No, the concierge gratuity is "at your discretion" like it always was, the difference is now they actually provide you with a formulaic recommendation vs before where it was a complete mystery. You will still need to explicitly add the gratuity if you want it charged to your account.
I didn't see an actual jar. I'm sure you could just hand cash to them though and they'd take it.
Trying to alleviate the overall level of concern with the new system -- we sailed the Wish about a month ago and I liked the new system WAY better than the old way.
To clarify what happens -- we received our paper tip slips per usual, with an additional letter that said the following:
"Our guests often ask for guidance regarding gratuities for the Concierge Team. As a suggestion, we recommend $8 per Guest per day for your voyage. It is however up to your discretion to determine the gratuity amount you feel is appropriate, based on the excellent services provided by your Concierge Team. Your gratuity will be shared among the Concierge Team:"
And then it had two columns with names explicitly listing the people among whom the gratuity would be split. Then there's just one spot to put a number. I was told if you don't want it split evenly, you could explicitly list amounts on a separate sheet, but we did not do that.
I liked the new system because:
a) It equally rewards both the hosts and servers -- we assumed the 'Concierge tip' included everyone on our first cruise, and only found out on our second cruise that it didn't.
b) I don't have to bring a ton of cash to be able to tip all the servers
c) Having a recommendation at least provides you with a framework to work off of vs before where it felt like such a shot in the dark
d) The explicit list of who is included (which Glenn said they only recently started including) also allows you to make sure you cover anyone else that isn't there, and should eliminate the shadiness from OP's experience. We did have a couple evening bartenders not on the list; we did ad hoc tips for them as we felt was warranted.
e) There are SO MANY PEOPLE working the Wish concierge lounge. It's so much simpler to just give one tip and be done with it rather than trying to chase down all those people to give them cash. And while overall we felt the level of service was great, it really did end up being more of a team effort vs us having a few individuals we saw all the time. Thus, an even split feels like the most fair thing since I'm sure even the people we didn't see as much were working hard to help the overall population of guests.
So don't stress! I found it much less awkward than before. I'm sure it was a tough transition for hosts that were used to getting the whole tip but again, I think it makes for a more streamlined and equitable experience.
Have an amazing cruise!