What happens if someone doesn't pre-pay their tips before final payment?

We have 4 rooms booked but 1 was booked much later than the others and will most likely have MTD. My TA is trying to work on that so that we may all be together for early seating. The 4 people whose pre-paid tips are due tomorrow haven't told me how they are planning to pay the tips and I don't want anything to happen to their reservation. I've reminded them of the date but I feel bad being a nag about it since they know the rest of us will be paying daily once onboard. Should I be worried? They're not!

Interesting question. I assume they are just not going to pre-pay the tips but make the rest of the final payment? My guess is that won't be an option. That if they don't pay the entire amount they might lose the reservation. Personally I don't see the big deal that others do in pre-paying tips. Just one less expense when onboard.

But I do know I wouldn't take the chance by not "paying in full" when the time comes.

Let us know how it works out for them.

As for "being a nag," don't worry about it. They are full grown adults. You have reminded them the money is due. They can make their own decisions.

If they are registered for My Time Dining on their official Royal Caribbean invoice, then the gratuities for the length of their cruise are on their invoice.

If they do not pay the invoice in full by the final payment date, they are DEFINITELY in danger of having their cruise cancelled and losing their deposit.

The cruise is paid in full for all 13 of us. My husband paid for it in Dec. as everyone's Xmas present. My stepson, his wife and their two kids are the ones with any balance due because of the MTD thing. I know they don't have a lot of extra funds right now because he broke his hand outside of work and his company did not pay him for the time off. I will talk to them again tonight and tell them of the risk of having any balance unpaid.

I booked a Feb. 2016 cruise with MTD when I was onboard the Oasis this past February. I was told that I no longer had to prepay gratuities for MTD. I was glad to hear that, because I also received some OBC, and I will happily pay the gratuities once we're onboard - with the OBC - since I don't really do much shopping or drinking on board. Might use part of it for Internet access.

This week I booked a Jan. 2017 cruise on the Allure, and was given the option of NOT prepaying gratuities for MTD. I believe it was a separate little box that I could check to decline prepaying.

The cruise is paid in full for all 13 of us. My husband paid for it in Dec. as everyone's Xmas present. My stepson, his wife and their two kids are the ones with any balance due because of the MTD thing. I know they don't have a lot of extra funds right now because he broke his hand outside of work and his company did not pay him for the time off. I will talk to them again tonight and tell them of the risk of having any balance unpaid.

I dont quite understand why if you paid for the trip you didn't pay for their tips at that time? I think if I was given a gift for Christmas I wouldn't then expect to pay for part of it- tips are really juts part of the basic cost of the cruise- not an add on.

I have just booked and paid for extended family- I paid it all- I didnt think about charging them for the tips or port taxes etc.

If they cant pay and so wont be going will you get the costs that you paid back?

The cruise is paid in full for all 13 of us. My husband paid for it in Dec. as everyone's Xmas present. My stepson, his wife and their two kids are the ones with any balance due because of the MTD thing. I know they don't have a lot of extra funds right now because he broke his hand outside of work and his company did not pay him for the time off. I will talk to them again tonight and tell them of the risk of having any balance unpaid.

I don't quite understand? If it is paid in full then nothing is owed at this time.

If the tips are still owed then the trip is not paid in full.

If there is ANY balance for any reason the day after final payment it due then you will lose the reservation along with the deposit.

If they can change to regular dining , tips are not required in advance and are charged daily once on board. They are automatically added to each account.

M

The cruise is paid in full for all 13 of us. My husband paid for it in Dec. as everyone's Xmas present. My stepson, his wife and their two kids are the ones with any balance due because of the MTD thing. I know they don't have a lot of extra funds right now because he broke his hand outside of work and his company did not pay him for the time off. I will talk to them again tonight and tell them of the risk of having any balance unpaid.

Knowing money is tight due to no paycheck for awhile, can't you see your way clear to take care of the gratuities? The other kids don't need to know that family member got a larger gift. Or you could make it a loan while they get back on their feet.

The cruise is paid in full for all 13 of us. My husband paid for it in Dec. as everyone's Xmas present. My stepson, his wife and their two kids are the ones with any balance due because of the MTD thing. I know they don't have a lot of extra funds right now because he broke his hand outside of work and his company did not pay him for the time off. I will talk to them again tonight and tell them of the risk of having any balance unpaid.

If they "don't have a lot of extra funds right now", how confident are you that they will be able to pay the tips if they are added to their account daily over the course of the cruise? One way or another the gratuities will need to be paid. Perhaps you and your husband can prepay their gratuities now and work out whatever arrangement is needed to be reimbursed by them later.

If they can change to regular dining , tips are not required in advance and are charged daily once on board. They are automatically added to each account.

 

M

So they don't give out envelopes anymore to give to each person that is to receive the tips on the last day?

So they don't give out envelopes anymore to give to each person that is to receive the tips on the last day?

They do give a couple of envelopes in case you want to give extra.

They do give a couple of envelopes in case you want to give extra.

Thanks Bob. I was wanting to prepay the gratuities for my son and girlfriend and wondered if I could just buy some obc for them that would cover these and maybe a little extra because I'm feeling a little generous;) So if the gratuities are automatically added then this will work.

So they don't give out envelopes anymore to give to each person that is to receive the tips on the last day?

No. The standard gratuity is added to the account each day and is owed by the end of the cruise (unless you go to the customer service desk and specifically remove the tips).

Thanks Bob. I was wanting to prepay the gratuities for my son and girlfriend and wondered if I could just buy some obc for them that would cover these and maybe a little extra because I'm feeling a little generous;) So if the gratuities are automatically added then this will work.

Just so there's no confusion, if you want to use OBC for gratuities, then you don't want to prepay gratuities.

Just so there's no confusion, if you want to use OBC for gratuities, then you don't want to prepay gratuities.

So here's a little trickier question. If I were to put all the money on my son's account (they have separate credit cards on file) could he pay her onboard account if he wanted to? Or part of it?

So here's a little trickier question. If I were to put all the money on my son's account (they have separate credit cards on file) could he pay her onboard account if he wanted to? Or part of it?

Yes, your son could go down to Guest Services and transfer all or part of his OBC to another account.

2 choices.

1: keep MTD and Pay the balance due which I assume are the gratuities.

2: change to a set dining time and pay them onboard.

When the husband paid for the cruises, if MTD was chosen from the get go, he would have paid the balance including gratuities. Did the guests change from set dining, to MTD after the cruises were paid for not realizing this added an un paid balance?

If I were in your shoes I would pay the gratuity instead of risking losing the deposit.

I dont quite understand why if you paid for the trip you didn't pay for their tips at that time? I think if I was given a gift for Christmas I wouldn't then expect to pay for part of it- tips are really juts part of the basic cost of the cruise- not an add on.

 

I have just booked and paid for extended family- I paid it all- I didnt think about charging them for the tips or port taxes etc.

Exactly right. "Here's a Christmas gift but it's going to cost you $336 or you lose it" :confused:

Yes, your son could go down to Guest Services and transfer all or part of his OBC to another account.

Thanks Bob! This makes it easy to decide how I'm going to do this!

We are doing MTD and the Gratuities are already factored into our total cruise price, so there is no date for paying that differantly. As I pay off the cruise, this will include the gratuities. I am not following why some have to pay ahead of time. Could it be because they booked directly vs a TA?

My Invloce lists as follows:

Cruise Price X $

Port fees/ Tax X $

Gratuities X $

Total

I would pay the tips myself to ensure the family vacation is not jeopardized. That being said...

I seem to be the only person here who believes that the gift of a cruise is very generous and doesn't necessarily need to include every expense. We all have the right to decide how much we can or will pay for any gift. The recipients of those gifts were given many months to prepare for the cruise and decide how much they are willing to spend on "extra" expenses. Should the parents also pay for drink packages? Or photo packages? What about excursions and gambling? I think they gave their family very nice Christmas gifts and shouldn 't be made to feel bad because it wasn't an all-inclusive gift.

Our daughter will be joining us next Oct and although we are paying for her portion of the cruise, she is covering her own on board expenses & Tours. Any tours I pre book, she will reimburse me. Presently the on board acct is under our CC but when they open up the Online Check in then she will give me her CC info. I had filled it out then they closed check in until 90 days out.

I would pay the tips myself to ensure the family vacation is not jeopardized. That being said...

 

I seem to be the only person here who believes that the gift of a cruise is very generous and doesn't necessarily need to include every expense. We all have the right to decide how much we can or will pay for any gift. The recipients of those gifts were given many months to prepare for the cruise and decide how much they are willing to spend on "extra" expenses. Should the parents also pay for drink packages? Or photo packages? What about excursions and gambling? I think they gave their family very nice Christmas gifts and shouldn 't be made to feel bad because it wasn't an all-inclusive gift.

I agree that the gift itself was very generous & there has been time to plan for the costs to the recipients, but................ I'm sure the loss of income wasn't in anyone's plan.

I have a few other thoughts about this situation but, for once, I'm going to do the smart thing & keep them to myself.

I would pay the tips myself to ensure the family vacation is not jeopardized. That being said...

 

I seem to be the only person here who believes that the gift of a cruise is very generous and doesn't necessarily need to include every expense. We all have the right to decide how much we can or will pay for any gift. The recipients of those gifts were given many months to prepare for the cruise and decide how much they are willing to spend on "extra" expenses. Should the parents also pay for drink packages? Or photo packages? What about excursions and gambling? I think they gave their family very nice Christmas gifts and shouldn 't be made to feel bad because it wasn't an all-inclusive gift.

While a cruise is a wonderful gift, it can also be a burden for someone who is in a tight financial position. Gratuities and your list of other expenses is comparing apples and oranges. Not paying their MTD gratuities will cause this reservation to be canceled, not booking and paying for alcohol packages has zero consequences.

The TA should be calling all of their contacts and be doing everything they can to get these people moved to main seating so gratuities do not have to be paid today. The bigger issue though is the cruise itself and is it too much of a financial burden on this family without the Dad's income coming in right now. The OP and her DH should really have a conversation with the son to see if they really need to back out of this cruise so it doesn't strain their already strained budget. They should still be able to get the full cruise fare back today (minus any fee that the TA might charge) if they deal with the situation today.