How are drink package tips distributed to bartenders

[Mrbaud]

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how the gratuities are distributed to the bartenders? I was recently on the NCL Encore and on that cruise I got the Free at Sea and pre-paid the gratuity as part of that package. During the course of the cruise I got several sodas from the bar and they did not run my card, they just served me the drinks. I wore my card on a badge holder so they probably saw which package I had. Not a big deal to me but if they didn’t run my card how would they get credit for the gratuity?

[UKstages]

there is no direct relationship between drinks consumed and gratuities to those who serve those drinks.
 

gratuities and onboard service charges go into a pool, a general fund, so to speak. and then NCL decides how to distribute those funds and to whom, both front and back of the house. it is widely speculated that much of the money collected for gratuities does not go directly to individuals, but is used to fund employee incentive programs. technically, NCL can use the money for anything it wants… they can paint an employee rec room, throw a pizza party for employees who win a contest, fund days off or bonuses, and, yes, they can even give some of it directly to employees. it’s anybody’s guess as to whether they actually do.

 

as for tapping a card for soft drinks… some bartenders do, some don’t. presumably they would charge you if you didn’t have a drink package, but essentially it’s a very low cost item and NCL bean counters don’t seem too terribly concerned with accounting for every soda pour.

[omahabob]

Gratuities are not per drink, so it doesn't matter if they swipe, or how many times they swipe.

[Coastalbreezes]

Whenever I get a drink or soda, I always give the bartender or server a cash tip.

[dad son team]

I would have to think that if they received something for each drink they served they would swipe the card every time.

[BirdTravels]

We always tip our bartenders and bar waiters $1 per drink in addition to whatever minuscule amount they get from the pool. A favorite bartender may get a $5 tip from time to time. 

[graphicguy]

Yeah...I don't think any of us know how the tips are distributed.  We know compensation with all wait staff is based on salary, bonuses for good customer service scores (fill out those comment cards for your favorite cruise personnel), barbacks, etc.

 

I always tip a $1 or so (sometimes a lot more, depending on how long I've been at any given bar and how attentive bartenders have been).  I don't know if the bartenders pool those cash tips or not.  Doesn't matter to me.

 

What I do know, I seem to always get a little better service once a bartender sees me coming to order if I've tipped them with some cash.

[MacGuffin3]

Tipping is for the birds.

[WexIrl]

On 7/8/2023 at 3:13 AM, Mrbaud said:

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how the gratuities are distributed to the bartenders? I was recently on the NCL Encore and on that cruise I got the Free at Sea and pre-paid the gratuity as part of that package. During the course of the cruise I got several sodas from the bar and they did not run my card, they just served me the drinks. I wore my card on a badge holder so they probably saw which package I had. Not a big deal to me but if they didn’t run my card how would they get credit for the gratuity?

I have never seen a bartender swipe for a soda for me or the kids (even though the kids have the soda package).

[destar]

On 7/8/2023 at 1:01 PM, graphicguy said:

What I do know, I seem to always get a little better service once a bartender sees me coming to order if I've tipped them with some cash.

Absolutely, especially when lounging by the pool.

[leithbones]

On 7/8/2023 at 1:01 PM, graphicguy said:

What I do know, I seem to always get a little better service once a bartender sees me coming to order if I've tipped them with some cash.

Yep.  That's not why I tip $$, but attentive service is a noticeable benefit.

 

On 7/8/2023 at 1:40 PM, MacGuffin3 said:

Tipping is for the birds.

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[MacGuffin3]

1 hour ago, leithbones said:

TweetTweet

ChirpChirp

Yes, I'll only be paying the mandatory $154 in tips for my week of drinks and not a penny more, which means I'll apparently have to wait for the queue jumpers holding out their dollar bills.

[Beaver1975]

1 hour ago, MacGuffin3 said:

Yes, I'll only be paying the mandatory $154 in tips for my week of drinks and not a penny more, which means I'll apparently have to wait for the queue jumpers holding out their dollar bills.

Nope, the bartenders will read your attitude in about half a second.

[UKstages]

6 minutes ago, Beaver1975 said:

I'll apparently have to wait for the queue jumpers holding out their dollar bills.

first, it’s not a strip club. nobody is “holding out” dollar bills.

 

second, who said anything about jumping a queue?

[MacGuffin3]

10 minutes ago, Beaver1975 said:

Nope, the bartenders will read your attitude in about half a second.

Nope what?  They won't give me a drink? Or they'll take care of me first?

[MacGuffin3]

4 minutes ago, UKstages said:

first, it’s not a strip club. nobody is “holding out” dollar bills.

Maybe not literally, but that's the way I look at tipping, nothing but a demeaning enterprise.

[UKstages]

and who is it that you believe is being demeaned… the tipper or the tippee?

[RB9643]

4 minutes ago, UKstages said:

and who is it that you believe is being demeaned… the tipper or the tippee?

 

Heh, yeah. I don't think the bartenders think a pocket full of $1 bills is demeaning. I certainly wouldn't.

 

 

[MacGuffin3]

5 minutes ago, UKstages said:

and who is it that you believe is being demeaned… the tipper or the tippee?

I've gone all over this before, but apparently posts just disappear on here when somebody doesn't like them.  I'm not going to spend time writing a whole essay again and have it just go "poof."

[TrumpyNor]

The auto-gratuity to bar staff goes in to a "tips pool" that is divided by number of barwaiters on board - the more passengers on board the higher amount of daily gratuity they receive. They receive a certain amount per day in addition to their base salary, and that daily amount may vary from cruise to cruise, depending on how many passengers on board and how many crew members to serve them.

 

It is just as simple as that. It is similar with the distribution of the daily service charge that every passenger pay, allthough that is divided in to a certain percentage to cabin stewards, a certain percentage to restaurant staff who work at complimentary restaurants on board, and a certain percentage to behind-the-scene-crew. 

How do I know? Well, the tip-distribution is similar on most cruise lines - and both my husband and I worked on cruise ships when we were younger and the majority of our monthly pay came from those tips pools - and the total income was not as bad as many here may believe that it is..... After all, you do have "room and board" paid. BUT you do have looooong working hours - it is not unusual to work 10-12 hours per day, 7 days a week for 6-9 months (length of regular crew contracts vary depending on the cruise line). So in short - the monthly income for a bar waiter or restaurant waiter on a cruise ship is not bad, but when you divide it in to the hours they work per day/week/month - then it is not that good after all... 

Edited July 9, 2023 by TrumpyNor
misspelled

[UKstages]

2 minutes ago, MacGuffin3 said:

I'm not going to spend time writing a whole essay again and have it just go "poof."

oh, dear. it was a very simple question, only requiring a one word answer: tipper, tippee or both. no matter which of those three answers you chose, an essay would not have been necessary.
 

although i, for one, would welcome hearing the details of your tipping philosophy and the devastating trail of demeaned individuals that lay in its wake.

 

3 minutes ago, TrumpyNor said:

both my husband and I worked on cruise ships when we were younger

how long ago was this? there have been sea changes (pun intended) in the cruise industry in the last thirty years or so and what may have been true back then is almost certainly not true now. NCL’s own FAQ refers to compensation that includes salary and incentives. no mention is made of gratuities being split up and distributed directly to individual employees.
 

there is lots of speculation, but the cruising public has no way of knowing whether their gratuities are funding new mattresses for crew cabins, pizza parties for those with positive “hero” cards or cash distributions for good performance reviews or other employee reward programs. it’s probably a mix of all of that.
 

i hate to be cynical, but please remember that the cruise line controls the funds and there doesn’t appear to be any oversight. some of that gratuity fund is no doubt going to administrative costs associated with fulfilling the program… and that can be justified by applying it to almost any expense, even those only peripherally associated with employees. new uniforms? yup, that’s an employee incentive! cookies in the break room? yup, that’s an employee incentive! a hundred dollar bonus? well, yes, that’s an incentive, too.

[RB9643]

29 minutes ago, MacGuffin3 said:

but apparently posts just disappear on here when somebody doesn't like them.

 

 

I've found that posts "disappear" when they serve no useful purpose, or the post's seeming goal is to belittle or demean another person's views or opinions.  Food for thought.

 

 

[MacGuffin3]

3 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

I've found that posts "disappear" when they serve no useful purpose,

I'm actually talking about a few entire threads related to tipping from a few weeks ago that seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth.  You call it what you want, I call it censorship of ideas.

[RB9643]

9 minutes ago, MacGuffin3 said:

 You call it what you want, I call it censorship of ideas.

 

 

Ok, whatever floats your boat. But you do know that Freedom of Speech doesn't exist on a privately owned internet message board, right?

 

 

[MacGuffin3]

6 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

you do know that Freedom of Speech doesn't exist on a privately owned internet message board

Not unless Elon decides to buy it anyway.

Edited July 9, 2023 by MacGuffin3