Auto Tips for bartenders on drink plans....

[2calgarycruisers]

Do they get 18% per drink direct to bartender or 18% on cost of drink package split equally. From one comment I read it said that if a bartender got you to buy or upgrade a package they got the whole tip on that which leads me to believe that the second is true. However... I don't understand why then the bartenders would push the drink packages as it would lead to less tips as many would out drink the package price? Also, there is no motivation to be a "great bartender" as opposed to a "mediocre one". I understand the grat is added regardless of level of service but if you get a good bartender you will continue to go back to him, which IMHO should be rewarded. If the tip is based on the package price then shame on Celebrity - and no I'm not going to tip more as I think 18% is more than adequate (and yes I worked my way through university as a server so can speak to the subject)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Gordoncruickshank]

It is difficult to get any proper information. All I can say is that anyone I have asked says they don't get the 18% but that they are happy with what they get.

 

I suppose the drink packages mean that they are likely to server more drinks than they otherwise would.

[wallie5446]

How someone is paid is none of my business, just as how I am paid is.

There is a reason many of the staff have been working for a cruise line for 5-10-15 even 20+ years. They are well compensated.

 

Now that said, has it seemed to us that the high level of bar service has dropped off a bit since our first Celebrity cruise in 1994? Yes. I blame it on the tips being pooled instead of kept by the person that takes the order and delivers the drink.

[2calgarycruisers]

How someone is paid is none of my business, just as how I am paid is.

 

There is a reason many of the staff have been working for a cruise line for 5-10-15 even 20+ years. They are well compensated.

 

 

 

Now that said, has it seemed to us that the high level of bar service has dropped off a bit since our first Celebrity cruise in 1994? Yes. I blame it on the tips being pooled instead of kept by the person that takes the order and delivers the drink.

 

 

I disagree - when I am paying for services I want to ensure people are paid fairly. One of the reasons so many of them are from poorer countries in the world is that you can't get first world people to work for that compensation but I digress - if they aren't being tipped on every drink they pour I for one feel X is not doing the right thing

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Cruise Raider]

We've had the drink package on many of our most recent cruises. We've been told that they still get tips off each drink put into the system under their name. True?? I don't know but why would they tell us that if not.

 

Also, we've never had less than great service even with the drink package...oftentimes, even stellar service!

[waterbug123]

Also, we've never had less than great service even with the drink package...oftentimes, even stellar service!

 

We've noticed a big decline since drink packages became so prevalent. Around the pool and in the casino, you used to be inundated by servers wanting to take your order. It got the point sometimes where we'd have to tell multiple servers, "thanks but when we need something we'll flag you down." Now? Getting a drink in the casino is almost impossible unless you ask the dealer to summon someone. It's not quite as bad around the pool, but we frequently give an order and wait forever, because there are so few servers trying to serve everyone. It seems very clear to me that with most people having a drink package now, the bar staff on both X and RC have been cut because they don't want to make it too easy for everyone with prepaid packages to get their drinks.

Edited September 22, 2016 by waterbug123

[mvaughan]

How someone is paid is none of my business, just as how I am paid is.

 

There is a reason many of the staff have been working for a cruise line for 5-10-15 even 20+ years. They are well compensated.

 

 

 

Now that said, has it seemed to us that the high level of bar service has dropped off a bit since our first Celebrity cruise in 1994? Yes. I blame it on the tips being pooled instead of kept by the person that takes the order and delivers the drink.

 

 

Yup. Well said.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[jelayne]

I disagree - when I am paying for services I want to ensure people are paid fairly. One of the reasons so many of them are from poorer countries in the world is that you can't get first world people to work for that compensation but I digress - if they aren't being tipped on every drink they pour I for one feel X is not doing the right thing

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I believe their is some pooling of tips which seems reasonable since not all bars have the same potential to earn tips. The pool bar or Mast bar on cool & cloudy days or the back bars where the bartenders making the drinks aren't seen by the guest and don't get handed that extra $5 or 10.

 

How or what they are paid isn't really any of my business; just like our income isn't any of our clients business.

[WpgCruise]

Just a couple of points for what they are worth.

 

First, it's none of my business how much someone makes, nor how their compensation package is structured. I couldn't imagine anyone being rude enough to ask me how much I make, and I treat others with the same respect.

 

Secondly, any information provided here may not be correct.

 

Example: A couple of years ago Celebrity introduced vouchers to Elites for drinks to be used in the ships bars when there were too many Elites to comfortably utilize a ships lounge for the cocktail hour.

 

On this Forum mention was made the waiters were compensated for serving drinks paid for with the vouchers, so if all the vouchers were not used, giving the left over ones to the waiters resulted in a tip. Coincidently shortly after this info was shared we were on a cruise and I asked our waiter if this were the case, and he said no. He'd never heard of such a thing. Same thing in the next cruise we went on, they too had never heard of such a thing.

 

I have no idea if some X ships paid waiters based on coupons turned in, others had a different compensation program, or if the information was false.

 

At the end of the day it didn't make or break my cruise but only reinforced something I learned a long time ago and that is "there is need to know and nice to know". As long as I have the "need to know" information, leave well enough alone.

[cb at sea]

Their tips are based on the cost of the package...no other way to do it. If you want to pay 18% of the cost of a drink, don't buy the package!

[gizvic]

If Celebrity was losing money by selling the drink packages, they would charge more. So I have to think that they take in more revenue than they think they would if people paid per drink. That makes me think that 18% of a package ends up working out, on average, to more than 18% on individual drinks. That means more money to pool. I don't think the staff is losing out.

 

That said, I'm someone who tips extra when service is good.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[fshagan]

I disagree - when I am paying for services I want to ensure people are paid fairly. One of the reasons so many of them are from poorer countries in the world is that you can't get first world people to work for that compensation but I digress - if they aren't being tipped on every drink they pour I for one feel X is not doing the right thing

 

Well, they are paid pretty well based on their home country. They work hard, and they deserve it, but if you look on glassdoor.com the employees report the wages they earn in surveys. Across the cruise lines that have salary reviews a waiter earns $10 an hour or more. Based on their 48 hour work week, and 4.2 weeks a month on average, they are earning just over $2,000 a month. I compared the salaries in the Philippines, because I see so many Filipinos on ships, and found they have a solid, upper middle class income for their home country, earning more than most engineers and a little less than airline pilots: http://www.worldsalaries.org/philippines.shtml

 

For comparison with those monthly salaries in pesos, consider $2,016 is equal to about 96,537 pesos.

 

The Philippines is also one of the countries that does not tax tip income. I suspect the workers like the fact that they earn a "low salary" with most of their income coming in tax free as "tips". (The waiter above would be in the top tax bracket if it were all wages, with 31% in mandatory deductions).

 

I couldn't find bar tenders for X, but on NCL they report earning an average of $3,667 per month. That might be skewed higher because of the American bar tenders on one of NCL's ships, but the waiter salaries of $10+ an hour are pretty uniform across all lines.

[sasset]

My experience: In the Martini Bar on Infinity, Constellation and Summit if there is a cash tip they either ring a bell or blow a whistle. Same at the end of the cruise if any one of them get an envelope. They're all dropped into the same jar. I'm thinking they are all pooled there.

[easyboy]

I believe their is some pooling of tips which seems reasonable since not all bars have the same potential to earn tips. The pool bar or Mast bar on cool & cloudy days or the back bars where the bartenders making the drinks aren't seen by the guest and don't get handed that extra $5 or 10.

 

How or what they are paid isn't really any of my business; just like our income isn't any of our clients business.

A bartender once told me that, and they are also rotated to some bars. But they are happy with what they get.

[IsanTom]

Yes, the crew has no problem with their pay! No need to tip extra unless you feel they went above and beyond their normal service.