What happens to prepaid tips if you cancel?

[blueskadoo]

Hi all! Considering prepaying our gratuities but given how far in advance our cruise is, I wanted to know if you would receive a refund if for some awful reason we'd have to cancel? I believe the answer is yes, but I know my great friends here on CC would know! My research wasn't fruitful.

 

Thanks!

[n6uqqq]

Yes to your original form of payment.

[chasinraynbowz]

I just had this happen.  We had to cancel the day before the cruise and we got everything we prepaid, including gratuities, refunded to us with no problem.

[blueskadoo]

I went ahead and prepaid them...but now they’ve not hit my credit card! I’ve seen them be in a temporary authorization status but not yet processed. It’s been right at 48 hours, so I’m wondering what the heck is going on! 

 

Full disclosure: I’m trying to hit a minimum spend bonus that is coming up quickly on a credit card so I’m watching it much more closely than I usually would. 

[n6uqqq]

Normally they won't take the prepaid gratuities until final payment. You would need to call and apply a payment.

[Schoifmom]

21 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

Normally they won't take the prepaid gratuities until final payment. You would need to call and apply a payment.

 

I have never had a problem applying prepaid gratuities.  I always do it at the time I book my cruise and I never pay my cruise in full at the time of booking.

[n6uqqq]

44 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

 

I have never had a problem applying prepaid gratuities.  I always do it at the time I book my cruise and I never pay my cruise in full at the time of booking.

 

Poster #4 is trying to hit a credit card spending bonus and I replied to tell them Carnival won't be taking the money any time soon unless they call and have a payment applied. I prepay my gratuities also but it won't be charged against my CC for a long time.

[Schoifmom]

42 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

 

Poster #4 is trying to hit a credit card spending bonus and I replied to tell them Carnival won't be taking the money any time soon unless they call and have a payment applied. I prepay my gratuities also but it won't be charged against my CC for a long time.

Gotcha.  I guess that I didn't realize that it sits in pending for that long (I always use gift cards to pay).  So, if you add them at the time of booking and your cruise is more than a year out, it sits in pending for that entire time?  Wow.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Schoifmom

[blueskadoo]

I went ahead and called Carnival to find out what was up. They said they saw it as approved and posted to my account and charged instantly, and something with my credit card company was what was slowing it down. MasterCard says that they see it as pending, and can take their system from 2-7 days. So I think I just have to be patient! Like I said, I've never really paid attention to how long this all takes on a regular basis.

[n6uqqq]

16 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

Gotcha.  I guess that I didn't realize that it sits in pending for that long (I always use gift cards to pay).  So, if you add them at the time of booking and your cruise is more than a year out, it sits in pending for that entire time?  Wow.

 

The good thing is you can lock in your gratuity rate but not pay until final payment. Sometimes i book 2 years out and this is nice.