Gratuity

[cbelc]

Once and done. We prepay. But we always give a bit extra at the end in the envelopes provided.

 

 

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[911 cruse fanatic]

I don’t see anywhere on my booking to pre-pay gratuities. Where do you find this? I think it asked about it when I first booked but declined as I didn’t know if I was keeping the booking. Now I can’t find where to pre-pay.

 

Go to the Carnival website Log in, under the Manage tab Click My Booking, to the far right of the next page should be a link for Cruise details with a small arrow next to it. On the Cruise details page click on My billing which will show you everything you have paid so far and there is a line for optional charges you should have a box for prepaid gratuities that will have a blue add link under each persons name. Just click one of them unless you have multiple bookings it should add it automatically to everyone on on the booking then just pay the new balance through the website.

[yogibear]

If possible, I like to pay the tips before. I always bring extra cash for the above and beyond service.

 

Karen

[Toofarfromthesea]

Hi. We are first time cruisers and wondering about the advantages/disadvantages of purchasing the gratuity package ahead of time or waiting till we are on board and tipping with each service/meal? We want to make sure we get good service and I don't know if one versus the other (paying ahead or not) makes a difference. Thanks!

 

 

It sounds more like your question relates to the automatic gratuities themselves, rather than to the pre-paying of them. If you leave the automatic gratuities on, it doesn't matter if you prepay them or pay them as part of your final onboard bill.

 

If you are asking about eliminating the automatic gratuities in favor of 'pay as you go' tipping then that is different. If you do that a lot of crew would get stiffed, since they don't have direct pax contact yet are just as instrumental to you having a great time. It could also result in black marks on the steward and waiter, since removing the automatic gratuities implies you were dissatisfied with the service and they are the most prominent faces of that service. Finally you will probably not even achieve your purpose because the mass market lines generally require cash tips to be handed in and only the tips given by pax who did NOT remove the automatic gratuities get returned to the crew members that received them. Cash tips given by passengers who remove the automatic gratuities do not get returned to the crew members who received them, they go into the tip pool and get distributed the same way as the automatic gratuities.

 

Take the fair (to the crew) and easy (for you) path and leave the automatic gratuities in place. Prepay or with final shipboard bill makes no difference.

[dmdiver]

Gratuities are not paid per meal. They are charged as a lump sum - I think $12.95 per person per night in a standard cabin. The advantage of pre-paying them is just to get it behind you and possibly save a little in the event the gratuities increase between now & sail date. We will still tip extra if we feel someone went above & beyond for us. If you go on Carnival's website, you can find a list of how they divvy up the gratuities - spread across various staff members.

[summersigh]

Copied from the Carnival FAQ's

12.95 USD per person, per day for guests in standard stateroom

$13.95 USD per person, per day for guests booked in suites.

Here is the breakdown, per day:

Housekeeping Team: $4.05 ($5.05 for suites)

Dining Team: $6.40

Alternative Services: $2.50

See the quote here for the breakdown:)

[famof4togo]

We tip the standard that is added on to the cruise, we then always tip our bartenders extra...anywhere from $1 - $ 5 each round...and we also hand our room steward a $20 upon meeting him/her. Now people will argue that it makes no difference but for us personally we feel that it starts things off on the right foot with the steward and it helps at the bars with the bartenders knowing us by name / hooking us up with a better drink / taking our order faster etc....we also tip extra to our server and kid club counselors based on personal experiences on the particular cruise...but to each their own of course....