Diamond lounge tipping

[John&LaLa]

Just for my knowledge only because I don't know. Does the bartender receive any tip when they bring a drink to up one of the 3 happy hour drink. I noticed that on the Harmoney on MDR they would bring the drink to us but they were not coming back even though we gave them $2.00 for the 2 wines we ordered so I thought may be they get no tip the automatic 18% on regular drink

It's difficult to get bar service in the MDR anyway. Plus I thought MDR was excluded from the 3 free.

 

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[Biker19]

IPlus I thought MDR was excluded from the 3 free.

Apparently it works on Harmony.

[John&LaLa]

Apparently it works on Harmony.

I had heard a few other ships were allowing it.

 

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[Clarea]

Just for my knowledge only because I don't know. Does the bartender receive any tip when they bring a drink to up one of the 3 happy hour drink. ...

The bar staff does not receive any automatic tips when serving any of the Diamond voucher drinks.

[John&LaLa]

That's funny, they never question us when we do the same thing. Maybe because I give them two dollars?;)

 

I'm retired and on a fixed income now. :evilsmile:

 

I think what threw them off was they don't stock bottles of Corona on the pool deck, just cans.

[Clarea]

I'm retired and on a fixed income now. :evilsmile:

 

I think what threw them off was they don't stock bottles of Corona on the pool deck, just cans.

Interesting, what ship are you on? The pool bar is usually the first bar we try to do the exchange, and they virtually always have bottles.

[John&LaLa]

Interesting, what ship are you on? The pool bar is usually the first bar we try to do the exchange, and they virtually always have bottles.

 

I'm actually between ships. Serenade last week, Sky Bar. Joining Laura on Rhapsody this Saturday. Majesty had cans as I recall. Oasis and Freedom had bottles, but they poured them into a plastic cup. some ships pour into those silly plastic corona bottles.

[grapau27]

The bar staff does not receive any automatic tips when serving any of the Diamond voucher drinks.

I thought that might be the case thats why i hand my card and a couple of dollars every time if we are in an outside bar.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Bruin Steve]

The bar staff does not receive any automatic tips when serving any of the Diamond voucher drinks.

From my understanding, this is WRONG. They are compensated.

[trippintex]

in the dl or on the 3 free at spacial bars rhe dont male a pennie

[Merion_Mom]

From my understanding, this is WRONG. They are compensated.

 

What is the source of your "understanding"?

 

Who do you think pays them? The cruise line? HA!

[Clarea]

in the dl or on the 3 free at spacial bars rhe dont male a pennie

That is what we've been told by multiple bar managers.

[TYMAN]

Hence the reason I carry cash. I don't make an assumption on if or what the staff is being paid, that doesn't concern me. All I know is they take great care of me and compensation should be above what the cruise line pays them. Anyway, seriously, what's so hard about carrying a few bucks in your pocket and taking care of the staff?

[Bruin Steve]

What is the source of your "understanding"?

 

Who do you think pays them? The cruise line? HA!

 

The source of my understanding?

Cruise line executives I know personally. I live fairly close to the corporate headquarters of Princess Cruise Lines (in Santa Clarita, California) and have a group of retired or currently unemployed corporate execs (people who have recently been laid off for various reasons) with whom I get together for breakfast once a week. Not long ago, Carnival Corp merged some of its Princess operations with duplicate services of HAL up in Seattle and, in most cases, its the Princess people who got the short end of this and a few have been part of my group. Some of these folks, prior to joining Princess, had also worked for other cruise lines, including RCI/Celebrity. We've talked about a lot of cruising issues.

 

RCI/Celebrity assigns some of its best servers to the DL...and it would be near impossible to keep them happy there id they were not being compensated at least at an equal level to what they were making working regular bars and lounges under the old system. So, they have not created all of these new methods of serving drinks--DL, vouchers, packages, etc. without accounting for them in the compensation system. Just as the company accounts for the cost of these free drinks in their system, they also account for compensation for the servers. If they left it to the tipping generosity of the patrons, these servers would be working for practically nothing. They won't do that.

 

If a bar manager is telling you "they don't make a penny" in the DL or on free drinks, they are either misunderstanding your question (Perhaps, "does the cruise line 'make a penny'"? or "does the non-serving manager who is working for a salary, not for tips, make a penny?") or, they are just lying--perhaps so you will tip them extra.

 

I am not telling you not to tip your DL servers extra or that what the cruise line pays them amounts to great wages--just that they ARE being compensated as if they were serving those drinks with the standard 18% added and that people who choose not to tip extra are not "jerks" who are "stiffing" the servers.

 

But, because of the people who think they are unpaid add such generous amounts as extra tips, those servers become the best paid servers on the ship (and, perhaps, rightfully so). Ordering non-package, non-voucher drinks at regular bars, the receipt you are asked to sign gives you an option to add an extra tip...but, in those venues, very few passengers (except, maybe, my wife) do that.

[grapau27]

The source of my understanding?

Cruise line executives I know personally. I live fairly close to the corporate headquarters of Princess Cruise Lines (in Santa Clarita, California) and have a group of retired or currently unemployed corporate execs (people who have recently been laid off for various reasons) with whom I get together for breakfast once a week. Not long ago, Carnival Corp merged some of its Princess operations with duplicate services of HAL up in Seattle and, in most cases, its the Princess people who got the short end of this and a few have been part of my group. Some of these folks, prior to joining Princess, had also worked for other cruise lines, including RCI/Celebrity. We've talked about a lot of cruising issues.

 

RCI/Celebrity assigns some of its best servers to the DL...and it would be near impossible to keep them happy there id they were not being compensated at least at an equal level to what they were making working regular bars and lounges under the old system. So, they have not created all of these new methods of serving drinks--DL, vouchers, packages, etc. without accounting for them in the compensation system. Just as the company accounts for the cost of these free drinks in their system, they also account for compensation for the servers. If they left it to the tipping generosity of the patrons, these servers would be working for practically nothing. They won't do that.

 

If a bar manager is telling you "they don't make a penny" in the DL or on free drinks, they are either misunderstanding your question (Perhaps, "does the cruise line 'make a penny'"? or "does the non-serving manager who is working for a salary, not for tips, make a penny?") or, they are just lying--perhaps so you will tip them extra.

 

I am not telling you not to tip your DL servers extra or that what the cruise line pays them amounts to great wages--just that they ARE being compensated as if they were serving those drinks with the standard 18% added and that people who choose not to tip extra are not "jerks" who are "stiffing" the servers.

 

But, because of the people who think they are unpaid add such generous amounts as extra tips, those servers become the best paid servers on the ship (and, perhaps, rightfully so). Ordering non-package, non-voucher drinks at regular bars, the receipt you are asked to sign gives you an option to add an extra tip...but, in those venues, very few passengers (except, maybe, my wife) do that.

Interesting info,it is always good to get inside info.

The Diamond lounge waiters are excellent and don't resort to the sob stories some of the crew tell you.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[pcur]

The source of my understanding?

Cruise line executives I know personally. I live fairly close to the corporate headquarters of Princess Cruise Lines (in Santa Clarita, California) and have a group of retired or currently unemployed corporate execs (people who have recently been laid off for various reasons) with whom I get together for breakfast once a week. Not long ago, Carnival Corp merged some of its Princess operations with duplicate services of HAL up in Seattle and, in most cases, its the Princess people who got the short end of this and a few have been part of my group. Some of these folks, prior to joining Princess, had also worked for other cruise lines, including RCI/Celebrity. We've talked about a lot of cruising issues.

 

RCI/Celebrity assigns some of its best servers to the DL...and it would be near impossible to keep them happy there id they were not being compensated at least at an equal level to what they were making working regular bars and lounges under the old system. So, they have not created all of these new methods of serving drinks--DL, vouchers, packages, etc. without accounting for them in the compensation system. Just as the company accounts for the cost of these free drinks in their system, they also account for compensation for the servers. If they left it to the tipping generosity of the patrons, these servers would be working for practically nothing. They won't do that.

 

If a bar manager is telling you "they don't make a penny" in the DL or on free drinks, they are either misunderstanding your question (Perhaps, "does the cruise line 'make a penny'"? or "does the non-serving manager who is working for a salary, not for tips, make a penny?") or, they are just lying--perhaps so you will tip them extra.

 

I am not telling you not to tip your DL servers extra or that what the cruise line pays them amounts to great wages--just that they ARE being compensated as if they were serving those drinks with the standard 18% added and that people who choose not to tip extra are not "jerks" who are "stiffing" the servers.

 

But, because of the people who think they are unpaid add such generous amounts as extra tips, those servers become the best paid servers on the ship (and, perhaps, rightfully so). Ordering non-package, non-voucher drinks at regular bars, the receipt you are asked to sign gives you an option to add an extra tip...but, in those venues, very few passengers (except, maybe, my wife) do that.

 

Very interesting information. I'm guessing the compensation for the servers in the DL/CL is based on the amount of alcohol and soda consumed, since there is no receipt generated for the drinks consumed there.

 

I also read here on CC that the vouchered drinks in bars outside the DL/CL give the server the 18% gratuity, but I've never seen it on any receipt they've provided with the drinks. I said above I don't like to carry a lot of single bills when I travel, but I do change larger bills on board the ship for our vouchered drinks. $2 for my manhattan and my husband's diet coke, per serving.

 

I cruised on the Vision right after the vouchers started, and included a $1 tip per drink ordered. The bar waiter on the Vision said the week before when the program started she had a lot of D/D+ passengers get pretty rude with her about the drinks being FREE, and therefore they didn't need to include a tip. My friend was on the Vision with me, so I asked to use my vouchered drinks for both of us, and included a $1 each for both drinks. The bar waiter was thrilled to get her tips for the drinks.

 

So, I think early in the program RCCL was, indeed, expecting the passengers to provide the tips. Obviously, this didn't work out well, and they started compensating internally for the vouchered drinks.

[frank808]

The source of my understanding?

Cruise line executives I know personally. I live fairly close to the corporate headquarters of Princess Cruise Lines (in Santa Clarita, California) and have a group of retired or currently unemployed corporate execs (people who have recently been laid off for various reasons) with whom I get together for breakfast once a week. Not long ago, Carnival Corp merged some of its Princess operations with duplicate services of HAL up in Seattle and, in most cases, its the Princess people who got the short end of this and a few have been part of my group. Some of these folks, prior to joining Princess, had also worked for other cruise lines, including RCI/Celebrity. We've talked about a lot of cruising issues.

 

RCI/Celebrity assigns some of its best servers to the DL...and it would be near impossible to keep them happy there id they were not being compensated at least at an equal level to what they were making working regular bars and lounges under the old system. So, they have not created all of these new methods of serving drinks--DL, vouchers, packages, etc. without accounting for them in the compensation system. Just as the company accounts for the cost of these free drinks in their system, they also account for compensation for the servers. If they left it to the tipping generosity of the patrons, these servers would be working for practically nothing. They won't do that.

 

If a bar manager is telling you "they don't make a penny" in the DL or on free drinks, they are either misunderstanding your question (Perhaps, "does the cruise line 'make a penny'"? or "does the non-serving manager who is working for a salary, not for tips, make a penny?") or, they are just lying--perhaps so you will tip them extra.

 

Do you know when these executives were working for rccl, around what years? Also what job and title did they do there? Thanks

[grapau27]

I am someone who happily tips the Diamond consierge and have taken a consierge to dinner with us before.

I noticed a CC thread about who never to tip and officers was one of them.Are consierges officers and might we be insulting them by giving them tips?.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Bruin Steve]

Do you know when these executives were working for rccl, around what years? Also what job and title did they do there? Thanks

 

Frank,

I am not giving away these friends of mine's identities...Let's just say they were in VERY high positions within the cruise line companies and with areas of responsibility where they definitely would know this information. They also kept informed as to what was happening at every one of their competitors. I trust these sources unquestionably.

 

To everyone else, rather than my just telling you that I know better than you (which I know many people dislike hearing), let me approach it from a different direction:

 

Let's assume you folks are correct: That DL servers are paid nothing to offset what would otherwise come in tips. Now, lets assume, based on the information garnered from this thread, that many of you tip the DL server $1 per drink (whether it be by the drink, by the night or at the end of the cruise)...but that many of your fellow passengers do not tip at all. Let's say the ratio of tippers vs. non-tippers is 50/50.

 

Okay, now let's say YOU are a server. You have been very happily serving drinks in a different venue on board--where an 18% tip is automatically added to every drink ticket. Then, let's say every passenger in that venue only orders $8 drinks (of course, they don't--there is no restriction on what they order...but, for the sake of simplicity, let's say everyone limits themselves to $8 drinks--If it's more, than this example gets even worse for the DL server). So, for each drink you bring someone, you get $1.44 in tips.

 

Now, let's say, the bar services manager calls you is and tells you that you are being promoted. From here on out, you are going to spend your 5:00-8:30 shift working the Diamond Lounge. Everyone there, of course, is ordering $8 drinks...but paying zero. Under our assumptions above, half of those passengers are tipping you $1 per drink, but half are tipping you zero. So,you are now averaging getting tipped precisely 50 cents per drink! Your "promotion" has cost you almost one dollar per drink delivered...

 

How happy are you? You are running around, working hard, keeping a smile and a positive attitude...Why? In the hope all of these customers will somehow tipping multiples of what they had been? Maybe you just recognize that the cruise line has an interest in making these frequent cruisers happy...and you are happy to do your part...FOR FREE? For sub-standard tips?

 

Think about it, my friends...Do you REALLY think this model makes any sense whatsoever? Would tipping on this model ever approach anywhere near the levels achieved on standard drink service?

 

Of course, giving away free drinks costs the cruise line...So does compensating their servers for the missed gratuity opportunities. BUT, they do it. Why? Well, first, it's a marketing cost. They believe they sell more cruises to repeat customers as well as to newer customers hoping to achieve those loyalty levels. AND the cruise lines really never do anything that only costs them. They compensate for the cost of the free drinks--as well as the cost of the bar server labor--in their overall pricing structure. Nothing is done in a vacuum. Ship construction costs, ship maintenance costs, fuel costs, salaries, corporate overhead, advertising and marketing, food costs, energy costs, and so on...all accounted for in the budgets...and all more than countered on the other side of the ledger--in the money raised in cruise fares, alcohol sales, shorex sales, gift shop sales, casino revenues, bingo, bar sales, etc. They have this down to a science. And they have no problem incorporating the small cost of compensating the DL servers into that accounting model.

 

Now, they could just charge everyone an automatic $1.44 on every DL "free" drink. But, of course, that wouldn't go over very well, would it. So, they just incorporate it into their overall budget...where nobody notices...and everyone is happy.

[John&LaLa]

Didn't some ship or ships have you sign a slip for all DL/CL drinks a few years ago?

 

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[TYMAN]

This has been fun. Do I believe the RCCL compensates their DL wait staff? Yes, of course, that's an easy answer. Do I tip above and beyond that? Yes, of course. That too is an easy answer. Do I believe the cruise line has set up a "cashless" system to make it simpler for the passengers? Yes, yes I do. Does that mean I can't carry cash and show the staff how much I truly appreciate their service? Oops, that's a no. I've looked all through my RCCL paperwork that tells me what I can and can't do and there's nothing that says I can't tip extra. And there you go! Safe sailings!!!

[grapau27]

My wife isn't bothered about these threads but when i mentioned this one she pointed out something i had forgotten​ about.

I can but i won't name the ship but it was within the last 12 months.

Basically every night i got some snacks first and gave the waiter $5 at the snack counter and told him what drinks we wanted and he brought them to our table.

After the first drink the service was slow and other people were getting drinks topped up and finally he topped our drink up.

This scenario happened for a couple of nights and i was thinking why am i giving tips.

On the third night i was getting some extra snacks and a coffee as the waiter had walked past us and saw my glass was empty and 10 minutes passed without a top up.

At this point the consierge was at the snack station and queried why i was having a coffee so i reluctantly said i was thirsty and my glass was empty.

I didn't make a fuss and the service was much better after that.

My wife said,so who says if you tip nightly you get better service because we haven't.

I mentioned this because i had forgot until my wife reminded me so no you don't always get preferential treatment if you tip.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Clarea]

Didn't some ship or ships have you sign a slip for all DL/CL drinks a few years ago?

Never saw that, but someone reported a ship swiping SeaPass cards in one of the lounges as some sort of "test" program.

[frank808]

Frank,

I am not giving away these friends of mine's identities...Let's just say they were in VERY high positions within the cruise line companies and with areas of responsibility where they definitely would know this information. They also kept informed as to what was happening at every one of their competitors. I trust these sources unquestionably.

 

To everyone else, rather than my just telling you that I know better than you (which I know many people dislike hearing), let me approach it from a different direction:

 

Let's assume you folks are correct: That DL servers are paid nothing to offset what would otherwise come in tips. Now, lets assume, based on the information garnered from this thread, that many of you tip the DL server $1 per drink (whether it be by the drink, by the night or at the end of the cruise)...but that many of your fellow passengers do not tip at all. Let's say the ratio of tippers vs. non-tippers is 50/50.

 

Okay, now let's say YOU are a server. You have been very happily serving drinks in a different venue on board--where an 18% tip is automatically added to every drink ticket. Then, let's say every passenger in that venue only orders $8 drinks (of course, they don't--there is no restriction on what they order...but, for the sake of simplicity, let's say everyone limits themselves to $8 drinks--If it's more, than this example gets even worse for the DL server). So, for each drink you bring someone, you get $1.44 in tips.

 

Now, let's say, the bar services manager calls you is and tells you that you are being promoted. From here on out, you are going to spend your 5:00-8:30 shift working the Diamond Lounge. Everyone there, of course, is ordering $8 drinks...but paying zero. Under our assumptions above, half of those passengers are tipping you $1 per drink, but half are tipping you zero. So,you are now averaging getting tipped precisely 50 cents per drink! Your "promotion" has cost you almost one dollar per drink delivered...

 

How happy are you? You are running around, working hard, keeping a smile and a positive attitude...Why? In the hope all of these customers will somehow tipping multiples of what they had been? Maybe you just recognize that the cruise line has an interest in making these frequent cruisers happy...and you are happy to do your part...FOR FREE? For sub-standard tips?

 

Think about it, my friends...Do you REALLY think this model makes any sense whatsoever? Would tipping on this model ever approach anywhere near the levels achieved on standard drink service?

 

Of course, giving away free drinks costs the cruise line...So does compensating their servers for the missed gratuity opportunities. BUT, they do it. Why? Well, first, it's a marketing cost. They believe they sell more cruises to repeat customers as well as to newer customers hoping to achieve those loyalty levels. AND the cruise lines really never do anything that only costs them. They compensate for the cost of the free drinks--as well as the cost of the bar server labor--in their overall pricing structure. Nothing is done in a vacuum. Ship construction costs, ship maintenance costs, fuel costs, salaries, corporate overhead, advertising and marketing, food costs, energy costs, and so on...all accounted for in the budgets...and all more than countered on the other side of the ledger--in the money raised in cruise fares, alcohol sales, shorex sales, gift shop sales, casino revenues, bingo, bar sales, etc. They have this down to a science. And they have no problem incorporating the small cost of compensating the DL servers into that accounting model.

 

Now, they could just charge everyone an automatic $1.44 on every DL "free" drink. But, of course, that wouldn't go over very well, would it. So, they just incorporate it into their overall budget...where nobody notices...and everyone is happy.

I am not trying to find their identities.

 

How about when did they leave rccl for new employment?

 

I take your word that they were in high positions. Did there positions include having decisions on c&a benefits. Just making sure they were involved with c&a benefits and not, for example, the vice president of shipbuilding or other.

 

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Edited April 25, 2017 by frank808

[grapau27]

I am not trying to find their identities.

 

How about when did they leave rccl for new employment?

 

I take your word that they were in high positions. Did there positions include having decisions on c&a benefits. Just making sure they were involved with c&a benefits and not, for example, the vice president of shipbuilding or other.

 

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It does make sense that they would be worse off unless they were part of the tip pool.

 

43 cruises and counting.