Will Gratuities go up when cruises resume ?

[VentureMan_2000]

Will Gratuities go up when cruises resume ?

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

I will make sure mine do.

[xDisconnections]

Probably.

 

Everyone has extra onboard credit available.

Edited June 26, 2020 by xDisconnections

[mdsgu]

Probably.  They seem to go up every year or so even without a pandemic.  Even so, while the cruise lines do everything they can to make you think they are mandatory and immutable, you still hold power over who and how much.

[Organized Chaos]

57 minutes ago, mdsgu said:

Probably.  They seem to go up every year or so even without a pandemic.

 

I've only seen the daily gratuities go up once in the last 5 years or so. In late 2018, it went up $2...from $11.99/person/day to the current $13.99. At the same time, or around the same time, the drink gratuities went up 3%.

 

I don't see it being forced on us. I mean, it'll probably happen someday, but at it's usual pace and not when they return to service.

[Butterbean1000]

10 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Probably.

 

Everyone has extra onboard credit available.

We prepay ours.  Our OBC does towards our bar bill. 🍸 When I started cruising 13 years ago, daily tips were 10 a day.  It's not like they go up yearly.

[bury me at sea]

10 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Will Gratuities go up when cruises resume ?

 

It wouldn't surprise, or bother me.

 

The cutback in the number of cabin stewards and the increase in number of tables assigned to MDR wait teams bothers me.

 

The total daily gratuity charged per person has always seemed pretty low for three meals and two cabin services per day.

[kikimom]

Silly question (we've always pre-paid them), but how do you use OBC to pay for gratuities?

[d9704011]

2 minutes ago, kikimom said:

Silly question (we've always pre-paid them), but how do you use OBC to pay for gratuities?

Do nothing.  Your OBC account will be reduced by the amount of the gratuities daily.  Of course, if you don’t have enough OBC to cover the cost of the gratuities, your onboard account will be charged.

[kikimom]

Just now, d9704011 said:

Do nothing.  Your OBC account will be reduced by the amount of the gratuities daily.  Of course, if you don’t have enough OBC to cover the cost of the gratuities, your onboard account will be charged.

Thanks!  That was helpful

[bury me at sea]

7 minutes ago, kikimom said:

Silly question (we've always pre-paid them), but how do you use OBC to pay for gratuities?

 

Simply don't pre-pay them.  They will then be automatically added to your S&S account.

 

If you've already elected to pre-pay you can delete that if you want to pay them on board.

[Honolulu Blue]

They might... Carnival has fallen behind its peer group in grats/day, and the workers are going to have to work REALLY hard - especially in the first few months.

 

Or they might not... I'm not sure Carnival is willing to raise prices yet, no matter how small the increase would be.

[MsTabbyKats]

Are "we" sure the  $600 OBC can be used towards gratuities? Isn't the rule of thumb that refundable OBC can be used, but non-refundable can't?

[BSR]

18 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Are "we" sure the  $600 OBC can be used towards gratuities? Isn't the rule of thumb that refundable OBC can be used, but non-refundable can't?

I was told this too.

[JMAE]

12 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Will Gratuities go up when cruises resume ?

Not sure, but I will increase the additional tips I provide.

[PhillyFan33579]

47 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Are "we" sure the  $600 OBC can be used towards gratuities? Isn't the rule of thumb that refundable OBC can be used, but non-refundable can't?

I have used non-refundable OBC to pay for gratuities countless times over the last 5-6 years. 

[bury me at sea]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Are "we" sure the  $600 OBC can be used towards gratuities? Isn't the rule of thumb that refundable OBC can be used, but non-refundable can't?

 

I was told by my PVP that the $600 OBC could and would be applied toward gratuities.

Edited June 26, 2020 by bury me at sea

[Organized Chaos]

5 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

We prepay ours.  Our OBC does towards our bar bill. 🍸 When I started cruising 13 years ago, daily tips were 10 a day.  It's not like they go up yearly.

 

I'd say a $4 increase over the last 13 years, or more, is quite acceptable.

 

The reason I don't believe they'll do it upon their return is because a lot of people would lash out and say they're just reaching deeper into our pockets to make up for lost revenue. I wouldn't think they'd want that kind of attention when they return because they'll already be under a microscope for how well they can keep passengers safe.

 

[Organized Chaos]

5 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

Simply don't pre-pay them.  They will then be automatically added to your S&S account.

 

If you've already elected to pre-pay you can delete that if you want to pay them on board.

 

We always pre-pay, but I'm curious. Aren't they charged to the S&S account as a lump sum on the last day? Or is it deducted daily, like someone else said? I thought I've read that it's a lump sum at the end of the cruise.

[jfaaborg]

I prepay tips , and tip more on top of that for service out of the ordinary. Now I wonder is the lines will charge a fee to recoup some of the costs they are having to incur from the pandemic. Sort of like the airlines having the 9/11 fee 

Edited June 26, 2020 by jfaaborg

[shof515]

9 minutes ago, jfaaborg said:

I prepay tips , and tip more on top of that for service out of the ordinary. Now I wonder is the lines will charge a fee to recoup some of the costs they are having to incur from the pandemic. Sort of like the airlines having the 9/11 fee 

some restaurants is charging people a covid-19 surcharge on their bill

[outdoors27]

No big deal if they increase a little. We usually prepay but will just let our OBC take care of this for us and tip extra as always.. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

We always pre-pay, but I'm curious. Aren't they charged to the S&S account as a lump sum on the last day? Or is it deducted daily, like someone else said? I thought I've read that it's a lump sum at the end of the cruise.

No, they are added daily.

[bury me at sea]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

We always pre-pay, but I'm curious. Aren't they charged to the S&S account as a lump sum on the last day? Or is it deducted daily, like someone else said? I thought I've read that it's a lump sum at the end of the cruise.

 

It's my understanding they are posted as a lump sum.  Like you I have always pre-paid in the past but have read here many times that they post that way.

 

When we got $600 OBC for October after double checking with my PVP I chose not to pre-pay grats on that cruise because she assured me the OBC would apply to them.

[bury me at sea]

26 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

No, they are added daily.

 

Thanks for the correction.