Experienced cruise tippers, did I mess up?

[abitjaded]

We had the best serving team on our cruise. We charged the standard tips, then added additional cash to the envelopes, less additional tip for the assistant. But now, I am having second thoughts. We had ordered the Premium wine package and an additional drink or two at each meal. If I add in the tips from the alcohol service, than our assistant server got a heck of a bigger tip than our main server. Is this a real no-no? The main server was the major "perk" that made this such a great team. She even showed up from across the room at breakfasts and lunches to do little extra things for us, so I wanted to recognize her for that.

Carla

 

[alexandrew]

I always thought the server team shared the beverage gratuities...

 

[RellingTwin]

That was my understanding also.Not sure if it is 50/50, but I remember this question before, and the answer was they share bev tips.

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

My understanding is that the "auto-gratuity" which is added to any drink is divided amongst all of the bartenders and servers, some 50-odd people probably. Anything you add on top of that goes directly to the person who served it to you.

 

[kcashner]

I had the same understanding as Lloyd--that the standard 15% added to alcohol charges automatically is divided among the bar staff.

Your server/asst. got whatever you charged plus whatever cash you placed in their envelopes...and perhaps a share of the alcohol tips.