Can I prepay my gratuities before boarding?

[binro01]

I did not opt into pre-paying my gratuities for the cruise when booking. I was wondering if I can pre-pay them somewhere in the cruise planner or elsewhere? Do I have to call my TA to get them added to my invoice? Or do I just deal with them showing up on my sign and sail account. I personally like to get them taken care of before boarding, so that my sign and sail account is easier to decipher. But I never like paying them when booking, especially in this fluid environment.

With other lines I usually take care of them a week before I board via their cruise planner / web portals. I just do not see an option for that on Royal's web portal.

[Merion_Mom]

You can pay for them on your SeaPass account on board OR pay them before your cruise.  Same amount of money either way.

 

Since you used a TA, you should have that TA take care of it for you.

[Ashland]

Do you have any OBC?....If so use that to pay gratuities once onboard.

[binro01]

1 minute ago, Ashland said:

Do you have any OBC?....If so use that to pay gratuities once onboard.

It's minimal. I booked a GTY Oceanview Balcony on the Allure OTS, for only $1,065.00, and because it was so dang cheap, our TA only offered 45 OBC. So yea... Minimal. The tips will be 174.00 for the both of us. I would like to pay it before boarding and not have to worry about any charges hitting my Sign and Sale except for whatever the wife spends at the shops on... Which can be hefty LOL.

[binro01]

12 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

You can pay for them on your SeaPass account on board OR pay them before your cruise.  Same amount of money either way.

 

Since you used a TA, you should have that TA take care of it for you.

Thanks, I'll give my TA a call, and let them know I would like to prepay my gratuities.

[Merion_Mom]

2 minutes ago, binro01 said:

It's minimal. I booked a GTY Oceanview Balcony on the Allure OTS, for only $1,065.00, and because it was so dang cheap, our TA only offered 45 OBC. So yea... Minimal. The tips will be 174.00 for the both of us. I would like to pay it before boarding and not have to worry about any charges hitting my Sign and Sale except for whatever the wife spends at the shops on... Which can be hefty LOL.

 

SeaPass account.  You have to nail the lingo before boarding!

[binro01]

4 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

SeaPass account.  You have to nail the lingo before boarding!

LOL.. I'll get it straight. Maybe.. Been on too many other lines to keep all the brand specific lingo down.

[PJL1973]

Don't think the TA will allow you to pre-pay gratuities through them (they certainly didn't when I tried it). You need to contact Royal Carribean direct. In the end i decided not to bother. Which turned out to be good as they had a sale on our cruise a week before the sailing and I managed to get OBC out of it for the difference. This in turn easily covered the cost of the gratuities for the sailing.

So moral of the story is - Never pre-pay gratuities.

[binro01]

1 minute ago, PJL1973 said:

So moral of the story is - Never pre-pay gratuities.

This is a good moral. They talk about how it locks in your gratuity rate. But the chances of it increasing is quite remote. I too usually like to pay them about 1-2 weeks before boarding, just to keep my SeaPass account clean from the daily charges. Plus my wife usually absorbs any OBC in just one shopping spree.

[renza]

Yes u can call your travel agent and add gratuities. I did to get my bill up to $1500 to save my $500 on American Express. 

gratuities are $14.50 per day per person. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by renza

[PJL1973]

I would say gratuity rates rarely change. My guess is that it's once a year at most. So perhaps if you've booked more than 12 months in advance it might be a good idea. But even so, the increase in price is unlikely to be dramatic (unlike other things which do have much larger price changes and more frequently, like drinks packages or excursions).

[renza]

10 minutes ago, PJL1973 said:

Don't think the TA will allow you to pre-pay gratuities through them (they certainly didn't when I tried it). You need to contact Royal Carribean direct. In the end i decided not to bother. Which turned out to be good as they had a sale on our cruise a week before the sailing and I managed to get OBC out of it for the difference. This in turn easily covered the cost of the gratuities for the sailing.

So moral of the story is - Never pre-pay gratuities.

Your travel agent will add them if u want, and you can always call and get your money back if you change your mind. Just like on any package you can call and cancel if you want. 

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, PJL1973 said:

Don't think the TA will allow you to pre-pay gratuities through them (they certainly didn't when I tried it).

If your TA won't do it, you need a different TA!!!

[billslowsky]

14 hours ago, binro01 said:

Thanks, I'll give my TA a call, and let them know I would like to prepay my gratuities.

You could just add make a payment at check-in?