Quick ?: cash tips to barttenders or sign addt'l gratuity to the paper check

[Something fun!]

Also, you don't have to bring 100s of $1s. The casino will make change for you for no fee. When you get low on 1s, just get change for larger bills in the casino. It takes less than a minute.

[june123]

I`m a firm believer in the saying "when in Rome do as Romans !! " In the uk we do not tip when we get a drink in a bar , but when away we do what is expected in THAT country . In the whole scheme of things i feel to tip a buck when getting a drink is very little but very much appreciated by the bar tender .

Going back to the original question i always take plenty of one dollar bills " Cash is king " much better to give a cash tip , you then know where your money is going x

[BaWBarmy]

Wrong. If you tip extra cash they most certainly give you preferential treatment. They will go out of their way to bring you drinks anywhere on deck or the theater without you even asking. They will not make you wait in line either. The bartenders whole job is a hustle for tips. Yes, they will serve everyone, but will serve those tipping EXTRA much, much better. And I thank them for their service!!!!

 

You may think that, but as Keith Jenner said, you get exactly the same service just by treating the bar staff in a friendly and civil manner. I also can't remember a bartender leaving the bar to serve in the theatre or on deck. They have waiters in many bars, on deck and in the theatre but they take your order to the bar and have it made up, so who is giving you this much, much, better service? The bartender or the waiter? Who do you tip?

 

I think you'll find the bartenders whole job is to tend bar.

[geegee1]

OP, yes cash is king

 

I was recently on a Carnival cruise where I purchased the beverage package. I kept going to the same bars and the same bartenders were helping me. I occasionally gave a $1 tip and toward the end of the cruise, the pours got a little heavier and when the bar was crowded, they would come up to me first even if I just arrived at the bar and others were there before me.

 

The automatic gratuity that is added to every drink is split among all of the bartenders, servers, waiters, etc. When you give a cash tip directly to someone, it goes right into their pocket. They remember you.

I've found the same thing. I'll tip a few bartenders in the bars that I will frequent and notice that the drinks start to taste a little better.

 

You may think that, but as Keith Jenner said, you get exactly the same service just by treating the bar staff in a friendly and civil manner. I also can't remember a bartender leaving the bar to serve in the theatre or on deck. They have waiters in many bars, on deck and in the theatre but they take your order to the bar and have it made up, so who is giving you this much, much, better service? The bartender or the waiter? Who do you tip?

 

I think you'll find the bartenders whole job is to tend bar.

 

If you are sitting at the bar, you'll notice that most times the waiters get their drinks served first. You tip the waiter, they hustle back quicker with your drink.

[PTC DAWG]

Cash

[packer99]

We went to the same bar every day on the Escape, and the bartender remembered our names, knew our drinks, and gave my son free Shirley Temples without him having a drink package and without asking! I am pretty sure that extra couple bucks gave us better service.

[weltek]

Wrong. If you tip extra cash they most certainly give you preferential treatment. They will go out of their way to bring you drinks anywhere on deck or the theater without you even asking. They will not make you wait in line either. The bartenders whole job is a hustle for tips. Yes, they will serve everyone, but will serve those tipping EXTRA much, much better. And I thank them for their service!!!!

 

I had a decent-tipped poolside server on NCL bring a drink to me in the library one time. She was serving my husband in the pool area, and she asked him where I was. When she heard I was in the library working, she suggested he buy me a drink and she'd deliver it. :-)

[boatseller]

If you want to tip the bartender who made your drink, cash.

You can ask for a receipt and include additional tip, but that is pooled and distributed on some formula, just like it is on land. There's nothing wrong with this and it is appreciated since it is still more then the allotment from the gratuity charge.

Tipping random bartenders is customary for Americans but you can expect and receive preferential treatment from your bartender(s).

[bbryan5]

Why?

 

You pay a 20% gratuity already on NCL's inflated prices.

 

I haven't seen any preferential service when I've been at the bars on board, the bar staff are usually very good at knowing who is next and no amount of furtive cash exchanges seem to alter that, added to the fact that I'm on holiday and really don't mind waiting too much.

 

I really don't see what else a bartender can do that could be called exceptional service. I order a drink, they fix that drink, I drink the drink. Unless they are going to hang off the front of ship collecting special dolphin hormones by hand for use in some exotic cocktail.

 

I don't tip when I go to the pub, nobody does. Yet once on a cruise everybody seems to want to tip twice.

 

If you think the servers don't know who tips... and then serve accordingly, you are oblivious.

[bbryan5]

Wouldn't happen if there was a Brit at the bar.

 

Yup it would, that's how things work.. Like it or not.

[ray98]

Wouldn't happen if there was a Brit at the bar.

 

 

LOL....it would happen just the same.

[LrgPizza]

Wrong. If you tip extra cash they most certainly give you preferential treatment. They will go out of their way to bring you drinks anywhere on deck or the theater without you even asking. They will not make you wait in line either. The bartenders whole job is a hustle for tips. Yes, they will serve everyone, but will serve those tipping EXTRA much, much better. And I thank them for their service!!!!

Wrong. The bartenders will never leave their bar to serve you "anywhere on deck or the theater without you even asking." I think you are confused.

[zqvol]

Its almost Pavlovian. I've got a drink I must tip a dollar. I don't have a problem with it, I just don't understand why it's done when a 20% gratuity is already included.

 

:confused:

 

The vast majority of people do not add any extra tip to a drink bill intentionally. What happens is that they don't realize that they have already paid a 20% gratuity, so they do as they would do at home(in the US) and leave a gratuity.

[zencruisers]

Cash works the best.

[CruisingUS]

please actually read my comment

 

cash. i do that too.

 

But sign a vacation hero card for those that were actually good to you. i think they are used for promotion (per what staff say to me....but who knows) and imo they are much more happier to get that then a cash tip.

 

I was busy on my laptop and the 2nd guy who usually gets you water was my head waiter, since I was sitting by myself. He got me my prime rib in less than 5 minutes of me sitting. no joke. I wrote him a great vacation hero card and he was almost jumping for joy.

[chars]

I've found that ever since the UBP has been established it is harder to get a drink, it seems like there are less servers. (mainly the casino) My husband and I always tip $1 per drink and find that the servers come over to us more often. We save our singles for a few months before our cruise, so that we have plenty when we board, and it works out well. Also helps us figure out how many drinks we have consumed. :)

[KeithJenner]

please actually read my comment

 

 

 

cash. i do that too.

 

 

 

But sign a vacation hero card for those that were actually good to you. i think they are used for promotion (per what staff say to me....but who knows) and imo they are much more happier to get that then a cash tip.

 

 

 

I was busy on my laptop and the 2nd guy who usually gets you water was my head waiter, since I was sitting by myself. He got me my prime rib in less than 5 minutes of me sitting. no joke. I wrote him a great vacation hero card and he was almost jumping for joy.

 

 

 

Yes, vacation hero cards are very important to the staff. They are certainly a major incentive to the staff to treat people well.

 

 

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[beantownmike]

Cash is king

 

 

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[beantownmike]

One US dollar is about 50.00 Filipino dollar.

 

 

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[Cruising...our happy place]

In addition, we try to tip some of our favorite bar tenders near the end of the cruise as well.

 

 

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