuff back for our stewards or waiters (just little things like local chocolates, or if one of our waiters said he likes Pringles we get those...silly stuff) We always ask our stewards if they need anything...toothpaste, etc, and have been taken up on it more than once. I just try to be kind and appreciative, and if a few dollars helps, so be it.

We generally carry a wad of $2 bills. I remember years ago we used to buy pre-paid phone cards too. 

[Peregrina651]

4 minutes ago, MICHE99 said:

So is it not possible to sign for the order and add a tip?

 

Unless you are ordering caviar or drinks from the bar, there is no bill to sign. Room service (24/7) is included in our cruise fare regardless of cabin category.

 

Drinks from the bar already include a 15% gratuity whether you are drinking them in the bar or having them delivered to your cabin. Some people will give a tip in addition to what has already been charged and they will do it in cash so that it goes directly to the server and not to the tip pool.