Prepaid Gratuities but Feeling Weird About It...

[George C]

We do not prepay tips but all major lines with add about 15 dollars a day to your account for tips. This is fairly new started about 15 or 20 years ago. We always tip extra to room steward and butler if our suite has one. We also tip a dollar or two with drink orders and also tip with each meal . Concierge might get tipped depending what they did for us. I sure this was started since some people never tipped, I do think the basic tip should be embedded into fare. 

[Gwendy914]

32 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Sign in to your Celebrity account and go to your cruise.  Go to Manage Reservation. Go to drop down menu Reservation Details.  Under Open Dining there is a button for Edit Gratuities.  You have the option of paying for them there.  Hope that helps!

I don't have an option there, but thank you so much for trying to help me. I appreciate it!

 

[TeeRick]

10 minutes ago, George C said:

We do not prepay tips but all major lines with add about 15 dollars a day to your account for tips. This is fairly new started about 15 or 20 years ago. We always tip extra to room steward and butler if our suite has one. We also tip a dollar or two with drink orders and also tip with each meal . Concierge might get tipped depending what they did for us. I sure this was started since some people never tipped, I do think the basic tip should be embedded into fare. 

Tipping is different by culture and country.  For example, I think the basic tip is embedded directly into the fare in cruises originating in Australia from what I have read here on CC.   

[davekathy]

17 minutes ago, Gwendy914 said:

I don't have an option there, but thank you so much for trying to help me. I appreciate it!

 

I never prepay our gratuities.  I just let Celebrity remove gratuities daily from our OBC. Easy to view your account on your stateroom TV.  

[madmedic]

On 8/12/2019 at 3:14 PM, davekathy said:

I never prepay our gratuities.  I just let Celebrity remove gratuities daily from our OBC. Easy to view your account on your stateroom TV.  

Trying to decide whether to pre pay ours or not. Once paid you cannot adjust the amounts. Having X add them to our on board account seems more flexible and you are rewarding the good service provided rather than paying a "service charge" for service you haven't yet had.🤔

[cruisestitch]

 There’s no particular reason to pay them ahead of time unless you worried that your currency is going to fail against the dollar in the meantime. Or unless you just like to have all the expenses paid prior to the cruise so you don’t have to worry about it again. If you feel the currency is going to rise against the dollar, then wait and pay them as you go on the ship. The dollar amount will be the same whether you pre-pay or pay as you go. But your Currency exchange may vary.

[Wine-O]

26 minutes ago, madmedic said:

Trying to decide whether to pre pay ours or not. Once paid you cannot adjust the amounts. Having X add them to our on board account seems more flexible and you are rewarding the good service provided rather than paying a "service charge" for service you haven't yet had.🤔

You could never adjust the amounts.  You either remove them altogether or you may increase them, individually if you choose, but you can't adjust them.  🍷

[Miaminice]

40 minutes ago, madmedic said:

Trying to decide whether to pre pay ours or not. Once paid you cannot adjust the amounts. Having X add them to our on board account seems more flexible and you are rewarding the good service provided rather than paying a "service charge" for service you haven't yet had.🤔

 

You are paying a service charge for services you enjoy provided by people you never see! You can’t adjust the service charge on board, you can only remove it. 

 

Also please consider that the charge is THE major part of the staff‘s salary. It’s in no way comparable to a tip in UK. By not paying the gratuity you „punish“ all of the people working hard to provide a good experience for you.

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Miaminice

[madmedic]

21 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

 There’s no particular reason to pay them ahead of time unless you worried that your currency is going to fail against the dollar in the meantime. Or unless you just like to have all the expenses paid prior to the cruise so you don’t have to worry about it again. If you feel the currency is going to rise against the dollar, then wait and pay them as you go on the ship. The dollar amount will be the same whether you pre-pay or pay as you go. But your Currency exchange may vary.

 

The currency maybe the deciding factor given the state of the pound at the moment.

[madmedic]

21 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

You are paying a service charge for services you enjoy provided by people you never see! You can’t adjust the service charge on board, you can only remove it. 

 

Also please consider that the charge is THE major part of the staff‘s salary. It’s in no way comparable to a tip in UK. By not paying the gratuity you „punish“ all of the people working hard to provide a good experience for you.

 

 

We are not considering not paying the gratuities. That's a very  contentious issue on this site!😃 

[Miaminice]

2 hours ago, madmedic said:

 

We are not considering not paying the gratuities. That's a very  contentious issue on this site!😃 

 

I am glad to hear you are not considering it!

The reason why I mentioned it was your statement about adjusting the amount.

Since adjustment is not possible and paying or not paying the automatic grats are the only options, I could only hope you wouldn’t choose the latter. 😁

[Jesseslola]

TIP, TIP, TIP.... give extra tips, they deserve it. Share your good graces with those who serves you!!

[Mialias]

I believe TIP stands for "to insure promptness"

[Jesseslola]

I think tips are given after the fact, appreciation for a job well done!

[MISTER 67]

On 8/6/2019 at 9:47 AM, mac66 said:

Don't see the point of tipping...TWICE!   Pre paying the gratuities guarantees excellent service which is expected or so it should be.  IMO, additional tipping is counter productive.  But that's just me

I tend to agree with you because the automatic gratuities are getting up there, that being said because the service not only on Celebrity but the 3 other cruise lines we sail with is always outstanding we always wind up giving 20 dollars each (7 day cruise) to our cabin steward, our waiter and assistant. If we have exceptional bar service we add on to the 20% already charged.

[MISTER 67]

On 8/6/2019 at 9:47 AM, mac66 said:

Don't see the point of tipping...TWICE!   Pre paying the gratuities guarantees excellent service which is expected or so it should be.  IMO, additional tipping is counter productive.  But that's just me

I tend to agree with you because the automatic gratuities are getting up there, that being said because the service not only on Celebrity but the 3 other cruise lines we sail with is always outstanding we always wind up giving 20 dollars each (7 day cruise) to our cabin steward, our waiter and assistant. If we have exceptional bar service we add on to the 20% already charged.

[varoo]

They probably could have avoided a lot of the controversial discussions about the automatic tips (gratuities) if they just called them service charges, which is what they actually are.

 

Many hotels add service charges to their bills automatically, and they don't provoke this type of controversy (even though we may grumble to ourselves about it when we see the bill).

         

  

[Jesseslola]

If you really think about it, for excellent  room service, turn down twice a day; food service - three times a day plus snacks and pizza breaks and great clean ship,  - all these people behind the scene making sure your stay is unforgettable - $14.50 per day seems too low.

[JackB60]

I Much prefer giving the tips personally and extra when someone goes above and beyond - which often happens.

[madmedic]

16 hours ago, varoo said:

They probably could have avoided a lot of the controversial discussions about the automatic tips (gratuities) if they just called them service charges, which is what they actually are.

 

Many hotels add service charges to their bills automatically, and they don't provoke this type of controversy (even though we may grumble to ourselves about it when we see the bill).

         

  

 Pre paid the gratuities yesterday and they appear on our Amended Invoice as "service charge". Why don't they call them that up front or even better include them in the cruise fare? 

[Bo1953]

Net, net whatever X choose to label them or what we wish they would label them or how they should or not be included in the overall fare really is a moot point or so I believe, 'most' of us understand what the charge is in reality and where it goes...

 

bon voyage