Pre-paid Gratuities

[hankonthecouch]

I am going on my first cruise for my honeymoon. We are going on Royal Caribbean and they have an option to pre-pay your gratuities, which also gives us the option to pick our dinner time. I was wondering if this would save us money.

[caribsun]

No savings and its best to keep your money in the bank. :D

[Sauer-kraut]

You choose your dining time when booking the cruise. Gratuities have nothing to do with that.

 

You can prepay IF YOU WISH to cut down on the final bill at the end of the cruise. Many people do this, I prefer to pay at the end and its not a problem. I know what my minimum bill will be without worrying and then all the other bar tabs and shopping on board will be on top of that.

[Keith1010]

I would post this on the RCI Board.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=83

 

Keith

[donaldsc]

It is the same and there is no saving. Just as an aside question, if a restaurant offered you the option of paying your tip before you ate your dinner, would you take that option? If a taxicab driver offered you the option of tipping him when you got into the cab, would you take at option? Why would you even think of doing it on a cruise?

 

I do not understand why people prepay tips.

 

DON

[cb at sea]

The suggested tips are the same, whether you pay in advance or not.

[Darcys mom]

If you choose select dining, you can dine when you chose vs the traditional seating which is fixed seating times. On Celebrity, if you chose select dining you must prepay the gratuities. I don't know if Royal Caribbean is the same.

Hope this helps.

[Shmoo here]

It is the same and there is no saving. Just as an aside question, if a restaurant offered you the option of paying your tip before you ate your dinner, would you take that option? If a taxicab driver offered you the option of tipping him when you got into the cab, would you take at option? Why would you even think of doing it on a cruise?

 

I do not understand why people prepay tips.

 

DON

 

Just a clarification. "Pre-paid" doesn't mean the tips are given to the parties receiving them before the service. It just means that you've paid for them before the cruise, and they won't be on the final bill. You can cancel pre-paid tips, if something is wrong with the service (or for whatever reason) if you wish. Then you would get a credit back on your onboard account.

 

Some people use this for budgeting their trips. So there's not as much sticker shock at the end of the cruise.

[caribsun]

If you book the cruise with a Travel Agent there's a good possibility that the TA will pay the tips. :)

[Scrapnana]

If you book the cruise with a Travel Agent there's a good possibility that the TA will pay the tips. :)

 

Wow! I want your travel agent. I've never had one pay gratuities for me. I've had OBC sometimes from a TA but never tips.

[spookwife]

I am going on my first cruise for my honeymoon. We are going on Royal Caribbean and they have an option to pre-pay your gratuities, which also gives us the option to pick our dinner time. I was wondering if this would save us money.

 

everyone pays the same amount no matter how or when they pay the gratuities.

 

I like to prepay so I do not have that on my final bill.. it is a part of the total cruise cost as far as I am concerned.

[spookwife]

It is the same and there is no saving. Just as an aside question, if a restaurant offered you the option of paying your tip before you ate your dinner, would you take that option? If a taxicab driver offered you the option of tipping him when you got into the cab, would you take at option? Why would you even think of doing it on a cruise?

 

I do not understand why people prepay tips.

 

DON

 

well I will tell you..I factor it a part of the cost of the cruise and so like to pay it off beforehand. if I CHOOSE to give extra to the crew members that warrant it, so be it and that will be done in cash at the end. and no prepaying it does NOT mean you get sub par service 'since they know they are already getting the money'

 

I do not consider it the same as a tip in a land based restaurant or a cab driver. it is a non negotiable not optional part of the total cruise price.

[cruise kitty]

It is the same and there is no saving. Just as an aside question, if a restaurant offered you the option of paying your tip before you ate your dinner, would you take that option? If a taxicab driver offered you the option of tipping him when you got into the cab, would you take at option? Why would you even think of doing it on a cruise?

 

I do not understand why people prepay tips.

 

DON

 

Trying to address your question as to why people would pre pay tips..

 

We prepay because the cruise portion of our trip will usually be paid in full, less about $200, just about a year before the actual cruise. That when we usually book our airfare, which usually is more expensive than the cruise itself, then we book our hotels for pre & post stay... then we start saving for the next cruise... we cruise only every two years, but it's usually a 3 to 4 week trip including land...

 

taking our time to prepay everything & always having a travel savings enables us see the world a little bit at a time, without ever incurring debt. :)

 

It all goes on the credit card for points, but gets paid in full every month.

[Enforcer]

I am going on my first cruise for my honeymoon. We are going on Royal Caribbean and they have an option to pre-pay your gratuities, which also gives us the option to pick our dinner time. I was wondering if this would save us money.

 

Hi Hank,

 

The gratuities go to the waiters and stateroom attendant, you will pay the same if you pre-pay them or add them to your room account - pay before the cruise or after.

If you pre-pay them, with Royal Caribbean it means that you can choose which dining option that you want in the main dining room (MDR), you can decide which sitting you want in the MDR either early or late. When you choose this option it will mean that you will be sat at a table that could be anything from 2 to 8 or 10 people sat at, if you are on your honeymoon it could mean that if you wish to have a more romantic dining experience it is reduced by the availability of 2 seat tables, unless you wish to have a more communal dining experience.

Pre-paying opens the option to go for "my time dining" which means what it says you can choose when you want to dine but depending of the size of the ship it can be difficult to get the time you want unless you pre-book on the RCI web site. They have smaller size tables a lot for 2 people.

 

Hope this helps

Pete

Edited December 11, 2014 by Enforcer

[onebzemom]

It is the same and there is no saving. Just as an aside question, if a restaurant offered you the option of paying your tip before you ate your dinner, would you take that option? If a taxicab driver offered you the option of tipping him when you got into the cab, would you take at option? Why would you even think of doing it on a cruise?

 

I do not understand why people prepay tips.

 

DON

I'll tell you why we're doing it.

 

My husband is paying for my sister's cruise with me and five other ladies on a girl's only cruise for my 60th birthday. He prepaid the tips as part of the cruise expenses. Now her on board expenses will be all her responsibility. No worries on keeping track of who is paying what

[donaldsc]

I'll tell you why we're doing it.

 

My husband is paying for my sister's cruise with me and five other ladies on a girl's only cruise for my 60th birthday. He prepaid the tips as part of the cruise expenses. Now her on board expenses will be all her responsibility. No worries on keeping track of who is paying what

 

That is a really good reason for pre-paying. Hadn't thought of that.

 

Sounds like you have a really good husband.

 

DON

Edited December 12, 2014 by donaldsc

[Dayenu]

I am going on my first cruise for my honeymoon. We are going on Royal Caribbean and they have an option to pre-pay your gratuities, which also gives us the option to pick our dinner time. I was wondering if this would save us money.

 

First, you figure out if you want to eat at fixed time (there is an early or late seating) - or you want the flexibility of eating any time.

 

If fixed seating, you don't have to pre-pay, gratuities will be added to your account daily. If the flexible "any time" dining, RCL now requests to pre-pay gratuities.

 

The price is the same - food is included unless you go to a restaurant that charges additional.

[iheartbda]

No savings and its best to keep your money in the bank. :D

 

Agree that there's no savings but if you pre-pay by putting it on your credit card at the time of booking, they will not be charged until final payment. Keeping around $200 dollars for two people in the bank for 70 days, give or take, amounts to not much more than pennies.;):)

[cruisead]

Wow! I want your travel agent. I've never had one pay gratuities for me. I've had OBC sometimes from a TA but never tips.

 

We've had our gratuities paid many times by a TA. Once, they were paid for a 21 day cruise.

[ausguy73]

Wow a lot of people talking about what they don't know!

 

Ok so the main reason your pre-paying your gratuities is that this is a condition of the 'my time' dining. This allows you to dine anytime you want rather than fixed time dinner seating.

 

Also contrary to other posts if this is your honeymoon it increases the chance of intimate dinner for two. 'My time' diners are seated in their own part of the dining room and in most cases there are many more smaller table groupings. You can actually book ahead your time and table preference and you can change it every night.

 

Some cruisers complain they have to wait for tables. And yes at peak times it gets busy especially for people showing up with larger groups. But for a couple wanting table you should have no problems.

 

The other reason to pre-pay is the cruise line will charge you the same gratuity at the end of the cruise which you have to go and 'manually' adjust if you want to reduce anyway. Staff on board are paid minimum wages so the gratuities form a central part of their earnings. You can still ask to have your pre-paid gratuities adjusted if you really feel the service is bad. Pre-paying is easy and takes all the hassle away and no unexpected costs at the end.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited December 14, 2014 by ausguy73

[iheartbda]

Wow a lot of people talking about what they don't know!

 

Such as?:confused:

[dorisis]

If you choose select dining, you can dine when you chose vs the traditional seating which is fixed seating times. On Celebrity, if you chose select dining you must prepay the gratuities. I don't know if Royal Caribbean is the same.

Hope this helps.

 

Yes, Royal Caribbean is the same. Don't ask me why they do this. it seems pointless to me.

[serene56]

Yes, Royal Caribbean is the same. Don't ask me why they do this. it seems pointless to me.

 

many people only pay the people they encounter- that is why anytime is prepaid-- everyone on the team gets paid.

 

I prepay my tips before the cruise so I do not have to worry about making sure we have them while we cruise.

 

IF someone goes over and above what I am expecting I will tip that person a little extra.

Edited December 17, 2014 by serene56

[Lionesss]

many people only pay the people they encounter- that is why anytime is prepaid-- everyone on the team gets paid.

 

I prepay my tips before the cruise so I do not have to worry about making sure we have them while we cruise.

 

IF someone goes over and above what I am expecting I will tip that person a little extra.

 

 

 

 

Yes, we finally came to the conclusion 3 cruises ago this is the best way to do it.

 

Even when we did early dinner seating it worked so well.

 

Sea Ya

Edited December 17, 2014 by Lionesss

[crusn2gethr]

Our last cruise we prepaid our gratuities. Never again. Our cabin steward was the worst we'd ever had. Yes, I know we could have adjusted the tips but if you would have seen that LINE you would have just forgotten about it too! :eek: