Gratuity question

Don't want to start drama I know how inflammatory this topic is. I just have a question. When do we prepay gratuity? First time cruising Disney and first time using TA. Were we supposed to do it when we originally booked cruise or when we check in at port? We've only cruised carnival and have included it in our final payment. Thanks.

Don't want to start drama I know how inflammatory this topic is. I just have a question. When do we prepay gratuity? First time cruising Disney and first time using TA. Were we supposed to do it when we originally booked cruise or when we check in at port? We've only cruised carnival and have included it in our final payment. Thanks.

You can prepay and your TA can do this for you if you wish, or the grats will just be added to your ship charging account daily, and will be taken when you settle your final bill on debark day.

Either way works fine :)

ex techie

You can prepay and your TA can do this for you if you wish, or the grats will just be added to your ship charging account daily, and will be taken when you settle your final bill on debark day.

 

 

 

Either way works fine :)

 

 

 

ex techie

Thanks so much! Want to get it done so we "have more $$$ " to spend on board ! :)

Just call your TA. The payment can be added at any time from booking until 3 days before embarkation. At that point they change over the computer system and it would have to be paid on board.

i am new to all this but why would you pre-pay for a service that you have not had, as i believe if your handing over hard earned cash you would like to see something for it in return

,i could have the wrong attitude but i think tips should be earned for service and not for staff getting under payed by their employer

You prepay (if you want) because the service you will get on the ship is VERY GOOD...the staff doesn't GET the money until the cruise is over, anyway. Some folks like the convenience of paying for everything BEFORE they cruise! Makes no difference either way.

i am new to all this but why would you pre-pay for a service that you have not had, as i believe if your handing over hard earned cash you would like to see something for it in return

,i could have the wrong attitude but i think tips should be earned for service and not for staff getting under payed by their employer

Pre-paying just means that you've already paid those gratuities that are going to be charged to your onboard account. It doesn't mean the people receiving those gratuities have them, however. They won't get the actual gratuities until the end of the cruise, as usual.

It helps a little with the sticker shock of seeing that onboard account at the end of the cruise, as it's a credit on that account.

If, after pre-paying your gratuities, you don't want to tip that much, then you can go to Guest Services before the last night and have them removed. The credit you've paid into your onboard account will then just go to pay down the other expenses you charged while onboard.

You prepay (if you want) because the service you will get on the ship is VERY GOOD...the staff doesn't GET the money until the cruise is over, anyway. Some folks like the convenience of paying for everything BEFORE they cruise! Makes no difference either way.

We add the pre-paid gratuities to our final payment. Using the Disney Visa Card we have 6 months to pay off the bill under the 6 months no interest promotion.. If you wait until the cruise, it goes onto your shipboard account and it does not qualify for the 6 months interest free promotion. We are veteran cruisers and have never reduced the recommended gratuities because of bad service on DCL.

i am new to all this but why would you pre-pay for a service that you have not had, as i believe if your handing over hard earned cash you would like to see something for it in return

,i could have the wrong attitude but i think tips should be earned for service and not for staff getting under payed by their employer

You must hate paying taxes, or insurance bills!!!

i am new to all this but why would you pre-pay for a service that you have not had, as i believe if your handing over hard earned cash you would like to see something for it in return

 

,i could have the wrong attitude but i think tips should be earned for service and not for staff getting under payed by their employer

You are right, this is absolutely how it SHOULD be. However many years ago the cruise industry as a whole made a change and now these daily charged gratuities are now included in what the staff is paid. It would be like you making $15 an hour at work and one week suddenly making $10 per hour because people didn't pay the daily gratuity charges.

These folks work often 12-14 hour days with no days off for 6 or 9 months and get paid a very small wage when compared to the US GBR etc. Even when we have had a less than excellent service, which doesn't happen often, we have never decreased these daily gratuities as it impacts a number of people on board, beyond a single employee in a very big way.

I wish the old days would come back. But this is what we have now.

Just my 2 cents. Your opinions may differ.

I think of it as a service charge rather than a tip as that makes it more understandable for me coming from the UK where you only tip amazing service. I do think this is something that should be included in cruise costs in general to stop people from deciding to not pay because the service was just OK (although in fact every cruise I've been on I've had better than OK service). By calling it something other than a tip people I think would be more open to paying it and find it less offensive. Its not the poor workers fault that the industry as a whole has this attitude and if people have a problem with it rather than cruising and then refusing to tip they shouldn't cruise. No company will care if you are conning their staff members as long as you are paying the cruise fare! Its the poor staff who suffer

You are right, this is absolutely how it SHOULD be. However many years ago the cruise industry as a whole made a change and now these daily charged gratuities are now included in what the staff is paid. It would be like you making $15 an hour at work and one week suddenly making $10 per hour because people didn't pay the daily gratuity charges.

 

These folks work often 12-14 hour days with no days off for 6 or 9 months and get paid a very small wage when compared to the US GBR etc. Even when we have had a less than excellent service, which doesn't happen often, we have never decreased these daily gratuities as it impacts a number of people on board, beyond a single employee in a very big way.

 

I wish the old days would come back. But this is what we have now.

 

Just my 2 cents. Your opinions may differ.

i agree with you and i am not saying the staff dont work hard ,as any job that involves dealing with the general public from waiter staff to the clerk in a office know whats it is like they work hard for what they get ,

The tipping and service system will only come to a end and the staff will get a decent wage if holiday makers stop tipping and this would force Disney to up the basic paycheck to keep the staff.. and yes regardless of how you think about this DEBATE, everyone has the right to pick what vacation they do regardless of how they feel on tipping..

We add the pre-paid gratuities to our final payment. Using the Disney Visa Card we have 6 months to pay off the bill under the 6 months no interest promotion.. If you wait until the cruise, it goes onto your shipboard account and it does not qualify for the 6 months interest free promotion. We are veteran cruisers and have never reduced the recommended gratuities because of bad service on DCL.

Ooooh, I never thought of that. Great idea.