Shared Room - Paying for Gratuity/Insurance/etc??

[bmays1993]

I've searched this to no avail and figured I'd try my hand at posting here. I'm sailing on Carnival Pride the end of June with a group of ladies. Three of us are assigned to one room. It was booked and paid for by the one, and we are just paying her our portion prior to sailing but my question is, when it comes to gratuity and travel insurance, can that be purchased ahead per person? I know internet, drink packages, excursions, etc can be purchased online after it's booked but i haven't see anything about adding this after the fact.

 

Person who booked it, doesn't believe in travel insurance and likes to pay gratuities per day so she didn't initially include these things. I'm assuming maybe the insurance would need to be purchased for everyone in that room. 

[klfrodo]

You got yourself into a pickle.

If an insurance claim has to be completed, how are you going to prove how much you paid for your cruise? Common method would be a credit card receipt to an authorized vendor, either a Travel Agent or Cruise Line.

 

You could use a 3rd party for your insurance like www.insuremytrip.com or www.tripinsurancestore.com but again, you won't be able to cover cancellation and such because you have no way to prove how much you paid. However, you CAN get medical coverage and evacuation coverage. Just put in a value of anywhere from $1 up to $500 of "trip cost".

 

Friends are friends and business is business,,,,, never mix the two.

[WisconsinFan]

47 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Friends are friends and business is business,,,,, never mix the two.

Unfortunately, she is in the pickle now. If this wasn't discussed prior to entering into the agreement I don't know what you can do. Did your friend use a TA or did she do all of this directly with Carnival? Do you have the booking number? If she used a TA, perhaps you can ask the TA for some help in this department, if no TA, with the booking number maybe Carnival will be willing to help you out. Has she shared any of the documents with you? If you have the booking information and the receipts for deposits and price per person you may be able to use that as proof of cost for travel insurance. Are you flying or driving? If flying, are you each buying your own airfare or is she taking care of this as well?

 

The pre-paying grats isn't a big deal for us. We rarely pre-pay the grats because we often have onboard credit that we use for that at the end of the sailing. Just budget for your share of the gratuities. They will be posted on the stateroom account daily and a grand total will be available at the end of the cruise. You can put different credit cards for each in the stateroom tied to your personal seapass account for on board expenses. I am not sure if they can pull the gratuities out that way as well, but ask the hotel desk when you board.

 

Best of luck

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

You got yourself into a pickle.

If an insurance claim has to be completed, how are you going to prove how much you paid for your cruise? Common method would be a credit card receipt to an authorized vendor, either a Travel Agent or Cruise Line.

 

You could use a 3rd party for your insurance like www.insuremytrip.com or www.tripinsurancestore.com but again, you won't be able to cover cancellation and such because you have no way to prove how much you paid. However, you CAN get medical coverage and evacuation coverage. Just put in a value of anywhere from $1 up to $500 of "trip cost".

 

Friends are friends and business is business,,,,, never mix the two.

 

Pretty much, this ^^.

But call to ask someone at TripInsuranceStore.com just in case they have a suggestion, and also to get the medical coverage.

 

In the future, do be aware of the travel insurance section of CC:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

 

Browsing there will give you a good understanding for the future, of various travel insurance issues/problems/features.

 

GC

[bmays1993]

Thank you to all of you for responding! I figured as much regarding the insurance, and I'm really not all that bothered about it not being included. I've been on a cruise with and a cruise without. 

In all honesty, I'm not paying a whole lot for my "portion" of the cruise so I'm just generally seeking info. She did book through a TA, I believe but I don't have her information. I do have the booking info and have access to the online access to upload travel docs, set up onboard expenses, etc. 

 

Also, we're all driving to port. Only about an hour give or take for us to meet there. 

 

Regarding the gratuities, is it the same amount ($) regardless if you pay by day vs paying up front? This I always did on all cruises just as a "pay it and forget it". 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Each person in the cabin can have their own credit card number assigned to cover the daily gratuities, drinks and other purchases.  You can ask the check-in agent to do it, and if that doesn't work the guest relations staff on board can do it for you.

[SantaFeFan]

25 minutes ago, bmays1993 said:

Regarding the gratuities, is it the same amount ($) regardless if you pay by day vs paying up front? This I always did on all cruises just as a "pay it and forget it". 

 

Unless there is a special promotion for prepaying early, or the gratuities go up after prepaying them, there should be no difference in the amount. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[kerryincork]

You can all have an on board account with your own credit car.  I also think you call cruise line and pre pay your gratuities if you like, just make sure they place them against your name and credit card.

 

Also my travelling companion always get separate travel insurance all I ever needed was to show my name was on the booking. The travel insurance assumes each person shares equal cost I never had to show I made the payment.

 

I had trouble once because I had paid for the cruise and hotel rooms and I was trying to claim for them, then I did have to show I paid for the whole lot, which was really difficult and time consuming.

 

If its a family group travelling the rules seem to be different. So if you want insurance (don't go to cruise line) reach out to independent insurance agency and see what they give you, make sure you only get insurance for yourself and what happens if your travelling companions drop out.

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by kerryincork

[Schoifmom]

Get the booking number and sign up for a carnival.com account.  You can then enter the booking number and add Carnival insurance for just yourself and make the payment.  Pre-paid gratuities have to be paid for the entire cabin; however, as people have mentioned previously, they will be applied to your S&S account for which you can use your own credit card.  You can even do your own on-line check in through carnival.com and not have to rely on your friend to do it (no giving our your cc number, passport number, or anything else you don't want to).

 

Hope this all works out for you!