On Oasis with drinks package, slips for extra tips being presented?

[kevinyork]

Did I miss something? On a Oasis now with a drinks package. Every time we order a drink from a barperson or waiter our card is being handed back with a slip showing zero charge but with an extra gratuity space. Underneath it says something along the lines of 'if you want to reward exceptional service'.

 

The package includes service and to be presented with these slips is a pain. We tip cash if we strike up a relationship with a great bartender or waiter but I find these slips make me feel awkward. We've just been retrieving our card from the slip wallet and handing it back. A waiter today said I must sign it as she needs a signature and I said she didn't as I had a package and there was no charge to sign for.

 

Notice about 50% of people seem to be adding something to these slips. Is this new? How do people feel about it? Maybe it's just me being a Brit where tips are lower that feels a bit miffed that the drinks package includes 18% already but additional tips are being touted.

 

 

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[Clarea]

We've noticed that if we give cash up front when we give the SeaPass card to the server, we get no slips.

[JessyCruises]

I have only sailed Freedom and Oasis class with RCL but I have never been on a cruise where I had a package and NOT received a slip. I would not say I get one every time I order, but most times. They seem to peter off towards the end of the cruise and the waitstaff get to know you.

 

If I were to venture a guess, their receipt/billing system probably does not distinguish the packages vs cash drinks and that is why the receipts are essentially the same. The package receipts are just at $0 instead of a charge but the receipt format itself is the same.

 

The spot is there it you choose to tip extra. I have never tipped extra by using the slip. If I have given extra, it has been with cash.

[island lady]

I like to carry one dollar bills for tips. Whether it is in the CL or DL, or using our drink

vouchers (which is along the same line as a drink package), we tip when served each drink.

No receipt slips, no hassles. Multiple waiters and bartenders, each one that serves us...

gets their tip on the spot.

[grouchomarx]

You should not feel pressured to tip extra just because there is an option to do so. It's the same thing in the spa, they automatically add an 18% gratuity and when you sign out after services, there's a space for extra tip. I made the stupid mistake once of adding a 20% tip, forgetting it was automatic. When I went back to remove it and correct my mistake the massage therapist was visibly unhappy (the massage wasn't even that good!). I was irritated with her. Some people wish to tip extra and good for them, I do it sometimes when it is warranted. You just do what you're comfortable with, the are dealing with thousands of people who will all do what they want, there's no standard that's expected. An 18% tip is already included so just remember that and you should feel fine.

[island lady]

You should not feel pressured to tip extra just because there is an option to do so. It's the same thing in the spa, they automatically add an 18% gratuity and when you sign out after services, there's a space for extra tip. I made the stupid mistake once of adding a 20% tip, forgetting it was automatic. When I went back to remove it and correct my mistake the massage therapist was visibly unhappy (the massage wasn't even that good!). I was irritated with her. Some people wish to tip extra and good for them, I do it sometimes when it is warranted. You just do what you're comfortable with, the are dealing with thousands of people who will all do what they want, there's no standard that's expected. An 18% tip is already included so just remember that and you should feel fine.

 

 

Works fine when you are purchasing a drink. But what happens when you are handed

drinks included in your prepaid package, sea pass drink voucher, CL or DL drinks?

[grouchomarx]

Works fine when you are purchasing a drink. But what happens when you are handed

drinks included in your prepaid package, sea pass drink voucher, CL or DL drinks?

 

 

I have only ever used a drink package on Royal, for which the gratuities were already paid at the time of purchase. I don't have experience with vouchers or CL/DL drinks so I don't know what would be appropriate but I would guess a dollar or two per drink would be acceptable.

[cb at sea]

Sign the slip with a scribble, and hand it back. No need to feel pressured, or guilty if you don't add extra.

 

If we develop a relationship with one particular bar/bartender, we do tip extra on the LAST NIGHT. We do NOT carry money around with us on the ship, and I think 18% is plenty for opening a beer or mixing a standard drink.

[dcgrumpy]

I wasn't given any slips last week on IOS. I tipped cash when I had it but some days I forgot and by the end I had run out of cash. I would have preferred the option of leaving it on my seapass. I definitely think I tipped less than I normally do.

 

I'm curious how the gratuity works with the package. Is it pooled? Or do bartenders get it by how many drinks they actually serve.

[Clarea]

... I'm curious how the gratuity works with the package. Is it pooled? Or do bartenders get it by how many drinks they actually serve.

 

 

We've been told that it's pooled.

[dcgrumpy]

We've been told that it's pooled.

 

 

 

Thanks

[Psycho and Barb]

I just draw a line through the tip area and sign it. I have noticed when the bartenders get to know me, I don't always get a slip

 

 

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[cstimmons]

On the 4 ships I've been on I've always been handed a slip and I would tend to agree that when you've built up a rapport with a bartender they sometimes don't give you one. This last cruise I was reading some fine print that really upset me. I didn't know that when you tip on the slip those are divided up amongst the entire ship beverage staff. I felt horrible because on several cruises I like to reward my favorite bartenders with a tip towards the end and have always used the slips. This last cruise I used the envelopes and tipped cash. Lesson learned.

[gsuoumu]

Can pretty much echo what everyone's saying here. I've gotten a slip with every drink I've ordered the last few years until I've stricken up a rapport with the bartenders at a particular bar - as I said in the other thread, usually at an R Bar if the boat has one. If you find one bar to drink at and find a bartender that you get along with, things go a lot smoother. By Day 3 of the last cruise I don't think I signed a single slip at R Bar the rest of the trip and drinks were getting made for me with perfect timing right as I was finishing the last one. I didn't even have to ask. I'll miss Bruce and Aston from Freedom on this upcoming trip.

 

That being said, if we find a bartender that we like and that is going beyond just making the drink and delivering we tip very well. I know the 18% is included - and if we're just getting one drink from a bar or at a show we don't go beyond that. But if I'm planning on spending a lot of time at a single place I've found - not just on ships but in any bar - that a few dollars can go a long way towards making the night better. It's a $3000 cruise. A $5 bill here and there to a bartender that's going to take tremendous care of me for the next 7 days isn't going to break me.

[swoopy2110]

Barely ever had a slip when sailing out of the UK / Europe

 

Think it's the demographic as they know those in the US are more likely to tip extra

[jamesr3939]

Oasis 2014 and Allure 2016 always got a receipt to scribble my name on. Only time I didn't was during happy hour in the suite lounge. In fact, didn't even have to show my card after the first day. If we ordered drinks after the happy hour in the Coastal Kitchen then we got a receipt.

 

I actually liked getting a receipt as it showed up on our bill and made it easier to convince DW the drink package was worth it.

[Bailey & Sophie]

We just got off the Serenade. Had the drink package.

 

We NEVER received a receipt from a bartender. Ever. Not once.

[ljmandelbaum]

I got off Anthem on Sunday. Some bars gave slips some didn't. If i was getting a drink with my card and DH's card, sometimes it was only one slip, sometimes 2 sometimes none. No rhyme or reason to when there was a slip or not.

 

I also noticed that all the cash tips went into a shared jar at the bars.

 

Funny think was the 2 drinks we git charged for, we didn't get a slip. One was quick fix at guest services (charged for 1 glass of wine at dinner $10.62). Other took a longer time which was annoying. Got charged an extra 2.45 for one of the drinks on CocoCay.

[HighlandBoy]

On Anthem last year I was told in Michaels Pub that they had to scan the sea pass for each drink even though they knew we had the UP as there was the sticker on the card. I always tip extra in cash so put a line through the extra row when signing. In the theater one night when the waiter came back with our drink I handed him a cash tip and he took the slip he had on the tray and said I didn't need to sign it as I had tipped already. We got to know two of the bar tenders well in the Pub and gave them both WOW envelopes on the last night even though we had tipped plenty extra during the week as they really made our trip.

[dcgrumpy]

On Anthem last year I was told in Michaels Pub that they had to scan the sea pass for each drink even though they knew we had the UP as there was the sticker on the card. I always tip extra in cash so put a line through the extra row when signing. In the theater one night when the waiter came back with our drink I handed him a cash tip and he took the slip he had on the tray and said I didn't need to sign it as I had tipped already. We got to know two of the bar tenders well in the Pub and gave them both WOW envelopes on the last night even though we had tipped plenty extra during the week as they really made our trip.

 

 

Last week on Indy they scanned our cards every time but never gave us a slip. The only time I was given a slip was for specialty coffees at the Cafe Promenade.

[KALCJ1]

Just got off Navigator on Sunday and we only received a slip if we asked for one.

[PeterPan]

On Harmony last week. Only got a slip twice all week.

[crusinthrough]

I've gotten slips on Oasis and Allure but not consistently. This leads me to believe it's not necessary but a choice, which waste paper. I don't feel pressure to give an extra tip.

 

I am sorta curious how the 18% gratuity is distributed when you pre purchase a package.

 

 

 

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[grapau27]

We've noticed that if we give cash up front when we give the SeaPass card to the server, we get no slips.

I found the same when I hand a couple of dollars with my card when using my diamond allowance in bars other than the diamond lounge.

 

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[kevinyork]

Bit of an update from the OP here, spoke with the F&B manager few days back about this. First he said it was to manage inventory but I pointed out the till does that and given all unsigned/untipped slips were screwed up and binned then this couldn't be the reason. He said you don't have to sign and staff were wrong to pressure you to do so. But...it keeps happening. There is no pattern to who are where gives you the slips, some do, some don't.

 

A bit concerned reading in this thread that any additional tips on these slips are pooled shipwide since we had a great server in Chops last night and tipped on the slip to reward him and now it seems he may not have got that directly. Think we will ensure its cash all the way for any additional tips.

 

We are on Indy out of the UK in Sep and my guess is this won't be happening on that cruise as the Brits are not usually inclined to tip extra........watch this space.

 

 

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