Prepayment of gratuities

[lorri111]

Hi, am on the Star to Alaska in May and thinking about prepaying gratuities but my Personaliser online doesn't seem to allow it. When I go into Payments and Credit page it lists 3 possible payments - balance, then gratuities then excursions. Clicking on the Select arrow on the balance and excursions sections brings up the necessary further info but clicking on the Optional Gratuity Prepayment just takes me to the excursions info instead. I can't imagine what I could be doing wrong. Is it possible this is not loaded till closer to the cruise? I will email Princess to ask but thought I would probably get a quicker response from CC :-)

[dforeigner]

Hi, am on the Star to Alaska in May and thinking about prepaying gratuities but my Personaliser online doesn't seem to allow it. When I go into Payments and Credit page it lists 3 possible payments - balance, then gratuities then excursions. Clicking on the Select arrow on the balance and excursions sections brings up the necessary further info but clicking on the Optional Gratuity Prepayment just takes me to the excursions info instead. I can't imagine what I could be doing wrong. Is it possible this is not loaded till closer to the cruise? I will email Princess to ask but thought I would probably get a quicker response from CC :-)

 

Have you called Princess for assistance?

[lorri111]

Not yet. I don't actually want to pay them quite this early, was just checking out procedure.

[cactusrose]

The link seems to be broken.

[Pushka]

I was able to pay back in October for a June 2016 cruise but clearly it has been fixed so it no longer works! :o

Edited January 25, 2016 by Pushka

[lorri111]

Do you guys mean it doesn't work for you either? Or are you just assuming my link is broken?

[Pam in CA]

All you'd really be doing is sending yourself OBC in the amount of the gratuities. You'll still be charged nightly and it'll be deducted from the OBC on your account regardless of the source. Nothing's really pre-paid except your OBC. You might as well just send yourself OBC in the amount you want.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Pam in CA

[lorri111]

Didn't know that. Does that also apply to prepaying excursions?

But I am not sure how you actually send money to your OBC, that is not one of the options available on my Payments and Credits page.

[cactusrose]

Do you guys mean it doesn't work for you either? Or are you just assuming my link is broken?

 

Doesn't work for me either. It's the link on the site that is broken.

Edited January 25, 2016 by cactusrose

[lorri111]

Thanks very much for confirming that for me :-)

[lljost]

If and when you are ready to prepay for your gratuities, give Princess a call instead of trying to do it on line. They can and will send you an email confirming that you have paid. I always print that out and bring on board for confirmation. Have never had a problem with it not being there but never hurts to carry the proof with you.

[satxdiver]

Princess' website and their IT department leave very much to be desired. I do believe they hire the least capable people for their IT department.

 

Anything you pre-pay be sure to get a hard copy and take it along on the cruise. I have had problems in the past but the hard copy takes care of it by showing it to the passenger service desk (bursar). The OBC issue is just how Princess handles the onboard account. It will start out with a credit if you prepaid anything (aka OBC) and then the charges will appear. Ship excursions are deducted the first day. Gratuities are deducted every day. It is simply how they do their book keeping but can be confusing. They will very patiently explain things to you if you ask while onboard.

[lorri111]

Still a bit confused as to how OBC works. So if I prepay excursions or gratuities it just appears as OBC? It isn't applied to these items specifically? Does OBC reduce as you go along on the cruise or is it just used to offset the final bill at end of cruise? In other words, if I buy a drink (or three) on the first day does this immediately reduce the OBC which arose from my prepaying excursions? I'll be doing it by debit card and just trying to get my head around whether the way it works will have any impact on preauthorisations on my card.

[Carla3]

Still a bit confused as to how OBC works. So if I prepay excursions or gratuities it just appears as OBC? It isn't applied to these items specifically? Does OBC reduce as you go along on the cruise or is it just used to offset the final bill at end of cruise? In other words, if I buy a drink (or three) on the first day does this immediately reduce the OBC which arose from my prepaying excursions? I'll be doing it by debit card and just trying to get my head around whether the way it works will have any impact on preauthorisations on my card.

 

 

If you prepay gratuities and excursions then your credit is applied just to those items. For example, tomorrow morningThe daily gratuity charge shows on your statement then immediately shows a credit for the same amount

[jshyshka]

The gratuities link seems to be broken at this time - maybe they will fix it in time.

[Pam in CA]

If you prepay gratuities and excursions then your credit is applied just to those items. For example, tomorrow morningThe daily gratuity charge shows on your statement then immediately shows a credit for the same amount

That's not the way it's worked on my onboard folio. All of my OBC from whatever source (FCC, pre-paid gratuities, stock credit, TA credit, etc.) is itemized and my folio starts with the total amount of credit. Anything charged to my folio, whether it's the auto-tip, excursions, drinks, T-shirts, Sanctuary, etc., is deducted from the total amount of credit on my folio. It's not specific to the source of your onboard credit.

[Pushka]

In the personaliser, purchased OBC is shown separately to the prepaid gratuities. Both are shown in AUD. The excursions I have booked show in USD. It's a bit of a dogs breakfast really.

And the link is broken on another cruise where I haven't prepaid yet.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Pushka

[avcruz]

That's not the way it's worked on my onboard folio. All of my OBC from whatever source (FCC, pre-paid gratuities, stock credit, TA credit, etc.) is itemized and my folio starts with the total amount of credit. Anything charged to my folio, whether it's the auto-tip, excursions, drinks, T-shirts, Sanctuary, etc., is deducted from the total amount of credit on my folio. It's not specific to the source of your onboard credit.

 

 

That's exactly what I experienced on the Royal last month. The only other thing I noticed was that the non-refundable credits were debited first.

[JF - retired RRT]

I'll be doing it by debit card and just trying to get my head around whether the way it works will have any impact on preauthorisations on my card.

It would be better to use a credit card (if you have one). Debit cards aren't as secure as credit cards. Also, if you do use your debit card, make sure you have a large enough limit for ALL of your charges that might occur on the ship plus any additional charges that might hit your account while on the cruise.

[RocketMan275]

Hi, am on the Star to Alaska in May and thinking about prepaying gratuities but my Personaliser online doesn't seem to allow it. When I go into Payments and Credit page it lists 3 possible payments - balance, then gratuities then excursions. Clicking on the Select arrow on the balance and excursions sections brings up the necessary further info but clicking on the Optional Gratuity Prepayment just takes me to the excursions info instead. I can't imagine what I could be doing wrong. Is it possible this is not loaded till closer to the cruise? I will email Princess to ask but thought I would probably get a quicker response from CC :-)

 

Question: Did you use a Travel Agent? When I go to Payments and Credits, I get this: "To make a payment or check your balance, contact your travel agent."

 

If you're dead set on using a debit card, suggest you set up a new debit card and new checking account just for travel. These travel accounts should not be linked to your major checking account. Only put enough cash into the checking account to pay for your expected cruise expenses plus a bit more in reserve. This protects your major account. Yes, I know debit cards protection has improved but do you want to be overseas and lose access to your major cash (fraud)?

 

About the OBC, just think of it as a cash balance in your checking account. Each charge on board (excursions, gratuities, drinks, etc) debits your account. At the end of the cruise you either pay more if there is a negative amount or receive a credit if there is a positive balance.

[Tripper10]

If you prepay gratuities and excursions then your credit is applied just to those items. For example, tomorrow morningThe daily gratuity charge shows on your statement then immediately shows a credit for the same amount

 

That's because you have OBC in your account. The same thing will happen with any monies in your account. Whatever you buy first will cancel out with the OBC. Pre paying anything besides the cruise itself is just having princess hold your money for you.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Tripper10

[hm9912]

It would be better to use a credit card (if you have one). Debit cards aren't as secure as credit cards. Also, if you do use your debit card, make sure you have a large enough limit for ALL of your charges that might occur on the ship plus any additional charges that might hit your account while on the cruise.

 

I'm having a hard time trying to understand why one would want to prepay anything?

Apply for a Princess Visa card and use that to obtain additional OBC along with the Military and stockholder credit.

At the end of the cruise you'll see your charges if any on your Princess Visa credit card statement.

As others have mentioned do not use a debit card

 

Howard

[RocketMan275]

I'm having a hard time trying to understand why one would want to prepay anything?

Apply for a Princess Visa card and use that to obtain additional OBC along with the Military and stockholder credit.

At the end of the cruise you'll see your charges if any on your Princess Visa credit card statement.

As others have mentioned do not use a debit card

 

Howard

 

You can do far better than the cruise line credit cards.

 

My Sam's Master Card gives 5% on gas, 3% on travel (restaurants, hotels, rental cars, airlines, cruises), and 1% cashback on everything else.

 

The cashback is combinable with all promotions. Can be used on all cruise lines. You're not locked into Princess. You can still get the military and stockholders credits too.

[Tripper10]

I'm having a hard time trying to understand why one would want to prepay anything?

Apply for a Princess Visa card and use that to obtain additional OBC along with the Military and stockholder credit.

At the end of the cruise you'll see your charges if any on your Princess Visa credit card statement.

As others have mentioned do not use a debit card

 

Howard

 

I'm 100% with you.

[hm9912]

You can do far better than the cruise line credit cards.

 

My Sam's Master Card gives 5% on gas, 3% on travel (restaurants, hotels, rental cars, airlines, cruises), and 1% cashback on everything else.

 

The cashback is combinable with all promotions. Can be used on all cruise lines. You're not locked into Princess. You can still get the military and stockholders credits too.

 

Thanks for the info but personally i do not care much for Sams Club or

Walmart and very rarely shop there. I see what they have done to many small businesses throughout the US and I do not much care for their wage and anti union business practices of their employees.

 

I'll stick with my Princess Visa card

 

Howard