Drink Packages - Do the bartenders actually hate them?

[Miryam1234]

We come from Finland where tipping is not done the American way. Some people round up, or leave the change, but it is not expected. We basically get the same service with or without the tipping.

We have had the Premioum package three times, the latest being Allure 12 night Transatlantic in April. We faced nothing but good service with our package without tipping more. We did leave a tip to our favourite bartenders in the end of the cruise, so it did not have any bearing to the service we had encountered during the cruise. All of those persons did put the note to a "tip box", evidently to be shared with their colleagues.

 

One friendly bartender from Makedinia said that the rules for them getting part of the 18% are constantly changing. At that time his understanding was that he would get something per a served drink, but he was not certain of the amount. That did not push him into serving "easier" drinks like beer or wine. He was still as ready to smash lemon vedges to get me sugarfree lemon juice for a gin fizz, when i explained that i could not drink sugary readymade lemonjuice since i am diabetic. That is what i call a serviceoriented attitude, and i think he should have kept my tip for himself because he was the one doing the extra work. Still he put the bank notes into a shared box.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

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 had posted this earlier, and it's info from over a year ago, so things could have changed since then. The info was disclosed to me by a very sweet bartender on the Serenade of the Seas. I did two transatlantics in fall 2013 and spring 2014 and we became quite chummy. I have no reason to believe she was telling me anything untruthful.

 

 

The entire amount of gratuity collected from drinks packages is pooled amongst all the staff considered under the "bar" department - bar waiters, cocktail servers, baristas at cafe lattetudes, dining room bar servers, etc. The amount each person receives depends on if they are a bartender or server (severs get a smaller percentage share) and is based on total hours scheduled to work for that cruise.

 

Individual purchased drink gratuities auto added to receipts are also pooled in a similar fashion, as are any additional gratuities written in on the receipt.

 

Any gratuity given in cash may be kept by the individual server/bartender, though many teams in specific bars do pool those cash gratuities.

Edited June 7, 2015 by AtlantaCruiser72

[BonTexasNY]

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.

 

 

Thanks for the explanation. It makes perfect sense. The 18% gratuity is based on a pre-set amount, not per drink. So it seems that it's RCI who is putting the passengers in the position of feeling the need to tip extra since their 18% is pooled by others than those that personally served them.

 

In a perfect world, ultimately, it really should be the passenger's personal choice of how much to tip and should not be forced upon us by RCI. My husband and I will probably never purchase a beverage package but I'm just sayin....what's fair is fair and what isn't, isn't.

[LMaxwell]

You know; if you purchase a package and pay the 18% on it; if you under-utilize the package over the course of the cruise; you've actually paid out more in gratuities than you would have if you ordered a la carte. Since a bar tender has no way of knowing how that will shake out at the end, I think it's somewhat offensive for a bar tender to be standoffish to someone with a package, or select an a la carte purchaser over a package customer if the package customer was there first.

 

You do read it here a lot; some people under utilize the package, or buy it for convenience and never check to see how they made out, etc. So not EVERYONE is breaking even or better on the package. If everyone WAS breaking even or better on the package, RCI would raise the cost of the package.

 

I definitely think any bar tender that treats a package customer rudely or with poor service is ultimately really shooting themselves in the foot.

[grandgeezer]

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.

 

We always sit at the bar. We've noticed that if you give the bar tender a buck. or two, it goes into the tip pool. If you give him a five, or more, it goes into his pocket. We've seen this regularly on many ships spread over many cruise lines.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

You know; if you purchase a package and pay the 18% on it; if you under-utilize the package over the course of the cruise; you've actually paid out more in gratuities than you would have if you ordered a la carte. Since a bar tender has no way of knowing how that will shake out at the end, I think it's somewhat offensive for a bar tender to be standoffish to someone with a package, or select an a la carte purchaser over a package customer if the package customer was there first.

 

I definitely think any bar tender that treats a package customer rudely or with poor service is ultimately really shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Also I know of many cruisers (myself included) who reward individual bartenders and servers with an additional cash gratuity at the end of the trip for exemplary service, regardless of whether we have a package or not. The staff have no way of knowing which customers may do this, so giving excellent service to all customers really can pay off in the end!

[Clarea]

We always sit at the bar. We've noticed that if you give the bar tender a buck. or two, it goes into the tip pool. If you give him a five, or more, it goes into his pocket. We've seen this regularly on many ships spread over many cruise lines.

I guess I don't tip enough.;):)

[pgaedke]

We take about 2 cruises a year. My wife and I usually get the most expensive drink package. I have never had an issue with service, until my last cruise. We were on a New years cruise on the Allure. The service overall was bad on the ship, from bartenders to dining. It is my thought that the service on the larger ships is not as good as the service on the smaller ships. That's my opinion. I will share one story.

On our last cruise, we were sitting with friends in the Schooner Bar. It was our last day at sea after what was a fairly disappointing trip on the Allure. (We were on a cruise so it wasn't terrible, but not what we have become accustomed to.) All four of us had a drink package. There was no one else in the bar, no one! After our first round of drinks, we got up for another. As I write this post, I realize we may sound like a pack of drunkards, but we were really just killing off the day and enjoying each others company. Long story short, over the course of about 4 hours, the bar staff NEVER came to our table, not once. The bar wasn't crowded, again, for the most part we were the only people in the bar. At one point the bar staff actually asked one of our party to walk a straight line before they would serve him. I understand they have to be careful but that day, as well as a number of other incidents on that cruise, have made me decide to never cruise the big ships again.

So, on our next cruise, I plan to tip an extra dollar a drink with dollar coins. Couldn't hurt. It's not about the money but about a certain level of service I've come to expect. If it cost an extra $50 - $60, whether it should or not, I'll pay it. Last set of bartenders not included, I have always found the bar staff to be great. If a few extra bucks makes them greater, all the better for me and my poor, tired, bloated, liver.:cool:

[Wintertime Pleiades]

Some good comments and observations here.

 

We have had drink packages on several cruises now, over 2 cruise lines. A general observation we had, and that we now use as a consideration when we book a cruise, is: can you actually tap into the value of the drink package?

 

Here is what we saw: We have cruised primarily with Princess and have been extremely happy with their service, food, bartenders, etc. However, we did 2 back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean (RC) in 2015 on the Oasis and we noticed something different. The bartenders appeared so disinterested in providing good service that it actually because difficult to even get a drink a lot of the time (they would wander off, doing other odd jobs, or disappear entirely, even close the bar while there were lineups during the daytime - not at 1 AM or anything). The funny thing was that this wasn't just my opinion. We were with a party of almost 35. We didn't all know each other so we weren't all at the same bar, at the same time, etc. But that was the overwhelming observation throughout the ship (except the casino). At the end of the cruise we had a lot of people tell us (because we organized it all) that they wouldn't do RC again. The service level just wasn't 'there', and when it even serves as a hurdle to getting a drink, that's unacceptable. Every drink package has a 'breakeven' that makes it a deal. With RC, it was difficult to hit that number. It's funny that in this case the decision to avoid RC in the future came down to the drink package.

 

Now, when I read this post, I'm not sure if it was because most of us had drink packages or not, and perhaps it was related. But I do know that we now have a group we travel with and when we bring up RC, they specifically say that they won't do RC because after they spend a lot of money on the drink package, then can't even seem to get a drink.

 

This probably sounds like exaggeration, but it was a good sampling, over 14 days, from probably two dozen of the 3 dozen people in our group, most of whom won't go back, over this simple thing. A very principled group. :)

 

Final observation. Extra tipping DOES matter (on Princess anyway). Big difference in how they deal with you, how fast they return to your table, even little extra things they do. It shouldn't matter, but it does. They are good anyway, but excellent when you tip above the gratuity.

 

I'm personally not a fan of 'forced' gratuity because it doesn't incent staff to go above and beyond, and we're left paying a gratuity regardless of the service level. I like to tip, and I tip well where appropriate. But I know that on the other hand a lot of bartenders, servers, etc. will provide excellent service and some people simply will never ever tip.

[NateUpNorth]

To answer your subject question:

 

Bartenders who hustle and provide excellent service probably hate them.

Bartenders who are there for the guaranteed paycheck and nothing more probably love them.

[steveru621]

Ahh, the good old days when 15% on a $6 drink was normal. Now it's 18% plus another dollar on an $8.50 drink. I've found the extra dollar in cash does wonders for service.

 

Last cruise our MDR assistant waiter told me don't bother adding a $1 to the receipt, because it's split across everyone in the MDR. Go figure.

[rukkian]

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 a limited experience with cruising, but had no difference in attitudes between having the package or not. We hung out with 4 other couples, 2 couples had the package, other 3 did not. All bartenders were at worse good, a couple were excellent and friendly.

 

I figure don't even worry about the service charge - when you buy the package, the price is the price plus the service charge, if it does not make sense to you to buy, don't buy it. Same thing on the ship, if it is not worth the prices they are asking for drinks, don't buy them. Alcohol is not required to live. Everybody would love free drinks, lower costs across the board. RCI is a for profit company, and if they reduce the cost of drinks and drink packages, then they have to raise costs somewhere else to make up for it. I personally will not be buying the package for me, as it is too expensive, and since I feel drinks are too expensive, will probably not even drink much. My wife will get use out of the package, so she did buy it.

 

Everybody can make their own choice. So far on this conversation, most say they get decent service, with or without the package.

[debgreg]

We are just off Oasis and with the odd few exceptions service was abysmal. The bartender in Boleros even told me you couldn’t have a can of coke on the package even though I had already had several. They made you feel like you were putting them out. Exceptions were Schooner & Pub

[Merion_Mom]

We are just off Oasis and with the odd few exceptions service was abysmal. The bartender in Boleros even told me you couldn’t have a can of coke on the package even though I had already had several. They made you feel like you were putting them out. Exceptions were Schooner & Pub

Well, you are NOT supposed to get cans of soda on the package.

[zenworks911]

Sounds like a lot of variety in behaviors across the fleet. On the Navigator last week the service at the bars and pool decks was very good. The MDR bar service was the best we had ever had. Never saw or signed a single receipt. I liked that too!

[LMaxwell]

I have a limited experience with cruising, but had no difference in attitudes between having the package or not. We hung out with 4 other couples, 2 couples had the package, other 3 did not. All bartenders were at worse good, a couple were excellent and friendly.

 

I figure don't even worry about the service charge - when you buy the package, the price is the price plus the service charge, if it does not make sense to you to buy, don't buy it. Same thing on the ship, if it is not worth the prices they are asking for drinks, don't buy them. Alcohol is not required to live. Everybody would love free drinks, lower costs across the board. RCI is a for profit company, and if they reduce the cost of drinks and drink packages, then they have to raise costs somewhere else to make up for it. I personally will not be buying the package for me, as it is too expensive, and since I feel drinks are too expensive, will probably not even drink much. My wife will get use out of the package, so she did buy it.

 

Everybody can make their own choice. So far on this conversation, most say they get decent service, with or without the package.

 

You should have seen it before they sold packages. You could park yourself anywhere on the pool deck and a server would be on you before you were 3/4 done with your drink. Waits at bars were non-existent. In the nightclubs, when ships had dedicated nightclubs, it was some of the fastest bar service I've ever had anywhere.

 

I don't take the package because I don't drink enough to make it worth it, but I have definitely seen service levels cut waaaaaaaay back. There used to be individual bar servers and wine sommeliers in the dining room. Now your assistant waiter is your drink server. He or she may be friendly. But service level has suffered due to the cutbacks. I believe a company has less incentive to provide fast service if you have prebought a package. The collateral damage is those without a package get the same low level of service even though they are buying by the drink; the lower service level probably isn't deterring the one off business as much as it saves on package profit margin

[Norwich Cruiser]

We had four ultimate drinks packages when sailing on HOTS last week the drinks service was excellent in every bar and in the dining rooms.

No complaints whatsoever.

[nolimits]

It's funny nothing changes This thread was from 2015,Some one dug it up today,One correction for Op it's 18% of package purchase so the more drinks you have the better the math gets on the Gratuity LOL

[debgreg]

Wasn’t great on Oasis last week, it was like you were inconvenienceing some of them 🙈

[mcatmcat]

I don’t buy the package since I only drink virgin pina coladas but since the creation of those packages it’s so hard to find a bartender walking around as they used to do before.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

I can't see why ANY employee would "hate" packages of any kind. They get tips added to their pay....they have to be working their shift whether they're pouring drinks or not....better to be doing something than standing there, doing nothing. I don't see the issue.

[grapau27]

You should have seen it before they sold packages. You could park yourself anywhere on the pool deck and a server would be on you before you were 3/4 done with your drink. Waits at bars were non-existent. In the nightclubs, when ships had dedicated nightclubs, it was some of the fastest bar service I've ever had anywhere.

 

I don't take the package because I don't drink enough to make it worth it, but I have definitely seen service levels cut waaaaaaaay back. There used to be individual bar servers and wine sommeliers in the dining room. Now your assistant waiter is your drink server. He or she may be friendly. But service level has suffered due to the cutbacks. I believe a company has less incentive to provide fast service if you have prebought a package. The collateral damage is those without a package get the same low level of service even though they are buying by the drink; the lower service level probably isn't deterring the one off business as much as it saves on package profit margin

Everything you say is how i remember it too when the bar servers then

were very proactive.

On Allure and Harmony the bar waiter service was almost non existent and you literally had to go to the bar yourself if you wanted a drink.

For the last couple of years in the UK for cruises of 6 days or longer we have been forced to accept the free? Drinks package although the fact the prices increased up to around £400pp meant they were hardly free and most of us were paying for something we didn't want.

[Clarea]

I can't see why ANY employee would "hate" packages of any kind. They get tips added to their pay....they have to be working their shift whether they're pouring drinks or not....better to be doing something than standing there, doing nothing. I don't see the issue.

Because when they serve single drinks (without the package) they get a gratuity with each drink they serve. When they serve drinks covered by a drink package, there is no additional gratuity, they share the package gratuity pool, and their share is the same for that cruise whether they serve 100 drinks or 500 drinks.

[CelticMCO]

To answer the question yes I think the bartenders hate the packages. Now RCCL has doubled down on drink packages requiring both in cabin to buy. Well I can tell you that, along with the price that was reason did not buy package on our last five day cruise on Indy in December. With 4 drinking age adults (us and 23 year old son/girlfriend) it would have been over $1200; also factor in we had a late embarkation due to a deep clean (thus cutting first day in half) and two full days off ship why would be pay that much for a drink package? There was a time you could buy a reasonably priced beer or wine package only (that included water and soda) which we liked but that is long gone. Plus we could care less about "specialty coffees" and "fresh squeezed juice" (every time someone asks for fresh squeezed juice I see the wait staff visibly sigh). I personally think fresh squeezed juice sucks and I am originally from NYC - coffee was 3 ways; regular, light or light and sweet - nuttin' else (except black). Plenty of great free coffee delivered right to room every morning.

 

How could the drink packages possibly not be an incentive not to tip? In ten plus years of cruising on two lines (last 6 on RCCL) we absolutely notice a change in service; less roving servers nothing in MDR except Assistant waiter, etc. I always tip a little cash and try to establish a relationship with a few bartenders - it makes a huge difference plus we do not treat them rudely like so many do (amazing the difference in service).

 

I do not think RCCL is done monkeying with this; Carnival limits to 15 drinks a day. Signs point to problems - last two cruises 10-drink cards pop up half way through cruise, two opportunities on last cruise for 2 dollar mimosas (two hour window); beer buckets, etc. We never went without getting a drink we wanted and never came close to the 1200 dollars the package would have cost. Some people are obviously going to "get there moneys worth" and then some - drink until the cows come home. On a seven day by day 4 or 5 I cannot imagine not getting air-lifted to the Betty Ford Clinic. Maybe raise the cost of the unlimited packages a bit and lower individual drinks - who knows but I do not think we have heard the end of this....

[jcc1025]

Having sailed on RCCL for over 30 years and gotten to know a lot of bartenders I can tell you they like it. First of all the majority of people stiffed them in the past, and when they did tip it was nowhere near even 15% percent. As some one mentioned I always tip extra to my favorites at the end of the cruise and usually add a buck or two during the cruise and I buy the package.

 

 

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