Extra Tipping

[Computer Nerd]

The last ship I was on was the NCL Breakaway, definitely seats at the bar, but where in this thread was it limited to pool deck bars?

 

Never been on the Breakaway (this thread started in the Carnival forums and got moved). No one has ever said it was limited to pool deck bars. Those are just the only bars I visit, usually to get a foo-foo drink for my wife when it's hot outside.

[grapau27]

18% tip on drinks although the norm on American ships should be more than enough to expect excellent service if the servers do get it and as drinks packages supposedly include tip we are justified in expecting the same service and adequate staff to fulfill our needs.I always tip the Diamond lounge staff daily and at bars if I am using my free diamond drinks elsewhere.

 

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[DirtyDawg]

The last ship I was on was the NCL Breakaway, definitely seats at the bar, but where in this thread was it limited to pool deck bars?

 

Never been on the Breakaway (this thread started in the Carnival forums and got moved). No one has ever said it was limited to pool deck bars. Those are just the only bars I visit, usually to get a foo-foo drink for my wife when it's hot outside.

 

 

If we are discussing bars with seats now, when I'm seated at the bar and I want to order a drink I don't raise my hand to get the bartender's attention. A simple finger lift and point to my glass is very effective and subtle too. And if I'm planning to be at the bar for a while I will employ the AAR system, Automatic Alcohol Replenishment System. When the bartender sees that my drink is down to 10%, he/she automatically replenishes it. :D

[cbr663]

...

 

The tipping is getting out of control. I do tip extra at the end of the cruise for our room steward and wait staff as long I feel that they have given good service.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I agree. With daily charges and tips included in beverage prices, cruise line culture as evolved from one of whether to tip to over tipping. Read almost any thread on CC and the subject is more around whether people over tip and less on whether people tip at all. As anyone who has sailed knows, it is becoming more and more difficult to not pay any tip at all on a cruise ship.

 

The reality is that if you continue to support the practice of tipping extra for wait staff and room stewards, you can expect the cruise line to do whatever it can to expand the extra tipping throughout the entire ship.

[grapau27]

Let's be honest a good cabin Stewart is worth his weight in gold but most are pretty average and how many of us give extra to them especially on the last night when we know they have access to our personal items and our cases that are left outside our cabins on the last night.

 

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[usdmattiphone]

Seems to me the bartender is risking losing his/her job by giving product away without having the customer pay for it. Could you imagine what would happen to a server at say Chili's if I ordered only an entree and they brought me an appetizer and desert "on the house" only because I tipped above the norm (since we are talking about over tipping.....every drink on a cruise ship already has an 18% tip attached to it)? I don't know about others but if I owned such a place and a server (or bartender) was giving my product away for in an attempt to line their pocket with extra tips they would be gone!

 

 

I can't speak for cruises since I've never worked on one and the culture may be different, but any bartender in the industry in the US who had worked in a few bars can tell you that this is the norm. Some places don't allow it, but in my experience far more do. The food analogy isn't quite apropos because food margin is almost nothing, whereas alcohol is quite high. And even so, restaurants often DO have something called a "gratis budget" where they can do that exact thing and give free food away to people who are good customers. The overall margin spend from a good customer will outweigh some free booze and food now and then. This is how the service industry works.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

I can't speak for cruises since I've never worked on one and the culture may be different, but any bartender in the industry in the US who had worked in a few bars can tell you that this is the norm. Some places don't allow it, but in my experience far more do. The food analogy isn't quite apropos because food margin is almost nothing, whereas alcohol is quite high. And even so, restaurants often DO have something called a "gratis budget" where they can do that exact thing and give free food away to people who are good customers. The overall margin spend from a good customer will outweigh some free booze and food now and then. This is how the service industry works.

 

 

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The difference being

 

Good customer where the $$$ make their way to the owner

 

V

 

Good tipper where they go to a staff member.

[usdmattiphone]

The difference being

 

 

 

Good customer where the $$$ make their way to the owner

 

 

 

V

 

 

 

Good tipper where they go to a staff member.

 

 

The tips go to the bartender but the additional purchases made due to the goodwill go towards the owner. This isn't a hard concept. Ever seen a purchase where someone wanted to make a customer happier by throwing something in free so that they'd come back? It's the same thing except the salesman gets a small kickback for doing so. It's essentially the same thing as a commission, where you have an amount of discretionary margin to give up to build good will towards a client. These are basic business concepts.

 

Either way, this is a moot point. If you own a restaurant one day, feel free to fire employees for giving out occasional perks to well tipping good customers, I was just trying to tell you that this IS NORMAL in the US restaurant/bar industry.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

The tips go to the bartender but the additional purchases made due to the goodwill go towards the owner. This isn't a hard concept. Ever seen a purchase where someone wanted to make a customer happier by throwing something in free so that they'd come back? It's the same thing except the salesman gets a small kickback for doing so. It's essentially the same thing as a commission, where you have an amount of discretionary margin to give up to build good will towards a client. These are basic business concepts.

 

Either way, this is a moot point. If you own a restaurant one day, feel free to fire employees for giving out occasional perks to well tipping good customers, I was just trying to tell you that this IS NORMAL in the US restaurant/bar industry.

 

 

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I did, and I did.

 

I even called the police in on one, when they give company stock away to line their own pockets that's theft.

[mjkacmom]

The difference being

 

Good customer where the $$$ make their way to the owner

 

V

 

Good tipper where they go to a staff member.

 

Bartenders are usually given s little leeway when it comes to giving customers freebees. A happy customer is a repeat customer, and the markup on alcohol is huge. You've never been comped a drink on the house?

[Computer Nerd]

Bartenders are usually given s little leeway when it comes to giving customers freebees. A happy customer is a repeat customer, and the markup on alcohol is huge. You've never been comped a drink on the house?

 

I can't answer for GUT but the only time I've been comped anything is when the establishment is trying to correct a screw up and the manager is the one offering the comp. Never just for the hell of it. Probably wouldn't even accept a freebie if there wasn't a valid reason for it.

 

That being said, I also don't tip every Tom, Dick, and Harry just for the hell of it either. I tip those that make subpar wages with the expectation of the tip to bring their wages to par (pretty much waitresses/waiters and on cruise ships). As far as I know, everyone else makes at least minimum wage and there is no reason for a tip at that point.

[MicCanberra]

I am currently on the Navigator and am having a real problem with the extra tipping on the bar tab. I have no problem with the daily tipping but there is already an 18% tip added to your drink cost. I bought an empty light up plastic glass today, they added the 18% service charge and the waitress was visibly disappointed that I did not add an additional tip.

 

The tipping is getting out of control. I do tip extra at the end of the cruise for our room steward and wait staff as long I feel that they have given good service.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Well this is a very subjective subject and you should not worry what others do but do what you want to do. That said, I pay the gratuities/ service charges and then at the end of the cruise give extras to those particular staff that provided me with service above and beyond (i.e room steward, waiter, bar staff, concierge, etc).