janroatan Posted June 22, 2021 #1 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Do most cruisers pre pay the gratuities for their cruise? Pros and Cons of doing so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted June 22, 2021 #2 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I always pre-pay mine. When I book a cruise, I always add the cost of the gratuities. If the price for them goes prior to the cruise, my cost is locked-in. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d9704011 Posted June 22, 2021 #3 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I pre-pay just to have the expense out of the way. Exception.... if I have a significant amount of OBC, I will let them take the grats out of that pot while I'm onboard. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadacareer Posted June 22, 2021 #4 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I prepay, one less thing to worry about! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateQ22003 Posted June 22, 2021 #5 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I prepay because it makes the final bill have less line items, which makes it easier to spot mistakes. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ziggyuk Posted June 22, 2021 #6 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I normally prepay to lock in the price and avoid the annual price increase but right now with the current situation, I'm paying on my ships account as there's too much uncertainty right now, better in my pocket for the time being. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonslola Posted June 22, 2021 #7 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I also prepay my gratuities, as previous posters have said, it's nice to have one less thing to worry about. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latebloomer56 Posted June 22, 2021 #8 Share Posted June 22, 2021 We generally pre-pay but when we have OBC we use this. I like this feature because we have less of a balance to pay after the trip. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony s Posted June 22, 2021 #9 Share Posted June 22, 2021 We never do as the one time we did the service was beyond horrible. We pay at end and usually add extra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadacareer Posted June 22, 2021 #10 Share Posted June 22, 2021 6 minutes ago, tony s said: We never do as the one time we did the service was beyond horrible. We pay at end and usually add extra We had one cruise where the service was terrible, I went down to comment and right away they credited our account ..no issues..I was very surprised..I think they had a lot of complaints that cruise 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSFun Posted June 22, 2021 #11 Share Posted June 22, 2021 We prepay for the same reasons listed above. One less thing to pay for while on the ship and lock in the price. We have had great service on our cruises. Every once in a while we get a crew member that is not so great but we try to write it off as a bad day for that person. Definitely have never had such poor service throughout an entire cruise so as to not want to pay the gratuities. We actually usually tip on the ship as well if we are getting good service from certain crew members. Can't wait to get back on the ship! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakman58 Posted June 22, 2021 #12 Share Posted June 22, 2021 We prepay just to get it out of the way and lock in the price of the DSC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsTabbyKats Posted June 22, 2021 #13 Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, KateQ22003 said: I prepay because it makes the final bill have less line items, which makes it easier to spot mistakes. Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted June 22, 2021 #14 Share Posted June 22, 2021 3 hours ago, d9704011 said: I pre-pay just to have the expense out of the way. Exception.... if I have a significant amount of OBC, I will let them take the grats out of that pot while I'm onboard. I thought you couldn't use obc (at least the nonrefundable) for gratuities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare All-ready2cruise Posted June 22, 2021 #15 Share Posted June 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, julig22 said: I thought you couldn't use obc (at least the nonrefundable) for gratuities? You are correct, depending who gives you the OBC. If it's from NCL, it's a no. If it's a TA it is likely ok to use for the DSC/Gratuities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger001 Posted June 22, 2021 #16 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Pay now or pay later. Just a personal decision. No difference. I pay later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted June 22, 2021 #17 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I usually pay a couple weeks before we sail just to get it out of the way, unless I read about an upcoming price hike. I have never waited to pay them onboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrumpyNor Posted June 22, 2021 #18 Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) Always prepaying, for same reasons as other have listed. Edited June 22, 2021 by TrumpyNor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiefMateJRK Posted June 22, 2021 #19 Share Posted June 22, 2021 2 hours ago, roger001 said: Pay now or pay later. Just a personal decision. No difference. I pay later. That makes two of us (and I believe based upon this thread that we are in a very small minority). The only time I prepaid is when there was an imminent price increase between final payment date and sail date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted June 22, 2021 #20 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Since I now have to pre-pay excursions, I won't be pre-paying gratuities because (fingers crossed) my intent is to have guest services refund excursion expenses to my account so I can use OBC. Then the refunded money would pay gratuities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggTexasGal Posted June 22, 2021 #21 Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) @julig22 Per the following NCL Terms and Conditions, https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions Unless you (or NCL) cancel pre-booked excursion(s), you would NOT receive any OBC, because you pay the fully discounted (Up to $50 excursion credit and/or any Platinum Discount) upfront when booking! Edited June 22, 2021 by ggTexasGal added info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesatgsu Posted June 22, 2021 #22 Share Posted June 22, 2021 2 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said: You are correct, depending who gives you the OBC. If it's from NCL, it's a no. If it's a TA it is likely ok to use for the DSC/Gratuities. I didn't know that. It makes sense, but doesn't work that way on Carnival. I assumed it would be the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare All-ready2cruise Posted June 22, 2021 #23 Share Posted June 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, Jamesatgsu said: I didn't know that. It makes sense, but doesn't work that way on Carnival. I assumed it would be the same. Yeah, many pax are surprised by this info, however, don't get Carnival and NCL confused. Other than the fact that they both have cruise ships... other things can be quite different. Enjoy your cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted June 22, 2021 #24 Share Posted June 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said: @julig22 Per the following NCL Terms and Conditions, https://www.ncl.com/termsandconditions/promotions Unless you (or NCL) cancel pre-booked excursion(s), you would NOT receive any OBC, because you pay the fully discounted (Up to $50 excursion credit and/or any Platinum Discount) upfront when booking! I think you misunderstood. I have OBC that I want to use to pay for my excursions. In the past, you just reserved your excursions and could use OBC to pay for them. Now that you have to pre-pay, the only way to use OBC for excursions is to either wait until you are onboard and book then or, as I hope to do, refund my payment once onboard so I can use existing OBC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two Wheels Only Posted June 22, 2021 #25 Share Posted June 22, 2021 I have a question..... I've never bid but if I was booked in a non-suite and pre-paid the DSC, what would happen if I won my bid for the Haven? Would I pay the difference or am I covered by what I pre-paid? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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