Pre pay gratuities

[rodndonna]

9 hours ago, lextsy said:

i had mentioned previously for my 15 day sojourn cruise coming up the prepaid rate was 312AUD per adult. This makes no sense as 16.50 usd x 15 days is 247usd or 372 aud. Even if they removed the first and last days for tips it still works out better value than paying on board in USD

 

Wow - they are really cutting Australians a break. 😀

[VMax1700]

16 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Its  a good deal for sure unless you have a lot of obc to use up.

 

14 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

Wow - they are really cutting Australians a break. 😀

and anyone who doesn't have USD as their currency.

Also I have found that it works just as well with having OBC to use, as they consume the OBC first and you can get the amount you prepaid for grats refunded, but you get the advantage of the good fx rate.

[lissie]

31 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

and anyone who doesn't have USD as their currency.

Also I have found that it works just as well with having OBC to use, as they consume the OBC first and you can get the amount you prepaid for grats refunded, but you get the advantage of the good fx rate.

Wow I had no idea - we're doing a 25 day cruise and we are booked in A$ (because apparently NZ is a state according to HAL LOL) . I happen to have quite a few A$ available on a travel card from a cancelled Australia trip a couple of years ago.  There is a saving - but we also will have a fair bit of OBC which we will probably use but its border line - so this is very helpful to know. 

[Florida_gal_50]

35 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

and anyone who doesn't have USD as their currency.

Also I have found that it works just as well with having OBC to use, as they consume the OBC first and you can get the amount you prepaid for grats refunded, but you get the advantage of the good fx rate.

I guess, if you can take it in cash.  I’m not really interested in parting with extra cash ahead of time to save a couple bucks.

[lissie]

3 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I guess, if you can take it in cash.  I’m not really interested in parting with extra cash ahead of time to save a couple bucks.

Why would I want it in cash? They can refund back to  my travel debit card - far more useful than cash. 

[VMax1700]

Having it credited back to your credit card is a bit of a gamble, as even if the exchange rate is exactly the same as when you purchased the grats, you will lose out on the marginal charges (probably).

 

In my case I asked for cash USD as I could save them in my 'travel wallet' for future travels. 

[Anubi]

Out of curiosity, I went to see what mine were and its $416CDN for both in a balcony cabin for an 11-day which works out to $18.90 per day.

[rodndonna]

33 minutes ago, Anubi said:

Out of curiosity, I went to see what mine were and its $416CDN for both in a balcony cabin for an 11-day which works out to $18.90 per day.

 

Is that against a current $16.50 US /day rate? If so that is crazy good 87 cents to the US dollar!!! 

[Anubi]

1 minute ago, rodndonna said:

 

Is that against a current $16.50 US /day rate? If so that is crazy good 87 cents to the US dollar!!! 

That is good.  I buy $25CDN in USD every week, today I got $18.11, I think it was $1.37.  Hasn't been that good in a long time.  

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, lissie said:

Why would I want it in cash? They can refund back to  my travel debit card - far more useful than cash. 

What?  I use a credit card.  Why would I want it to go on my credit card?  Defeats the purpose and makes no sense. Why use a debit card?  If there are last minute charges in error there goes the money out of your account good luck getting it back.

Edited May 19, 2023 by Florida_gal_50

[Dismomx5]

8 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Its  a good deal for sure unless you have a lot of obc to use up.

And that is where I am for my next cruise. I have OBC to more than cover that, and with HIA, I shouldn't have too much else to spend money on. 😄

 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, Dismomx5 said:

And that is where I am for my next cruise. I have OBC to more than cover that, and with HIA, I shouldn't have too much else to spend money on. 😄

 

For my next cruise I think I had something close to $800, maybe more.  I have HIA.  There was a price reduction so that got rid of some of it.  It's really nice to have a certain amount of OBC but I sometimes I just don't need to buy "stuff" to get rid of it.  Plus then I get money back from the prebooking of specialty too as well.

[lissie]

7 hours ago, rodndonna said:

 

Is that against a current $16.50 US /day rate? If so that is crazy good 87 cents to the US dollar!!! 

The current  gratuities are $16 US / day 

[lissie]

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

What?  I use a credit card.  Why would I want it to go on my credit card?  Defeats the purpose and makes no sense. Why use a debit card?  If there are last minute charges in error there goes the money out of your account good luck getting it back.

If your CC is denominated in US$ why would you not want  it to go to your card - I certainly don't want heaps of cash to carry around! 

 

I use credit cards but they are denominated in NZ$ . My debit card is multicurrency and if I'm paid US$ it will go to my US$ balance. avoiding the conversion back to NZ$ . That way if I spend US$ I avoid the conversion back to NZ$. Overall the conversion costs me 2.5% each way plus the buy/sell difference.  I I juggle the 2 - I would use a credit card to register at the start of the cruise. But if I was going to end up with a credit - I would change to a debit card near the end of the cruise.   The debit card gives me a better exchange rate too and much lower margin if I do change the US$ to a difference currency.  The card is Wise.com but there are others. Its a game changer for those of us who are paid and spend in difference currencies compared to our home country. 

 

If there was an accounting error I'd get it fixed regardless of the type of card - they are both Visa cards as far as the cruise line is concerned. If you mean pending holds - I used the debit card exclusively for cruising last year and the pending never affected the balance - the balance settled at various times - about once every 10 days. I don't know  if that varies by cruise lines - but I may try it  with  HAL this year.  

[Florida_gal_50]

46 minutes ago, lissie said:

If your CC is denominated in US$ why would you not want  it to go to your card - I certainly don't want heaps of cash to carry around! 

 

I use credit cards but they are denominated in NZ$ . My debit card is multicurrency and if I'm paid US$ it will go to my US$ balance. avoiding the conversion back to NZ$ . That way if I spend US$ I avoid the conversion back to NZ$. Overall the conversion costs me 2.5% each way plus the buy/sell difference.  I I juggle the 2 - I would use a credit card to register at the start of the cruise. But if I was going to end up with a credit - I would change to a debit card near the end of the cruise.   The debit card gives me a better exchange rate too and much lower margin if I do change the US$ to a difference currency.  The card is Wise.com but there are others. Its a game changer for those of us who are paid and spend in difference currencies compared to our home country. 

 

If there was an accounting error I'd get it fixed regardless of the type of card - they are both Visa cards as far as the cruise line is concerned. If you mean pending holds - I used the debit card exclusively for cruising last year and the pending never affected the balance - the balance settled at various times - about once every 10 days. I don't know  if that varies by cruise lines - but I may try it  with  HAL this year.  

My credit cards are all Canadian.  Good that you have such faith in getting errors corrected. Maybe you can give advise to those still fighting with hal months later.    While it might be easier to get those errors that occur on the ship corrected.  It’s quite another story once you get off and you get mysterious charges, and yes it’s happened to me.  I got charged with well over a hundred dollar for mini bar charges after I left.  I didn’t touch a thing in the mini bar. I’m not sure why you feel that I don’t understand simple concepts that you need to explain things to me.  I’ve got over 500 actual sailing days with hal.  I know a thing or two.

[highscar]

It’s not only being over charged.  Been sailing with HAL for many years but when I retrieve my statements on Navigator they only appear for the last few years.  Earlier it says not available because someone else paid.   Really?   Then someone owes me $$$$$$$$.  I’m the only one that ever paid in cash at the end of each cruise.   

[Florida_gal_50]

6 minutes ago, highscar said:

It’s not only being over charged.  Been sailing with HAL for many years but when I retrieve my statements on Navigator they only appear for the last few years.  Earlier it says not available because someone else paid.   Really?   Then someone owes me $$$$$$$$.  I’m the only one that ever paid in cash at the end of each cruise.   

Navigator sucks.  Part of the time I can’t get in and many times I can’t pull up my statement either.  It says the same thing.  I’m just glad 🙄 that hal charged me the 31 cents I owed them when I left my last cruise. I’d hate for them to write it off.

[lissie]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

My credit cards are all Canadian.  Good that you have such faith in getting errors corrected. Maybe you can give advise to those still fighting with hal months later.    While it might be easier to get those errors that occur on the ship corrected.  It’s quite another story once you get off and you get mysterious charges, and yes it’s happened to me.  I got charged with well over a hundred dollar for mini bar charges after I left.  I didn’t touch a thing in the mini bar. I’m not sure why you feel that I don’t understand simple concepts that you need to explain things to me.  I’ve got over 500 actual sailing days with hal.  I know a thing or two.

I'm sure that's all true - but I don't understand why using a credit or debit card would make any difference. If I got an erroneous charge after arrival had couldn't get it fixed by HAL or my TA I'd do a charge back 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, lissie said:

I'm sure that's all true - but I don't understand why using a credit or debit card would make any difference. If I got an erroneous charge after arrival had couldn't get it fixed by HAL or my TA I'd do a charge back 

The way it works in Canada if you use a debit card those funds are immediately taken from your account.  When I use a credit card those charges are not coming directly out of my account.  Once billed I have a choice to pay them or not.  No money is removed from my account if I dispute those charges.  In my eyes, that is completely different.  No way would I use a debit card.

[lissie]

9 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The way it works in Canada if you use a debit card those funds are immediately taken from your account.  When I use a credit card those charges are not coming directly out of my account.  Once billed I have a choice to pay them or not.  No money is removed from my account if I dispute those charges.  In my eyes, that is completely different.  No way would I use a debit card.

If I don't pay my credit card  when its due the current interest rate is about 26%! I always pay it when due. Even when I've had a dispute (and won  it) over a couple of months I had to pay the amount in full and then got it refunded - putting my credit card into credit for some months. My debit card is not the one I use at home associated with my main current  account. Its an entirely separate travel card not associated with my usual bank. 

[Florida_gal_50]

8 minutes ago, lissie said:

If I don't pay my credit card  when its due the current interest rate is about 26%! I always pay it when due. Even when I've had a dispute (and won  it) over a couple of months I had to pay the amount in full and then got it refunded - putting my credit card into credit for some months. My debit card is not the one I use at home associated with my main current  account. Its an entirely separate travel card not associated with my usual bank. 

I absolutely pay mine off every month but I’ve disputed with both American Express and home trust visa and didn’t have to pay those charges until they were resolved or they got reversed. No interest accrued on them.  The credit company was of course aware.  As long as the debit card is separate that’s a better way to go.  I just prefer to cover all my bases when dealing with hal and things that can go sideways.

[lissie]

45 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I absolutely pay mine off every month but I’ve disputed with both American Express and home trust visa and didn’t have to pay those charges until they were resolved or they got reversed. No interest accrued on them.  The credit company was of course aware.  As long as the debit card is separate that’s a better way to go.  I just prefer to cover all my bases when dealing with hal and things that can go sideways.

We will most definitely keeping a close eye on the charges after some of the threads here - we don't have a drinks package so we will be charging drinks as we go 

[nannygoatjunction]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:52 AM, lextsy said:

i had mentioned previously for my 15 day sojourn cruise coming up the prepaid rate was 312AUD per adult. This makes no sense as 16.50 usd x 15 days is 247usd or 372 aud. Even if they removed the first and last days for tips it still works out better value than paying on board in USD

I checked our account for a  cruise next year with the gratuities (also in Aus) and it does seem a better deal to prepay.  

[dawnvip]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The way it works in Canada if you use a debit card those funds are immediately taken from your account.  When I use a credit card those charges are not coming directly out of my account.  Once billed I have a choice to pay them or not.  No money is removed from my account if I dispute those charges.  In my eyes, that is completely different.  No way would I use a debit card.

It may be that lissie's card is similar to the AC Conversion card available in Canada. That "credit card" is actually pre-paid, meaning you load CAD onto the card and then set up/exchange the CAD to anything up to 10 wallets in differing currencies. Sounds great, but terrible CIBC exchange rates made me cancel after the first try. No possibility of adding funds in any currency other than CAD. For instance, I always have left over Pesos, Euros, etc, so it would be great to have a method of saving those funds digitally rather than in my piggy banks!  

[Florida_gal_50]

10 hours ago, dawnvip said:

It may be that lissie's card is similar to the AC Conversion card available in Canada. That "credit card" is actually pre-paid, meaning you load CAD onto the card and then set up/exchange the CAD to anything up to 10 wallets in differing currencies. Sounds great, but terrible CIBC exchange rates made me cancel after the first try. No possibility of adding funds in any currency other than CAD. For instance, I always have left over Pesos, Euros, etc, so it would be great to have a method of saving those funds digitally rather than in my piggy banks!  

Thanks for the information.  It’s just not anything I’d want to do.