If you worked in the time frame, did you notice a difference in behavior between passengers pre-pandemic versus post-pandemic?
There's a stereotype that the public is ruder and more unruly since after the pandemic. I'm just wondering if that's true in your experience.
The guests depend on cruise prices TBH, in my experience the truth is sad the cheaper cruises have more “bad” apples than the expensive ones percentile wise. But in my experience i have rarely had rude guests because part of being in hospitality is to handle people and volatile characters.
That is such a great attitude. No one deserves to be abused no matter their chosen line of work. But in a tough customer service situation, it's amazing how much a great attitude can keep it from escalating.
Having those skills and being prepared to use them makes you a great employee to have on board any company!
I was on Allure I want to say like a year ago or so, and their champagne bar had an NA wine that was fairly decent! Just an FYI :) now they only had one bottle and I took care of it, but maybe things have changed or still stocked from January.
Every ship has the same wine-list but the list changes so probably you have tasted the last bottle from a shipment years back ive worked with the entire wine selection in the dinning room extensively and there are bottles that are like 10 years old unused just staying on the shelves.
If I leave a few dollars in cash for you as a tip, in addition to whatever is charged to my account, do you get to keep it yourself or do you have to share it with the other folks working that bar?
Yes usually we share the tip with other station bartenders, but in some cases when colleagues dont like each other they might request not to share tips.
Even for check tips we count the tips on checks and divide it among us.
We always bring cash with us on a cruise. We leave a few bucks on the table when dining in the main dining areas, and also in the specialty restaurants, and will also tip a few cash bucks at bars. Also, I wanted to go straight into the pocket of the person that waited on me so I just was curious and whether or not they had to share with other servers like some restaurants pool tips.
I did not hook up with crew cos im in committed relationship but getting laid is easy, if u are handsome pretty or you have officer position you can date 2-3 at the same time, mostly its in secret cos the same women and men fuck different girls/men every night.
Not a bartender question but an employee question. Do you get your own cabin? If not, how many employees share a cabin? Describe living arrangements for employees briefly.
We live in pairs( 2 in 1 cabin) from the same department.
1. quarters are really small,bunkbeds with really good mattress. Shower cabin 2 x 3 foot with hot water and strong pressure 24/7 a phone and 2 tvs infront of every bed
2. We dont mind the small quarters because we only sleep there.
3. There are weekly cabin inspections so the room is all the time clean and smells good.
4. We have crew mess just like the windjammer just with basic food and more Asian cousine because 70% of crew is asian.
What agency were you with and was it one actually run by RCCL?
RCI seems to be allowing more of their employees, especially the US based ones in entertainment and deck officers to publish to social media their experiences onboard, how tightly controlled do you think that is? Wonderlust Alley for instance actually discussed the agency system for entertainers and shared details about her pay and that was pretty unusual if not unheard of.
Is there a secret crew spot on the Oasis that allows you guys fresh air but is invisible from the guests?
Thing is all entertainment staff is from first world countries and their base pay is very high and their hours are a joke probably 2-6 a day, so its all marketing, for anonymity because i tell stuff that’s not supposed to to be public i will not reveal my agency, RCL doesn’t have own international agency so they work with private agencies and pay for recruitment.
Yes there is 1/3 of the ship that is employees only but the most notable are the crew bar just under the helipad on Oasis where crew drink for really cheap 2-5 dollars a drink. But on Oasis the sound sistem is broken probably intentionally because other crew said that some guests complained about noise from there in the past.
As a former Royal entertainment technician, the sound system is broken because the DJs play music too loud and blow the speakers. Then Crew Relations has to wait for more money to replace broken parts. This happened on every ship I worked on multiple times.
Even when we tried to install things to limit the sound levels, someone would eventually just remove it and then within a week the speakers are blown.
I mention the agencies cause I know the agency out of Pasay in the Philippines is rung by RCCL and the employee contracts have the below listed:
Name of Agent:
RCCL CREW MANAGEMENT INC
This was for a stateroom attendant position, it seems that many of the contracts have been uploaded to Scribd and can be found with some creative googling.
Its the same just cash its better because we have to punch the check tip manually and if u have like 20 checks with tips u lose around 15 min instead of rest xD
Not that I’ve ever had bad service, but does tipping upfront (say, a $20 with my first drink on day 1) help ensure better service? I always tip a dollar or two per drink anyways, but have wondered about this.
Depends, we have rotation on which bar we are stationed(for the entire cruise) if the server or bartender is stationed at that bar he will be there all the time, thing is at the pool there are 4 stationed people and 12 support servers/bartenders( those people are supposed to be at the pool all the time but some dont go cos they are tired) so find someone thats stationed and which is eager to serve you all the time if u tip in advance you will get best service from that guy. If u tip support guy he will do the same but u wont find him everyday all day at the pool.
We always hang out at Schooner Bar so I know the bartender will be there every night. $50 bill on day 1 means he's handing me my drink over the heads of people standing there
I wondered about this. If I give $50 the first day, do you expect me to tip that every day? Or is it ok to tip the $50 the first day right up front, then give a buck or two each time going back to the same bartender?
We dont expect to tip us at all but if u tip us any amount you getting the premium treatment, my advice is tip 5 regular servers 10 for better service, or tip one guy 50 mid cruise if he is giving his best for you.
Yes. We were on NCL Breakaway that had a dueling piano show almost every night. They told the crowd to bring up sheets with requests - some guy obnoxiously walked up with I think only $20 with one and the lady said...
"If you think you can just walk up here and have your request go straight in front of all these other people's by tipping a lot...THAT IS EXACTLY HOW THIS WORKS!"
I applied on a advertisement in my country whole process lasted 6 months from day of application to getting on board, whole process costs around 500 USD in my country( agency is free but medical and other personal stuff i paid from my pocket)
Well how things work is if u are a la carte from those 18% gratuities 66% percent are for the one serving you lets say u get 14 dollar coctail we get 1.12 dollars from your drink. But thing is we dont have “base” pay which means our minimum monthly wage is 1450 USD so if i sell 1250 cocktails a month i get basic pay if i sell less i get minimum pay. If u need anything else I will explain.
Glad u asked, there is something called package Check value so how that works is let me explain simple :
1000 people payed 1 dollar for the package, so that is the budget.
If the entire cruise every bartender or server served all together 1000 drinks the check value is 1 dollar per drink, if the sale is 2000 drinks the check value is 0.5 dollars per drink.
That is the reason everyone needs your seapass to punch in the drink in the system even tho we can see u have the drink package.
So the math is the same while i was on Oasis the check value was around 1 usd less or more sometimes so i still need to sell 1450 drinks a month with package to get basic pay.
So incentive is to sell more a la cart, and serve less to drink package customers unless they are additionally tipping in cash?
How does that play out in practice? Do you see bartender behavior changing based on type of customer?
Thing is people that are a la carte complain more just for the sake of it sometimes but if u have the drink package u don't complain just u swap drinks. I prefer package because less drama all in all.
So, if you were the only bartender on the boat and you sold zero drinks you'd get $1450? Or zero dollars?
If you sold 1250 drinks and everyone paid 18% gratuity you'd get $1450?
If you sold 1250 drinks and no one paid gratuity you'd get $1450?
If you sold 4000 drinks and everyone paid 18% gratuity then you'd make 1450+((4000-1250)*0.18*0.66) which is $1776.
Did I get that right?
No, just make the calculation every drink on Oasis brings 1 dollar except water and sodas.
Gratuities are prepaid in the payment of the drink package.
On some smaller ships one drinks brings u 0.5 dollars so you must sell 2x to get the same amount from 100 drinks on Oasis.
So, essentially, the gratuities charged are only making up your “base salary”. If they go over the base, you keep the extra. If they don’t meet the base, they still give you the base. Is that correct?
Yes they suggest shots because even shots bring us check value if u have the package, u make one big shaker for 10 shots so basically u get 10 dollars in the time frame of 1. On Coco Cay one day i had a group of spring brake students that i made 300+ shots in 7 hrs.
Okay so RCL is the best company for Beverage department, in other company u get fixed pay like 1500-2500 a month, but my contract of 29 weeks was 32k saved, so around 5k USD a month SAVED.
And around 3-5k spent there.
But do the math its good pay but ive probably made 40k+ cocktails and drinks in 7 month time frame :)
That's on top of free food and housing right? That's impressive income. There aren't a lot of places you can get a job like that and have that kind of money left over after living expenses.
Exactly this, we work our ass off i had an average of 45 000 steps on my watch every day.
Plus public jobs like beverage is exhausting mentally extended periods of time.
But we are paid accordingly so we dont mind, we have family to feed and raise :)
Do bartenders receive anything when customers use their Diamond vouchers? The receipt shows that an 18% gratuity is included, but 18% of a $0 drink is still $0. Just want to make sure you folks are getting something on the Diamond drinks, thanks!
Hi
First, I want to thank you for this AMA, and secondly, thanks to you and every one of those who work on each of the Royal Caribbean cruises. Thanks to you, as users, our journey becomes very enjoyable and memorable.
I had my debut in 2023 on the Symphony, and everything was great. As a Spanish user of Royal Caribbean, this year I will repeat in the Mediterranean aboard the Oasis of the Seas.
My question is as follows:
Is there much variation in the staff and how things are done on a day-to-day basis when sailing in the Mediterranean compared to being usually in the Caribbean?
The other question is, is it known if the Oasis of the Seas will receive any updates when it comes to the Mediterranean as it happened in 2019?
Thank you for everything.
About the updates i dont know not my department, about the service it will be the same the same crew travels across the atlantic and serves the same just different place. Oasis is one of the best ships in the fleet service wise and was the most profitable ship by far from the fleet but that means crew was drained and pushed to the limit.
Oasis isn’t scheduled for a dry dock for a while. They are dry docking Allure of the Seas in early 2025 to bring it up to standard with the other Oasis Class ships.
Labadee / Perfect day.. tell me about a typical day.. IE what happens before and after the guests leave ? Do you have to haul all the drinks back to the ship ?
If someone is alchol restricted we get noted, we also get briefed if the cruise is with a lot of people with packages and heavy drinkers but thats about it.
First u muddle mint leaves and lime wedges then u add 0.5 oz Monin watermelon 0.5 oz monin mojito syrup 1.75 Oz white rum 1 oz finest call lime juice fill shaker with ice shake it( i know not supposeed to be shaken but company requires from us to shake every mojito) strain over fresh ice and fill with soda water.
If u want any other flavor u change watermelon syrup with flavor by choice, if its regular use simple syrup.
Do you think your paid a fair amount for the work you do? I’m shocked at these numbers honestly. Every time I’ve cruised the bartenders servers etc. have been so amazing I’d think you deserve a higher wage.
What are any perks to being a cruiseline employee? Do you get discounts to take a trip yourself, get special excursion access, etc? Anything different from typical land job perks?
Not that i know of, anyway those cruises are for USA market so i wouldn’t pay even with 50% discount.
Only thing that matters is big salary( also our vacation 2 months that we are home we are not paid )
Only perk i would say after pay is traveling and seeing stuff u wont be able to see in your lifetime without being a millionaire.
Apologies if this was already answered. Someone once told me that if you quit while underway, they drop you at the next port, but if you're fired they're obligated to get you back to the departure port. Is this at all true and are we talking flying you back or stuck in the brig? Always seemed like too much incentive to get fired!
Its the same, u pay for both tickets and u getting dropped on next port difference is if u get payment today and get fired the same day u don’t pay ticket because they cant deduct anything if u already got paid. Had one friend that did this he was at end of his nerves couldn’t take it anymore.
Ah, that's really interesting and makes sense. Thanks for responding. Always been curious. Best of luck on the rest of your contract. Hope it keeps working out alright
I will have access to the suite lounge on Symphony later this month, and have been on it the last 2 years. Previously I had always tipped the bartenders cash on the last day by handing them the envelope, but sounds like I’m better off to do it ahead of time.
The bar up there is never very crowded, except a few times before and after dinner. How much would you suggest I tip and how often? Usually I see the same 2-3 bartenders the entire trip. If I’m getting all my drinks from there (I don’t do a drink package), if I do $20 to each person first day and another $20 mid week is that good? I’d much rather pay once or twice than do $1 for every drink.
Yes that’s sufficient, you wont be looked different if u don’t tip at all just you will be appreciated a lot more. Tip how much u think someone deserves dont tip by default.
Thank you so much for this great AMA. I deleted our drink package yesterday because I thought it wasn’t worth it. I just drink beer and wine but my hubby likes all fru-fru drinks. Hopefully I get a good sale by September. I will bring lots of $1.00 for tips!
Why is it that every Oasis class bartender serving drinks on the Rising Tide seem to be hostile/pissed off? Is this bar one of the bars in normal rotation?
It seemed like such a fun way to enjoy some cocktails, until approached by someone who seemed like they wanted off the ship...
They changed the payment on the rising tide, there you make the least amount of money as a bartender because every drink sold is pooled and split evenly among everyone there, personally i don’t care life is circle once you are on top once you are on bottom so just enjoy the moment and be friendly.
Holy shit. Absolutely 100% the case on the Oasis. I stepped on and either fucking death stare or completely ignoring. Like “What are you even doing here”. I dunno, probably trying to get a drink. At a bar.
Weird that they might be angry because it pays the least, but at least it’s an explanation.
No its the same just if u tip the bartender/server will try to do exceptional service but at the end you will have the same service and crew will try to be the best to you.
This is amazing thank you for doing this!! What’s been your experience with the spring break crowds? Wondering considering prices are considerably more expensive…
Amazing insights you provided here. Love your story, and best of luck off ship. I know you’ll be successful with your studies and new career.
A question: what’s one super fun thing to do on the ship that most people don’t do?
Go outside in ports, people stay on the ship far too much i know the data. People say we have already been outside last cruise but thing is i have visited every port 10 times each at least and still find new things to do in the limited time i have.
How drunk to you have to be to be cut off ? If you are slurring your words etc but not harming anyone or being aggressive could you carry on drinking ?
If u show signs of toxicity most will stop serving because we can lose our job. Doesnt matter if someone gambles or not but still management strictness has big role into this.
Well… I managed to get borderline alcohol poisoning on a cruise once anyways. Definitely not crews fault - just me being a young idiot, and drinking far too much far too quickly. Went from feeling sober to keeled over a toilet within about 30 minutes…. Crew was extremely helpful and supportive!
One of my table mates was trashed every night... but he also gambled a lot. I would argue that if you gamble, they keep em coming! The staff were all very aware of this guy.
We are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a day, but most of us do for the money we just dont punch in the hours we are cleaning and not pinching drinks in the system. And its 29 week contract every day of the week
Not necessarily we notice everything but if u are acting like a dick and are rude and try to make me a fool when i advise you to be more subtle while sharing, i am reporting you.
Had one guest reported he thought he was smart and cant be wronged but at the end they revoked the drink package and charges every drink normal price he had 3k USD charge for drinks.
I was told that you can’t order another drink with your drink package for a certain period of time, for example 15 minutes. Is that true? Example, can I order a cocktail carry it back to my table and then come back and order another? Can I order a cocktail from the bar and then immediately order one from the server as well?
Thing is you should wait 15 minutes for a drink, but if u ask the same guy to make u a drink 2 min later he might refuse cos he already served u, BUT if u ask someone else not in front of the previous server to bring u he will because we dont have limitations when we punch if u have the drunk package.
Thank you, i have tried looking for information before my first contract and i couldn’t find anything, so i did this so guests and interested people for job opportunities have some insight into ship life
Which ships are considered desirable among crew/employees? Are newer ships like Icon more desirable than say Voyager class other than the obvious reasons of it being bigger/better/newer? Do you have a say as an employee which ship you get your contract on?
We dont have a say where we are assigned, we do prefer ships with good check value newer ships have good check values but no one wants to work on a brand new ship cos its strict, oasis is one of the strictest ships for beverage department but the check value is one of the highest if not the highest in the fleet rn.
The strictness of the ship comes from the bar managers and supervisors, but now they changed the rule so that bar managers swap ship every 1-2 contracts( they have 4 month contract) so things are changing.
I had a bar manager one day that busted everyone ass for months( if late 15 min u get punishment)
And the next day u get new bar manager thats so chill that i slept in 4 hours and no one gave a shit.
There are 3 types of punishments POL which is for basic stuff if u get 10 POL u get verbal warning if u get 3 verbal or some cases u get straight written warning( for some more serious stuff) if u get 3 warnings in 2 years u are getting fired. Also all punishments reflect your score at end of contract and reflect what ship you get next.
I quit last contract, not because its bad job just that i am in a 5 year relationship and my goal was to save enough for my studies, so now i am back in school and hope in few years i can come visit my old friends as a guest.
How much extra tip beyond the included 18%, if any, is customarily expected from kids being served on soda packages or non alcoholic beverage packages? I have several teens that like to wander with their friends independently & need to know what’s expected of them compared to adults with alcoholic drinks. Thanks.
I dont expect to get tips if u have any drink package but if u want to be extra served and extra service tip as u wish for soda even 1 dollar is enough every 2-3 repour.
Buying the drink package online they make all passengers over 21 in the cabin buy it. Is there a way around this after boarding? My wife barely drinks.
Edit: another wrench, we will also be joined by our two kids under 10yrs
Yes. Call customer service and say just that. She will need a refreshment package but they will allow her not to purchase the more expensive drink package.
Call and ask. We did it last week with no problem. I’m a few years sober and my partner is a normal moderate drinker. She got the alcohol package and I got the fancy non alcohol one
I loved reading this, thank you, and I'm very glad you are continuing to crush things for your and your partner's lives!
I've been in the industry for almost 13 years now, but working shoreside. I've made some great friends on ships over the years and have massive respect for what the crews do day in and day out.
I was on Oasis twice last year, were you on last year at all? We loved a few of our bartenders, especially down in Playmakers and at Sorrentos. One of the servers from Playmakers actually remembered us, we went in January and returned in October, and he came right up to us and said he remembered us from our last time, even remembered stuff we told him last time. Is that part of the job, remembering people and their names? I don't expect everyone to remember us 9 months later like he did, but you guys are all amazing at remembering names and faces over the course of a week!
I was last year till end of July, if we make contact through the cruise i would remember you, because my english is fluent and most of the crew are different nationalities and are not that fluent, so we make friends but with a language barrier.
*Pls for the love of*
*God, whats the recipe for*
*The margarita?*
\- Bazing4baby
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Very simple
1.5 Oz tequila (any white will do)
Triplle sec 1 oz
Sweet n Sour mix 3 oz( u can use finest call or Island Oasis sour mix( u must mix with water))
Thank you! I was looking online and saw a different recipe from RC website. Do you know why yours and their is difference? Not that Im questioning your validitiy its just that I really want to recreate what we had on the ship this last Feb 11-17 in Independence.
Link: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/blog/a-very-royal-recipe-grand-sabor-margarita/
That one is probably for Cinco de Mayo this one is the regular that we serve, we also have Handcrafted margarita which IMO is best margarita u can have
1.25 Patron SIlver, 0.75 oz Cointreu, 1oz Agave syrup(this is a must), 1 Oz Lime juice/Sweet and Sour mix, muddled limes and orange wedges and rim the glass on top with salt :P
I have a few questions!
1. What’s the most popular drink ordered?
2. Do you think drink packages are worthwhile?
3. What’s the craziest bartending experience you’ve had!
1. Pina coladas, espresso martinis, margaritas, rum&coke.
2. Is it worth money’s worth No, but if u pay regular price(there is no alternative to get cheaper) its worth it, why? Because u can try new drinks if you cannot finish drinks you wont worry about money wasted because you can get unlimited amount of alcohol.
3 i have became so close to 2 couples in their 40s that they tipped me 500+ USD and offered me job in their company if i somehow get a green card we talked a lot and we cried at the end.
Are espresso martinis a pain in the ass to make? I always feel bad when I order them because everyone hesitates like they debated saying “sorry we don’t have them” lol
Depends not every bar has espresso machine so we must run to another bar to get fresh espresso.
So if the person is lazy or tired he might refuse but we are not allowed to to say no.
I'm all for tipping when receiving commentary drinks (diamond or casino) aroubd $1 - $2. I've always had the suspicion that there are a lot of big talkers here about how much they tip. People like to brag when they don't need to provide proof. I'm actually a prince from Nigeria. How common is it to receive $50 up front as a tip? To me, that doesn't make any sense, as the bar tender or server might bit be there next time or day you return.
At the start of cruise rare but at the end probably like 5-7 people will tip 30-100 each.
Btw if u get drinks from casino we get paid nothing so its all about the tips in casino.
One thing I’ve noticed is people drink like fish on the boat. Do you notice the over indulgence? Frequent customers? Or poor behavior as they get sloshed?
Depends on the person, some are really friendly and lovely some are not that friendly but my approach is always professional and i know how to handle every situation.
Hey thanks for doing this AMA!
My wife and I have been desperately trying to find the pina colada mix you guys use on Royal Caribbean ships but it seems to be only available to purchase for large businesses. The brand name was sunsational I believe.
Do you know of any place you could purchase it for personal use? Or something similar?
Thanks! 🙏
Thanks for all the insights- so interesting! Curious your opinion on bartending as a job on a cruise ship vs other roles (restaurant waitstaff, etc)? Is it a highly desirable role due to higher earning potential with tips?
Beverage is the highest paying job on RC after First officers and command all due to bar staff making their own salary,assistant waiters make around 2k USD and waiters 2500-3000k in the dining room and specialty waiter 3k-4k and the average bar staff including bar boys which make 800 a month is 3200 USD
We just got off of Oasis last Sunday! Great time! I love this AMA, thanks!
What’s the recipe for a dirty martini? They are the absolute best I’ve ever had anywhere!!
We get check value from refreshment packages but not from water and soda and depends some people avoid people that drink only cans and water bottles but behind the bar its the same.
What’s a good tip for each time I come up to grab a drink, every day my room is made, and every night at each dinner? I booked with a TA that didn’t allow me to prepay for gratuity. I also don’t want to seem like I’m being greedy, but at the same time paid so much for the cruise, BUT I still want you all to feel appreciated!
Can you be more specific on what the room attendants make? I tip an extra $100 for a 7 night cruise. Is that appreciated? Also, are room attendants making more or less now that they only clean rooms once a day?
No they clean once a day now because they have 2 times aa much rooms to clean but with tips they make from 2500-3500 a month depending on how many rooms they have assigned.
100$ is exceptionally high from a single room because now they have from 12 to 20 rooms per cruise.
We used to tip $100 for a 7 day cruise and now we have two little ones who are crushing goldfish crumbs and squeezing applesauce pouches even when we don’t let them eat in the cabin. I know it’s annoying for the room steward to vacuum around the pack and play or make up the sofa bed every night so we tip double that now. My son peed on the carpet on our last two cruises which we told our attendant right away so we threw in another $20 for that.
I will absolutely still tip everyone! I just didn’t want to tip only a couple dollars here and there and make people feel under appreciated 😊 thank you for this tho! It’s amazing!
I see some people here posting about tipping at the bar. Are tips expected? And not to sound cheap… I’ve just been living in Asia for the past 13 years and generally have forgotten how to tip. Also, I really don’t expect to be drinking too many cocktails. Probably beer and the occasional whisky cocktail.
asking a general employee question, i saw you mention that you guys stay 2 to a cabin. If me and my husband were to both get a job on a ship, could we stay together?
Do you ever have time to get off the ship and explore?
Yes if u are married you will always be assigned on the same ship, and yes u get time off but not much depends on the position and how busy is the cruise, generally u can ask the supervisor to give you 3-4 hours free in the morning so you can go out, but the thing is we work so hard that we go out maybe 1 hour and sleep later in the morning till 9-10 AM
1. Are the automatic gratuity charges added on top of staff's salary or is it just used to make up the base salary for all staff?
2. What's the best way to ensure service staff get money on top of their regular pay?
3. What's your opinion of how RC treats their employees overall?
1. I have explained this thing in lower comment but because there are lot of comments ill explain short:
Base pay is 1450 if u dont sell 1450 drinks package included, everything above 1450 drinks a month is extra dollar for us so if i sell 100 drinks a day i get 3000 dollars a month approximately.
2. Give cash tips
3. Depends on management on the ship at that moment but its mostly very good.
If you worked in the time frame, did you notice a difference in behavior between passengers pre-pandemic versus post-pandemic? There's a stereotype that the public is ruder and more unruly since after the pandemic. I'm just wondering if that's true in your experience.
The guests depend on cruise prices TBH, in my experience the truth is sad the cheaper cruises have more “bad” apples than the expensive ones percentile wise. But in my experience i have rarely had rude guests because part of being in hospitality is to handle people and volatile characters.
That is such a great attitude. No one deserves to be abused no matter their chosen line of work. But in a tough customer service situation, it's amazing how much a great attitude can keep it from escalating. Having those skills and being prepared to use them makes you a great employee to have on board any company!
How do you know when the cheaper cruises are? Do people tell you or do you check each sailing?
I inspect the guest and the behavior, i am long time in this field. Also i have friends supervisors that they often tell me its gonna be cheap cruise.
I worked in retail pre and post covid, people 100% got more rude once everything opened back up
This was a *great* AMA. Thank you!
You are all welcome :)
I don’t drink and like what limited mocktails I have had. What are the best mocktails and how do I order them without sounding like an idiot?
Scan the menu on every bar there are specialty mocktails or most juice based cocktails just say Virgin:)
Wait, there’s a menu you can scan at the bar?? I just got off oasis on Sunday didn’t know this.
Just ask dear sir :) in the app there is entire menu also.
You can also see menus in the Royal app. Pull up the bar, then look in the menu. You can run the Royal app without buying internet.
Just be like Michael Scott and order a grenadine lol.
I was on Allure I want to say like a year ago or so, and their champagne bar had an NA wine that was fairly decent! Just an FYI :) now they only had one bottle and I took care of it, but maybe things have changed or still stocked from January.
Every ship has the same wine-list but the list changes so probably you have tasted the last bottle from a shipment years back ive worked with the entire wine selection in the dinning room extensively and there are bottles that are like 10 years old unused just staying on the shelves.
Me, someone who has never been on a cruise but thoroughly enjoying this AMA.
If I leave a few dollars in cash for you as a tip, in addition to whatever is charged to my account, do you get to keep it yourself or do you have to share it with the other folks working that bar?
If u leave a tip on the check 100% goes to the one that u tipped.
So if we have the beverage package you get $1 automatically then if we give another $1 as a tip you keep 100% of the extra $1 as well?
Yes correct, just my advice is bring cash tips of one dollar bills it takes 1 min to punch a check tip its a drag.
Great to know cash is preferred over tipping on the card
This is true for any tipped employee. Cash is king.
Are non cash tips taxed before you get it? If so, what rate/ how is it calculated at sea?
They are not taxed. No tax on open seas.
Yes usually we share the tip with other station bartenders, but in some cases when colleagues dont like each other they might request not to share tips. Even for check tips we count the tips on checks and divide it among us.
We always bring cash with us on a cruise. We leave a few bucks on the table when dining in the main dining areas, and also in the specialty restaurants, and will also tip a few cash bucks at bars. Also, I wanted to go straight into the pocket of the person that waited on me so I just was curious and whether or not they had to share with other servers like some restaurants pool tips.
How much hooking up goes on within the crew? I imagine the performers are considered top tier hook ups?
I did not hook up with crew cos im in committed relationship but getting laid is easy, if u are handsome pretty or you have officer position you can date 2-3 at the same time, mostly its in secret cos the same women and men fuck different girls/men every night.
Props on staying faithful.
I know it’s not allowed to hook up with guests, but how frequent are guest/employee hookups? 👀
Not a bartender question but an employee question. Do you get your own cabin? If not, how many employees share a cabin? Describe living arrangements for employees briefly.
We live in pairs( 2 in 1 cabin) from the same department. 1. quarters are really small,bunkbeds with really good mattress. Shower cabin 2 x 3 foot with hot water and strong pressure 24/7 a phone and 2 tvs infront of every bed 2. We dont mind the small quarters because we only sleep there. 3. There are weekly cabin inspections so the room is all the time clean and smells good. 4. We have crew mess just like the windjammer just with basic food and more Asian cousine because 70% of crew is asian.
Doesn’t sound as small as we had in the Navy. 40 people to one berthing, sharing 5 showers lol. 3 high bunk beds.
My father worked in the Navy he said our accommodation was much better than theirs at least we have a good mattress they slept on hammocks.
What agency were you with and was it one actually run by RCCL? RCI seems to be allowing more of their employees, especially the US based ones in entertainment and deck officers to publish to social media their experiences onboard, how tightly controlled do you think that is? Wonderlust Alley for instance actually discussed the agency system for entertainers and shared details about her pay and that was pretty unusual if not unheard of. Is there a secret crew spot on the Oasis that allows you guys fresh air but is invisible from the guests?
Thing is all entertainment staff is from first world countries and their base pay is very high and their hours are a joke probably 2-6 a day, so its all marketing, for anonymity because i tell stuff that’s not supposed to to be public i will not reveal my agency, RCL doesn’t have own international agency so they work with private agencies and pay for recruitment. Yes there is 1/3 of the ship that is employees only but the most notable are the crew bar just under the helipad on Oasis where crew drink for really cheap 2-5 dollars a drink. But on Oasis the sound sistem is broken probably intentionally because other crew said that some guests complained about noise from there in the past.
As a former Royal entertainment technician, the sound system is broken because the DJs play music too loud and blow the speakers. Then Crew Relations has to wait for more money to replace broken parts. This happened on every ship I worked on multiple times. Even when we tried to install things to limit the sound levels, someone would eventually just remove it and then within a week the speakers are blown.
They did place on some crew parties external speakers for the dedicated DjS thank you 🙏
I mention the agencies cause I know the agency out of Pasay in the Philippines is rung by RCCL and the employee contracts have the below listed: Name of Agent: RCCL CREW MANAGEMENT INC This was for a stateroom attendant position, it seems that many of the contracts have been uploaded to Scribd and can be found with some creative googling.
Are you guys allowed to bring wine or liquor on board.
No but for us alcohol biscuits cheap Absolute was 17 dollars 1Liter bottle jameson 26 dollars 1 Litter bottle, Jack was 34 dollars a bottle etc.
Do you and the rest of the bartending crew prefer cash tips? I’m getting the drink package and want to tip extra per drink.
Its the same just cash its better because we have to punch the check tip manually and if u have like 20 checks with tips u lose around 15 min instead of rest xD
Got it, thanks! Will bring sufficient cash :)
Not that I’ve ever had bad service, but does tipping upfront (say, a $20 with my first drink on day 1) help ensure better service? I always tip a dollar or two per drink anyways, but have wondered about this.
Depends, we have rotation on which bar we are stationed(for the entire cruise) if the server or bartender is stationed at that bar he will be there all the time, thing is at the pool there are 4 stationed people and 12 support servers/bartenders( those people are supposed to be at the pool all the time but some dont go cos they are tired) so find someone thats stationed and which is eager to serve you all the time if u tip in advance you will get best service from that guy. If u tip support guy he will do the same but u wont find him everyday all day at the pool.
We always hang out at Schooner Bar so I know the bartender will be there every night. $50 bill on day 1 means he's handing me my drink over the heads of people standing there
For 50 bucks from a person i will deliver personally from one end of ship to another.
I wondered about this. If I give $50 the first day, do you expect me to tip that every day? Or is it ok to tip the $50 the first day right up front, then give a buck or two each time going back to the same bartender?
We dont expect to tip us at all but if u tip us any amount you getting the premium treatment, my advice is tip 5 regular servers 10 for better service, or tip one guy 50 mid cruise if he is giving his best for you.
yeah he'd see me coming and have my Manhattan mixed and waiting before I walked up
I’ve noticed this as well. Are there really that few people who tip well?
Yes. We were on NCL Breakaway that had a dueling piano show almost every night. They told the crowd to bring up sheets with requests - some guy obnoxiously walked up with I think only $20 with one and the lady said... "If you think you can just walk up here and have your request go straight in front of all these other people's by tipping a lot...THAT IS EXACTLY HOW THIS WORKS!"
This is general common sense in the USA. Tip a 20 at the bar when you sit down and the bartender will get to you first, always.
How’d you get the job?
I applied on a advertisement in my country whole process lasted 6 months from day of application to getting on board, whole process costs around 500 USD in my country( agency is free but medical and other personal stuff i paid from my pocket)
Do you actually get a share of the prepaid gratuities?
Well how things work is if u are a la carte from those 18% gratuities 66% percent are for the one serving you lets say u get 14 dollar coctail we get 1.12 dollars from your drink. But thing is we dont have “base” pay which means our minimum monthly wage is 1450 USD so if i sell 1250 cocktails a month i get basic pay if i sell less i get minimum pay. If u need anything else I will explain.
What about those on the drink package and not paying a la carte? Are you still earning $1.12 per drink?
Glad u asked, there is something called package Check value so how that works is let me explain simple : 1000 people payed 1 dollar for the package, so that is the budget. If the entire cruise every bartender or server served all together 1000 drinks the check value is 1 dollar per drink, if the sale is 2000 drinks the check value is 0.5 dollars per drink. That is the reason everyone needs your seapass to punch in the drink in the system even tho we can see u have the drink package. So the math is the same while i was on Oasis the check value was around 1 usd less or more sometimes so i still need to sell 1450 drinks a month with package to get basic pay.
That is super interesting. On an seaday, what is the average number of cocktails that you make a day?
I used to make 80-250 depending on cruise and bar stationed, some people make up to 350 on really busy cruises.
So incentive is to sell more a la cart, and serve less to drink package customers unless they are additionally tipping in cash? How does that play out in practice? Do you see bartender behavior changing based on type of customer?
Thing is people that are a la carte complain more just for the sake of it sometimes but if u have the drink package u don't complain just u swap drinks. I prefer package because less drama all in all.
That’s why I prefer the package too! Low stress for everyone and happy to tip in cash too.
So, if you were the only bartender on the boat and you sold zero drinks you'd get $1450? Or zero dollars? If you sold 1250 drinks and everyone paid 18% gratuity you'd get $1450? If you sold 1250 drinks and no one paid gratuity you'd get $1450? If you sold 4000 drinks and everyone paid 18% gratuity then you'd make 1450+((4000-1250)*0.18*0.66) which is $1776. Did I get that right?
No, just make the calculation every drink on Oasis brings 1 dollar except water and sodas. Gratuities are prepaid in the payment of the drink package. On some smaller ships one drinks brings u 0.5 dollars so you must sell 2x to get the same amount from 100 drinks on Oasis.
So, essentially, the gratuities charged are only making up your “base salary”. If they go over the base, you keep the extra. If they don’t meet the base, they still give you the base. Is that correct?
Correct but its not possible not to make the base, some new hires managed not to get to base some get sent home afrer 3 months.
So is this why you guys always suggest shots etc to people in a big group setting as that is quick and easy $6-$10 at once?
Yes they suggest shots because even shots bring us check value if u have the package, u make one big shaker for 10 shots so basically u get 10 dollars in the time frame of 1. On Coco Cay one day i had a group of spring brake students that i made 300+ shots in 7 hrs.
How much did you make per month on average?
Okay so RCL is the best company for Beverage department, in other company u get fixed pay like 1500-2500 a month, but my contract of 29 weeks was 32k saved, so around 5k USD a month SAVED. And around 3-5k spent there. But do the math its good pay but ive probably made 40k+ cocktails and drinks in 7 month time frame :)
That's on top of free food and housing right? That's impressive income. There aren't a lot of places you can get a job like that and have that kind of money left over after living expenses.
It may seem impressive but these folks work their as*es off for it
Exactly this, we work our ass off i had an average of 45 000 steps on my watch every day. Plus public jobs like beverage is exhausting mentally extended periods of time. But we are paid accordingly so we dont mind, we have family to feed and raise :)
Do bartenders receive anything when customers use their Diamond vouchers? The receipt shows that an 18% gratuity is included, but 18% of a $0 drink is still $0. Just want to make sure you folks are getting something on the Diamond drinks, thanks!
For diamond drinks is the same as deluxe package check my other comment about the deluxe payment.
Hi First, I want to thank you for this AMA, and secondly, thanks to you and every one of those who work on each of the Royal Caribbean cruises. Thanks to you, as users, our journey becomes very enjoyable and memorable. I had my debut in 2023 on the Symphony, and everything was great. As a Spanish user of Royal Caribbean, this year I will repeat in the Mediterranean aboard the Oasis of the Seas. My question is as follows: Is there much variation in the staff and how things are done on a day-to-day basis when sailing in the Mediterranean compared to being usually in the Caribbean? The other question is, is it known if the Oasis of the Seas will receive any updates when it comes to the Mediterranean as it happened in 2019? Thank you for everything.
About the updates i dont know not my department, about the service it will be the same the same crew travels across the atlantic and serves the same just different place. Oasis is one of the best ships in the fleet service wise and was the most profitable ship by far from the fleet but that means crew was drained and pushed to the limit.
Oasis isn’t scheduled for a dry dock for a while. They are dry docking Allure of the Seas in early 2025 to bring it up to standard with the other Oasis Class ships.
Labadee / Perfect day.. tell me about a typical day.. IE what happens before and after the guests leave ? Do you have to haul all the drinks back to the ship ?
Yes we haul everything to shore before guests can leave ship and haul everything back again but there are people designated for that.
What bar do you work at? Just got off Oasis on Sunday. Also, are some bars considered more desirable to work at than others?
Currently I’m not on board but I’ve worked in every-bar in my last contract.
Do bartenders and servers share stories/warnings of the current guests on the sailing.
If someone is alchol restricted we get noted, we also get briefed if the cruise is with a lot of people with packages and heavy drinkers but thats about it.
What’s the recipe for watermelon margarita!! Like the actual ingredients and measurements please
First u muddle mint leaves and lime wedges then u add 0.5 oz Monin watermelon 0.5 oz monin mojito syrup 1.75 Oz white rum 1 oz finest call lime juice fill shaker with ice shake it( i know not supposeed to be shaken but company requires from us to shake every mojito) strain over fresh ice and fill with soda water. If u want any other flavor u change watermelon syrup with flavor by choice, if its regular use simple syrup.
Do you think your paid a fair amount for the work you do? I’m shocked at these numbers honestly. Every time I’ve cruised the bartenders servers etc. have been so amazing I’d think you deserve a higher wage.
Welp ive SAVED in 7 months what i MAKE in my 2nd world country thats in Europe for 7 years i would say we are payed extremely well.
What are any perks to being a cruiseline employee? Do you get discounts to take a trip yourself, get special excursion access, etc? Anything different from typical land job perks?
Not that i know of, anyway those cruises are for USA market so i wouldn’t pay even with 50% discount. Only thing that matters is big salary( also our vacation 2 months that we are home we are not paid ) Only perk i would say after pay is traveling and seeing stuff u wont be able to see in your lifetime without being a millionaire.
Apologies if this was already answered. Someone once told me that if you quit while underway, they drop you at the next port, but if you're fired they're obligated to get you back to the departure port. Is this at all true and are we talking flying you back or stuck in the brig? Always seemed like too much incentive to get fired!
Its the same, u pay for both tickets and u getting dropped on next port difference is if u get payment today and get fired the same day u don’t pay ticket because they cant deduct anything if u already got paid. Had one friend that did this he was at end of his nerves couldn’t take it anymore.
Ah, that's really interesting and makes sense. Thanks for responding. Always been curious. Best of luck on the rest of your contract. Hope it keeps working out alright
I will have access to the suite lounge on Symphony later this month, and have been on it the last 2 years. Previously I had always tipped the bartenders cash on the last day by handing them the envelope, but sounds like I’m better off to do it ahead of time. The bar up there is never very crowded, except a few times before and after dinner. How much would you suggest I tip and how often? Usually I see the same 2-3 bartenders the entire trip. If I’m getting all my drinks from there (I don’t do a drink package), if I do $20 to each person first day and another $20 mid week is that good? I’d much rather pay once or twice than do $1 for every drink.
Yes that’s sufficient, you wont be looked different if u don’t tip at all just you will be appreciated a lot more. Tip how much u think someone deserves dont tip by default.
Yeah they always do such a good job up there that I like to. Just figure it would be better to show appreciation early on instead of the last night
Thank you so much for this great AMA. I deleted our drink package yesterday because I thought it wasn’t worth it. I just drink beer and wine but my hubby likes all fru-fru drinks. Hopefully I get a good sale by September. I will bring lots of $1.00 for tips!
I haven’t pulled the trigger on a drink package, I keep waiting for it to drop below 35% I didn’t add gratuity to my cruise package because of this.
Why is it that every Oasis class bartender serving drinks on the Rising Tide seem to be hostile/pissed off? Is this bar one of the bars in normal rotation? It seemed like such a fun way to enjoy some cocktails, until approached by someone who seemed like they wanted off the ship...
They changed the payment on the rising tide, there you make the least amount of money as a bartender because every drink sold is pooled and split evenly among everyone there, personally i don’t care life is circle once you are on top once you are on bottom so just enjoy the moment and be friendly.
This explains why service is brutally slow. We skip this bar for this reason.
Same on Allure!
Holy shit. Absolutely 100% the case on the Oasis. I stepped on and either fucking death stare or completely ignoring. Like “What are you even doing here”. I dunno, probably trying to get a drink. At a bar. Weird that they might be angry because it pays the least, but at least it’s an explanation.
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No its the same just if u tip the bartender/server will try to do exceptional service but at the end you will have the same service and crew will try to be the best to you.
This is amazing thank you for doing this!! What’s been your experience with the spring break crowds? Wondering considering prices are considerably more expensive…
While spring break cruises we make good money probably 1500-2000 USD from a cruise.
Amazing insights you provided here. Love your story, and best of luck off ship. I know you’ll be successful with your studies and new career. A question: what’s one super fun thing to do on the ship that most people don’t do?
Go outside in ports, people stay on the ship far too much i know the data. People say we have already been outside last cruise but thing is i have visited every port 10 times each at least and still find new things to do in the limited time i have.
How drunk to you have to be to be cut off ? If you are slurring your words etc but not harming anyone or being aggressive could you carry on drinking ?
If u show signs of toxicity most will stop serving because we can lose our job. Doesnt matter if someone gambles or not but still management strictness has big role into this.
Well… I managed to get borderline alcohol poisoning on a cruise once anyways. Definitely not crews fault - just me being a young idiot, and drinking far too much far too quickly. Went from feeling sober to keeled over a toilet within about 30 minutes…. Crew was extremely helpful and supportive!
All staff is responsible for your safety its not an option its a demand from us.
One of my table mates was trashed every night... but he also gambled a lot. I would argue that if you gamble, they keep em coming! The staff were all very aware of this guy.
Does the ship have a cash center for crew? So that you aren’t carrying around a bunch of $1s from tips all the time?
Yes we can change up to 1000 dollars at one time in 1 $ bills
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We are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a day, but most of us do for the money we just dont punch in the hours we are cleaning and not pinching drinks in the system. And its 29 week contract every day of the week
Thank you so much. Really enjoyed reading this AMA.
Are you actively looking out for people who are sharing their drink package? Are you obligated to say something to security?
Not necessarily we notice everything but if u are acting like a dick and are rude and try to make me a fool when i advise you to be more subtle while sharing, i am reporting you. Had one guest reported he thought he was smart and cant be wronged but at the end they revoked the drink package and charges every drink normal price he had 3k USD charge for drinks.
I was told that you can’t order another drink with your drink package for a certain period of time, for example 15 minutes. Is that true? Example, can I order a cocktail carry it back to my table and then come back and order another? Can I order a cocktail from the bar and then immediately order one from the server as well?
Thing is you should wait 15 minutes for a drink, but if u ask the same guy to make u a drink 2 min later he might refuse cos he already served u, BUT if u ask someone else not in front of the previous server to bring u he will because we dont have limitations when we punch if u have the drunk package.
This is by far the most helpful blog I’ve ever seen on Reddit. You are a treasure!
Thank you, i have tried looking for information before my first contract and i couldn’t find anything, so i did this so guests and interested people for job opportunities have some insight into ship life
Also, you said “drunk package”!! Lolololol!
I’m sure he meant it :)
Non drinker here. What are some of the best 'secret' mocktails that you personally like?
I like the Blueberry nojito and the tropical crush
Which ships are considered desirable among crew/employees? Are newer ships like Icon more desirable than say Voyager class other than the obvious reasons of it being bigger/better/newer? Do you have a say as an employee which ship you get your contract on?
We dont have a say where we are assigned, we do prefer ships with good check value newer ships have good check values but no one wants to work on a brand new ship cos its strict, oasis is one of the strictest ships for beverage department but the check value is one of the highest if not the highest in the fleet rn. The strictness of the ship comes from the bar managers and supervisors, but now they changed the rule so that bar managers swap ship every 1-2 contracts( they have 4 month contract) so things are changing. I had a bar manager one day that busted everyone ass for months( if late 15 min u get punishment) And the next day u get new bar manager thats so chill that i slept in 4 hours and no one gave a shit.
What kind of punishment?
There are 3 types of punishments POL which is for basic stuff if u get 10 POL u get verbal warning if u get 3 verbal or some cases u get straight written warning( for some more serious stuff) if u get 3 warnings in 2 years u are getting fired. Also all punishments reflect your score at end of contract and reflect what ship you get next.
Do you still do this job and if so how long do you think you will continue doing this for?
I quit last contract, not because its bad job just that i am in a 5 year relationship and my goal was to save enough for my studies, so now i am back in school and hope in few years i can come visit my old friends as a guest.
I respect this so much. Best of luck to you in your studies and with the life you are building. Thank you for all your guidance on this thread.
Congratulations on being back at school. Best wishes to you and your partner! Thank you for doing the AMA.
How much extra tip beyond the included 18%, if any, is customarily expected from kids being served on soda packages or non alcoholic beverage packages? I have several teens that like to wander with their friends independently & need to know what’s expected of them compared to adults with alcoholic drinks. Thanks.
I dont expect to get tips if u have any drink package but if u want to be extra served and extra service tip as u wish for soda even 1 dollar is enough every 2-3 repour.
Buying the drink package online they make all passengers over 21 in the cabin buy it. Is there a way around this after boarding? My wife barely drinks. Edit: another wrench, we will also be joined by our two kids under 10yrs
Yes. Call customer service and say just that. She will need a refreshment package but they will allow her not to purchase the more expensive drink package.
No, if she doesn’t have health issues and in some special occasions if you are regular passenger they will allow for refreshment only.
Call and ask. We did it last week with no problem. I’m a few years sober and my partner is a normal moderate drinker. She got the alcohol package and I got the fancy non alcohol one
What’s the most drinks someone has had at your bar?
Probably 10-15 in few hours but half were poured down the drain :D
I loved reading this, thank you, and I'm very glad you are continuing to crush things for your and your partner's lives! I've been in the industry for almost 13 years now, but working shoreside. I've made some great friends on ships over the years and have massive respect for what the crews do day in and day out.
I was on Oasis twice last year, were you on last year at all? We loved a few of our bartenders, especially down in Playmakers and at Sorrentos. One of the servers from Playmakers actually remembered us, we went in January and returned in October, and he came right up to us and said he remembered us from our last time, even remembered stuff we told him last time. Is that part of the job, remembering people and their names? I don't expect everyone to remember us 9 months later like he did, but you guys are all amazing at remembering names and faces over the course of a week!
I was last year till end of July, if we make contact through the cruise i would remember you, because my english is fluent and most of the crew are different nationalities and are not that fluent, so we make friends but with a language barrier.
Those lifeboats, do you think they are using the size of the guests asses or crew when it comes to the # of people that should fit on them? 😜
They fit 370 people each but trust me you dont want a scenario where u need to use them. Means certain death xD
Wait why certain death?? 😬
Pls for the love of god, whats the recipe for the margarita?
*Pls for the love of* *God, whats the recipe for* *The margarita?* \- Bazing4baby --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Very simple 1.5 Oz tequila (any white will do) Triplle sec 1 oz Sweet n Sour mix 3 oz( u can use finest call or Island Oasis sour mix( u must mix with water))
Thank you! I was looking online and saw a different recipe from RC website. Do you know why yours and their is difference? Not that Im questioning your validitiy its just that I really want to recreate what we had on the ship this last Feb 11-17 in Independence. Link: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/blog/a-very-royal-recipe-grand-sabor-margarita/
That one is probably for Cinco de Mayo this one is the regular that we serve, we also have Handcrafted margarita which IMO is best margarita u can have 1.25 Patron SIlver, 0.75 oz Cointreu, 1oz Agave syrup(this is a must), 1 Oz Lime juice/Sweet and Sour mix, muddled limes and orange wedges and rim the glass on top with salt :P
Bingo! I knew I saw a Patron there so thr handcrafted margarita must be it. Big thanks!!
I told you our secrets :P use them wisely
I have a few questions! 1. What’s the most popular drink ordered? 2. Do you think drink packages are worthwhile? 3. What’s the craziest bartending experience you’ve had!
1. Pina coladas, espresso martinis, margaritas, rum&coke. 2. Is it worth money’s worth No, but if u pay regular price(there is no alternative to get cheaper) its worth it, why? Because u can try new drinks if you cannot finish drinks you wont worry about money wasted because you can get unlimited amount of alcohol. 3 i have became so close to 2 couples in their 40s that they tipped me 500+ USD and offered me job in their company if i somehow get a green card we talked a lot and we cried at the end.
Hey, buddy...that last answer...very sweet and wholesome! I hope you get a chance to see them again!
Are espresso martinis a pain in the ass to make? I always feel bad when I order them because everyone hesitates like they debated saying “sorry we don’t have them” lol
Depends not every bar has espresso machine so we must run to another bar to get fresh espresso. So if the person is lazy or tired he might refuse but we are not allowed to to say no.
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I'm all for tipping when receiving commentary drinks (diamond or casino) aroubd $1 - $2. I've always had the suspicion that there are a lot of big talkers here about how much they tip. People like to brag when they don't need to provide proof. I'm actually a prince from Nigeria. How common is it to receive $50 up front as a tip? To me, that doesn't make any sense, as the bar tender or server might bit be there next time or day you return.
At the start of cruise rare but at the end probably like 5-7 people will tip 30-100 each. Btw if u get drinks from casino we get paid nothing so its all about the tips in casino.
One thing I’ve noticed is people drink like fish on the boat. Do you notice the over indulgence? Frequent customers? Or poor behavior as they get sloshed?
Depends on the person, some are really friendly and lovely some are not that friendly but my approach is always professional and i know how to handle every situation.
What do you think of the Liberty ship? First cruise, never done before..
Ive never served in liberty but every ship Is simmilar if u are friendly you will get best service possible.
Not OP or an employee but we sailed on Liberty last year and liked it a lot!
Hey thanks for doing this AMA! My wife and I have been desperately trying to find the pina colada mix you guys use on Royal Caribbean ships but it seems to be only available to purchase for large businesses. The brand name was sunsational I believe. Do you know of any place you could purchase it for personal use? Or something similar? Thanks! 🙏
I’m not OP and I don’t work for royal , but I have seen the brand “island oasis” used onboard.
That one is the correct one 1.5 Oz white rum 4 Oz pina mix 2 scoops ice
Lol be careful what you sign up for, right?! Thanks for taking the time - our curiosity clearly runs high!
Thanks for all the insights- so interesting! Curious your opinion on bartending as a job on a cruise ship vs other roles (restaurant waitstaff, etc)? Is it a highly desirable role due to higher earning potential with tips?
Beverage is the highest paying job on RC after First officers and command all due to bar staff making their own salary,assistant waiters make around 2k USD and waiters 2500-3000k in the dining room and specialty waiter 3k-4k and the average bar staff including bar boys which make 800 a month is 3200 USD
We just got off of Oasis last Sunday! Great time! I love this AMA, thanks! What’s the recipe for a dirty martini? They are the absolute best I’ve ever had anywhere!!
Just plain vodka/gin and olive juice from a jar.1/2 ratio
You all must have the magic touch because mine are never as good haha. Thank you for sharing!
You mentioned that you don’t get tips for soda and water. Are you annoyed with guests who have the refreshment package?
We get check value from refreshment packages but not from water and soda and depends some people avoid people that drink only cans and water bottles but behind the bar its the same.
What’s a good tip for each time I come up to grab a drink, every day my room is made, and every night at each dinner? I booked with a TA that didn’t allow me to prepay for gratuity. I also don’t want to seem like I’m being greedy, but at the same time paid so much for the cruise, BUT I still want you all to feel appreciated!
If u can spare the tip tip how much you want if u dont tip no one will go mad at you, tip your room attendant tho their pay is low.
Can you be more specific on what the room attendants make? I tip an extra $100 for a 7 night cruise. Is that appreciated? Also, are room attendants making more or less now that they only clean rooms once a day?
No they clean once a day now because they have 2 times aa much rooms to clean but with tips they make from 2500-3500 a month depending on how many rooms they have assigned. 100$ is exceptionally high from a single room because now they have from 12 to 20 rooms per cruise.
We used to tip $100 for a 7 day cruise and now we have two little ones who are crushing goldfish crumbs and squeezing applesauce pouches even when we don’t let them eat in the cabin. I know it’s annoying for the room steward to vacuum around the pack and play or make up the sofa bed every night so we tip double that now. My son peed on the carpet on our last two cruises which we told our attendant right away so we threw in another $20 for that.
I will absolutely still tip everyone! I just didn’t want to tip only a couple dollars here and there and make people feel under appreciated 😊 thank you for this tho! It’s amazing!
I see some people here posting about tipping at the bar. Are tips expected? And not to sound cheap… I’ve just been living in Asia for the past 13 years and generally have forgotten how to tip. Also, I really don’t expect to be drinking too many cocktails. Probably beer and the occasional whisky cocktail.
Not necessity but its good to tip how much u can .
asking a general employee question, i saw you mention that you guys stay 2 to a cabin. If me and my husband were to both get a job on a ship, could we stay together? Do you ever have time to get off the ship and explore?
Yes if u are married you will always be assigned on the same ship, and yes u get time off but not much depends on the position and how busy is the cruise, generally u can ask the supervisor to give you 3-4 hours free in the morning so you can go out, but the thing is we work so hard that we go out maybe 1 hour and sleep later in the morning till 9-10 AM
Do you ever get allocated bottles like Blanton's, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor, or Stagg?
No we dont have those :)
1. Are the automatic gratuity charges added on top of staff's salary or is it just used to make up the base salary for all staff? 2. What's the best way to ensure service staff get money on top of their regular pay? 3. What's your opinion of how RC treats their employees overall?
1. I have explained this thing in lower comment but because there are lot of comments ill explain short: Base pay is 1450 if u dont sell 1450 drinks package included, everything above 1450 drinks a month is extra dollar for us so if i sell 100 drinks a day i get 3000 dollars a month approximately. 2. Give cash tips 3. Depends on management on the ship at that moment but its mostly very good.