Pre-Pay Gratuities?

[AmyW820]

Does anyone do that? If so, is it worth it? If you do it, what gratuities does it include? And if you do it, do you need to leave cash tips in your room?

 

I apologize if this has been discussed before but I didn't see any threads here or in the new cruisers forum.

 

Thank you!

Edited March 16, 2016 by AmyW820

[siestakeys04]

I have never added gratuities...and have been fortunate enough to get price drops with early saver which has taken care of my gratuities. I booked the Valor for November and not added them but I am thinking about it.

[It's a Ship!!!]

A lot of people pre pay gratuities. They will be added on to your on board account at the end of the cruise if you don't pre pay, so the only difference is when you pay them.

 

It is the exact same as paying for the gratuities on the ship. It doesn't include tips for porters, room service, or drinks, but it covers everything else.

[Kanyon71]

Hadn't done it in the past but we did it for our cruise we are going on the April. No real difference just makes it so I know up front it's paid and I don't have to think about it from that point on.

[CruisinCrow]

Here's a link from Carnival's website that explains the gratuities and where they go: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1123/kw/gratuities

 

You can either pre-pay or the gratuities are added to your account and you pay at the end of the cruise. Either way, you don't have to tip cash, unless you want to. It's customary to tip the room service delivery person a couple of dollars.

 

There's no advantage to pre-paying but I don't mind doing it to get it out of the way. It's either now or later. :)

[LilMissScareAll]

There's several thread about this subject if you do a search.

We generally will prepay our tips. I would never remove tips unless something major happened, and that's very unlikely. I just would rather have a more things paid off beforehand and have a smaller bill on my Sign&Sail card at the end. Just preference.

 

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[Cruise, J.D.]

Does anyone do that? If so, is it worth it? If you do it, what gratuities does it include? And if you do it, do you need to leave cash tips in your room?

 

I apologize if this has been discussed before but I didn't see any threads here or in the new cruisers forum.

 

Thank you!

 

I never have. It doesn't really matter either way. The auto-gratuities (whether prepaid or not) cover pretty much everything except room service. You are always free to adjust them at Guest Services and hand out additional cash tips as you see fit.

 

Carnival also adds a 15% auto-tip to all drink orders, so you are covered there as well.

[13cheermom]

The only time I considered doing it, was a cruise when making final payment and added it at that time. The reason because my Carnival MC gives a better percentage of statement credit when purchases are over $1500. I needed to have an eligible total charge to exceed that amount, and the gratuities added to my final payment took care of it. Otherwise don't know that I would do it and just wait till onboard.

[CruiseCrAzieS]

We never pre-pay. Personally I like the old cash in envelope method of tipping....Oh the good old cruising days!:) I understand with changes and anytime dining etc, it is not always possible.

 

We still always give additional cash tips to our room staff, beyond the automatic tips charged to our S&S card...because we have always been lucky enough to get such exceptional service!

[musikfans]

We pre-paid this time because we had a deal on gift cards.

 

We purchased enough to pay our full balance through my daughter's school scrip (We received a rebate on her school account that covered all her band fees for the year). By having the gratuities on the bill I could get them all in on that deal. I could have put the cards on my account to cover them once they add them on the ship, but I didn't want to wait in line.

 

If you are able to obtain a price drop, Excursion Price Guarantee or other deal often you end up with an onboard credit (OBC). As others have mentioned, another good idea is to NOT pre-pay for this reason. They'll auto-add them to your onboard account during the cruise. Now you've used that onboard credit!

[teknoge3k]

We prepaid our tips ahead of time. That way we know they're paid and don't have to worry about it at the end when we get our final bill. Either way it's the same amount. One less thing to worry about.

 

As far as cash tipping, that's something I will have to get use to doing when we go. Not for the tipping aspect but carrying cash. I have not had any cash in my wallet in 10 years. We never use cash for any reason.

[trvlgirlmq]

I have only pre-paid our gratuities. I like that it is just done and not something I have to save a lot of cash for later. I just consider it part of my cruise fare and don't think of it any other way.

[reerun25]

I have only pre-paid our gratuities. I like that it is just done and not something I have to save a lot of cash for later. I just consider it part of my cruise fare and don't think of it any other way.

 

Same goes for me...

[evandbob]

My preference is to prepay gratuities and be done with them. If an unusual situation arises on board and I'm satisfied with the way staff handled it, I will slip some cash their way as well as mention them in my post cruise surveys.

[Savlamara]

I have only pre-paid our gratuities. I like that it is just done and not something I have to save a lot of cash for later. I just consider it part of my cruise fare and don't think of it any other way.

 

Ditto...

[Hog Rider]

Does anyone do that? If so, is it worth it? If you do it, what gratuities does it include? And if you do it, do you need to leave cash tips in your room?

 

I apologize if this has been discussed before but I didn't see any threads here or in the new cruisers forum.

 

Thank you!

 

Why prepay? Wait and see what you get. Some good some bad.

[kona_wahine]

I always prepay. I look it as part of the cruise. Better to get it out of the way.

 

I would never go into a cruise with the mindset I may remove them. I honestly can't think of a reason I ever would. What is the chance that every single service person would provide bad service? And I wouldn't remove based on one bad apple.

[Savlamara]

I would never go into a cruise with the mindset I may remove them. I honestly can't think of a reason I ever would. What is the chance that every single service person would provide bad service? And I wouldn't remove based on one bad apple.

 

Just wanted to quote this glorious statement. :D

[Cushing985]

There is no advantage or disadvantage doing the pre-paid thang other than you're protected if they raise the tip amount (happened once for us). We consider tips part of the cost of the cruise so why not include it?

[Cushing985]

I always prepay. I look it as part of the cruise. Better to get it out of the way.

 

I would never go into a cruise with the mindset I may remove them. I honestly can't think of a reason I ever would. What is the chance that every single service person would provide bad service? And I wouldn't remove based on one bad apple.

 

Like you, I just can't imagine getting such lousy service I might be tempted to pull the tips. If it ever happened I would skip the additional tip we leave at the end. For better or for worse, tips are part of the crew's salary. I live for the day when Carnival (and others) consider tips a service charge and don't allow any modifications.

[cruizinisthebest]

We started prepaying a few years ago and like it. Will continue doing it that way. Our next 3 booked cruises all have prepaid tips added.

 

I am not going to remove tips, and no I don't care one iota about any interest Carnival is gaining on my money or whatever other argument against prepaying people have. It works for us and that's all that counts as far as I am concerned.

[jayscore]

I prepay because I know (kind of) how they are split up. Plus, twice I've had the price per person per day increase AFTER I booked a cruise and prepaid. A petty point, to be sure, but it can happen!:rolleyes:

[KCCruisin']

I usually prepay gratuities, like you it works best for us and you can adjust them, if the need arises. Whether you pay now or later, the amount is the same and you can board the ship paid in full.

Edited March 17, 2016 by KCCruisin'