Do you Prepay gratuities at the beginning or the end or how do you tip?

[sanger727]

Keep in mind that the default is people paying the daily gratuity. The staff probably doesn't know and certainly doesn't care whether that gets paid before your trip or added to your room charges. What they would care about is if you remove that. Prepaying is just a convenience item for you. 

[BoozinCroozin]

Do it how you want. The real answer is your tips are paid in the service fee and drink packages if you get it. You can tip more on top of that if you like.

[Elaine5715]

7 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

The difference of course is resort fees are shown when booking. Gratuities are not disclosed anywhere in the booking process, and could change (several times in fact as we've seen) until they actually post to your onboard account.

Gratuity as well as the insurance option is clearly shown at booking

[kelkel2]

On 3/29/2023 at 6:54 PM, Thad409 said:

I have always paid at the end up until our upcoming cruise in July. I decided that it would just be easier than waiting and having them charge my account at the end. if you pay at the end what is your reason? The reason I did it in the past was because I would just tip as I go for the services rendered. Don't beat me for starting a thread like this.

I pay tips before the cruise because I know I’m going to pay them and I just don’t want them charged at the end. I like having everything paid for when we start our vacation. 

[ninjacat123]

On 3/29/2023 at 10:18 PM, south-carolinagirl said:

Remember gratuities increase on April 1, so if you select prepay you can save a wee bit.  I went ahead and added to my upcoming three cruises and saved $57 😀

I saved $165 for my upcoming six cruises.  Now I can go book another cruise with the money I saved!🤣

[Bob NC]

Charge the auto grats now or later, I don't care, it's all the same to me.

 

[Incognito1]

We usually remove them and pay people directly.  And, yes, we tip our waiters at dinner each night.  And our steward handsomely (assuming he's great; almost all have been).

 

You do what works for you.  And ignore the haters who insist "their" way is the right way.

 

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, it would be taxed completely differently.

[crazyank]

23 minutes ago, Incognito1 said:

We usually remove them and pay people directly.  And, yes, we tip our waiters at dinner each night.  And our steward handsomely (assuming he's great; almost all have been).

 

You do what works for you.  And ignore the haters who insist "their" way is the right way.

 

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, it would be taxed completely differently.

Thank you!  we totally agree, especially about the haters

[latebloomer56]

I love pre paying have done this since the option came out on other lines and on our upcoming cruise with Carnival saw no reason to change. If we have somebody who we feel should have about his or her share we tip them extra. Also don't need to worry this way I've missed somebody and not caring envelopes of cash traveling to the port.

Just my personal preference.

[trummy]

I pay before the cruise. Hence the term, prepay.

[sparks1093]

On 4/1/2023 at 2:56 AM, Incognito1 said:

We usually remove them and pay people directly.  And, yes, we tip our waiters at dinner each night.  And our steward handsomely (assuming he's great; almost all have been).

 

You do what works for you.  And ignore the haters who insist "their" way is the right way.

 

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, it would be taxed completely differently.

I consider myself a corrector, not a hater because at the end of the day I don't care what you or anyone else does. The cruise line way is the right way because it is what is agreed upon by the employer and employee for how compensation will be handled, and that isn't going to change unless one of those parties insists on the change. And you are absolutely right on your last point.

[Elaine5715]

On 4/1/2023 at 2:56 AM, Incognito1 said:

We usually remove them and pay people directly.  And, yes, we tip our waiters at dinner each night.  And our steward handsomely (assuming he's great; almost all have been).

 

You do what works for you.  And ignore the haters who insist "their" way is the right way.

 

As for rolling it into the cruise fare, it would be taxed completely differently.

Which results in the crew members turning in all cash and receiving their contracted amount so no extra for your cabin attendant.  

[Cushing985]

We always pre-pay as we like to start Day 1 having the entire cruise paid for upfront except for drinks and incidentals.  We also leave some extra for both the cabin attendant (s) and for the MDR wait staff if deserving (and they always deserve the extra).  For room service, we tip a dollar a plate, and for drinks, I normally add a dollar to the tip already on the bill.  The only other tip is for the people on the dock who handle the luggage...$5 per large suitcase.

[crazyank]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Which results in the crew members turning in all cash and receiving their contracted amount so no extra for your cabin attendant.  

Nope, do you really believe they turn in all the cash??

[Thad409]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:02 PM, kelkel2 said:

I pay tips before the cruise because I know I’m going to pay them and I just don’t want them charged at the end. I like having everything paid for when we start our vacation. 

Make since

[Elaine5715]

5 hours ago, crazyank said:

Nope, do you really believe they turn in all the cash??

Yes, I do. Do you think crew are dishonest and cheat their friends?