Question About Prepaid Gratuities

[Wisconsin Travelers]

I know that I can have automatic gratuities removed from my shipboard account, but what about prepaid gratuities that I receive through a cruise line promotion?  I have never removed gratuities in the past, but I have just learned that on my two upcoming Australia cruises, anyone booking the same cruise in Australia or New Zealand does not have gratuities added to their account - only those of us who book outside of those two countries!  Doesn't seem fair to me that I should pay gratuities when my fellow passengers who are "local" do not - and incidentally, it appears that the majority of the passengers on these cruises are locals!  I'd much rather tip those employees who make my cruise great and not those "behind the scenes" people the cruise lines tell you that share in the tips.

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

[1025cruise]

The people in Australia and NZ have the gratuities built into their fare. Everyone else doesn't necessarily.

[NLH Arizona]

If you receive pre-paid gratuities as a perk, the cruise line is not going to credit you anything, because you didn't pay it.

[Flatbush Flyer]

10 minutes ago, NLH Arizona said:

If you receive pre-paid gratuities as a perk, the cruise line is not going to credit you anything, because you didn't pay it.

Well- not exactly. It really depends on the cruise line and the nature of the "pre-payment."

 

For example, if your loyalty level on Oceania gets you complimentary gratuities and your TA also provides coverage of those gratuities, Oceania will give you an "in lieu" addition of SBC (usually a set amount of approx. $250).

[NLH Arizona]

2 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Well- not exactly. It really depends on the cruise line and the nature of the "pre-payment."

 

For example, if your loyalty level on Oceania gets you complimentary gratuities and your TA also provides coverage of those gratuities, Oceania will give you an "in lieu" addition of SBC (usually a set amount of approx. $250).

Poster didn't, unless I missed it, say anything about a Travel Agent, so I didn't address that.  They asked if they could have the pre-paid gratuities credited back which was given to them via a promotion by the cruise line.

Edited May 5, 2019 by NLH Arizona

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

I know that I can have automatic gratuities removed from my shipboard account, but what about prepaid gratuities that I receive through a cruise line promotion?  I have never removed gratuities in the past, but I have just learned that on my two upcoming Australia cruises, anyone booking the same cruise in Australia or New Zealand does not have gratuities added to their account - only those of us who book outside of those two countries!  Doesn't seem fair to me that I should pay gratuities when my fellow passengers who are "local" do not - and incidentally, it appears that the majority of the passengers on these cruises are locals!  I'd much rather tip those employees who make my cruise great and not those "behind the scenes" people the cruise lines tell you that share in the tips.

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

 

Australia and New Zealand fares are higher to include the gratuities in the base fare. They are not getting a better deal than people from other countries. 

 

Cruise line promotional perks are not refundable. As another reply stated, you aren't going to get money refunded that you didn't pay. 

 

FYI: your idea of removing the gratuities and paying in cash to only those you deem worthy is a fools errand. Most cruise lines will require any cash tips to be surrendered to accounting AT ALL TIMES. A crew member risks being fired if they try to cheat the process by hiding the cash tips.

 

By removing the tips in order to give tips only to those one chooses, the tip won't go to that person at all. It will go into the tip pool to be distributed appropriately. However, if auto tips are kept in place, all affected crew members will be taken care of, and any cash tips given over and above to reward a specific crew member's extra service level will then be deposited into that crew member's account during the final accounting process. Only then will they receive the benefit of that extra cash tip reward. 

 

By tipping only in cash you put the burden on that crew member. They can be fired for not turning in cash tips they receive. And since all accounting is done at the end of the cruise, even if a passenger removes the tips on the last day, any cash tips will be affected accordingly. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[Wisconsin Travelers]

For those of you who think that Aussies and Kiwis pay more for their cruise because the gratuities are "built in", you are mistaken.  Last week an Aussie friend sent me screen shots from the cruise line's web pages indicating their fares for the same cruise we are taking.  He also sent the pages showing what was included in the cruise fare, and gratuities were not part of the deal.  I looked at the webpage here in the U.S. to see what the difference was.  Well, my friends, based on the day's exchange rate, the identical cruises were not even close to comparable.  The Aussie fare was equivalent to $431.27 LESS than the U.S. fare, plus the Aussie would receive 50 AUD onboard credit per person!  So if we booked the cruise on that day, U.S. citizens would pay $431.27 PLUS $188.50 gratuities each for the identical cruise.  For a couple, that amounts to $1,239.54!!

 

All of this being said, I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time on the two cruises we have booked Down Under.  And the cruiseline will be divying up the tips according to their program.  Since the locals aren't tipping (and I have no idea how many of them recognize how hard the staff works and will tip them), sounds to me like the tips from the small number of passengers from elsewhere who are taking these cruises can hardly make a dent in the wages of the crew.

[mafig]

2 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

 

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

 

 

Would that make a difference in whether you would tip those who make your cruise great?

[pms4104]

22 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

I know that I can have automatic gratuities removed from my shipboard account, but what about prepaid gratuities that I receive through a cruise line promotion?  I have never removed gratuities in the past, but I have just learned that on my two upcoming Australia cruises, anyone booking the same cruise in Australia or New Zealand does not have gratuities added to their account - only those of us who book outside of those two countries!  Doesn't seem fair to me that I should pay gratuities when my fellow passengers who are "local" do not - and incidentally, it appears that the majority of the passengers on these cruises are locals!  I'd much rather tip those employees who make my cruise great and not those "behind the scenes" people the cruise lines tell you that share in the tips.

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

If you remove the grats, they are refunded to he who paid them.

 

In this case, Princess likely will move the money from their left pocket to the right.

 

You didn't pay this amount, as it was s booking perk ... so why would you think it would go into your  pocket?

[pms4104]

19 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

For those of you who think that Aussies and Kiwis pay more for their cruise because the gratuities are "built in", you are mistaken.  Last week an Aussie friend sent me screen shots from the cruise line's web pages indicating their fares for the same cruise we are taking.  He also sent the pages showing what was included in the cruise fare, and gratuities were not part of the deal.  I looked at the webpage here in the U.S. to see what the difference was.  Well, my friends, based on the day's exchange rate, the identical cruises were not even close to comparable.  The Aussie fare was equivalent to $431.27 LESS than the U.S. fare, plus the Aussie would receive 50 AUD onboard credit per person!  So if we booked the cruise on that day, U.S. citizens would pay $431.27 PLUS $188.50 gratuities each for the identical cruise.  For a couple, that amounts to $1,239.54!!

 

All of this being said, I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time on the two cruises we have booked Down Under.  And the cruiseline will be divying up the tips according to their program.  Since the locals aren't tipping (and I have no idea how many of them recognize how hard the staff works and will tip them), sounds to me like the tips from the small number of passengers from elsewhere who are taking these cruises can hardly make a dent in the wages of the crew.

Could your  Aussie friend not have booked on your behalf at those seemingly more favorable prices?

 

Or, perhaps you could havr used his address and an Aussie TA?

 

 

 

[Wisconsin Travelers]

We booked our cruise several months ago and apparently you have to book from the country where you live.  

 

All of this came up when I discovered that my OBC (another perk when I booked) was going to be in Australian Dollars, so instead of the $200 U.S. per person, I'll be getting 200 AUD on board, which is equal to approximately $140 in U.S. dollars.  And my shareholder credit is also less than it would be if we were traveling anywhere else in the world.  I guess it's a "live and learn" situation!

[sloopsailor]

22 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

For those of you who think that Aussies and Kiwis pay more for their cruise because the gratuities are "built in", you are mistaken.  Last week an Aussie friend sent me screen shots from the cruise line's web pages indicating their fares for the same cruise we are taking.  He also sent the pages showing what was included in the cruise fare, and gratuities were not part of the deal.  I looked at the webpage here in the U.S. to see what the difference was.  Well, my friends, based on the day's exchange rate, the identical cruises were not even close to comparable.  The Aussie fare was equivalent to $431.27 LESS than the U.S. fare, plus the Aussie would receive 50 AUD onboard credit per person!  So if we booked the cruise on that day, U.S. citizens would pay $431.27 PLUS $188.50 gratuities each for the identical cruise.  For a couple, that amounts to $1,239.54!!

 

Yeah, right. If you believe that they get cheaper fares, then I have a bridge in Wisconsin to sell you.

 

Cruise lines, like any company that is profit based (as opposed to non-profit, philanthropic entities - which cruise lines are NOT) are focused on maximizing profits. No way are they going to give an entire country of customers a better deal than others and diminish their profit margins as a result. There is zero reason to give Aussies and NZers lower fares than the rest of the world. Those fares are adjusted so the Aussie and NZ customer still pays for the gratuities, not the company. Believing otherwise is at the same level of naivety as thinking that removing the tips and paying your anointed ones with your special blessing is a way to circumvent the sharing of gratuity proceeds among everyone who deserves to be in the pool. Employee satisfaction is important to the cruise lines, and they will not easily allow some to be cheated out of their expected income because some selfish passengers want to save a few bucks or make themselves feel important by handing out cash tips like a person who needs to be in constant control. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by sloopsailor

[SantaFeFan]

1 hour ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

We booked our cruise several months ago and apparently you have to book from the country where you live. 

 

Trying to book while making believe you are from another country to get better fares seems a tad unethical to me. It's called "cheating" and the cruise lines are wise to that.  

Edited May 6, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[Wisconsin Travelers]

Santa Fe, if you had read my prior posting, you would see that my Aussie friend took screen shots of what the cruise was being offered for that day in Australia, and I went to the company website to see what they were selling the cruise for that day in the U.S.  The difference was substantial.

 

SloopSailor, I agree that it doesn't seem logical for a cruise line to sell a cruise for less money in one country than another.  I'm just saying that what the cruise line was selling the cruise for in Australia on a particular day was considerably less than what they were selling it for in the U.S.  The reasoning behind the strategy for that particular day is beyond my comprehension.  Obviously cruise lines are in business to make money.  I don't profess to understand what the situation is with the particular cruise I booked, but from everything I can find and determine, it appears that our Australian counterparts are not paying the same as we are for an identical product.

[Velvetwater]

Just to add to this debate about Aussies (and other non-US) getting more expensive fares I have to disagree. I have used VPNs to price search and spoke to many cruisers from these parts and Oz and US folk it seems everyone gets a similar price. Carnival Oz is a very big example of this if you check their website.

 

I also sailed with P&O Oz this past summer and no-one (Including us) on the ship paid grats as they were built into their fare. It is the same story with those that sail with Carnival Oz.Now the fact that both of these lines are part of the Carnival corp group as well as the OP's line Princess shows that if a cruise company know that they can charge cruisers extra money in any way possible -they will.

 

They know they can have Aussie based lines (and British based lines) where they include grats to avoid a backlash from cruisers. But when they have a line that may have an international mix  but near Oz they know they can charge the US cruisers or cruisers used to US cruises more money in the form of tipping.

 

As I have said for years this is complete proof  cruise lines can include tips and still offer competitive fares.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Velvetwater

[dkjretired]

On 5/5/2019 at 11:21 AM, Wisconsin Travelers said:

I know that I can have automatic gratuities removed from my shipboard account, but what about prepaid gratuities that I receive through a cruise line promotion?  I have never removed gratuities in the past, but I have just learned that on my two upcoming Australia cruises, anyone booking the same cruise in Australia or New Zealand does not have gratuities added to their account - only those of us who book outside of those two countries!  Doesn't seem fair to me that I should pay gratuities when my fellow passengers who are "local" do not - and incidentally, it appears that the majority of the passengers on these cruises are locals!  I'd much rather tip those employees who make my cruise great and not those "behind the scenes" people the cruise lines tell you that share in the tips.

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

 

You are probably mixing up prepaid gratuities and those taken out daily. Prepaid gratuities are by definition paid prior to getting on the ship. I don’t know of any cruise line that will allow you to remove prepaid tips.

 

By the way many cruise lines add the tips onto the cruise fare in Australia and New Zealand because of their non tipping culture. This is well known.

[hoopslover]

9 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

We booked our cruise several months ago and apparently you have to book from the country where you live.  

 

All of this came up when I discovered that my OBC (another perk when I booked) was going to be in Australian Dollars, so instead of the $200 U.S. per person, I'll be getting 200 AUD on board, which is equal to approximately $140 in U.S. dollars.  And my shareholder credit is also less than it would be if we were traveling anywhere else in the world.  I guess it's a "live and learn" situation!

We were on Princess in NZ/Aus last fall and had OBC from our TA.  I was concerned about the exchange rate after reading posts here on CC.  Ours was converted to Aus dollars correctly and when we had not spent it all it was converted back to US $ and we received a check within a few weeks.

9 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

We booked our cruise several months ago and apparently you have to book from the country where you live.  

 

All of this came up when I discovered that my OBC (another perk when I booked) was going to be in Australian Dollars, so instead of the $200 U.S. per person, I'll be getting 200 AUD on board, which is equal to approximately $140 in U.S. dollars.  And my shareholder credit is also less than it would be if we were traveling anywhere else in the world.  I guess it's a "live and learn" situation!

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by hoopslover
computer error

[SRF]

21 hours ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

Santa Fe, if you had read my prior posting, you would see that my Aussie friend took screen shots of what the cruise was being offered for that day in Australia, and I went to the company website to see what they were selling the cruise for that day in the U.S.  The difference was substantial.

 

SloopSailor, I agree that it doesn't seem logical for a cruise line to sell a cruise for less money in one country than another.  I'm just saying that what the cruise line was selling the cruise for in Australia on a particular day was considerably less than what they were selling it for in the U.S.  The reasoning behind the strategy for that particular day is beyond my comprehension.  Obviously cruise lines are in business to make money.  I don't profess to understand what the situation is with the particular cruise I booked, but from everything I can find and determine, it appears that our Australian counterparts are not paying the same as we are for an identical product.

 

Were the booking for the same cabin?  Or at least same cabin class?  And not just Interior or Balcony, such as 6D to 6D.

 

Also, there can be discounts for where you live.  Even for US customers, the state you live can make the fare different.  

 

The fares vary so much, it is hard to a 1 to 1 comparison.

Edited May 7, 2019 by SRF

[ontheweb]

41 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

 

Also, there can be discounts for where you live.  Even for US customers, the state you live can make the fare different. 

On one of our cruises, another poster in our roll call got a state discount for being from Massachusetts. And posted in the roll call to check. However, the state discount did not apply to NY residents. (But, it was good I checked anyway since they had added a senior citizen discount that I was able to get after calling my TA.)

 

There are all sorts of variables in the rates charged,

[SantaFeFan]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

On one of our cruises, another poster in our roll call got a state discount for being from Massachusetts. And posted in the roll call to check. However, the state discount did not apply to NY residents. (But, it was good I checked anyway since they had added a senior citizen discount that I was able to get after calling my TA.)

 

There are all sorts of variables in the rates charged,

 

And such discounts and price differences can change on a daily or weekly basis. It is impossible to expect identical fares across states and countries at the same point in time. What one might see today may be entirely different tomorrow. 

[cb at sea]

Everyone is actually PAYING the gratuities, one way or the other.  They hike the price when they add in the grats....so that those serving you aren't short-changed.

[MicCanberra]

On ‎5‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:21 AM, Wisconsin Travelers said:

I know that I can have automatic gratuities removed from my shipboard account, but what about prepaid gratuities that I receive through a cruise line promotion?  I have never removed gratuities in the past, but I have just learned that on my two upcoming Australia cruises, anyone booking the same cruise in Australia or New Zealand does not have gratuities added to their account - only those of us who book outside of those two countries!  Doesn't seem fair to me that I should pay gratuities when my fellow passengers who are "local" do not - and incidentally, it appears that the majority of the passengers on these cruises are locals!  I'd much rather tip those employees who make my cruise great and not those "behind the scenes" people the cruise lines tell you that share in the tips.

 

So if I go to the purser's desk and tell them to remove the prepaid gratuities, do they credit that money back to my account or does the company just pocket the money?  Has anyone ever removed prepaid gratuities?  Thanks for your input.

While it may appear that locals do not pay the gratuities, that is because they are included in the fare. And no, they cannot be removed.

[MicCanberra]

On ‎5‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 4:07 AM, Wisconsin Travelers said:

For those of you who think that Aussies and Kiwis pay more for their cruise because the gratuities are "built in", you are mistaken.  Last week an Aussie friend sent me screen shots from the cruise line's web pages indicating their fares for the same cruise we are taking.  He also sent the pages showing what was included in the cruise fare, and gratuities were not part of the deal.  I looked at the webpage here in the U.S. to see what the difference was.  Well, my friends, based on the day's exchange rate, the identical cruises were not even close to comparable.  The Aussie fare was equivalent to $431.27 LESS than the U.S. fare, plus the Aussie would receive 50 AUD onboard credit per person!  So if we booked the cruise on that day, U.S. citizens would pay $431.27 PLUS $188.50 gratuities each for the identical cruise.  For a couple, that amounts to $1,239.54!!

It is possibly regional pricing. It can happen often.

Can you provide me with  details of the actual cruise, and I can investigate further.

[Velvetwater]

 

 

Brits and Aussies are not required to pay grats on their national lines (and for Aussies even some other lines also). 

 

Yet folk still get fabulous comparable cruise prices at all times of the year and don't pay the so called grats.

 

In fact, since P&O UK have stopped grats their fares do not seemed to have changed at all.

 

Funny that.

 

 

[Wisconsin Travelers]

MicCanberra, I'll take you up on your offer to pursue this further!  Please contact me directly at barbaramae813 at yahoo dot com.  I'll give you the price of the cruise and category on whatever day you email me and then you can check on your end for the price on the same day (well, I guess a little different based on the International Dateline)!  I booked the cruise a long time ago and got a very favorable price, so I'm not complaining about what I'm paying.  The whole thing is just a matter of principle to me - seems to me that Aussies, Kiwis, Brits, etc. should be paying the same price for the cruise if they book it on the same day as Yanks, etc.  Thanks.