Already booked and paid, can I still pre-pay gratuties?

[WeddNcruise]

So I've booked and paid the balance, don't think I pre-paid the gratuties, can I go back and do that? I read it's recommended for better service?

[firemanbobswife]

Yes you can add them. You will need to call Carnival or your TA if you used one.

[ShakyBeef]

Just curious (and a little perplexed), did those that recommend pre-paid gratuities give any explanation as to how this would get one better service? Maybe my logic isn't firing on all cylinders today, but I just can't see how it possibly could.:confused:

[WeddNcruise]

People were posting that the room steward has a list and can see whose pre-paid and they seem to get better service?

I don't know if it's true, but paying now or paying later, doesn't make a difference to me so might as well pre-pay

[Ruby0704]

So I've booked and paid the balance, don't think I pre-paid the gratuties, can I go back and do that? I read it's recommended for better service?

 

We have never pre-paid ours and have always had great service!! Upon boarding I locate our cabin steward and let them know what I would like during the cruise. Never have had an issue with bad service!!

[ShakyBeef]

People were posting that the room steward has a list and can see whose pre-paid and they seem to get better service?

I don't know if it's true, but paying now or paying later, doesn't make a difference to me so might as well pre-pay

 

I hadn't heard it put that way before. I've heard of the notorious "List", and that it includes those that have cancelled their gratuities, as well. And I could see how knowing that his tips have been cancelled could demotivate a steward; but I still don't see how knowing his tips are already paid (before they are even earned) could motivate a steward to provide better service than he would for a guest who has simply left auto-gratuities in place.

 

I get (and respect) your POV that it makes no difference to you if it's now or later, so may as well go with now in case it does get you better service. But from my POV, one reason I do not pre-pay my grats is to avoid possibly demotivating my steward and MDR attendants. So, you could say I do the opposite of what has been recommended to you for the same desired result.

[TX Catty Cruiser]

We have never pre-paid ours and have always had great service!! Upon boarding I locate our cabin steward and let them know what I would like during the cruise. Never have had an issue with bad service!!

 

Like wise. I let the cabin steward know what my needs and wants are and let him know that if he takes care of me I will take care of him. I always go to GS and re-allocate the distribution percentages. I switch the MDR and housekeeping percentages as I don't go to the MDR very often - maybe once during the whole cruise. I also give him a tip at the end of the cruise.

[E&B]

Just curious (and a little perplexed), did those that recommend pre-paid gratuities give any explanation as to how this would get one better service? Maybe my logic isn't firing on all cylinders today, but I just can't see how it possibly could.:confused:

 

 

The stewards and wait staff do have lists of who prepaid gratuities. My guess is that those who have prepaid are less likely to remove them as those who have them billed to their onboard account. This, they are almost 100% assured they're getting tips from people who have prepaid and not so sure of those who will pay later.

 

 

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[suzycruiser2]

We have prepaid our gratuities for our upcoming cruise. Only because I wanted to get it out of the way and not because of better or worse service expected. We are still 100 days out and have had the cruise paid off for several months, along with gratuities, water for the cabin, and CHEERS. I have also stockpiled a couple of gas cards for the trip that I got at a discount at Publix and also have a free night for a hotel that we could use for the night before the cruise. The only thing that I haven't prepaid is parking and I have already set aside the money for that.

 

This has just been a personal choice. I have now started purchasing discounted Carnival gift cards for our NEXT cruise that is yet to be planned.

[Bookbug53]

Prepaid gratuities = Better service?

 

Absolute poppycock.

 

Someone dependent upon tips for a living wage is not going to deliver sub par service to someone that hasn't tipped yet!

 

A more reasonable thought would be "Hey they already paid, what difference does it make?".

 

Don't think that is happening either. :rolleyes:

 

Basically you get good service from good people and not so good from those that don't value their work. Who you get on a cruise is the luck of the draw.

 

But I am absolutely right there in tipping extra for above and beyond. After the above and beyond.

 

A gratuity is for showing gratitude. It should not be used as a bribe.

 

The bigger question for me is why does Carnival give such a list to their employees?

Edited August 1, 2016 by Bookbug53

[cruizinisthebest]

Just curious (and a little perplexed), did those that recommend pre-paid gratuities give any explanation as to how this would get one better service? Maybe my logic isn't firing on all cylinders today, but I just can't see how it possibly could.:confused:

 

Service for us on every cruise and every cabin we've booked has been stellar. That includes the one cruise where I never met my room steward. He took good care of our room and honored any simple requests we had, so me never meeting him had zero negative impact.

 

Over the past several cruises I have gotten in the habit of prepaying tips. I do it to get that expense out of the way. Seeing them come out mid-cruise is not something I want to be bothered with anymore. I also tip the room steward at the beginning and then again, along with the wait staff, at the end. Makes me happy. I know those folks are happy. Everyone is happy when it comes to the tips, so we will continue to do it that way.

[ShakyBeef]

Service for us on every cruise and every cabin we've booked has been stellar. That includes the one cruise where I never met my room steward. He took good care of our room and honored any simple requests we had, so me never meeting him had zero negative impact.

 

Over the past several cruises I have gotten in the habit of prepaying tips. I do it to get that expense out of the way. Seeing them come out mid-cruise is not something I want to be bothered with anymore. I also tip the room steward at the beginning and then again, along with the wait staff, at the end. Makes me happy. I know those folks are happy. Everyone is happy when it comes to the tips, so we will continue to do it that way.

 

Right, nothing I said contradicts anything you said. I'm not sure why you quoted me for this particular post? I'm not questioning people choosing to pre-pay. I see perfectly good reasons for people to pre-pay if that's what they want to do. And even if I didn't see a reason for it, it doesn't really matter - we can each do it our own way. And that's how it should be.

 

I'm not arguing that auto-grats is better than pre-pay. And I'm not trying to convince anyone to do it my way. I'm just wondering about the logic that would lead people to believe pre-paying gets better service than auto-grats.

 

I, too, have always had good to excellent service from my Room Stewards. And I've never pre-paid grats. I always leave auto-grats in place, have usually gone down to GS towards the end of the cruise to increase our autotips (will no longer need to do this since the recent gratuity amount increase), and leave extra cash at the end. I don't pre-pay and I don't hand over cash upon meeting someone, before any service has been performed. To me, that seems like a bribe, not a tip, and actually seems insulting towards the steward.:( And I'm not at all "bothered" by the auto-grats appearing on my S&S; in fact, I prefer it that way for being one lump amount to pay off with FunPoints, after my cruise.

 

But these are just my opinions and preferences. None of it has anything to do with my point in the post you quoted, which is: how could pre-paying provide better service than not pre-paying?

[cruizinisthebest]

Right, nothing I said contradicts anything you said. I'm not sure why you quoted me for this particular post? I'm not questioning people choosing to pre-pay. I see perfectly good reasons for people to pre-pay if that's what they want to do. And even if I didn't see a reason for it, it doesn't really matter - we can each do it our own way. And that's how it should be.

 

I'm not arguing that auto-grats is better than pre-pay. And I'm not trying to convince anyone to do it my way. I'm just wondering about the logic that would lead people to believe pre-paying gets better service than auto-grats.

 

I, too, have always had good to excellent service from my Room Stewards. And I've never pre-paid grats. I always leave auto-grats in place, have usually gone down to GS towards the end of the cruise to increase our autotips (will no longer need to do this since the recent gratuity amount increase), and leave extra cash at the end. I don't pre-pay and I don't hand over cash upon meeting someone, before any service has been performed. To me, that seems like a bribe, not a tip, and actually seems insulting towards the steward.:( And I'm not at all "bothered" by the auto-grats appearing on my S&S; in fact, I prefer it that way for being one lump amount to pay off with FunPoints, after my cruise.

 

But these are just my opinions and preferences. None of it has anything to do with my point in the post you quoted, which is: how could pre-paying provide better service than not pre-paying?

 

Sorry I quoted you. You asked a question as to how prepaying provides for better service. Or does it. I was simply saying that for us, prepay on has nothing to do with thinking it will provide better service. Just because I quoted you, doesn't mean I disagreed. In fact I don't and knew nothing about your position on prepaying. Again, I was answering your question. Or trying to. That's it.

[ShakyBeef]

Prepaid gratuities = Better service?

 

Absolute poppycock.

 

Someone dependent upon tips for a living wage is not going to deliver sub par service to someone that hasn't tipped yet!

 

A more reasonable thought would be "Hey they already paid, what difference does it make?".

 

Don't think that is happening either. :rolleyes:

 

Basically you get good service from good people and not so good from those that don't value their work. Who you get on a cruise is the luck of the draw.

 

But I am absolutely right there in tipping extra for above and beyond. After the above and beyond.

 

A gratuity is for showing gratitude. It should not be used as a bribe.

 

The bigger question for me is why does Carnival give such a list to their employees?

 

This is pretty much how I feel about it. Except for the part about the list - I guess it is something one could be curious about. It might be interesting to know the reasoning behind the decision. But the existence of the list doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[ShakyBeef]

Sorry I quoted you. You asked a question as to how prepaying provides for better service. Or does it. I was simply saying that for us, prepay on has nothing to do with thinking it will provide better service. Just because I quoted you, doesn't mean I disagreed. In fact I don't and knew nothing about your position on prepaying. Again, I was answering your question. Or trying to. That's it.

 

OK, got it. No need to be sorry. It's just that I already understand and accept that pre-paying is an option that many prefer, for various personal reasons. I was asking about the (to me, completely unsound) logic behind the recommendations given to the OP that suggested pre-tipping results in better service, and I didn't see how your post addressed that. I suppose you and I are just having two different conversations, here.:p

[Florings]

I always prepay just to have that expense taken care of early on. Never worried about service, have always had wonderful service on my cruises. We always bring enough cash to tip our servers (steward and MDR staff and normal bartenders) at the end of our cruise, also, depending on their level of service.

[StolidCruiser]

Prepaid gratuities = Better service?

 

Absolute poppycock.

 

Someone dependent upon tips for a living wage is not going to deliver sub par service to someone that hasn't tipped yet!

 

A more reasonable thought would be "Hey they already paid, what difference does it make?".

Don't think that is happening either. :rolleyes:

 

Basically you get good service from good people and not so good from those that don't value their work. Who you get on a cruise is the luck of the draw.

 

But I am absolutely right there in tipping extra for above and beyond. After the above and beyond.

 

A gratuity is for showing gratitude. It should not be used as a bribe.

 

The bigger question for me is why does Carnival give such a list to their employees?

 

What difference does it make? A trip to GS to adjust them should service fall short of expectation. Service staff are well aware guests can do this.

 

Whether you've pre-paid them in advance or allow them to be charged to your S&S onboard, one may always avail themselves of adjusting the service charge to be on par with service received.

[ShakyBeef]

The stewards and wait staff do have lists of who prepaid gratuities. My guess is that those who have prepaid are less likely to remove them as those who have them billed to their onboard account. This, they are almost 100% assured they're getting tips from people who have prepaid and not so sure of those who will pay later.

 

 

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OK, thanks. So how does it follow that pre-tipping would get better service? If they are not sure about the auto-grats guests, wouldn't they want to do a good job to try to avoid giving any reason to get stiffed? Are you implying that they might neglect the auto-grats guest because of the doubt of a forthcoming tip? That would be foolhardy to put it mildly. Or, are you reasoning that they might, out of sheer benevolence and gratitude for the pre-tip, be inclined to give extra service to the pre-paid guest? Or is there some other reasoning to this POV that I'm missing?

 

I am really trying to grasp the logic of this "Pre-paying grats results in better service" claim. I've been giving it the benefit of the doubt, but I just don't see how it makes any sense at all.:confused:

[Fireman9302]

I have a question....

If i prepay tips...and get crappy service and stateroom service once a day = crappy service...can I reduce the gratuties still?

[Kevin308]

Just curious (and a little perplexed), did those that recommend pre-paid gratuities give any explanation as to how this would get one better service? Maybe my logic isn't firing on all cylinders today, but I just can't see how it possibly could.:confused:

 

 

I don't know that it would lead to better service. But it does fix it were it is one less expense I have to track on the ship and one more thing that is taken care of. For me the less I have to worry about the better.

[tattoos]

Someone on another thread indicated that if you pre-pay your gratuities, you cannot adjust them down if you have less than stellar service once on your cruise. Is this true?

[bassmaster150]

Just curious (and a little perplexed), did those that recommend pre-paid gratuities give any explanation as to how this would get one better service? Maybe my logic isn't firing on all cylinders today, but I just can't see how it possibly could.:confused:

 

For us it is not about "getting better service". We just like for everything to be paid up front prior to our departure. This includes transfers (if we need them), shore excursions, and onboard spending money. I always like to return home with a very small bill, or in some cases a check from Carnival with a refund of what I didn't spend (obviously, this is only with certain kinds of OBC, but it has happened to us before).

[winddawn]

I'm just happy I don't have to fool with envelopes anymore. :)

[jpurdy]

Just got off Sunshine and I didn't prepay gratuities (not sure why I didn't!), but Guest Services told me it would automatically come off on last day. And it did!

[poobears]

I don't think prepaying or leaving them in place would have any effect on your service. I could see how removing them could effect the service you receive. If they doubt they are going to get a tip, they may be less inclined to go out of their way to quickly service your cabin. I'm sure they would still provide the basics necessary, just with less urgency than they'd normally do. Why worry about rushing and making you happy if you are more than likely going to shaft them in the end (not saying those who remove their tips would, just saying I could see someone thinking this way). But leaving in place or prepaying I can't see that making a difference.

 

As for me, I always prepay, not because it makes a difference in service, but because it's easier for me. I like to have everything I can prepaid for a worry free cruise. I prepay my tips, my excursions, I load up my S&S with some spending money for the casino, bingo, just fun money, prepay hotels, set money aside for gas, food going down etc. Nothing gets charged. When I come home it's usually with quite a bit of money left in my pocket that didn't get used, especially since the last 3 cruises resulted in wins of $750 in bingo and breaking even or coming out ahead in the casino which more than paid for any on board expenses so I brought home everything I preloaded on my S&S plus some.