Drink Packages - Do the bartenders actually hate them?

Do the bartenders have ANY incentive from the 18% automatically added to the drink packages, or does the prepaid 18% actually cause more harm than good?

A tip is generally paid out for one of two reasons.

#1 To reward good service that has already occurred.

#2 To entice future good service, better than you believe you would receive otherwise. Some call this bribing, greasing the palm or just plain tipping.

Now, if I buy a drink package, reason #1 does not apply. I have not been served a drink yet. And every time I walk towards the bar the entire cruise, I have not yet been served that drink. So it must be for reason #2 that RCCL does me this favor of adding the 18% in ahead of time. When I hold my nose looking at that crazy price as I click 'accept' on the drink package purchase, I have to take solace in the fact that the 18% will ensure I get at least average service when I order drinks, and perhaps better than average. I mean come, 18% is a good, no, a very good tip per drink, on average.

A tip of a dollar when the bar tender pops the top and hands me a bottle of beer is a very good tip.

A tip of a dollar for a simple mixed drink is about right, in my opinion anyway.

A tip of a dollar for a complicated drink is probably a little weak, $2 would be better.

So, I had the Ultimate Package on Quantum. Walked up the first afternoon to the Schooner Bar, ordered my drink from the friendly bar tender, and as I handed him my card he spotted the "UP" sticker. He audibly sucked in air thru his teeth, the smile and his mood dropped, snapped the card twice with his thumb and handed it back to me before mumbling all set and walking away. Hmmmm. Never went back to that guy. And he NEVER came over to me.

I found several bartenders that were cool, tipped them each $5 once early on and a buck here and there and had the best service. The regular bartenders in the indoor pool bar were a bit cool in their demeanor. Never tipped them extra after the 2nd day. I mean they got 18% each drink they served me right, and they weren't doing any extra to earn a tip in the 19-35% range? Every time they served me a drink, they got a little extra, actually 18% extra, for their trouble, right? That's what I kept thinking all week on the cruise, not understanding why the bar tenders weren't falling over themselves to serve drinks like mad. I mean, 18% of a $14 drink is almost 3 bucks, GUARANTEED! If I was getting 18% per drink I would work my buns off to turn around as many drinks as I could. No, something was amiss.

The bars on the Quantum were the least busy I have seen on the 6 cruises I have been on. I could always walk up to the pool bar and order within seconds. That's unheard of! I'm used to the pool bars being 2 deep and waiting minutes to order.

Then it hit me, about the fifth time they handed me a drink and didn't bother to hand me the slip to sign it. These guys have zero incentive to serve drinks to drink package people that are only tipping 18% per over priced drink.

They don't make any extra 18% tip money serving 100 free drinks versus 1 free drinks to the package people. That 18% we fork over when we buy the package is pooled and paid out regardless of the # of drinks they serve. The only tip related incentive the bartenders have is the people that tip extra right then and there.

So basically I have to tip about 30-35% per drink (add another buck or two on top of the forced 18%) for the bartender to see me as a tipping customer. That 18% I paid as a forced pre-tip is doing me zero good in projecting me as a tipping customer to the bartenders. If I'm not tipping in the 19% and up range (adding more tip on top of the 18% force), apparently I'm not tipping!

Royal Caribbean, the 18% you force me to pay is hurting everyone involved. Yes, there are stiffs out there that will tip a quarter on a bottle of beer and maybe a buck for three custom Mojitos, and so you feel you have to force a tip from us all, but the majority of your clientele are not like that and don't appreciate the 18% fee we are forced to pay. If you insist on this drink package junk, do not force the 18% up front (there has been no service yet and why are you making me pay a bribe), but do force the bartenders to make us sign for each "free" drink and we can add the tips there either in cash or onto my SeaPass card.

Or just get rid of this whole stupid drink package and let us buy drink coupon books. Or here's a real crazy idea, roll you prices back from The-Whole-Ship-Is-A-Mini-Bar-So-Lets-Charge-14-A-Drink and set them back to reality. Your bartenders will appreciate it; we will appreciate it. You'll sell more booze. People will be happier.

Stay Thirsty My Friends......

I have seen a few people post similar critiques of the pooled tipping with drink packages. All I can offer is my own experience - I have never encountered anything like what you reported. Bartenders have been pleasant and provided timely service both with and without a drink package, no difference between when I had a package and when I didn't.

I had one bad server on Oasis who never bothered to return to where we were sitting with the 2 cokes my DH and I ordered in the Viking crown lounge one night.

I am just off Freedom sailing (5/24) and did not have any issues with having drink package. I was never avoided and I never felt that they were not working hard. The bartenders were top notch and responsive. I'm guessing RCI is allocating them the package tips based on who actually made/delivered the drink which along with their strong work ethic keeps them engaged.....

I see your point. many feel that the real drink price is whatever the prices is plus 18%...they get that anyway so there's no real incentive for harder work.

That said we had $100 obc...we used it mostly for tipping an extra $1 to our favorite bartender (Anthony at the solarium bar on the enchantment) we felt it was to good use.

I am just off the Oasis 6/6 and I also had no issues with the UP (Ultimate Package), in fact at a few bars (Boleros and the Old English one across from Sorentos, sorry forgot the name) they didnt even go through the process of taking the card and having us sign a $0.00 receipt. I will also say they were VERY generous with their pours. My #1 drink Captain and Coke, sometimes I even had to have them add some more Coke half way through. The bartenders were excellent all over (including pool service where there were multiple waiters, never had an issue getting a nice pina colada over Baileys) in fact sometimes they were too fast for me, but I tried to down them before the next one asked if I needed another :)

In my 3 trips in a year, and most recently off Liberty in March I never had an issue with bartenders regarding my drink package! I just tipped a buck with each drink on the Liberty trip!

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I've had both good and bad service with drink packages, but think it has to do more with the overall attitude of the individual rather than the package itself as I witnessed them giving the same poor or excellent service to passengers who purchased as they went.

My understanding of the gratuity on the drinks package is that the total collected is distributed between bar tenders and bar servers based on a formula of position worked and number of hours worked, not based on what they serve or how many drinks they serve. Lazy/unmotivated employees will milk this system by working slow and giving poor service on purpose to not have to serve as many customers/drinks, this feeling they are not working as hard. Enthusiastic employees go above and beyond to serve guests and ensure they are happy. Same as in any business where employees are providing a service to a consumer.

Regarding swiping/not swiping sea pass or signing/not signing receipts. This is determined by the bar manager and hotel director and changes as the people in those positions rotate in and out. Some want a trail of every drink served to account for alcohol usage at each bar, or to help determine if a particular location is over or understaffed at certain hours of the day. Others rely on feedback from staff and first hand observation to adjust staffing levels and are not as tight on the paper trail. They may also be more strict after a large staff rotation and become more relaxed with the staff over time. It really is that variable, and corporate rely on the individual bar managers and hotel directors to manage the way they feel appropriate while meeting budget and revenue goals.

But those bar tenders aren't getting 18% on every drink they make you. You are paying 18% of the cost of the package. If you drink 20 drinks a day, your 18% tip is much less than the person who only drinks 5 a day. Also, I am assuming that the 18% gratuity on those drink packages is divided among the entire bar staff on the ship and doesn't go to only those who make you a drink, which makes their actual tip even less. So, I don't think it is surprising that they aren't thrilled with people who have drink packages because in the end they see VERY little tip and most people do not tip more as we have already tipped quite a bit. I am against the drink package not only because I don't drink a lot but because I think the gratuity should be optional, I would MUCH rather tip $1 to each person who makes me a drink and I am sure the bartenders would prefer that as well.

Seeing as the automatic gratuity doesn't make a lot of sense from the customers perspective or from the servers perspective, I question why cruise lines do this. It makes me wonder if that full gratuity is actually going to the workers. I have a feeling it isn't. The only explanation I can think is that a lot of people were not tipping at all if gratuities weren't added because they weren't considering that as they felt they already paid.

With the prices of drinks on RCCL, though, I think I will not be drinking on the ship and just drink in ports if I want something.

Had absolutely no issues with bad service and drinks packages.

Always had stellar service, regardless of drinks package.

One or two bad experiences doesn't set a standard.

I remember seeing on one of the cruise shows about a ship on the Travel Channel or Nat Geo(can't remember which) where they said every drink is recorded in the register/computer for inventory control and so they know what they need to order. We have never ordered a package and never will due to the extreme cost compared to how much we drink. We're going on Celebrity next year and a drink package was included so that will be our experience using it. I have read good and bad experiences on CC, but the good do seem to edge out the bad. The best thing to do is complain while onboard. Management needs to know about truly poor service.

Just trying to work out this 18% grats per drink/package. When I buy a package I pay a 18% grats for the package. This tip does NOT relate to the amount of drinks I order. If I order 5 or 25 in a day, I don't pay anything extra. It's in my package. So the bar staff are only getting the 18% of the daily rate I paid. If they serve me once or twenty times, they are NOT getting 18% per drink.

So they can get annoyed that the get less tips from all inclusive guests. You can see the Americans tipping extra but the Brits will see it as already tipped why pay again. I haven't been brought up with this need to tip extra for a service that is food/drink based. You don't go to Guest Services, ask a question then tip them for an answer. But they provided a service.

I like opening doors for Americans and holding out my hand for a tip. I can earn over $200 in a day just walking around the ship doing that.

I don't think we have every had bad service from the bar staff on a RC ship, seems like we have always had friendly staff as a whole.

I do feel for the bartenders who have to deal with cruisers on the drink package tho...My wife and I like to hang out and talk to people at the bars, both cruisers and bar staff. We have seen countless times how a rude cruiser can change the whole attitude of an entire bar staff, from happy to mad, like a flip of a switch. We have watched as the pool bar gets mobbed by the crowd and some people are just to impatient to wait their turn. Then by the time they get to the counter there are some that are rude to the staff. I doubt that the bar tender goes home at night and goes on cruisercritic dot com and blames the drink package on why the cruiser was so rude today. My point being, that I think just because you may get a few angry bar tenders, it might not be the drink package.

I also don't agree with the auto tip on the drink package tho also. I feel no tip included and you should tip as you go. It would be like working for a company making 100 widgets per day for X, and one day your boss says you are going to make 200 widgets per day for the same X. Regardless of how hard you work, you will only get X.

So forget about the one super grumpy bartender I had. I don't want some in this thread to dismiss the point I'm trying to make - just because they always had great service, there must be no problem. Normally I don't think twice about someone in a bad mood, or someone that cuts me off on the highway, or runs thru the door and doesn't hold it for me. You have no idea what chaos might just have occurred in their personal lives. But in my case this one bartender's mod went from great to bad at the sight of the "UP" sticker on my card - like garlic to a vampire!

I hate that I paid over $100 in tips when I signed up, and I am seen as not tipping at all unless I fork over even more. I have no issue tipping 18%, but as others have stated I wonder how much if any of that 18% goes to the guy handing me the drink. And paying an extra buck or two in cash for a drink is not going to break me - its the principle of the thing.

There is no incentive from that forced 18% tip - the bartenders get as much (or as little!) of that 18% whether they serve me or not. So if this 18% I am paying ahead of the cruise is not rewarding good service (I have not been served a drink yet), and is not providing any incentive for enhanced future service, tell me RCCL, why do you call it a "gratuity"? :rolleyes:

Get rid of these shameful prices, get rid of these dumb drink packages, and let your bartenders earn some tips, so that we can tip them in full, directly.

Or if you insist on these packages and the forced tip, let the bartenders keep 18% of what the drink price would have been. Now they have a reason to serve the drink package people as fast as possible because each free drink is a guaranteed $1-3 tip for them.

I understand what you are saying and agree with you.

I do not get the package but buy a few drinks on board, mostly beer.

If I buy a beer at about 7.00 ,they then add 18 percent grat.

Am I expected to tip more. Or does that bartender get the 18 percent.

I do not think I should tip extra.

I understand what you are saying and agree with you.

 

I do not get the package but buy a few drinks on board, mostly beer.

If I buy a beer at about 7.00 ,they then add 18 percent grat.

Am I expected to tip more. Or does that bartender get the 18 percent.

 

I do not think I should tip extra.

You do not have to tip more on drinks where they add 18%.

From what I have read, and know from friends who live in, or come from other countries Americans are the pre-eminent tippers of the world. Americans are used to living in a society where the people who serve them subsidize their income with tips. Royal Caribbean, and other cruise lines that cater largely to Americans pay their employees according to American standards and count on their guests tipping certain employees as part of their income.

On the other had Royal Caribbean (and the others) has seen that there are many untapped markets in other parts of the world (Asia being a big one). However in most countries tipping is more of a social exercise where they leave a few dollars (such as the UK), virtually non-existent (China), and seen as inappropriate (Japan). It's much easier to just charge an automatic gratuity than to educate people on American tipping standards, and expect them to understand and comply.

I have not yet been on a cruise (I will be going on my first in November/December), but I have been to all inclusive resorts that charge automatic gratuity here in the states. It doesn't bug me at all. I am not a heavy drinker, but I tip about a dollar a drink when I do drink at a bar whether it's a martini or just tap water. When I am at an all inclusive, gratuities covered resort I tip a dollar for every two drinks, and leave something for the waitresses and housekeepers anyway. I still don't consider myself to be overly generous, and I imagine there are people who tip much more than me. I can only imagine what folks from countries who tip from 0-5% look like to bartenders compared to Americans who 20%+ for every drink they get -especially- if their wages account for American style tipping vs European and Asian style tipping.

 

I hate that I paid over $100 in tips when I signed up, and I am seen as not tipping at all unless I fork over even more.

You're getting off easy. Be prepared to be called a "cheap ass" on this forum unless you spend another $150 per week on top of that. :rolleyes:

You're getting off easy. Be prepared to be called a "cheap ass" on this forum unless you spend another $150 per week on top of that. :rolleyes:

How much you enjoy a cruise isn't determined by how much money you spend. We spend $0 extra and have a wonderful time. Call me whatever you want if it makes you feel better.

How much you enjoy a cruise isn't determined by how much money you spend. We spend $0 extra and have a wonderful time. Call me whatever you want if it makes you feel better.

That's what I was called this week for saying that for 18% I expect good, efficient service and only tip more for great service (which doesn't always happen).

I don't believe in calling people derogatory terms for expecting decent service for the price paid.

I'm assuming individual drinks have an additional 18% gratuity included? Our last cruise was over 2 years ago so I don't remember. If so, when RCI made the "choice" for me of including 18% gratuity automatically, they took away my thoughts of who actually gets that percentage. It's a gratuity and I'm happy with it. My husband and I don't drink much at all. In a 7 night cruise I've had maybe 3 drinks total, my husband maybe a diet coke or two. They're served to us, as ordered, in a timely manner. Not sure what a non-drinker should expect for excellent service to tip above and beyond. It's a personal choice for all.

No flames please. It's hot enough where I live without them. :eek:

I would love to hear what people have learned from bar tenders that they got particularly friendly with and gained their confidence. What do they bar tenders say about this whole topic? When they hand a person a beer on the Ultimate Package and all that person does is sign and not leave any extra tip, and they do that 1 or 2 more times, have they deemed that person a no-tipping cheapskate? How much of the prepaid 18% do they bartenders get, and does the bartender who serves twice as many drinks get twice as much tip, all things being equal?

And don't anyone dare say its none of our business how that tip money is allocated - its 100% of our business where our tip money goes, particularly if appears its not being fairly distributed or not being used in a manner in which tips are used for (reward extra good service already delivered, or incentivize future service above and beyond).

I'm assuming individual drinks have an additional 18% gratuity included? Our last cruise was over 2 years ago so I don't remember. If so, when RCI made the "choice" for me of including 18% gratuity automatically, they took away my thoughts of who actually gets that percentage. It's a gratuity and I'm happy with it. My husband and I don't drink much at all. In a 7 night cruise I've had maybe 3 drinks total, my husband maybe a diet coke or two. They're served to us, as ordered, in a timely manner. Not sure what a non-drinker should expect for excellent service to tip above and beyond. It's a personal choice for all.

 

No flames please. It's hot enough where I live without them. :eek:

Bonnie, we're talking about the pre paid pooled tax, er, I mean, tips on the pre paid all you can drink packages.

For the pay as you go drinkers that get an automatic 18% added per drink and its 100% clear there is the tip amount for that there one drink, this is a non issue, or least a different issue that what I started this thread on.

If there are 10 people on the left paying per drink and tipping per drink, and on the right are 10 people on drink packages, I want to know what incentive the bar tender has to serve the ones on the right. The tip money from the 10 on the left will surely result in more tip income for that round of drinks. The 10 on the right might throw an extra buck or two in...maybe...but the ones on the left will tip per drink for sure and more than just 1 buck.

The only winners on these drink packages with forced tips is corporate HQ of RCCL and their shareholders...at least in the short term, as I think this overall has a negative impact on the brand.

Assuming I have the drink package and have prepaid the tip. This tip goes into a pool to be distributed across the bartenders on the ship. Is this correct? If I sign the ticket and add an additional couple of dollars does this also go into the pool or does it go to the bartender serving me? If I wanted to make sure a particular bartender received the additional tip would it be better to just give them cash?

Assuming I have the drink package and have prepaid the tip. This tip goes into a pool to be distributed across the bartenders on the ship. Is this correct? If I sign the ticket and add an additional couple of dollars does this also go into the pool or does it go to the bartender serving me? If I wanted to make sure a particular bartender received the additional tip would it be better to just give them cash?

Our experience has been that if you give a bar server cash, it goes into their pocket. If you give a bar tender cash, it goes into a pool.

Another forced:rolleyes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2216321