Prepay daily gratuities?

[lahlah57]

Going on a 2 week in october on Kdam.

Do you prepay Hal gratuities before your cruise and how do you do it:confused:

[RocketMan275]

Going on a 2 week in october on Kdam.

Do you prepay Hal gratuities before your cruise and how do you do it:confused:

 

You can sort of 'pre-pay' your gratuities. Essentially, you buy OBC for yourself in an amount sufficient to cover your gratuities. The cruise line will deduct the gratuities from your pre-paid OBC each day. The cruise line will also charge your credit card each day if you prefer. If you choose to pre-pay, I would suggest you call Holland. They will be happy to charge your credit card today.

 

I said 'sort of' because you are buying OBC which can be used for other expenses than gratuities. Suppose you buy $200 in OBC to cover your gratuities which should suffice. Suppose on the third day of the cruise, you buy $100 in an onboard shop. That $100 will be deducted from your account and you will have some gratuities charged to your card later.

 

Normally you will have to provide a credit card or debit card at the port. If you prefer that they charge all your gratuities to your card, that will just happen.

Edited June 19, 2016 by RocketMan275

[Krazy Kruizers]

The Hotel Service Charge is automatically added onto your shipboard account each night.

One thing you can do is buy shipboard credit on HAL's site and it will take care of your Hotel Service Charges once you are on the ship -- if you want to.

Gratuities for drinks, special coffees, sodas, bottled waters, etc. is 15% and is automatically added onto those bills.

[navybankerteacher]

I remain unclear as to why anyone would want to prepay anything. If you have any self discipline at all, if you are able to pay something in advance, you will surely be able to pay it as much as a month later, when your credit card bill comes.

[richwmn]

I remain unclear as to why anyone would want to prepay anything. If you have any self discipline at all, if you are able to pay something in advance, you will surely be able to pay it as much as a month later, when your credit card bill comes.

 

navybankerteacher - you make the same comment each time someone mentions pre-paying. Well, different strokes for different folks.

 

Some of us just feel better that an obligation is paid off and we can go on to other expenses. Some people see the money in an account and forget about things coming up and spend it. Out of sight, out of mind helps a bunch of people.

 

The amount of interest someone might get by holding on to the money is minimum, so that shouldn't really be a consideration.

 

I applaud you that you have the self discipline to put back the money and have the full amount available at final payment. But you really don't need to put down those who choose to pay a different way, for whatever reason they have.

[kazu]

navybankerteacher - you make the same comment each time someone mentions pre-paying. Well, different strokes for different folks.

 

Some of us just feel better that an obligation is paid off and we can go on to other expenses. Some people see the money in an account and forget about things coming up and spend it. Out of sight, out of mind helps a bunch of people.

 

The amount of interest someone might get by holding on to the money is minimum, so that shouldn't really be a consideration.

 

I applaud you that you have the self discipline to put back the money and have the full amount available at final payment. But you really don't need to put down those who choose to pay a different way, for whatever reason they have.

 

As someone who does pre-pay some stuff, I agree with you :)

 

Not only do I like to avoid "sticker" shock at the end, prepaying can secure any wanted specialty dinners, shore excursions, etc.

 

As a Canadian, it has an added benefit because of exchange rates. If our dollar is sinking, it makes sense for us to buy early and save on the exchange.

 

Exchange rate has been volatile the past year and I saved at least 20% in what I prepaid on the last cruise because of the "timing".

 

I will be pre-paying things again for next year's cruise. It works for me :)

[navybankerteacher]

As someone who does pre-pay some stuff, I agree with you :)

 

Not only do I like to avoid "sticker" shock at the end, prepaying can secure any wanted specialty dinners, shore excursions, etc.

 

As a Canadian, it has an added benefit because of exchange rates. If our dollar is sinking, it makes sense for us to buy early and save on the exchange.

 

Exchange rate has been volatile the past year and I saved at least 20% in what I prepaid on the last cruise because of the "timing".

 

I will be pre-paying things again for next year's cruise. It works for me :)

 

Of course when there are fluctuations in exchange rates to consider, there is a valid reason to prepay as much as possible to protect oneself against possibly expensive shifts in relative valuations.

 

But when single currency is involved, there seems no reason: just mentioning that I personally see no rationale for making a disbursement possibly months before it is required is not putting anybody down (as put by a previous poster) - it is simply expressing curiosity concerning what seems to be an unusual approach.

[lahlah57]

navybankerteacher - you make the same comment each time someone mentions pre-paying. Well, different strokes for different folks.

 

Some of us just feel better that an obligation is paid off and we can go on to other expenses. Some people see the money in an account and forget about things coming up and spend it. Out of sight, out of mind helps a bunch of people.

 

The amount of interest someone might get by holding on to the money is minimum, so that shouldn't really be a consideration.

 

I applaud you that you have the self discipline to put back the money and have the full amount available at final payment. But you really don't need to put down those who choose to pay a different way, for whatever reason they have.

 

I was thinking the same thoughts as you....to pay it and have it all handled before boarding and work within that set amount of $$. Also, keeping in mind the alcohol....laundry....eating establishment but not excursions.....purchased from an outside company at a fraction of the cost.

I know our spending behavior and we do better if we are wrangled into a set amount so as not to spend like a Kardashian:p

[jtl513]

I remain unclear as to why anyone would want to prepay anything.

I don't buy OBCs, but can understand that some people simply like to have a smaller bill at cruise end.

[Paulinda]

We received OBC's when we purchased our cruise. It was enough to pay for the gratuities and some extras. Of course shortly after we paid for our cruise we noticed that the price of the cruise dropped as much as the OBC's that were offered and then OBC's weren't offered. Hmmmm.

 

Anyways it was a great way for us as I would prefer to pay up front and that was what we ended up doing.

[kazu]

Of course when there are fluctuations in exchange rates to consider, there is a valid reason to prepay as much as possible to protect oneself against possibly expensive shifts in relative valuations.

 

But when single currency is involved, there seems no reason: just mentioning that I personally see no rationale for making a disbursement possibly months before it is required is not putting anybody down (as put by a previous poster) - it is simply expressing curiosity concerning what seems to be an unusual approach.

 

I think it's called budgeting :).

 

Different people may do it different ways, but as long as they are - it's all good :)

[cb at sea]

It's an either/or thing. It costs the same, whether you do it in advance or have them add it to your bill.