Pre Paying Tips Advice-Empress

[cruisekitty22]

Our travel agent wouldn't let us pre- pay tips when we got our final documents. How do we do this before we sail on April 14-18, Empress of the Seas. Do we do this in the cruise planner? if so, where is the page with that info?

[Clarea]

Our travel agent wouldn't let us pre- pay tips when we got our final documents. How do we do this before we sail on April 14-18, Empress of the Seas. Do we do this in the cruise planner? if so, where is the page with that info?

You must prepay with the travel agent. No way to prepay otherwise if your booking is held by an agent.

[Biker19]

or you could buy OBC in the amount of the grats and let the grats be charged to your on board account - financially it's the same thing.

[taglovestocruise]

In the future you could find a TA that offers pre paid grats as a perk..

[cruisekitty22]

I was not happy at all with our TA. I am not surprised she didn't do what I wanted. She is history! She lost all our business from now on.

[BekkaW]

I was not happy at all with our TA. I am not surprised she didn't do what I wanted. She is history! She lost all our business from now on.

 

Did she say why you ‘couldn’t’ do it?

 

It is certainly possible, as others have said. I would be minded to go in there and demand that she explain herself.

[cruisekitty22]

She said we had to do it onboard,along with a lot of other things like set our MTD times for dinner. She wouldn't do those before hand either. Guess we will be standing in the line at the cruise desk or whatever its called. This is our first cruise. Wish it was starting off on a better note!

[MrsDeee]

She said we had to do it onboard,along with a lot of other things like set our MTD times for dinner. She wouldn't do those before hand either. Guess we will be standing in the line at the cruise desk or whatever its called. This is our first cruise. Wish it was starting off on a better note!

 

 

 

If it makes you feel any better, we made our MTD reservations the morning of on each day. It was never a problem. We had 6 people each time.

 

 

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[Shellygal]

She said we had to do it onboard,along with a lot of other things like set our MTD times for dinner. She wouldn't do those before hand either. Guess we will be standing in the line at the cruise desk or whatever its called. This is our first cruise. Wish it was starting off on a better note!

 

No worries! You have all of us to walk you thru your first cruise!

[lvcrzn]

She said we had to do it onboard,along with a lot of other things like set our MTD times for dinner. She wouldn't do those before hand either. Guess we will be standing in the line at the cruise desk or whatever its called. This is our first cruise. Wish it was starting off on a better note!

Hi Cruisekitty! Welcome to the world of cruising ! You will love it! As far as having to go to Guest Services to handle the Gratuities (I know it’s an inconvenience) please don’t allow this to spoil your pre-cruise excitement. And true to what CC Shellygal has posted: you have us to help you along the way. You will find a plethora of knowledge! When I first started cruising (20+ years ago) I used a TA but now find the preplanning as part of the fun in the anticipation of the cruise. Even without going through a TA there are things that cannot be booked on line and have to be handled when embarking. Different cruise lines have different policies. Little glitches had me at Guest Services (not complaining) this past cruise almost every day. These things always work out. As I recall reading you leave in a couple of weeks. ENJOY YOUR CRUISE!

[cruisekitty22]

Thank you for all the encouragement and replies. We sail in 11 days! Excited!

[papaflamingo]

She said we had to do it onboard,along with a lot of other things like set our MTD times for dinner. She wouldn't do those before hand either. Guess we will be standing in the line at the cruise desk or whatever its called. This is our first cruise. Wish it was starting off on a better note!

First let me say that unless there's some reason you haven't stated about tips, your TA is a total idiot! What does she think she gets paid for? We have used a TA for 10 years and she is fantastic. That's why I use her. I do not get free perks, instead I get exceptional attention and service.

Anyway, a comment for My Time Dining. You can make your own reservations online. You don't need her to do it. Just go into your reservation and select dining and it should be fairly obvious. Even with our TA I prefer to make all reservations for dining, shore excursions, etc. myself. So don't wait to get on board, simply make your reservations yourself.

You also might want to call RCCL and ask them if anything an be done about pre-paying tips as your TA refuses to do it. I'd also consider calling her boss and complaining. It is what you are paying her for.

[cruisekitty22]

Ha Ha Our travel agent owns the travel agency! No one to complain too! I am sure everything will work out. I had to ask for a perk and got $25.00 OBC. She wasn't going to give us anything extra like I see on other websites. So we cant get the pre- paid tips as a perk either! Enough complaining. lol We just won't use her again, that's for sure!

[LB_NJ]

Ha Ha Our travel agent owns the travel agency! No one to complain too! I am sure everything will work out. I had to ask for a perk and got $25.00 OBC. She wasn't going to give us anything extra like I see on other websites. So we cant get the pre- paid tips as a perk either! Enough complaining. lol We just won't use her again, that's for sure!

 

Most travel agents should give you something or expert advice otherwise you are better off calling the cruise company directly, I usually call rather then book the initial cruise online.

 

Is there a reason you want to prepay the tips?

 

In general I would rather keep the money until it is necessary to actually pay it over. As far as tips go unless there is a pending increase there is usually not a benefit to prepaying. It will just go on your charge card.

 

As a previous person mentioned, except for payments like tips you can usually arrange everything else yourself. Unless there is something the travel agent knows or could specifically help you with I prefer to go directly with the cruise line. I think there is less chance of a screw-up.

 

I Have not yet been on this ship however I assume you understand that Empress is a little different/smaller then the other ships in the line.

[cruisekitty22]

We picked this ship because we knew it was small. Easy to get around on. My DH had 2 hip replacements and a new knee replacement this year. That's why we are going on this cruise. To celebrate that he can finally move around pain free. Hoping for great weather!!