Carnival Now Requires Gratuities to be Prepaid With Good To Go Promo

[Stick93]

7 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Cheap people never run out of excuses.

Funny post - lots of funny stuff here and things that are more common to Carnival-

 

I am sure the line of people going around the ship on the last day at customer service is to pay more tips, I wonder if anyone is watch for the group and can report on the number of people adding tips the last day 🤪. seems on almost any topic we have a busy body watching the masses and reporting what they see 2-4k people doing at one time. 

 

The Carnival cruiser is usually a more frugal passenger and prob on tighter budget. Seems to work for Carnival and they know who tips and who doesn't. That doesn't mean the people here commenting are more frugal or the common passenger but if Jacksonville and Mobile were such great home ports I am sure more ships would go there. Look at the ships and the products. Carnivals product presentation is very scattered over the different ships which is not as glaring on the other cruise lines. Carnival can do whatever they like and add tips, give paper receipts out and they are well aware of the passengers behavior towards it and I am sure they modify their approach as well. 

 

Calling anyone cheap for making their own decisions is wrong - but enjoy!

Spend your own money as you like- 

 

By the way if you tip the pizza guys when you are there you never wait for pizza - better than tipping the alchemy bar people in my opinion!

 

 

[mondello]

17 hours ago, Stick93 said:

Can we add to this that if you have a package you don't need a paper receipt to sign for every drink?

The paper trail is obviously needed to enforce the daily 15 drink limit. Can you imagine how many idiots would be claiming they didn't drink that many?

[Brkintx]

I don't think there's any way to correlate "Carnival" cruises with 'budget cruisers.'

 

Carnival has a product and does what they can to attract high, medium, and low value (revenue wise) customers. As they should.

 

Perhaps my anecdotal perspective is a narrow one, but I've ONLY sailed on Carnival, and in my 6 sailings thus far, I have not been on one yet that cost me less than $5k start to finish (and all but the first one were "free" via the player's club). Some were significantly more than that (again, start to finish).

 

This isn't a complaint about how much they cost - I directly and intentionally chose to spend my vacation / entertainment dollars in the way I have.  My point is that considering the cabin fare (including the portion dedicated directly to crew compensation, er., I mean gratuities) as the measure of value (or customer type) is far far far too fallible of an approach.

 

Will I 'ever' consider NCL, RC, or others (other than Disney)? Possibly. But as long as Carnival keeps me having a good time / entertainment and vacation value for total spend, there is simply no reason to.

 

I don't mind the receipts / signature required, but it does seem silly there isn't an electronic method in place yet (e.g. hand carried device with a screen you sign on that captures that signature). The cost of those would be an investment with a ROI based on saving both the cost of the receipt paper/printers but also the staff time for manual processing / adding of tips, etc.

[Colorado Cruzer]

Carnival cruising is the cheapest form of vacation as far as the ones we've been on to various resorts/land travel, etc.  I do think the Carnival brand is kinda like Walmart...lol.  We love it though becasue it's not stuffy and it's a lot of fun!  We always over tip and leave grats in place but I don't think it's anyone's business how anyone else tips.  If Carnival really cared about their people, they would add it as a mandatory fee sort of like a resort fee at other places.  I would have no issue with that and if the fare was too much for people that don't like to tip, they just won't book.   

[reeinaz]

I just booked my 3rd non-casino rate cruise that included an OBC amount that nearly offset the cruise rate of my interior cabin. I still pay for my CHEERS package outright and prepay tips. What do I do with my OBC? Tip like I’m a baller!!! Lmao. Pool side drink server? Oh you get $3! Craps croupier? Here’s a $10 chip.

I wonder if that’s why I get those low rate-high OBC offers?

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, Brkintx said:

I don't think there's any way to correlate "Carnival" cruises with 'budget cruisers.'

 

Carnival has a product and does what they can to attract high, medium, and low value (revenue wise) customers. As they should.

 

Perhaps my anecdotal perspective is a narrow one, but I've ONLY sailed on Carnival, and in my 6 sailings thus far, I have not been on one yet that cost me less than $5k start to finish (and all but the first one were "free" via the player's club). Some were significantly more than that (again, start to finish).

 

This isn't a complaint about how much they cost - I directly and intentionally chose to spend my vacation / entertainment dollars in the way I have.  My point is that considering the cabin fare (including the portion dedicated directly to crew compensation, er., I mean gratuities) as the measure of value (or customer type) is far far far too fallible of an approach.

 

Will I 'ever' consider NCL, RC, or others (other than Disney)? Possibly. But as long as Carnival keeps me having a good time / entertainment and vacation value for total spend, there is simply no reason to.

 

I don't mind the receipts / signature required, but it does seem silly there isn't an electronic method in place yet (e.g. hand carried device with a screen you sign on that captures that signature). The cost of those would be an investment with a ROI based on saving both the cost of the receipt paper/printers but also the staff time for manual processing / adding of tips, etc.

What Carnival is, is a family cruise line and I meet many families who are being treated by another family member to a free vacation.  Ungrateful family members are part of that sea day line at GS to see about getting some traveling money back when they see the gratuities charges appear on the accounts.  

[Joebucks]

Whenever I hear people say "I'd rather tip in cash" I just assume that means that they want to tip whatever random amount they decide on. Usually less. Usually just to the people they directly interact with. Some also feel better about handing it directly to the crew, which I get. You aren't doing any favors if you are cutting people out.

 

I'd bet there's also another business impact for Carnival here. All of the people with OBCs can't just use it to pay for gratuities. Instead, ensuring they purchase stuff onboard. 

 

And yes, I agree with those who said the removal of the Casino Bar was a terrible, terrible, terrible idea. That was a very fun place to go. 

[skidawg79]

On 3/8/2022 at 1:19 AM, CruiseLoverFromNorCal said:

When I booked with the Good to Go promo, it forced me to prepay the gratuities. There was no way to opt out. Anyone else notice this? I prefer to tip individual workers in cash. 

So you go back in the galley and tip the cooks that are cooking your meals?  or only the ones that bring it to you?   the gratuities get spread out to the ones behind the scenes too.   Would never even think of opting out of gratuities....

[LibratPDX]

I wish they would just make the gratuities REQUIRED and not allow them to be removed AT ALL.  IMO it's a ridiculous dance.  If you prefer to pay cash you are not necessarily tipping everyone the gratuities cover.  If you can afford to go on a cruise, you can afford to pay the gratuities.  PERIOD.  If you have problems with service on the ship, report it to GUEST SERVICES and/or report it when you fill out your post-cruise report, don't stiff the people who are working hard day and night to take care of passengers and the ship.

 

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, LibratPDX said:

I wish they would just make the gratuities REQUIRED and not allow them to be removed AT ALL.  IMO it's a ridiculous dance.  If you prefer to pay cash you are not necessarily tipping everyone the gratuities cover.  If you can afford to go on a cruise, you can afford to pay the gratuities.  PERIOD.  If you have problems with service on the ship, report it to GUEST SERVICES and/or report it when you fill out your post-cruise report, don't stiff the people who are working hard day and night to take care of passengers and the ship.

 

^^^^^This! Well put Librat! Well put. 👍

[Elaine5715]

20 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Whenever I hear people say "I'd rather tip in cash" I just assume that means that they want to tip whatever random amount they decide on. Usually less. Usually just to the people they directly interact with. Some also feel better about handing it directly to the crew, which I get. You aren't doing any favors if you are cutting people out.

 

I'd bet there's also another business impact for Carnival here. All of the people with OBCs can't just use it to pay for gratuities. Instead, ensuring they purchase stuff onboard. 

 

And yes, I agree with those who said the removal of the Casino Bar was a terrible, terrible, terrible idea. That was a very fun place to go. 

I do think these guests are trying to play games like giving the stateroom tip to the Assistant Steward because they didn't like the Room Steward or they saw more of the Assistant (same with Wait Teams).  That crew member (who wants to stay working) is not going to pocket the cash and keep it "secret" between them and the guest.