Additional gratuity with Cheers

MY DH and I are getting ready for our 6th cruise. We always get the Cheers program. Here are my questions....

1. Do you give additional tip when you get a drink?

2. If you do, do you give it in cash or on your S&S account?

3. About how much total do you give for a 7 day cruise?

I know I get better service when I tip additional but I've always done it on my S&S account never in cash but am curious if I would get even better service to just give a dollar cash every drink or every other drink. TIA for your input!!!

1. Do you give additional tip when you get a drink?

 

2. If you do, do you give it in cash or on your S&S account?

 

3. About how much total do you give for a 7 day cruise?

1. Occasionally

2. Cash!!!

3. $50

We usually tip $1 extra per round of drinks. A lot of time we have a few bars we like and tend to hang out there. We've also found there is usually the same bartender. These bartenders seem to remember you and wait on you first when they see you coming. We tip in cash mostly and have been told (not saying it's true) that they spilt tips that are left on the receipt and can keep the cash the make on their own. We usually bring $50-100 in singles for tips.

You are charged tips based on the package price. We don't always tip "per drink", especially if we're sitting at the bar and having more than one drink...we will tip when we leave, just like in any bar. $1 per ROUND is about right, considering a tip has already been paid!

We normally tip $1 per drink. We add to our S&S account - not cash. The bartenders do remember you!

Kim

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I bring at least $50 in 1's. Keep them in the safe. Always have a few when I leave the room. Coffee girl always gets one. Anyone who delivers a drink always gets one. And the best bartenders always get one.

You are charged tips based on the package price. We don't always tip "per drink", especially if we're sitting at the bar and having more than one drink...we will tip when we leave, just like in any bar. $1 per ROUND is about right, considering a tip has already been paid!

A round of drinks? So, say 4 drinks at a bar is about $30 and you tip $1? BTW we tip $1 per drink and as others have said you tend to get recognized

A round of drinks? So, say 4 drinks at a bar is about $30 and you tip $1? BTW we tip $1 per drink and as others have said you tend to get recognized

I do the same - the tip is already included so it's an extra tip.

We stopped doing the $1 a drink a few years back. Got tired of traveling with a bunch of 1 dollar bills. Now we just find the bartenders/servers we will be dealing with most of the cruise and slip them some 5's or 10's throughout the week. If they are really good we drop them a 20 at the end of the cruise.

Thank you all for your input. It looks like most do the extra tip in cash when you do it. I think that sounds good to me. The less left on my S&S account the better. :)

MY DH and I are getting ready for our 6th cruise. We always get the Cheers program. Here are my questions....

 

1. Do you give additional tip when you get a drink?

 

2. If you do, do you give it in cash or on your S&S account?

 

3. About how much total do you give for a 7 day cruise?

 

I know I get better service when I tip additional but I've always done it on my S&S account never in cash but am curious if I would get even better service to just give a dollar cash every drink or every other drink. TIA for your input!!!

1. No

2&3 don’t matter after 1.

We always tip extra too. Usually 2 or 3 for a round....on room charge. Then 20 to the one or two bartenders who were outstanding.

On a recent cruise, we found a bar we like early on embarkation day. Talked to the bartender quite a bit. Only had 1 or 2 drinks at that time, but gave him a $20 when we left. He noticed us IMMEDIATELY every time we walked in the rest of the cruise. Didn't matter how busy it was, we had our drinks right away after that.

While it's not necessary, as others have said tipping extra definitely gets you noticed by the bar/wait staff. Right or wrong (I've seen threads on this exact thing with many saying you shouldn't do that and it's not fair to the people who may have been waiting a while for drinks) we've found this to work well for us.

Cash always...we tip well...$2-3 a drink, $5 if we are really in a good mood...and we find it pays off for us...bartenders know us by name...know what kinds of drinks we like....at places like the pool bar where the line gets long and the wait does too, they will seek us out from behind others and take our order etc....we just feel it makes for a better experience overall for us...we bring a few hundred in $1 and 5$ for tips....

Last cruise we met our bar server in the MDR the first night. She was very pleasant and chatty. We told her what we liked to drink and I gave her a $20. She then told us what bars she would be working at during the next day and when. We would then go to where she was working, it didn't matter if there were 20 people line, once she saw us she'd ask if we wanted the usual and make our drinks immediately. She memorized our folio numbers and we would just go sit down and she would bring the ticket by later with another round and we would tip her a small amount. Every night at the MDR she would have our drinks waiting on our table when we got there and tell us her schedule again for the next day. She received another large tip at the end of the cruise. I've also done this with our cabin steward at the beginning and end of the cruise. But I don't always do it with every steward/waiter/bartender I come across. I talk to them a bit and see how personal they are and what kind of personality they are. I only do it if I feel that we will see them often and it will enhance the service we receive. Sounds kinda crass I know, but I've already paid for the drinks, I'm really just looking to pay for the excellent service at that point.

That being said with Cheers I usually only tip if its a server we're going to see a lot or a bar we were going to hang out at it and needed follow up service.

A round of drinks? So, say 4 drinks at a bar is about $30 and you tip $1? BTW we tip $1 per drink and as others have said you tend to get recognized

;)

Don’t hate on your elders. CB is of the age group where she gives a quarter to the teenage grandkids for their birthdays and tells them not to spend it all in one place.

It’s the thought that counts.

I've never tipped the bar tenders extra per drink. I do give a cash tip to the best bartenders at the end of the cruise.

Nope.

We always tip $1-$2 per drink. We were on the Triumph once and Jorge at the Rum Bar was on his last week before his contract was up. We were there everyday and really got to know him and had a great time, Fast forward 5 months we were one of the first on board the Conquest walking across the lido deck towards the rum bar and I said to my wife isn't that Jorge at the rum bar, and by the time we got to the bar he had our usual drinks ready for us and welcomed us back by name. Not sure it was because of the extra tips but I'm sure it didn't hurt

We always tip $1-$2 per drink. We were on the Triumph once and Jorge at the Rum Bar was on his last week before his contract was up. We were there everyday and really got to know him and had a great time, Fast forward 5 months we were one of the first on board the Conquest walking across the lido deck towards the rum bar and I said to my wife isn't that Jorge at the rum bar, and by the time we got to the bar he had our usual drinks ready for us and welcomed us back by name. Not sure it was because of the extra tips but I'm sure it didn't hurt

Last cruise on Triumph sports bar bartender comes up to me and says “we’ve met before, yes?” I said yes. He says “you were on Freedom in February.” He worked the tequila bar and nightclub on that cruise. Same with Teresa in the lobby bar. She remembered me and what I drank from Triumph a year earlier. Had a similar experience on Elation where a bartender remembered me and what I drank from 6 months earlier.

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MY DH and I are getting ready for our 6th cruise. We always get the Cheers program. Here are my questions....

 

1. Do you give additional tip when you get a drink? YES!

 

2. If you do, do you give it in cash or on your S&S account? We give cash $1 per drink

 

3. About how much total do you give for a 7 day cruise? How good were they??

 

I know I get better service when I tip additional but I've always done it on my S&S account never in cash but am curious if I would get even better service to just give a dollar cash every drink or every other drink. TIA for your input!!!

Day #1 if you tip them good (providing they deserve it) they will remember you the rest of your cruise. In fact they will not only remember your Names but they will remember your S&S card number (no scanning needed:D). Remember most of these workers on the cruise ships come from very poor countries and cash is music to their ears.

MY DH and I are getting ready for our 6th cruise. We always get the Cheers program. Here are my questions....

 

1. Do you give additional tip when you get a drink?

 

I already tipped so why tip extra? It's a drink that takes 60 seconds to make. Many times, just pop a lid, or pour a shot. The tip is more than sufficient for the amount of work performed.

 

2. If you do, do you give it in cash or on your S&S account?

 

No tip, so I can't answer

 

3. About how much total do you give for a 7 day cruise?

 

$0.00

 

I know I get better service when I tip additional but I've always done it on my S&S account never in cash but am curious if I would get even better service to just give a dollar cash every drink or every other drink. TIA for your input!!!

Better service is just imagination. You see, the person that serves you will not know if you are giving them extra until you do, and it is up to them to give you great service. Plus a smart bar server will recognize you and maybe be a little more friendly, but if they skip others in line, or do things that others perceive as they are not getting the same service, than they won't tip more, and thus, he might actually make less. So the good bartender will work the crowd, while giving the perception that you are getting better service to you, who are blinded with the idea, while still giving great service to others.

I'm not telling you not to tip, because it's not my money, and I want the bartenders to be happy, but just telling you that it's in the imagination that you are getting better service.

The 15% tip included in the price of the package is only about $7.50 per day if you prepay on line. That doesn't even cover a proper tip for 4 drinks that i would order from the bar. Knowing this, we tip $1 extra on every cheers drink we get from the bar or a server.

I've never tipped the bar tenders extra per drink. I do give a cash tip to the best bartenders at the end of the cruise.

That is so counter productive. We tip for better service and it works. Example, we were in the Serenity area and asked the lady next to us if there was a server around, she replied rarely. A server did come by and we ordered some drinks and tipped him a couple of bucks. He came back at least every 1/2 hour, by day 2 he did not need our sign and sail card, he remembered our folio number. By day 3 he addressed us by name and just brought our regular drinks. Tipping works

That is so counter productive. We tip for better service and it works. Example, we were in the Serenity area and asked the lady next to us if there was a server around, she replied rarely. A server did come by and we ordered some drinks and tipped him a couple of bucks. He came back at least every 1/2 hour, by day 2 he did not need our sign and sail card, he remembered our folio number. By day 3 he addressed us by name and just brought our regular drinks. Tipping works

But Havingfun2010 says it's all in your head! ;)