HanoiIG

Jesus! You guys obviously can't understand tongue-in-cheek. Probably Strumpkins. the whole point of the post was :DO THE STAFF GET THE SO CALLED INCLUDED TIPS?

That attitude may work in the US but then again we are the only country in the world where its restaurant servers depend on the tips to make an almost working wage--and that is what is bad about the US restaurants, not that you tip at the end of service. In other countries and other cultures, that tip can be an insult. There is no need on Viking ships to tip your way to good service; excellent service is the standard of the cruise line. A 15% gratuity is included in the price of all drinks and the bartenders will treat you the same way whether you give them a tip on day one or not. No need to bribe the crew.

My main question is DO the crew actually get the gratuities? I have heard that in the case of the 15% added on to drinks that the crew may not see any or all of it. BTW my random small emoluments seemed to be well received and since there's kind of nothing to do on a ship, you don't really need great service. Of course, in many cultures they don't do the eye roll so you have no idea whether or not they are happy or not.

How sad that you pay the cabin staff upfront "just to make them like us". Good service I'm sure you will find is standard and tipping at the end of the cruise is a thank you for that good service rather than a bribe given at the commencement of your journey.

I suppose that I should have posted emoji with my tongue in my cheek :* I'm pretty sure most crew members will like me anyway. The other passengers, perhaps not so much.

Not a bribe. These people make next to nothing and we like to reward them but I hate the idea of a couple of bucks every time you are in contact with them. I prefer to give them something to show we appreciate them. Tips are NOT NECESSARILY a reward for good service, but can just be just because they are nice.

OK. For booking early on the Viking Sun, we got what we considered to be decent perks, though who knows. They give you Silver sipper beverage package, round trip business class air, $2000 pp in credits to use towards shore excursions, though there is an included excursion in each port, $750 pp spa credit and $750 pp gift shop credit. Laundry is also included

They also state "Gratuities Included." The usual on Viking has been $14/day/person so now these are not collected. Of course we intend to reward special service and to introduce ourselves to the cabin attendants with a few $ just to make them like us. The main question is: do the staff receive these "included tips" or are they being stiffed? I often wonder the same about the add on tips but of course don't really wish to double tip. We don't cruise often but last time we tipped from time to time on extra beverages since we knew the servers and they didn't think we stiffed them if we didn't tip each time we got a glass of wine at a show, cash being difficult to keep on hand. They say service is included on drinks but who knows.

BTW, my theory of gratuities is the sooner the better. That's what's bad about the US restaurant system: Servers and bartenders tend to type cast and serve according to what they expect. I never want to be the guy about whom they say "If I knew he was so generous, I'd have given better service!"