Pre-paid Gratuity

[habsfan4ever]

Hi there Carnival Family, the 2 other Cruises I’ve been on were both on Celeb, the promotion on both included gratuities.

I realize that those funds are shared with a group of Staff, We also are in the service industry, and enjoy tipping those individuals that go above and beyond. So we put cash in an envelope and track those Special people down to thank them for outstanding service.

Now the question, We have the drink package, would you do the prepay, or after the fact? Either way we will still search out those Superstars.

[Joe817]

We prepay the gratuities. If nothing else, to get it out of the way long before the cruise. We also tip individuals who, in our opinion, has offered us outstanding service. Just an additional 'thank you' for an exceptional job well done.

[shof515]

5 minutes ago, habsfan4ever said:

Now the question, We have the drink package, would you do the prepay, or after the fact? Either way we will still search out those Superstars.

the drinks package you have is called cheers. if you already purchased it, then the price already includes the gratuities. from the carnival faq page:

Quote

Before your cruise - $51.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% gratuity. CHEERS! can be purchased at www.carnival.com/Funshops or by contacting The Fun Shops department at 800-522-7648, Monday - Sunday, 9:00am - 9:00pm ET. Cut-off for pre-purchase online is 11:59pm ET, the evening prior to the cruise departure. Although we are not able to process the Carnival Gift Card for Fun Shop orders by telephone, you may use a Carnival Gift Card when purchasing CHEERS! online.

On board - $56.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% gratuity. CHEERS! can be purchased at a bar on board.

 

when you make a drink purchase, you can give the waiter an additional tip if you want by writing it on the receipt or you can give them cash

 

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I pre-paid the gratuities because i can lock in at the old price should the price go up later on the future and it also lessens the final balance i get at the end of the cruise

Edited December 15, 2019 by shof515

[habsfan4ever]

That’s two in favour, I like the idea of getting it out of the way, We’ve booked the drink package, and will probably do the prepaid Gratuities, unless others offer compelling information. As usual thanks for the insight.

[grandmarnnurse]

2 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

Hi there Carnival Family, the 2 other Cruises I’ve been on were both on Celeb, the promotion on both included gratuities.

I realize that those funds are shared with a group of Staff, We also are in the service industry, and enjoy tipping those individuals that go above and beyond. So we put cash in an envelope and track those Special people down to thank them for outstanding service.

Now the question, We have the drink package, would you do the prepay, or after the fact? Either way we will still search out those Superstars.

I actually prepay my gratuities at booking. If not at booking, I do it long before I set sail. I never leave it until I cruise, and I would  never pull the gratuities off my bill. I can’t understand how people could be so cheap as to do that to these hard working individuals. I also leave extra cash in my cabin for our room steward on the last day, and pay extra tips to exceptional wait or bar staff. But I never remove tips. 

[1025cruise]

When you pay for the drink package, you are charged for gratuities on the package, which is split amongst the bar staff. If you wish to tip extra to a specific waiter or bartender, feel free.

[pjhootch]

We prepay gratuities before leaving so we have less on our sign and sail account onboard.  We also tip cash at the end of the cruise to our room steward or wait team if we have received great service.

 

If you have cheers you have prepaid gratuities for the drinks.  We tend to carry a bunch of singles with us on cruises and will tip in cash for drinks as much as possible.  You can instead  add a tip when you sign for your drinks and the tip will post to your onboard account.

[habsfan4ever]

I’ve just paid for the trip, I still have drink pkg, spa visit for the most important one in my life, an excursion, and I’d like to pre pay the gratuities, Feb 29 sail date, how late can I pay?

[pjhootch]

1 hour ago, habsfan4ever said:

I’ve just paid for the trip, I still have drink pkg, spa visit for the most important one in my life, an excursion, and I’d like to pre pay the gratuities, Feb 29 sail date, how late can I pay?

 

Book your excursion first if you have your heart set on something.  You can call up the 800 number and pay the gratuities as late as the week before your cruise.  I am not sure exactly how late you can prepay, but I know I have forgotten until 10 days before and had no trouble paying over the phone.

[thesmiths]

How much on average do you give extra to your room steward?

 

 

[JaxsMama]

The gratuities charged daily have nothing to do with the gratuities charged on drinks. Two totally separate people being tipping. 

[Joe817]

1 hour ago, thesmiths said:

How much on average do you give extra to your room steward?

 

 

For us, we left Ja, our great room steward, a $20 bill on day 2 morning, before we left for the day. A post it note saying 'a little something for you'. And another $20 bill on debarkation day. He took excellent care of us and our cabin. Our ice bucket was constantly full of ice. We saw him in the hallway morning, noon, and night. 

 

 

[rukkian]

8 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

I’ve just paid for the trip, I still have drink pkg, spa visit for the most important one in my life, an excursion, and I’d like to pre pay the gratuities, Feb 29 sail date, how late can I pay?

When we sailed RCI, we simply paid the gratuities many months before the cruise.  For Carnival, since you can get gift cards at 10% off, we are simply buying gift cards that we will apply to our account to pay for things like gratuities, drinks, casino, and any purchases.  There is no real benefit to prepaying, since we are paying for the GC, so we should not have much of a bill at the end.

[dmdiver]

The only benefit to pre-paying gratuities is if the rates should increase after you have paid, you will not be charged the difference.  We usually pre-pay ours for that reason.  We still take extra cash for those that we feel went above the norm, service-wise.

[habsfan4ever]

13 hours ago, thesmiths said:

How much on average do you give extra to your room steward?

 

 

We left $50 for our Room Steward, $30 for our M/D waiter, and tracked down his assistant who worked until late in the evening, and brought our morning room service every day (8:00am) She spoke very little English and we enjoyed having conversations with her as she practiced, also $30. $20 also to a particular bartender at the specialty bar that we lived at during the evening. The effort they put in, the sincerity that they showed taking care of us, and to do it so many days in a row, and most of all being away from their family.... All heroes.

[Joe817]

2 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

We left $50 for our Room Steward, $30 for our M/D waiter, and tracked down his assistant who worked until late in the evening, and brought our morning room service every day (8:00am) She spoke very little English and we enjoyed having conversations with her as she practiced, also $30. $20 also to a particular bartender at the specialty bar that we lived at during the evening. The effort they put in, the sincerity that they showed taking care of us, and to do it so many days in a row, and most of all being away from their family.... All heroes.

Well put! I totally agree! 

[thesmiths]

12 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

We left $50 for our Room Steward, $30 for our M/D waiter, and tracked down his assistant who worked until late in the evening, and brought our morning room service every day (8:00am) She spoke very little English and we enjoyed having conversations with her as she practiced, also $30. $20 also to a particular bartender at the specialty bar that we lived at during the evening. The effort they put in, the sincerity that they showed taking care of us, and to do it so many days in a row, and most of all being away from their family.... All heroes.

Nice, Very nice.

Similar to what we do all those who take care of us.

 

By day 2 we are best friends with our room steward and bartender.

Always take the time to stop and talk to them.

 

[serene56]

On 12/16/2019 at 7:00 AM, thesmiths said:

How much on average do you give extra to your room steward?

 

 

depends.   If I get basic service and nothing extra (special requests like ice or blankets is considered extra)   we tip nothing more. 

the grats include the cabin steward     your dining room wait staff and the lido workers.  

[serene56]

12 hours ago, habsfan4ever said:

We left $50 for our Room Steward, $30 for our M/D waiter, and tracked down his assistant who worked until late in the evening, and brought our morning room service every day (8:00am) She spoke very little English and we enjoyed having conversations with her as she practiced, also $30. $20 also to a particular bartender at the specialty bar that we lived at during the evening. The effort they put in, the sincerity that they showed taking care of us, and to do it so many days in a row, and most of all being away from their family.... All heroes.

is that on top of the gratuity they charge>?? 

[jimbo5544]

28 minutes ago, serene56 said:

is that on top of the gratuity they charge>?? 

lol, it does happen

[grandmarnnurse]

42 minutes ago, serene56 said:

is that on top of the gratuity they charge>?? 

I always tip cash on top of the prepaid gratuities.

[serene56]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

lol, it does happen

not very often     It just blows my mind how many people take their tips off. 

[jimbo5544]

14 minutes ago, serene56 said:

not very often     It just blows my mind how many people take their tips off. 

I cannot argue with the 2nd sentence 

[kerryincork]

We also prepay as I like to pay as much up front as possible. We then tip extra for exceptional service.

[disfan13]

2 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I always tip cash on top of the prepaid gratuities.

Here as well!