Tipping for the Diamond Drinks loaded on your card

[emeraldcity]

I've been giving the server a dollar for the drinks that are loaded on my card, but is that enough? 

 

Mainly, I'm confused about whether servers receive any compensation for those D and D+ drinks. If they don't and it's a $10 drink, then my dollar is only a 10% tip and I need to up my game.

 

And I'm sure this topic has been covered, but I tried several searches, and apparently my searching skills are deficient.

[neverbeenhere]

As with all tipping, do whatever you feel like doing. Some will give zero and some will give $5 a drink.

[not-enough-cruising]

When I leave the room I take 10 singles, when I am out of cash, I know the wife and I are out of vouchers. 

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

When I leave the room I take 10 singles, when I am out of cash, I know the wife and I are out of vouchers. 

 

Sage advice. But I pack a couple extra in case I encounter a friendly bartender. Just keep them seperate

[reallyitsmema]

17 minutes ago, emeraldcity said:

I've been giving the server a dollar for the drinks that are loaded on my card, but is that enough? 

 

Mainly, I'm confused about whether servers receive any compensation for those D and D+ drinks. If they don't and it's a $10 drink, then my dollar is only a 10% tip and I need to up my game.

 

And I'm sure this topic has been covered, but I tried several searches, and apparently my searching skills are deficient.

 

Many feel a $1 tip is enough on a $13 drink.  It is up to you to decide what you feel is appropriate.

[not-enough-cruising]

11 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Sage advice. But I pack a couple extra in case I encounter a friendly bartender. Just keep them seperate

Good Call

[CatDad2012]

Usually I give the server $2 or $3 dollars. I take a stack of ones with me and expect to come back with "ZERO"

[Jarmo]

I use $3 bills when tipping on Diamond drinks.

[jalves]

I usually do the $1/drink extra tip.  It feels right to me.

[katiel53]

I tip $1 a drink if it is just a Chivas and soda.  I tip $2 a drink if I have something like a Pina Colada or Lava Flow.  

 

My thinking is that a simple drink isn't much work, so little tip.  A frozen drink takes more time/work so I tip more.

[Crism]

$2 in singles per drink in both DL and Casino. I roll up on a 7 night cruise with $200 in singles from the bank!

[smokeybandit]

There's a better chance they see that entire $1 tip when you tip with cash than when they pool the 18% you'd get charged without a voucher.

[Wineaux007]

I usually tip $1 per drink.  I think the bartender who rings up the drink charged to your card will get some sort of compensation from Royal.  That's why they make sure they charge you a voucher for a bottle of water at the end of the day when you want to use up all your remaining vouchers.  That's just my best guestimate. 

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, katiel53 said:

I tip $1 a drink if it is just a Chivas and soda.  I tip $2 a drink if I have something like a Pina Colada or Lava Flow.  

 

My thinking is that a simple drink isn't much work, so little tip.  A frozen drink takes more time/work so I tip more.

 

I'll do $2 if it's a delivered martini. 

[Tlbecker1]

21 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'll do $2 if it's a delivered martini. 

We always do $2 for a drink also.

[brillohead]

I do mostly virgin drinks, but I do $1/drink and I've always gotten excellent service upon my return to the same bar.  

What's sad to me is how surprised so much of the staff seems when I give them the dollar bill.  I'm afraid that many people aren't tipping extra cash at all.  

[gcelkk]

Looks like the answer is one to two dollars.  If you want to split the difference, two Canadian dollars can be acquired for a dollar fifty six.  That will put you above the average.

[LarryHD2]

I've been tipping with $2 bills for a while, everyone likes them and takes notice.

 

Another question...  we just turned diamond - with the drinks loaded on the seapass card, do they expire at the end of the day?  Can we have 2 drinks one day and 6 the next?

 

 

[Tlbecker1]

4 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I do mostly virgin drinks, but I do $1/drink and I've always gotten excellent service upon my return to the same bar.  

What's sad to me is how surprised so much of the staff seems when I give them the dollar bill.  I'm afraid that many people aren't tipping extra cash at all.  

I agree with you.  Someone posted about not giving crew members $2 bills.  I would hope that they would be happy with anything, since I know that many don’t tip at all.

[LarryHD2]

1 minute ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I agree with you.  Someone posted about not giving crew members $2 bills.  I would hope that they would be happy with anything, since I know that many don’t tip at all.

why not tip with $2 bills?  I've done it for years and I've never head anything bad about it.

[neverbeenhere]

5 minutes ago, LarryHD2 said:

I've been tipping with $2 bills for a while, everyone likes them and takes notice.

 

Another question...  we just turned diamond - with the drinks loaded on the seapass card, do they expire at the end of the day?  Can we have 2 drinks one day and 6 the next?

 

 

Drink voucher expires at the end of the day… the new ones start at the beginning of the day. 
 

$2 bills are fine so are loonies and toonies. 

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, LarryHD2 said:

IAnother question...  we just turned diamond - with the drinks loaded on the seapass card, do they expire at the end of the day?  Can we have 2 drinks one day and 6 the next?

No, they don’t roll over, use em or lose em.

 

Tip: You do have 4 more on disembarkation morning (or turnaround morning if a B2B).

[Tlbecker1]

7 minutes ago, LarryHD2 said:

why not tip with $2 bills?  I've done it for years and I've never head anything bad about it.

This is what was posted:  

From a cruise ship hotel manager. This is not me.

 

I have managed Hotels on cruise ships for nearly 30 years; 28 different ships for 18 different cruise lines.

I have had 10s of thousands of tipped crew working for me over the years.

Every few months we get some guest who thinks it’s cute to tip with strange currencies or denominations.

The crew brings the odd bills and coins to me to see if I can change them for something that’s is useful to them. They cannot take the strange currencies home, as they cannot change them there. Many times they cannot find time or a location to change them during the cruise. Generally the crew purser will not accept any unusual coins or bills from the crew. So the crew is usually just stuck with them. 

After smiling at you when you hand them the strange bank note, they only remember the nitwit  who thought he / she was being cute.

 $2 bills are a total challenge for a crew member to use.

[LarryHD2]

8 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

After smiling at you when you hand them the strange bank note, they only remember the nitwit  who thought he / she was being cute.

 $2 bills are a total challenge for a crew member to use.

I guess I'm the nitwit, but I've actually had several crew members hand me money and ask me for more of my $2's...  to each their own I guess.  And, why would a $2 bill be any different than a $1, $5 or $10 bill?... they're all US currency

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by LarryHD2

[Tlbecker1]

1 minute ago, LarryHD2 said:

I guess I'm the nitwit, but I've actually had several crew members hand me money and ask me for more of my $2's...  to each their own I guess.

You and me both are nitwits and I agree 100%!  I still don’t understand why $2’s are a problem?  That is what we use and will keep doing so.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Tlbecker1