Check every receipt on your Cheers Package.......Here's Why

[topaz123]

Just got off the Horizon, we had the cheers package, about mid way thru our cruise, I went over the charges on our account and say our very first drink at the TIDES BAR had a tip of $20 for my one Pina Colada....Wha? Went down to guest services and told them of the problem, they produced the receipt with a very faint, pencil figure of $10 on the receipt, Clearly not my handwriting and the receipt even  has some scratch figure for a dollar sign.  The Staff immediately took the charge off our bill.   From that time on , I always look for the (-) sign next to the charge and I draw a line thru the gratuity  area, or black it out. Very cheap, very un professional.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Hoping there is an innocent explanation like another receipt was on top of yours and that passenger gave a tip, but it bled thru to your copy.

 

I guess the positive news is that Guest Services removed the charge immediately.  It is good to always check your onboard account.

 

Thanks for sharing your story.

[topaz123]

Sure....I don't want to give the impression I don't tip....I tip, but not $5.00 on a first drink of the cruise.

[HappySails4U]

3 hours ago, topaz123 said:

Just got off the Horizon, we had the cheers package, about mid way thru our cruise, I went over the charges on our account and say our very first drink at the TIDES BAR had a tip of $20 for my one Pina Colada....Wha? Went down to guest services and told them of the problem, they produced the receipt with a very faint, pencil figure of $10 on the receipt, Clearly not my handwriting and the receipt even  has some scratch figure for a dollar sign.  The Staff immediately took the charge off our bill.   From that time on , I always look for the (-) sign next to the charge and I draw a line thru the gratuity  area, or black it out. Very cheap, very un professional.

I agree that you need to check your account closely !!     While on the Mardi Gras our account listed a tip from the Serenity Bar for $150.00  !!   Yes $150.00 !!  😲    We visited Guest  Services and this was quickly corrected but just a heads up to watch your account  !!

[travelplus]

If a worker is forging tips they should be reported to security. I would file a report . Whether its $20 or $150. I make it a habit to check my Sign and Sail Card often . 

 

Perhaps they got the wrong folio#. I would suggest writing your Folio# on the receipt you sign and a - where the Tips go even when leaving a tip. If you have to snap a photo of every receipt to avoid this then by all means do so.

 

[FTLCruiseGal]

My guess is what Ferry Watcher posted — his check was under another person’s check.  This happened when my check was under my friends check.  He signed and it came through on mine.  If you have Cheers and don’t want to tip, always put a line in those spots on the receipt.

 

‘When I go out for drinks or food when not cruising and I tip in cash, I write “cash” on the tip line of the receipt.  This way, no one can go back and add a tip on the receipt.  Happens more often than you think.  (nothing to do with cruising — just a piece of advice.)

[dbrucern]

We always write a big 0 with a line thru it on the receipt because this happened to us years ago

[Computer Nerd]

3 minutes ago, dbrucern said:

We always write a big 0 with a line thru it on the receipt because this happened to us years ago

I use a dash myself, especially since an 18% tip is already included in Cheers when purchasing the package.

[Jasonsterling]

1 hour ago, Computer Nerd said:

I use a dash myself, especially since an 18% tip is already included in Cheers when purchasing the package.

That's only 18% on the cost of the program though, not the cost of the drinks. So, basically you've tipped 18% on the first 50 dollars of drinks you've consumed. After that you're not paying any tip at all, unless you include additional tipping. 

[Joebucks]

Good advice. Not just for cruises though. Life in general. I always double-check my statements as you never know...

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, Jasonsterling said:

That's only 18% on the cost of the program though, not the cost of the drinks. So, basically you've tipped 18% on the first 50 dollars of drinks you've consumed. After that you're not paying any tip at all, unless you include additional tipping. 

while I get what you are saying; not sure that this is the best way to look at it. If you have 10 $10 drinks by 10 different bartenders, I don’t think the first 5 get a tip and the second 5 get nothing. I’m under the impression that cheers tips would go to a general bartenders tip pool. So if you planned to tip $10 on those extra drinks it would be better to give everyone $1.

[Computer Nerd]

1 hour ago, Jasonsterling said:

That's only 18% on the cost of the program though, not the cost of the drinks. So, basically you've tipped 18% on the first 50 dollars of drinks you've consumed. After that you're not paying any tip at all, unless you include additional tipping. 

Since the program covers the cost of 15 drinks and you can only get 15 drinks with the program, the tip on ALL drinks is covered.

[Computer Nerd]

53 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

while I get what you are saying; not sure that this is the best way to look at it. If you have 10 $10 drinks by 10 different bartenders, I don’t think the first 5 get a tip and the second 5 get nothing. I’m under the impression that cheers tips would go to a general bartenders tip pool. So if you planned to tip $10 on those extra drinks it would be better to give everyone $1.

Or just save your hard earned cash.

[canes20]

39 minutes ago, Computer Nerd said:

Or just save your hard earned cash.

 

[SNJCruisers]

55 minutes ago, Computer Nerd said:

Since the program covers the cost of 15 drinks and you can only get 15 drinks with the program, the tip on ALL drinks is covered.

Which means you're tipping 60 cents per drink for your 15 drinks based on 9.00 paid upfront.

[ninjacat123]

I always tip a dollar per drink.  We had a great waiter on Serenity Deck that we saw on the last night at the theatre and he waited on us because we waved at him with delight.  I tipped $10.00 on our bill but it never showed up on my account statement.  Maybe he thought it was a mistake because I always tipped a dollar?  I don't know 😕

[crooooze]

I have also had the reverse happen - I added additional tip to the slip, but they didn't add it to my account.

[Brkintx]

I asked more than one server on each of my last two cruises and every single one answered the same… tips added at the point of service, whether cash or S&S, are added to the shared gratuity pool. Perfectly appropriate if you want to add to what is prepaid (such as with the Cheers) - I do, especially if service is awesome.
Don’t assume that not adding extra (above the amount auto-added) is somehow shafting the staff.

[Brkintx]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Which means you're tipping 60 cents per drink for your 15 drinks based on 9.00 paid upfront.

I also add a dollar in extra tip each time. However, it’s an additional dollar tip - the automatic tip is already included in the package or on the receipt for the drink (if no package). 

[Earthworm Jim]

6 hours ago, Jasonsterling said:

So, basically you've tipped 18% on the first 50 dollars of drinks you've consumed.

 

The first $50 each day. If you aren't drinking $50 worth of drinks a day, you're actually tipping over 18%.

 

(Which would mean you shouldn't be paying for Cheers, but a lot of us got free Cheers. In which case Carnival is paying the 18% tip. Or so they say. I hope it's true. Though certainly you can argue if you're getting free Cheers it wouldn't kill you to throw in a tip on top of what Carnival is chipping in, since you're paying nothing.)

[ray98]

I add a dash on every receipt in that scenario, cruise or on land.

[Scfilla]

Thanks for the heads up. With so many slips laying on the bar tops I can easily imagine a jerk adding a tip to someone else’s receipt. I’ll draw a line thru the tip space and leave a tip in US$ as I feel appropriate. 
I thought 18% was pretty much added to every drink anyway.???

 

Look at the room mixer package: $90 comes with. $16.20 (18%) DELIVERY fee. tax TBD, tip listed as $0. 

[ngrund]

on the newer ships (I'm going on Mardi Gras) do you still get a slip with Cheers?

[ray98]

19 hours ago, ngrund said:

on the newer ships (I'm going on Mardi Gras) do you still get a slip with Cheers?

Yes.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

1 hour ago, rcandv said:

Not sure I see the math.  I just purchased three cheers packages and a bubbles package for a 5 day cruise.  The cost for that was $809.00.  The gratuities charged on that was a total of $145.64.  That basically equates to $46.75 in gratuities per cheers package, which I guess is $9.35 per day. If that is that you are implying, I guess I can see that then.  It would honestly be nice if you can tip cash. I wouldn't have a problem with that at a bar.  I don't see how the person in the gift shop deserves a portion of a tip/gratuity for a drink served at a bar.  

You can tip all the cash you want.