gratuity on drinks

i understand that there is a 15% gratuity added to your drinks. what i am trying to be clear on is say if you bought a 5 dollar drink do you pay 5 dollars and have the tip included in that price or do you pay the 5 plus a 15% gratuity which is added onto your bill automatically? either way i dont care really im just interested to know what to expect and therefore budget for. thanks!

it's 15% on top of the listed drink price

If your drink is $5.00, you will be charged $5.00 + . 75 = $5.75.

They add 15% to your 5.00 drink. So if your drink is 5.00 your total tab will be 5.75. Don't worry about adding it yourself. It is already done when you sign your receipt it will show the 15%. You will have to sign for each and every drink you get. From what I understand you can not run a tab.

Regards.

im not worried about doing the math i mean what kind of vacation expects that! lol just kidding even tho i hate math. i was just curious. i dont mind some surprises but id hate to not realize it was on top of it and buy like a bunch of drinks and have spent more than expected. i like to be prepared. ill think i know all i need to (thanks to these fantastic boards) then i think of something small and stupid. oh well at least my ta likes me lol.

That 15% gratuity is also added onto all soft drinks, beer wine and bottled water if you buy any of those.

And if you use anything from the mini bar in your cabin, you will also have the 15% gratuity added on those items as well.

They add 15% to your 5.00 drink. So if your drink is 5.00 your total tab will be 5.75. Don't worry about adding it yourself. It is already done when you sign your receipt it will show the 15%. You will have to sign for each and every drink you get. From what I understand you can not run a tab.

 

Regards.

You can run a tab, we always do, I would get tired of signing all of those individual bills. We have even gone into dinner and left an open tab in the OB. If we don`t get back there that night, they will still be able to close it out the next day..........jean:cool:

:) :) $500 Bar bill UNLIKELY ???? :)

Hmmmmm..... ;) We can manage to run up a $500 bar bill. (I'm including our wine bills from dinner and drinks we buy for other people....lest you get the impression of two falling down drunks. :) ) Of course, that also includes drinks we may be buying for other people; not just for ourselves!

What the 'hay'.....we're on vacation and we aren't doing the driving.

Interestingly, service charge or gratuity, the bar staff does not get the full 15%....at least that's what I was told by the staff (more than one server and at least two bartenders). I was told that when the "tip" gets back to the staff it's really 12.5% and that they'd been given some explanation that the other 2.5% was taken at the "corporate" level. I asked did it go to the bar managers or other food and beverage managers and they were firm it did not go to anybody on the ship. Again, as a caveat, I have no idea if this is true or not....it's simply what I was told. We did tip a few of the bar staff, both bartenders and wait staff, an additional amount at the end of our cruise for their excellent service.

Don't forget to tip your server if you are given a complimentary cocktail or four... I doubt if the Casino covers the tip, and I always give him/her a couple of chips for each drink.

Candy the ZuiderPrincess

Hold the horses and back the ship up, CANDY did you say you got a complimentary drink or two, how did you do that.

Every ship i been on i gambled and did not get a free drink.

What gives ?

JIM

yes i did get lucky. i went from dreaming about a cruise, to working to make one happen, to getthign that amazing offer. my best friends parents want to go on one for their 25th anniversary and wanted to make it a family vacation. well they figured theyd have to pay the full rate anyways for their son so he hinted they should ask me. next thing i know were booking!

the comments a bit annoying but i am bound and determined to make these trips fantastic. i keep hearing its what you make of it and im pretty stubborn so i should have the time of my life!

and candy dont worry i used to waitress so i usually overtip anyways. if a server or bartender is particularly good to me i will tip extra. if they give me a free drink or so ill def reward them.

Hold the horses and back the ship up, CANDY did you say you got a complimentary drink or two, how did you do that. Every ship i been on i gambled and did not get a free drink. What gives? JIM

I generally have between $100 and $500 riding at any one time, and I make generous line bets for 'the boys'. OPC isn't fully assimilated into HAL ships yet, so there are no comps like you'd get on Carnival Slots or tables.

Candy

I took my 3 children and wife on a trip once. My boys were 23 and 21 th the time. They met 2 ladies on this cruise. I had already committed to picking up their expenses. The little goons ran me up a $2200 bar bill on the 11 day cruise.:eek I hope the girls enjoyed themselves as well as my sons!

Now my Princess or DW would never treat me that way :)

I have also found that by giving a nice tip to the bartenders up front will help you from a service standpoint and if there is ever to be a free cocktail handed out there is usually one coming in your direction...

I generally have between $100 and $500 riding at any one time, and I make generous line bets for 'the boys'. OPC isn't fully assimilated into HAL ships yet, so there are no comps like you'd get on Carnival Slots or tables.

 

Candy

 

I just noticed your sigtag. What a riot and, you sound like a serious craps player... :)

The only place where we get a free cocktail on HAL is at the suite reception, captain's welcome aboard party, Mariner's party, and the suite luncheon.

Yes, it is good to budget. I have seen so many people at the end of the cruise get their final bill and go into shock; and then go down to purser's office and blame them. Unbelievable how people react. Don't let the negative comments get you down. Go and enjoy your cruise. Also, I might add; to anyone sailing out of Florida when the ships come back. If you order a bar drink and the ship is still in Florida or Florida waters; there will be sales tax added; plus the gratuity.

i dont plan to let it effect my trip at all. im still gonna budget. its a wise thing to do in any aspect unless your lucky enough to be a trust fund baby or something. as for the sales tax it makes me really glad i am sailing out of norfolk....or do you think they charge the sales tax too?

Interestingly, service charge or gratuity, the bar staff does not get the full 15%....at least that's what I was told by the staff (more than one server and at least two bartenders). I was told that when the "tip" gets back to the staff it's really 12.5% and that they'd been given some explanation that the other 2.5% was taken at the "corporate" level. I asked did it go to the bar managers or other food and beverage managers and they were firm it did not go to anybody on the ship. Again, as a caveat, I have no idea if this is true or not....it's simply what I was told. We did tip a few of the bar staff, both bartenders and wait staff, an additional amount at the end of our cruise for their excellent service.

On our recent Oosterdam cruise, the CD addressed this in his dis-embarkation talk. He was most emphatic that absolutely NONE of the tips went to the company. He stated several times, loudly and forcefully, that 100% of the tips were distributed to onboard staff. This was during the part of his talk, in which he explained (again) about the auto-tipping policy and the passenger's option to reduce or eliminate them from their account.

Perhaps he was lying, or misinformed, but I feel inclined to take his word for it. I don't know who to believe. You're not the first to report that onboard staff has claimed that the company keeps a cut.

Paul Noble

We got the exact same speech from our CD on the Volendam. The only thing my wife noticed was that he didn't specifically address the bar gratuity or service charge. It made her wonder if the auto-tip was handled differently or separate from the drink surcharge. We don't know what the truth is or even if it's changed since February. The bartenders and the wait staff in the lounge were firm and even in the face of being told what the CD said they just simply rolled their eyes and shrugged. I think it was pretty clear though that not all the service staff thought they were getting a better deal with auto-tipping and the drink surcharge as a number of the older staff said they'd taken a pay cut since the new program went into effect. (My guess is that the auto-tipping gets spread over a larger base and individually, especially room stewards and dining room staff, have lost a bit in the interest of the staff behind the scenes.)

Ive worked in the restaurant business and we would have the option of adding a gratuity onto like a table of 6 or more. (this varies with restaurants) what we learned is that msotly this is at the discretion of the server. if you felt that these were the type of people who dont care to tip even if they had the best service you could ensure making sme money. but we also knew that 9 times out of 10 if you left off the gratuity youd end up getting more than what you charged. its possible the bar areas dont like the added 15% because it makes people not feel the need to tip as much as they could get. just a theory tho.

It was always my understanding that the "100% goes to the crew" talk by the CD was addressing the $10pp/pd autotip and nothing else. I have also come to the conclusion that many crew members will not be totally honest about financial arrangements. After all, if you are inquiring, it indicates that you are concerned about their welfare. If they can shade things a little, you're more likely to give them a larger tip. If they told everyone they were making a ton of money and were happy as a clam, there would be those that would accept that as an excuse to not tip anything extra.

Before the 15% was added onto the bar bills, too often we saw many people who had the same server night after night not show up the last evening and therefore not the individual who served them for the entire cruise.

Unfortunately there were indeed folks who would not tip at the end of a cruise and would pull the "go someplace else" routine....to the point of not even showing up for dinner. I'd imagine there are some even today, though probably not many, who remove the auto-tip and don't tip out of hand. Interestingly back in 1995 our then TA "sold" HAL to us and one of her pitches was that it was a "no tips required" cruise line. (Didn't HAL's brochures back in those days advertise HAL as a "no tips required" cruise experience????) I don't remember the whole story line but it went something like "they pay their staff more than the cruise industry average so you don't have to tip them". As I recall we got on the Ryndam and quickly realized....at least by the end of the cruise....that the TA didn't quite get it right and we tipped out of hand. Bottom line for us is that we now like and support the auto-tip. We still tip additional out of hand for special service.

That 15% gratuity is also added onto all soft drinks, beer wine and bottled water if you buy any of those.

 

And if you use anything from the mini bar in your cabin, you will also have the 15% gratuity added on those items as well.

Yeah ... LOL ... and be aware that it is already added on there when you tip the delivery person. The custom is that whenever you order room service, you give the guy who delivers it a couple of bucks for his trouble. Tips are generally not assessed on room service orders, so it is wise to keep some one or two dollar bills handy for tipping. However, if you have soda or liquor delivered, the gratuity is already added on those items, so take that into consideration when you tip the guy.

On Princess, they don't automatically provide sodas or water in the cabin (at least in the lower cabin categories anyway). You have to call room service and order them. So, one day I ordered half a dozen cans of Coke to be delivered to my stateroom. When they came, I tipped the guy a couple of bucks for delivering them. It was only after I signed the chit ... and he left ... that I realized the tip was already added on there. So, basically, I probably paid just as much in tip than the base cost of the sodas. :)

With HAL, though, you don't have to worry about this sort of mistake because your room steward just keeps track of your consumed soda and water, and replenishes it accordingly. That is normally done when you are not even in the room ... and a receipt is left indicating your charges. His gratuity is already automatically added on there, so you don't have to worry about it.

Blue skies ...

--rita