Prepaid Gratuities

[jefa]

I have done a search and can't find the answer to this question, if it's there I'm very sorry!

 

If I prepay gratuities on my upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise, will the crew realise I have done this, and not think I have taken tips off?

 

I have never taken off the auto-tips, nor will I ever do that, but I have seen copies of lists where cabin stewards can see who hasn't paid. If there is the slightest chance that prepaying will not show up on these lists then I won't do it. TIA

 

sue

[moki'smommy]

They don't know whether you have pre-paid or not or whether you have taken yourself off the list.

 

When you pre-pay, you essentially credit that amount to your account in advance. It is then debited for the tips.

[jefa]

Thank you for the quick reply :)

 

So, the onboard account will show a hotel charge each day for the amount we have prepaid? Is that correct?

[brianlojeck]

Correct. You are basically buying yourself a gift card.

[chrysalis]

Thank you for the quick reply :)

 

So, the onboard account will show a hotel charge each day for the amount we have prepaid? Is that correct?

 

We prepaid our gratuities for the Royal for March/April, and there was no mention of it on the account, nor were we charged the daily hotel charge.

[t&atravel]

We also prepaid for our trip in March. There was a card in the room acknowledging the prepayment. There was no OBC on the account and no hotel charges. It was a wash. So unless the steward reads those cards they might not know.

[cb at sea]

They do know if they are getting all their tips...don't worry about that!

[jefa]

Thanks all, I doubt I will prepay then, I was just trying to take advantage of the dollar/pound exchange rate at this moment! I'll know the steward will know I'm paying tips if it's on my account!

 

cb at sea, just seen your reply, so would you prepay then?

Edited May 7, 2016 by jefa
another reply came

[VTX-AL]

Not sure why different folks are reporting differing experiences. One would think that this policy would be the same for all Princess ships. On our last Princess cruise (March/April 2015) we had prepaid the entire gratuity amount which upon embarkation showed up as a total credit on our onboard account, which was subsequently debited each day for the daily amount. We printed out a statement from a kiosk each day to track our onboard spending and still have the copies, so it was easy to confirm.

 

...VTX-Al

[jefa]

Thank you VTX-AL

[t&atravel]

Not sure why different folks are reporting differing experiences. One would think that this policy would be the same for all Princess ships. On our last Princess cruise (March/April 2015) we had prepaid the entire gratuity amount which upon embarkation showed up as a total credit on our onboard account, which was subsequently debited each day for the daily amount. We printed out a statement from a kiosk each day to track our onboard spending and still have the copies, so it was easy to confirm.

 

...VTX-Al

 

I think they have changed it recently. I too prepaid last year and had the credit and debits offset on my folio account. This year it was not the case. There was nothing on the account at all just the card in the room (and a precuisd email). I actually liked it as my folio was much shorter for this long cruise. I didn't have to look through a bunch of daily hotel charges to check for errors. Not a lot of people pre pay so I think it is just taking a bit for this change to be reported.

[brian1]

Thanks all, I doubt I will prepay then, I was just trying to take advantage of the dollar/pound exchange rate at this moment! I'll know the steward will know I'm paying tips if it's on my account!

 

cb at sea, just seen your reply, so would you prepay then?

Hi,prepay, you will get $1.538 to the GBP for the whole year,it is locked in.The current rate is 1.44 something.We done this last year and this year also.I would have thought the staff would know as they know if you pay on the daily basis,cheers,Brian.

[moki'smommy]

Not sure why different folks are reporting differing experiences. One would think that this policy would be the same for all Princess ships. On our last Princess cruise (March/April 2015) we had prepaid the entire gratuity amount which upon embarkation showed up as a total credit on our onboard account, which was subsequently debited each day for the daily amount. We printed out a statement from a kiosk each day to track our onboard spending and still have the copies, so it was easy to confirm.

 

...VTX-Al

 

This has been our experience, but policies change...may be different on different ships, etc.

[moki'smommy]

Thanks all, I doubt I will prepay then, I was just trying to take advantage of the dollar/pound exchange rate at this moment! I'll know the steward will know I'm paying tips if it's on my account!

 

cb at sea, just seen your reply, so would you prepay then?

 

In your case it makes sense. I generally figure that it isn't to my benefit to give them my money before I need to.

 

What amazed me was the number of people who were handing over large bills on the last night. I took the approach that we did the daily tips and the service was adequate but nothing special. They did their jobs and they got their $12 per day. The only time I saw any real "action" was when my daughter asked about the wine tasting. We suddenly had 3 guys at our table wanting to sign us up. Um....we wanted to know when, how much it cost, and what sort of wines were served. Obviously, we also paid the gratuity on daughter's beverage package and the spa (win a spa gift certificate, it doesn't cover the gratuity!) That was plenty of tips for me. And if anyone deserved more, it was the bartender upstairs who was always Mr. "service with a smile."

Edited May 7, 2016 by moki'smommy

[skynight]

Not sure why different folks are reporting differing experiences. One would think that this policy would be the same for all Princess ships. On our last Princess cruise (March/April 2015) we had prepaid the entire gratuity amount which upon embarkation showed up as a total credit on our onboard account, which was subsequently debited each day for the daily amount. We printed out a statement from a kiosk each day to track our onboard spending and still have the copies, so it was easy to confirm.

 

...VTX-Al

This past Feb/March we were on b2b's. For the first b2b grats were part of the promo. For the 2rd leg we prepaid them in advance getting the 2015 rate. In both cases there was no mention of hotel charge in our on board folio.

[antsp]

They do know if they are getting all their tips...don't worry about that!

 

The crew only find there tiptip ratio approx 48hrs after the end of the cruise ends

[mammajamma2013]

We also prepaid for our trip in March. There was a card in the room acknowledging the prepayment. There was no OBC on the account and no hotel charges. It was a wash. So unless the steward reads those cards they might not know.

 

This was our experience in March on Emerald.

 

I believe the stewards know they are prepaid.

 

I liked the experience of pre-paying and will do it again.

[pablo222]

The crew only find there tiptip ratio approx 48hrs after the end of the cruise ends

 

In dining, wait staff finds out who stiffed them on the last

night, after service.

 

This is when the decision is made whether or not they have to

pool cash tips.

 

No need to wait 48 hours.

[antsp]

Sorry, I meant to say stewards find out

[mmckm]

Thanks all, I doubt I will prepay then, I was just trying to take advantage of the dollar/pound exchange rate at this moment! I'll know the steward will know I'm paying tips if it's on my account!

 

cb at sea, just seen your reply, so would you prepay then?

 

How will the steward know . They can't see your account. They have no access to that information.

[moki'smommy]

What is a tiptip ratio?

[brianlojeck]

The last time I treated my FIL to a cruise we prepayed the tips for his room. The steward didn't treat him any differently.

 

I don't think you need to stress over this.

[easyboy]

In dining, wait staff finds out who stiffed them on the last

night, after service.

 

This is when the decision is made whether or not they have to

pool cash tips.

 

No need to wait 48 hours.

The pool cash tip is on top of their share from auto gratuities?

[Lucky TGO]

Prepaid gratuities and Auto-tip are to different things

Prepaid you paid before you start your cruise.

Auto-tip they add the gratuity to your account every day.

Tony

[satxdiver]

We were on the CB in March and had pre-paid our gratuities in October when Princess allowed us to pre-pay at the old rate for any cruise in 2016. The gratuity did not appear on our folio either the pre-paid amount or the daily amount. We will find out this fall if the policy has changed.

 

The idea that one has to hold the gratuity over some staff member's head in order for them to do their job is not rational. The ship's staff are there to make a living and want to do a good job so that they can continue working on the ship. Many of the service crew (stewards, waiters, bartenders, etc) are making a lot more money than they can working in their home countries.