New email about using drink vouchers

[SherriZ366]

1 hour ago, drb116 said:

I suspect that part of the motivation might be to help servers get more tips. I would be surprised if there is not a tip line on the receipt.

 

Honestly, for me that would be welcome. I always tip cash, but hate having to carry the cash around with me all the time.

Agree -- we always carry cash but it would be easier to just add the tip to the receipt.  

[cruiselvr04]

I’ll continue to tip cash because I doubt the bartenders in that bar will get the tip.   It will go into the big pool.  Tip goes with card when I ask for my drink.  Maybe too many don’t tip and this is a reminder?  
 

We’ve never had a problem keeping track on the app.  D and D+ shouldn’t be going to GS for this anyway but to the D concierge. 

[Tree_skier]

I will continue to tip cash because I like my bartender to know I've got his back. Adding to the tip pool is all well and good but when you go to same bar and same bartender with great regularity it makes a difference when you hand over cash.

[Husky1987]

1 hour ago, Yorkvillain said:

Doesn’t matter what change Royal makes - people will run to Cruise Critic to complain about it. 

 

It's very easy to tell which posters are the opposite side of the same coin as the "Royal cheerleaders" they are always complaining about...

[Tree_skier]

12 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

 

It's very easy to tell which posters are the opposite side of the same coin as the "Royal cheerleaders" they are always complaining about...

I remember when they announced the new voucher program. There was a very vocal minority that prophesied doom to loyalty benefits.  Some folks are never going to be happy.

[remarcm]

Main issue I see is when a server is not around a point of sale machine. Many times I will grab something from a guy with drinks in the WJ or pool area, they just ask for your cabin number and write it down. It is entered later when you are not around.

[DaKahuna]

I like the idea:

1. It takes the guesswork out of what all those $0.00 charges I see in the app under Account

2. It gives me a means to add a gratuity without having to carry cash with me 

 

However, I see a couple of concerns:

1. Printing and handling receipts will slow service 

2. Using my wifes vouchers or her using mine (perish that thought) may be problematic 

 

I will read all about how it's working here long before I have to deal with it in February.

 

[3yorkies]

I will always continue to tip in cash, as I want that person to be the one who gets the entire tip---not have it "split" in a pool.    What's so hard about sticking 10 dollar bills in your pocket or bag each day?  

[DaKahuna]

7 minutes ago, 3yorkies said:

I will always continue to tip in cash, as I want that person to be the one who gets the entire tip---not have it "split" in a pool.    What's so hard about sticking 10 dollar bills in your pocket or bag each day?  

 

 I have seen tips I left on the bar go into a communal cup so I am not sure cash goes directly into their pockets vs having to be put into a pool of some sort.   Maybe someone has had a direct conversation with a bartender or server and can say authoritatively how it really work. 

[Bruin Steve]

I had a MAJOR problem with the vouchers on a recent Navigator cruise...and THIS would NOT solve the problem.

 

Here's what happened:   We NEVER ordered ANY drinks on the vouchers until the evenings...and, then, ALWAYS wine or cocktails.  EVERY time we ordered a drink, I would ask the bartender or waiter to check EXACTLY how many vouchers we had left.  EVERY night, at some point, we were told we had ZERO vouchers left.  One night, we were told that BEFORE even ordering our FIRST drinks of the day.

 

Getting paper receipts would not solve a thing.  It is a SYSTEM ERROR.  Each night of the cruise, I would need to make a trek down to the Guest Relations desk--where, most often, they did NOT have any special D/D+ line.  EVERY night, someone would look through the account online...and see, clearly, that vouchers were NOT used.  But, somehow, the bartenders' computers were NOT showing this.  EVERY night, someone at the front desk would have to CALL the particular bar we were trying to be served at and instruct them to serve us and not charge us.  EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING...and time-consuming.

 

Giving us "paper receipts" wouldn't do a thing when the SYSTEM was telling the bartenders to charge us as if we didn't have any remaining vouchers.  All the paper receipts will do is to waste paper and to add another step to what should have been a simple process.  And, when the system screws up, we'll still end up waiting in line at Guest Relations.  Paper receipts would not be evidence of anything in our favor.  FIX the system for OUR benefit...don't complicate the process for YOURS, Royal Caribbean.

[c-leg5]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

That was my first thought. Now I can just add a tip and not worry about carrying bills for tips. 

 

Ok with me.

Not sure they won’t  get pooled.

[locksley10]

Don’t worry about the tipping they will ad the automatic 18% gratuity to your tab.

[c-leg5]

21 minutes ago, 3yorkies said:

I will always continue to tip in cash, as I want that person to be the one who gets the entire tip---not have it "split" in a pool.    What's so hard about sticking 10 dollar bills in your pocket or bag each day?  

+1

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, locksley10 said:

Don’t worry about the tipping they will ad the automatic 18% gratuity to your tab.

any idea on what 18% of $0.00 is?

[locksley10]

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

any idea on what 18% of $0.00 is?

Woh that’s less than a buck!

[DaKahuna]

16 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

any idea on what 18% of $0.00 is?

 

 Yes, $0.00  which is rounded up to $1.00 

 

[Tlbecker1]

44 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I had a MAJOR problem with the vouchers on a recent Navigator cruise...and THIS would NOT solve the problem.

 

Here's what happened:   We NEVER ordered ANY drinks on the vouchers until the evenings...and, then, ALWAYS wine or cocktails.  EVERY time we ordered a drink, I would ask the bartender or waiter to check EXACTLY how many vouchers we had left.  EVERY night, at some point, we were told we had ZERO vouchers left.  One night, we were told that BEFORE even ordering our FIRST drinks of the day.

 

Getting paper receipts would not solve a thing.  It is a SYSTEM ERROR.  Each night of the cruise, I would need to make a trek down to the Guest Relations desk--where, most often, they did NOT have any special D/D+ line.  EVERY night, someone would look through the account online...and see, clearly, that vouchers were NOT used.  But, somehow, the bartenders' computers were NOT showing this.  EVERY night, someone at the front desk would have to CALL the particular bar we were trying to be served at and instruct them to serve us and not charge us.  EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING...and time-consuming.

 

Giving us "paper receipts" wouldn't do a thing when the SYSTEM was telling the bartenders to charge us as if we didn't have any remaining vouchers.  All the paper receipts will do is to waste paper and to add another step to what should have been a simple process.  And, when the system screws up, we'll still end up waiting in line at Guest Relations.  Paper receipts would not be evidence of anything in our favor.  FIX the system for OUR benefit...don't complicate the process for YOURS, Royal Caribbean.

This is completely the opposite of what we experienced on the Navigator 2 weeks ago.  We are Diamond + and each time they told us exactly how many drinks we had left.  It was never an issue.

[DaKahuna]

When we were on Quantum it varied between servers.  There were one or two who told us and one or two who did not. 

 

[KelJ]

We were on Allure in September and on Adventure in October. We never had a server tell us how many vouchers we had left. Although we never asked either. 

[Tlbecker1]

2 minutes ago, KelJ said:

We were on Allure in September and on Adventure in October. We never had a server tell us how many vouchers we had left. Although we never asked either. 

We never asked on the Navigator, they just told us.  

[PigsCanFly]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

on recent cruises I was able to use my DH's drink vouchers to get either him or myself something when I was out of vouchers.    I wonder if this new system will no longer allow someone to use their spouses vouchers, if the spouse is not right there.

That was our first thought after reading the email.  If DW & I were having a drink in the room , we were often able to get one of each at a bar and crediting it to 1 each voucher for us without both being present.  I guess we will have to  take turns going to the bar and use 2 vouchers for 1 of each drink on one card.  As for tipping, we always gave the bartender/server $1 per drink in cash.  I will continue to do that since I know that goes directly to the staff.  

[c-leg5]

9 minutes ago, PigsCanFly said:

That was our first thought after reading the email.  If DW & I were having a drink in the room , we were often able to get one of each at a bar and crediting it to 1 each voucher for us without both being present.  I guess we will have to  take turns going to the bar and use 2 vouchers for 1 of each drink on one card.  As for tipping, we always gave the bartender/server $1 per drink in cash.  I will continue to do that since I know that goes directly to the staff.  

We have always used two vouchers on one card if collecting for the other.

[bonsai3s]

Got rid of menus...to save paper.

Got rid of printing photos for display...to save paper.

Getting rid of Daily Compass...to save paper.

 

Now they want to print thousands of paper receipts. 

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I have seen tips I left on the bar go into a communal cup so I am not sure cash goes directly into their pockets vs having to be put into a pool of some sort.   Maybe someone has had a direct conversation with a bartender or server and can say authoritatively how it really work. 

I actually had a discussion about this with bartenders on Explorer last month.

If you tip CASH, it goes to the server.  In some bars, the servers may make an agreement AMONGST THEMSELVES AT THAT BAR to pool their cash tips -- they empty out the communal cup at the end of the night and divide it between themselves.  But that's when the servers have agreed ahead of time to split tips in that bar only -- that money does not get turned in to management to go into a bigger tip pool. 

Side note: Localized cash tip pooling is a benefit for a teamwork approach to the workflow.  Nobody wants to go in the back and get ice to fill the bins, or beer bottles/cans to refill the fridges, etc., because they'll be missing out on potential cash tips by leaving the bar area.  If they're going to share in the cash anyway, then it doesn't matter if Bartender A serves a drink while Bartender B refills the cans of Coke, because they'll both benefit from the cash tip (if one happens) from serving the drink.  Keeping things refilled throughout the shift benefits the customers AND the servers, so pooling cash tips is a win-win.  

Of the 18% that gets charged automatically on a paid drink, only a few pennies of that goes to the server that rang it up, and the rest goes into the pool and divided amongst all bar staff on the ship (so yes, some of it does come back to the server that rang it up, too, and he's also getting some of it from what other people rang up).  But if you give the server cash on top of the 18%, he gets to keep ALL of that (unless all the servers are pooling their money on that shift, as agreed upon individually).  

Regarding the pooled money -- there are also bartenders that you never see.... who do you think makes your drink when you order one in the dining room?  Hint: it's not the assistant waiter who takes your order and delivers your drink.  The bartenders switch out assignments every couple of weeks, and everyone has to do their turn in the dining room, in the theater, etc.  The pooled 18% means that those bartenders who never see a passenger all week long are also getting their share of the tip money for making the drinks.

And the servers get absolutely NOTHING for serving a Diamond Drink, so PLEASE tip your servers!!!

[ONECRUISER]

6 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

How are you distinguishing a $0 charge for a voucher drink vs a $0 charge for a specialty coffee using a refreshment package?  The app lists both the same.

Agree, app worked fine and easy to track. Just got off B4B with $0.00 showing every time I PU a drink