Free Gratuities issue

[Renmar]

I’m wondering how the passenger service desk deals with the “FreeGratuities” issue. Will it show up on your statement first and then taken off again or will it not even show up at all.

 

 

Also like to play a little devils advocate here.

 

 

If I remember correctly the gratuities we prepaid on one of our cruises were just added to our on board account. Would it be the same for the freebie, and if so, what would happen to the “Free Gratuities” if a passengeris not happy with the service (not very likely but there always seem to be some unhappy people) and want to reduce, or eliminate, the gratuities (which he/she did not directly pay for in the first place) and notified the desk about it. Would the steward/waiter etc. still get their share?

 

 

Theo

[whatcruiseisnext]

The free gratuities no longer show up on your account so there is no way to remove them.

 

 

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[yags]

The free gratuities no longer show up on your account so there is no way to remove them.

 

 

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We are going on the Grand under the 3 for free promotion which included free gratuities. Right now under our personalizer the gratuities show as having been paid.

[Coffeeluvr05]

We had prepaid gratuities (not free) and I don’t recall it being added to our shipboard account and then deducted. It’s prepaid.

 

 

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[mevs904]

We had prepaid gratuities (not free) and I don’t recall it being added to our shipboard account and then deducted. It’s prepaid.

 

 

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This is exactly what happened on our recent Coral Panama Canal cruise. We prepaid our gratuities and they never showed up on our shipboard account.

[neverbeenhere]

If the random (?) passenger was to try to reduce free gratuities all snark would hit the fan. The supervisor would most likely contact the random passenger and ask for a detailed description of the issues at hand. The staff member would be in deep snark; apologies would flying around like gnats.

 

Unless, of course, the random passenger had a history of complaining with or without merit.

[ceilidh1]

We had prepaid gratuities (not free) and I don’t recall it being added to our shipboard account and then deducted. It’s prepaid.

 

 

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Is this new? I have always pre-paid and this "payment" has shown on my account the same as an onboard credit. Gratuities are charged as normal, but since I have this "credit" it all comes out as zero. I wasn't aware they were doing things differently?

[Lucky TGO]

The free gratuity are Not on your account. My wife saves everything I just checked.

Tony

[SoCalTraveler]

Free gratuities did not appear on our bill on the last cruise where we had them as a promotion.

[Pam in CA]

It used to be years ago that the gratuities would appear on your folio every night and then be reversed. That’s no longer the case. Whether you pre-pay or get the gratuities as part of a promotion, they do not appear on your folio.

[paul929207]

They used to show the debit and credit for the gratuity perk. Now it does not appear. If you did not pay for it, you can not reduce or eliminate it.

[skynight]

I’m wondering how the passenger service desk deals with the “FreeGratuities” issue. Will it show up on your statement first and then taken off again or will it not even show up at all.

 

 

Also like to play a little devils advocate here.

 

If I remember correctly the gratuities we prepaid on one of our cruises were just added to our on board account. Would it be the same for the freebie, and if so, what would happen to the “Free Gratuities” if a passengeris not happy with the service (not very likely but there always seem to be some unhappy people) and want to reduce, or eliminate, the gratuities (which he/she did not directly pay for in the first place) and notified the desk about it. Would the steward/waiter etc. still get their share?

Theo

When gratuities are included as part of a promo, Princess funds the gratuity pool. The pool is then distributed in the normal manner, and passengers have no way to change the process.

When passengers pay the daily gratuities while on board, they do have the option to withhold some of the amounts from the pool, but the passenger can not directly designate which crew member should receive more or less.

Negative reports about a specific crew member can over time effect the crew member's share of the pool.

[whatcruiseisnext]

We are going on the Grand under the 3 for free promotion which included free gratuities. Right now under our personalizer the gratuities show as having been paid.

 

 

 

No... I meant they do not show up on your shipboard account so you can’t remove them. Of course they will show up on your personalizer as having been paid.

 

 

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[RotaryMike]

I’m wondering how the passenger service desk deals with the “FreeGratuities” issue. Will it show up on your statement first and then taken off again or will it not even show up at all.

 

 

Also like to play a little devils advocate here.

 

 

If I remember correctly the gratuities we prepaid on one of our cruises were just added to our on board account. Would it be the same for the freebie, and if so, what would happen to the “Free Gratuities” if a passengeris not happy with the service (not very likely but there always seem to be some unhappy people) and want to reduce, or eliminate, the gratuities (which he/she did not directly pay for in the first place) and notified the desk about it. Would the steward/waiter etc. still get their share?

 

Theo

 

What is the free gratuities "issue" ?? it's free !!

[CindyPie1004]

I hope I’m wrong, but it sounds like someone Is looking for a way to get cash or credit if they say service was sub-par. Issues with service should be dealt with right away and not at then end of the cruise where a passenger just simply wants to save money and not tip. Not cool. The staff works way too hard to be stiffed. If you can’t or don’t want to tip, stay out of the cruising or any other hospitality industry.

[Thrak]

The free grats will show up on your personalizer as paid but that should be the only place you really see them. They shouldn't show on your folio at all.

 

The only time I ever get angry on a cruise is when I see that mob the next to last day at the customer service counter removing the gratuities. I always think there should be a button to push that simply drops them through the ship and out the bottom into the ocean while the ships sails on without them. How anybody can possibly justify removing the gratuities from the folks who treat us better than royalty is beyond my ability to understand.

[1965]

What thrak said!

[RMMariner]

The sad part is that some people would try to get these prepaid gratuities given back to them.

 

I do not know how many people pull their gratuities, but I agree with Thrak, it is frankly unbelievable behaviour.

 

I understand that calling the money gratuities has tax implications for the crew, but I wish the money was just added to the cost of the cruise.

 

I think the process for removing the gratuities should be made more difficult.

 

As an aside: Does anyone know what percentage of people actually pull their tips?

[DrivesLikeMario]

Two weeks ago, the gratuities and the credit for them did not appear on our statement at all.

[neverbeenhere]

As an aside: Does anyone know what percentage of people actually pull their tips?

 

As with most information on CC, there is a lot of speculation, past experience, former employee experience and guessing.

[RotaryMike]

The free grats will show up on your personalizer as paid but that should be the only place you really see them. They shouldn't show on your folio at all.

 

The only time I ever get angry on a cruise is when I see that mob the next to last day at the customer service counter removing the gratuities. I always think there should be a button to push that simply drops them through the ship and out the bottom into the ocean while the ships sails on without them. How anybody can possibly justify removing the gratuities from the folks who treat us better than royalty is beyond my ability to understand.

 

On the Regal a month ago, i saw that same line while i was sitting at the IC, listening to the 2 men sitting at the next table discussing doing it while they were waiting for the line to get shorter -

i finally opened up my mouth and tried explaining what i think is Princess policy, that if you remove the autopay gratuity, any cash that you give to your steward or waiter can not be kept by them - they must turn it in to the tip pool. if you pay the auto gratuity, then they can keep whatever extra csh you give them.