Buy Now? Or wait till on ship??

[gozags1]

I've read several different posts regarding tax/gratuity and still don't understand (sorry!!). Am I better off pre-buying soda cards and a 6 pack of beer ahead of time (through the ships website)? Or, waiting to buy once we get on the ship? Was thinking pre-buying was the way to go, but have gotten confused over all of the US port tax stuff....we're doing an AK cruise so nearly all ports will be US. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[cb at sea]

What cruiseline? Is there a cost difference in buying in advance? If you buy on the ship, after it's left port, there are no "sales taxes" on the purchase. (Although the taxes really don't amount to much, in the whole scheme of things!)

 

As far as tips go, if you "pre-pay", then you won't have to worry about holding back enough cash for the end of the cruise. However, many prefer tipping in cash at the end (I do!) and either way is fine.

The folks you'll be tipping are: room attendant, waiter, ass't. waiter and head waiter. These are the ones that get your "pre-paid" tips.

Don't forget porters, taxi drivers, and room service delivery folks--you will need cash to tip them on the spot---they are NOT included in any pre-paid tips.

[gozags1]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be travelling on both Princess and Celebrity this summer. I thought I'd heard that pre-cruise purchases do not get charged gratuity.....not sure about taxes/port fees/etc.. If I can save the 15% gratuity charge...I might as well. However, if it doesn't do any good....I might as well wait and purchase at the last minute.

[SeaMaster]

Pre-cruise purchases of liquor and soda cards DO include gratuity. Why would anyone want to stiff the crew anyway? Yeesh?