Does bartenders have the right to give "one on the house"?

[LittleJoefromKokomo]

I am curious if bartenders have the right to offer a free drink or soda to customers they like?

I have had times when I ordered two drinks, a cocktail for my wife and a beer for me in the Theatre bar and only I had a DBP, not my wife and I specificly said to the bartender, put the beer on me and I will pay for the cocktail. He blinked with his eye and said Don't worry, I will put them both on your card. This was my second round, I had ordered a beer earlier and tipped $10.

Another time was when neither of us had the drink package and paid for every drink. I really liked the bartender and usually tipped her betwen 5$-20$ every evening on the first drink and the last two days she never charged for my wifes diet coke at all.

I doubt that they are breaking the rules so I am thinking that they might have the right to offer customers free drinks if they pay for them themselves? (out of the tips of course)

[davekathy]

IMO, they would be breaking the rules. Pay for it themselves...😂 I doubt that. Now some pours might be a little more generous by some bar tenders.  

[TeRriii]

I got free cocktails for me and my wife from North Star Bar bartender.

He said the cocktail is on the house because only me that always tips him when I ordered drinks.

The sailing is on East Asia, tipping culture is not well known there. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by TeRriii

[BND]

3 hours ago, TeRriii said:

I got free cocktails for me and my wife from North Star Bar bartender.

He said the cocktail is on the house because only me that always tips him when I ordered drinks.

The sailing is on East Asia, tipping culture is not well known there. 

I doubt Royal would see it his way and not likely he's authorized to do that.  He's giving away something that isn't his to give away.   Even for our "free" drinks, they always run our card or number and charge them against our balance.  BTW, if you tip a lot, you're not getting them for "free", but the bartender is giving away Royal's profits and raising costs.  

[taglovestocruise]

8 hours ago, BND said:

I doubt Royal would see it his way and not likely he's authorized to do that.  He's giving away something that isn't his to give away.   Even for our "free" drinks, they always run our card or number and charge them against our balance.  BTW, if you tip a lot, you're not getting them for "free", but the bartender is giving away Royal's profits and raising costs.  

About 18% of guests sailing with Royal are D and above.  That is about 4300 free voucher drinks a day being offered on a Oasis Class, that is close to 30,000 a week.  A free drink or two will not be noticed. Last cruise on Navigator several drinks in DL were never dinged from our vouchers as well as two dinner drinks in Jamie's. We do tip for every voucher drink as well as tipping in Specialty on package meals. 

Edited April 29, 2023 by taglovestocruise

[Jasukkie]

In life, when someone offers you a courtesy, you show your appreciation, make eye contact, smile, and ask no questions.

[smokeybandit]

I've been the benefactor of many  "bonus" poured drinks over the years. Just as good as free, really.

[twangster]

The first rule of fight club is?... 

[taglovestocruise]

10 minutes ago, twangster said:

The first rule of fight club is?... 

[BND]

48 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

About 18% of guests sailing with Royal are D and above.  That is about 4300 free voucher drinks a day being offered on a Oasis Class, that is close to 30,000 a week.  A free drink or two will not be noticed. Last cruise on Navigator several drinks in DL were never dinged from our vouchers as well as two dinner drinks in Jamie's. We do tip for every voucher drink as well as tipping in Specialty on package meals. 

Those "free" D and above drinks are already figured into the budgets.  Point is, it's not up to the bartender/waiter who does or doesn't get free drinks.

[Cigar King]

On 4/28/2023 at 8:37 AM, UnregisteredUser said:

I am curious if bartenders have the right to offer a free drink or soda to customers they like?

I have no idea what the rules are for Royal's bartenders.  I do know that when I was a bartender we had a lot of flexibility in giving free drinks and were encouraged to be generous.  Rule of thumb was every 5th drink was free, but it was not unusual to give the first one free for our regulars.  This was more than 40 years ago.  If Royal wanted to stop it, they could or at least reduce it drastically. 

 

I'm guessing it's a policy that they want happy customers and giving things for free is one way to ensure that.  Drinks don't cost that much in the sceme of things.

[George C]

Don’t recall getting free drinks but did get very healthy drinks, sometimes a double or more .

[foodsvcmgr]

As a retired F&B Director I can practically guarantee this is a violation of company policy, yet it’s interesting that RCCL doesn’t make more of an effort to monitor it.

[BND]

1 hour ago, Cigar King said:

I have no idea what the rules are for Royal's bartenders.  I do know that when I was a bartender we had a lot of flexibility in giving free drinks and were encouraged to be generous.  Rule of thumb was every 5th drink was free, but it was not unusual to give the first one free for our regulars.  This was more than 40 years ago.  If Royal wanted to stop it, they could or at least reduce it drastically. 

 

I'm guessing it's a policy that they want happy customers and giving things for free is one way to ensure that.  Drinks don't cost that much in the sceme of things.

There is a big difference between a local bar giving out free drinks to regular customers who return frequently and might for years and a cruise passenger who, while they might be regular cruisers are not returning week after week to the same ship or bar.   

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, foodsvcmgr said:

As a retired F&B Director I can practically guarantee this is a violation of company policy, yet it’s interesting that RCCL doesn’t make more of an effort to monitor it.

Agree, was Rest/Bar Manager and I was tight. We always made our Liquor, Food and Labor Costs...my Bonus/Profit Sharing depended on it. Free Drinks, was a couple and they were gone

[Hogbay]

On 4/28/2023 at 11:37 PM, UnregisteredUser said:

I am curious if bartenders have the right to offer a free drink or soda to customers they like?

I have had times when I ordered two drinks, a cocktail for my wife and a beer for me in the Theatre bar and only I had a DBP, not my wife and I specificly said to the bartender, put the beer on me and I will pay for the cocktail. He blinked with his eye and said Don't worry, I will put them both on your card. This was my second round, I had ordered a beer earlier and tipped $10.

Another time was when neither of us had the drink package and paid for every drink. I really liked the bartender and usually tipped her betwen 5$-20$ every evening on the first drink and the last two days she never charged for my wifes diet coke at all.

I doubt that they are breaking the rules so I am thinking that they might have the right to offer customers free drinks if they pay for them themselves? (out of the tips of course)

🙄 it's a wonder you are not asking for ceo personal email or for the bean counters . Why are you trying to get some one sent home ???Curiosity Killed The Cat .......

[Aquahound]

Tipping well sometimes has its privileges.  Best to just not bring attention to it.  JMHO.  

[Scottdalfonso]

We got plenty of free drinks after regularly visiting and tipping the same bartender, or the drinks would be a little bigger,  (those perfect wine pours would be a little higher up in the glass). But honestly the stuff we got most was mocktails for my kid, I would order a drink for myself and my kid and tell them to charge my kids drink since he didn't have a package and 90% of the time it never showed up on our bill. 

[topnole]

On 4/29/2023 at 7:53 AM, BND said:

I doubt Royal would see it his way and not likely he's authorized to do that.  He's giving away something that isn't his to give away.   Even for our "free" drinks, they always run our card or number and charge them against our balance.  BTW, if you tip a lot, you're not getting them for "free", but the bartender is giving away Royal's profits and raising costs.  

I don’t think you or I know their internal policies.   I’ve sometimes wondered whether they had or currently have discretion.  I wouldn’t be shocked if they do.  
 

Plus, beverages on a Royal ship are way different from a typical bar.  Many passengers are on an unlimited drinking package while others get 4-6 free per day.  So bartenders are probably serving more drinks without any exchange of money than they are where they charged for the drink.  A typical F&B manager knows exactly how much profit they will get out of a given bottle.  With so many packages and free diamond drinks the typical formula isn’t applicable on a Royal ship.  

Edited April 30, 2023 by topnole

[smokeybandit]

Plus a ship bar isn't a bar in a vacuum. It's part of a larger vacation experience.

 

Making a customer feel special because you give them a free or stiffer drink may well make them book another cruise. Giving away $5-10 in alcohol but having that customer turn around and spend a few thousand on another cruise...not a bad strategy.

[topnole]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Plus a ship bar isn't a bar in a vacuum. It's part of a larger vacation experience.

 

Making a customer feel special because you give them a free or stiffer drink may well make them book another cruise. Giving away $5-10 in alcohol but having that customer turn around and spend a few thousand on another cruise...not a bad strategy.

Of course.  But the question remains, is the bartender provided that level of discretion or are they doing it in spite of Royal policy?  It would be interesting to know.  

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, topnole said:

Of course.  But the question remains, is the bartender provided that level of discretion or are they doing it in spite of Royal policy?  It would be interesting to know.  

There has to be a policy just to prevent abuse. But just the same, there's leeway for those situations that can benefit the company.

[topnole]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

There has to be a policy just to prevent abuse. But just the same, there's leeway for those situations that can benefit the company.

I’m sure there is some type of policy.  But they could easily empower employees with some $ value of discretion per day, cruise, month, etc.    Who knows?  
 

But as pervasive as it is, Royal either has a strict policy and doesn’t care that it is abused, or they allow some ability for servers to comp guests when they choose.   Again, I wouldn’t be surprised if they allow discretion.   I’ve had a bartender search out a special beer for me (I didn’t ask for it-he just took it on himself to do this).  A day or two later when I finally saw him again he excitedly gave it to me (free of course) and gave me some type of thanks for being a Royal customer type of thing.  I’m sure I tipped him well previously and he also appreciated that I liked varying beers as he was a beer guy too.  But it sure seemed like he had discretion to me.  I have other stories too that lead me to think this is allowed behavior.  

[caribsun]

30 plus cruises never a free drink. 

[Scottdalfonso]

6 minutes ago, caribsun said:

30 plus cruises never a free drink. 

You leaving cash on the bar?