2 Questions: Tipping & Alcohol in minibars

[janetcbl]

Two questions:

1) When ordering room service (breakfast), how much do you tip?

2) Is wine included in the minibar in the PV cabins?

Thanks!

[SrCruizer]

We have ordered breakfast room service and did not tip but I’m guessing some individuals do. We have stayed in a PV and only mini hard liquor bottles were stocked - no wine. You can always ask but from a number of posts I have read regarding the mini bar I don’t believe they will stock wine for you. If you do not have the SSP you might want to consider buying bottles of wine in port like we did. No problem getting wine glasses and if you want it chilled just use your ice bucket since the mini bar frig does not keep things real cold.

[philw1776]

PV has a welcome's bottle of champaign, bubbly wine or some such, not replenished.  Never drank ours.

I'd suggest tipping your room stewards at the end of the cruise.

[KathyA]

They will not stock wine in the minibars.  You can call room service and ask for glasses of wine delivered.  They will deliver more than one glass per person, but they will not deliver bottles without charging for it.  We sometimes ordered four glasses of wine and put two in the minifridge while we drank the first one, then later enjoyed the second glass.  This works even better with still wines than with sparkling!  Enjoy!

[janetcbl]

1 hour ago, KathyA said:

They will not stock wine in the minibars.  You can call room service and ask for glasses of wine delivered.  They will deliver more than one glass per person, but they will not deliver bottles without charging for it.  We sometimes ordered four glasses of wine and put two in the minifridge while we drank the first one, then later enjoyed the second glass.  This works even better with still wines than with sparkling!  Enjoy!

Do you remember what the cost was for the wine by glass delivered to your cabin? Also can you carry on wine that you purchase on shore?

[KathyA]

No charge if you have the Silver Beverage Package.  No charge if you have a PV room or above and order food with it.  Also, at either lunch or dinner where wine and beer are included, you can ask them to fill your glass up after your meal and take it with you.

[SrCruizer]

You can most definitely carry on wine that was purchased on shore. Did it numerous times. You can either ask your room steward for glasses or just go to any bar and ask for them. We also took one of our wines to The Restaurant. Server gladly opened it for us and no corkage fee. 

[Paulhc]

We were in a PJS and I asked for wine for the mini bar. I was told that they could leave a bottle of wine but had to take all the other spirits. Since I drink cocktails and my wife drinks wine, I told them to never mine. I made a bad decision. Ended up running out at port to buy a bottle of wine.

 

Seriously stupid policy on Vikings part. $20,000 room and they quibble over a $10 bottle of wine.

[broker1217]

To answer your questions---

1. Tipping the person delivering your room service is optional and they do not expect it. We tipped a couple dollars for a meal order.

2. We were in PJS and they would stock wine on request in the minibar, but it would be in place of the 4 mini bottles of spirits. We had SSBP so not sure if this influenced the substitution.

 

 

[RetroRod]

We just completed the HL Cruise and were in a PV1 cabin. Day 1 I asked to have all the liquor removed from the mini fridge and replaced with wine. Always had a full bottle + and never did drink the bubbly from the first day. We tipped room service a couple dollars the first time we ordered breakfast and they were very appreciative. From then on, room service meals arrived on-time or early and were always hot. 

[stretchcruz]

We tipped $2-$3 each time we had room service delivered. We did not have the SSBP and ordered dinner in the room a few times, asked for 4 glasses of wine and a beer, and it was no charge (the house wine and beer that is served with meals). We were in a DV.

Edited July 12, 2019 by stretchcruz

[CCWineLover]

22 hours ago, VJMAZZ said:

We just completed the HL Cruise and were in a PV1 cabin. Day 1 I asked to have all the liquor removed from the mini fridge and replaced with wine. Always had a full bottle + and never did drink the bubbly from the first day. We tipped room service a couple dollars the first time we ordered breakfast and they were very appreciative. From then on, room service meals arrived on-time or early and were always hot. 

 

Good to know.  This seems to counter other's responses (such as KathyA :  " They will not stock wine in the minibars.  You can call room service and ask for glasses of wine delivered.  They will deliver more than one glass per person, but they will not deliver bottles without charging for it.  ")

 

Anyone else chime in from their experiences on whether they WILL put wine in the minibars?  (in lieu of the liquor bottles).

[Senior Gators]

Our experience with the mini bar in PJS cabins is a bit different. On our first meeting with our room steward we made our requests for our beverage needs.  We politely asked for 2 buckets of ice both morning and evening along wit 2 carafes of still water.  

 

We also requested that the cans of beer and most of the soft drinks be removed and be replaced with a bottle of white wine. No changes to the 4 hard liquor nips.  We would also would leave a note on the mini bar for the wine steward to let them know what we desired. We did not have the Silver Sevice beverage package and never had a problem with our requests in our 5 Viking Oceans cruises.

[stretchcruz]

In a DV we only got soft drinks, but we left a note, inside the fridge, asking for extra diet coke and ginger ale (don't remember what it originally was) but each day we had as many of the bottles as we requested.

[wabamun]

We had room service a number of times for breakfast and never tipped. It always arrived on time and they never made a mistake.

 

I feel the $40 CAD a day in tips added to our account was enough.

[twodjs]

You are all aware, I hope, that the $15.00 per person (20 CAD) daily charge is shared with the wait staff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, galley staff, laundry staff and others - not just your room steward. I know it is optional, but every passenger has paid many thousands to cruise on Viking. A couple of bucks a day won't break anyone and is sincerely appreciated! Just part of our cruising budget.

[CCWineLover]

6 hours ago, twodjs said:

You are all aware, I hope, that the $15.00 per person (20 CAD) daily charge is shared with the wait staff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, galley staff, laundry staff and others - not just your room steward. I know it is optional, but every passenger has paid many thousands to cruise on Viking. A couple of bucks a day won't break anyone and is sincerely appreciated! Just part of our cruising budget.

Just a note - it is $20 per person per day (the tips Viking collects as mandatory).    It was $15 on our 2018 cruise and was $20 on our 2019 cruises so far.

[RetroRod]

Tips are not mandatory but discretionary. Viking adds the tips to your bill but you can  adjust the amount if you feel service was not up to par. The only place tips are not  discretionary are for drinks bought at bars. 15% is included in the drink price. 

[CCWineLover]

16 hours ago, VJMAZZ said:

Tips are not mandatory but discretionary. Viking adds the tips to your bill but you can  adjust the amount if you feel service was not up to par. The only place tips are not  discretionary are for drinks bought at bars. 15% is included in the drink price. 

 

My bad, VJMAZZ, you are absolutely correct - not mandatory.  I guess I just figured it was effectively mandatory as I have never met or spoken with anyone to actually changed/reduced the gratuities that Viking put on their bill.

Edited July 14, 2019 by CCWineLover

[broker1217]

When did it change from US $15 to $20?

VO website still states $15 and on myvikingjourney.com it is showing $15 US. $165 for 12 day/11 night cruise in 2020.

[CCWineLover]

33 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

When did it change from US $15 to $20?

VO website still states $15 and on myvikingjourney.com it is showing $15 US. $165 for 12 day/11 night cruise in 2020.

Will teach me not to try division late at night!  ;)   My mistake, broker1217 - I divided wrong from the total on our last cruise.  

It definitely was $30 per day for the cabin after extracting it carefully from the bill.

[broker1217]

45 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Will teach me not to try division late at night!  😉 My mistake, broker1217 - I divided wrong from the total on our last cruise.  

It definitely was $30 per day for the cabin after extracting it carefully from the bill.

 

 

Lol--thanks for clarifying. I was ready to pre-pay to avoid an increase!