Prepay gratuities before final payment?

[buzzard05]

Just curious...can you prepay gratuities before your final payment? I can see where I can add the gratuity amount "to" my final payment amount...but not anywhere I can just pay those off now.

 

Thanks.

[Pyxie]

Adding them to your final payment, in essence, is "prepaying" them. It doesn't mean you have to literally have them paid. They just need to be prepaid as part of your booking.

[kdnurs]

4 hours ago, Pyxie said:

Adding them to your final payment, in essence, is "prepaying" them. It doesn't mean you have to literally have them paid. They just need to be prepaid as part of your booking.

 

What if I want to PREPAY as it suggests...Can that be done online or must I call them directly?

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, kdnurs said:

 

What if I want to PREPAY as it suggests...Can that be done online or must I call them directly?

 

You can add prepaid gratuities to your booking and then make a payment equal to that amount if you really want to. Or, as you said, give Carnival/your PVP or TA a call.

[kdnurs]

15 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

You can add prepaid gratuities to your booking and then make a payment equal to that amount if you really want to. Or, as you said, give Carnival/your PVP or TA a call.

 

THANKS!!! Another question...If I make a payment online to my booking for the exact amount of gratuities, will they know that is what it is for? I thought of doing that but wasn't sure if they would get what I was doing.

[mz-s]

5 minutes ago, kdnurs said:

 

THANKS!!! Another question...If I make a payment online to my booking for the exact amount of gratuities, will they know that is what it is for? I thought of doing that but wasn't sure if they would get what I was doing.

 

What difference does it make? It all goes into the same pot in the end.

[kdnurs]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

What difference does it make? It all goes into the same pot in the end.

 Sorry to be a bother...didn't expect the latter comment...I was only asking a question...If it didn't mean anything to me I wouldn't have asked. 

[mz-s]

Just now, kdnurs said:

 Sorry to be a bother...didn't expect the latter comment...I was only asking a question...If it didn't mean anything to me I wouldn't have asked. 

 

I am saying - the tips, your room fare, taxes, port fees, and trip insurance are all paid in the same bundle at final payment. The payments you make along the way after your initial deposit are optional and for your organization/budgeting, they make no difference to Carnival. You can "pay off" your tips one month, but it still just goes toward your amount due.

[mom2tcdx2]

Essentially if your cruise was say 1000, and you check off to pay the gratuity your balance becomes say 1206. When you then make payments it goes towards the balance. Now if you decide after final payment was paid then you pay the full gratuity at the time you decide to add it.

[groundloop]

6 hours ago, buzzard05 said:

Just curious...can you prepay gratuities before your final payment? I can see where I can add the gratuity amount "to" my final payment amount...but not anywhere I can just pay those off now.

 

Thanks.

 

Another option that many people use is to do nothing as far as paying for gratuities since they'll be automatically added to your sail-and-sign account on the next to last day of your cruise anyway.  

[mondello]

Prepay to beat the price increase?

[cruisingguy007]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

What difference does it make? It all goes into the same pot in the end.

 

Actually, you need to pay your cruise off so it will deduct from there first, the gratuities will show up in a separate line item as "additional charges" and can be paid well after the 90 day deadline for the cruise fare. 

[buzzard05]

8 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Actually, you need to pay your cruise off so it will deduct from there first, the gratuities will show up in a separate line item as "additional charges" and can be paid well after the 90 day deadline for the cruise fare. 

 

So just adding them to my total isn't considered "prepaying"...I actually have to pay off the cruise, and then pay off the gratuities?

[Schoifmom]

29 minutes ago, buzzard05 said:

 

So just adding them to my total isn't considered "prepaying"...I actually have to pay off the cruise, and then pay off the gratuities?

No.  Adding them to your total IS considered prepaying.  The entire definition of prepaying is that you pay prior to cruising, which you will be by adding them to the total amount due for your cruise.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Schoifmom

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

8 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

No.  Adding them to your total IS considered prepaying.  The entire definition of prepaying is that you pay prior to cruising, which you will be by adding them to the total amount due for your cruise.

I think the confusion is whether adding them to your total is considered "prepaying before the price increase cutoff" if you don't actually hand over the money until after the cutoff.

[lostsoulcruiser]

Access My Cruise Manager using the “RESERVE NOW” button below to secure the current rates for any Carnival open sailing.

This was in the email I received and I just used it to secure the internet rate (value plan) for my April cruise at the lower rate.  Use of the term prepay is sort of confusing, you are really committing now to purchase the service at the present price rather than the future price. Actual payment takes place during the cruise.

The items increasing in price (gratuity and internet plan) are not mandatory purchases for the cruisers.  Gratuities are added to your daily on-board account unless you get them removed by guest services. So you will run into gratuities now or on the ship.

BTW, if you have OBC, Carnival will charge the purchase to the obc so no money will be spent (this is how I purchased my internet plan).

 

 

[SunshineGal2022]

5 minutes ago, lostsoulcruiser said:

Access My Cruise Manager using the “RESERVE NOW” button below to secure the current rates for any Carnival open sailing.

This was in the email I received and I just used it to secure the internet rate (value plan) for my April cruise at the lower rate.  Use of the term prepay is sort of confusing, you are really committing now to purchase the service at the present price rather than the future price. Actual payment takes place during the cruise.

The items increasing in price (gratuity and internet plan) are not mandatory purchases for the cruisers.  Gratuities are added to your daily on-board account unless you get them removed by guest services. So you will run into gratuities now or on the ship.

BTW, if you have OBC, Carnival will charge the purchase to the obc so no money will be spent (this is how I purchased my internet plan).

 

 

So you don't need to PAY them before the April 1st increase?  You only need to add them to your reservation before then? 

 

I thought you had to pay before those dates to lock in the cheaper rates. 

[Schoifmom]

7 minutes ago, SunshineGal2022 said:

So you don't need to PAY them before the April 1st increase?  You only need to add them to your reservation before then? 

 

I thought you had to pay before those dates to lock in the cheaper rates. 

 

No, you only need to add them to your reservation before then, unless April 1 is past your final payment date.  In that case, if you add them now, you will have paid them before April 1 when you pay your final balance.

[SunshineGal2022]

Just now, Schoifmom said:

 

No, you only need to add them to your reservation before then, unless April 1 is past your final payment date.  In that case, if you add them now, you will have paid them before April 1 when you pay your final balance.

Thank you!

 

I just booked a 2024 cruise and was hoping NOT to pay for the gratuities yet. But I would, if it ensured I got the lower rates. 

[lostsoulcruiser]

4 hours ago, SunshineGal2022 said:

So you don't need to PAY them before the April 1st increase?  You only need to add them to your reservation before then? 

 

I thought you had to pay before those dates to lock in the cheaper rates. 

Correct, I did not lay out any cash, only added it to the cruise purchase. 

[phoneman69]

20 hours ago, mondello said:

Prepay to beat the price increase?

$1.50 a day per person not a lot but family of 4 over 8 days is a few extra bucks. Now Not taking any issues with how hard people work on the ship and what they deserve.

 

[BandTsMom]

Hi!  I am paying my cruise on the monthly payment plan booking.  When I originally booked, I did NOT choose to prepay the gratuities even though I thought I had.  I just went back later to manage my booking and added them after.  It did change my monthly pay rate slightly, but I have the comfort of knowing they are paid ahead and I don’t have to worry about spending extra money at the end.  I try to prepay as much if everything as I can so I am not left with a huge bill at the end.  

[pe4all]

I always pre-pay my gratuities soon after booking.  I call my pvp (if you don't have one just call the CCL general number) and they will take your credit card #.  When you go to your booking you will see your grats are listed as pre-paid, even if you have an outstanding cruise balance.  We do this so we don't get hit with a large cc bill on any month, or have a large sail and sign bill at end.  Hate coming back from vacation with a large credit card bill.  Kind of takes the "glow" off.

[DisneyVegasDad]

So I have kind of a similarish question.

 

I wanted to prepay my gratuities for my upcoming cruise in June.  I have everything else prepaid and my invoice says fully paid.  But I never added the gratuities.  When I try to go back in to add them they are showing 0, so I can't pay them.

 

Do I just need to call?  I want to pay these with a CC credit that will be expired soon.

[wemjam]

4 minutes ago, DisneyVegasDad said:

So I have kind of a similarish question.

 

I wanted to prepay my gratuities for my upcoming cruise in June.  I have everything else prepaid and my invoice says fully paid.  But I never added the gratuities.  When I try to go back in to add them they are showing 0, so I can't pay them.

 

Do I just need to call?  I want to pay these with a CC credit that will be expired soon.

If you don't cruise until June you should be able to add, and then pay yourself. 

 

Just go into Booking Order Details, View Invoice Details (yours should said Paid in Full next to it if it is paid off)... once you click on the invoice the gratuities (as well as insurance) will show - underneath it should say "add".  Just click on that under gratuities.  When you do this it will add them and you will have a new balance for that amount, you can then just click to make a payment.

Edited January 11, 2023 by wemjam