Prepaid Gratuities

[drana]

Hi,

 

We are going on our first cruise in 18 days on the Valor. Has anyone prepaid their ship gratuities as opposed to paying it during or after the cruise? Are there any pros or cons to pre-paying?

[KatSt]

We usually prepay our gratuities. It's one less expense you have to think about onboard. You can always adjust the gratuities up or down even if they are prepaid, so I don't see any downside to it.

[okgirl]

I've never prepaid mine they usually get applied about 1/2 way through the cruise. I've read where other people do it, just to have that much already paid off. That's $140 less on your S&S at the end of the cruise.

 

We usually win enough in the casino to at least pay for the auto tips.

 

I think it's really just a personal preference thing. I know lots of people who also preload money on their S&S as they accumulate it. That way it's like your whole vacation is paid for including all the extra's before you ever leave.

[cuyahoga11]

I dont pay anything in advance that I dont have to in case something happens and I miss the cruise, just one more thing I have to fight to get back, but that is just me

[dlbaqua]

I always pre-pay, makes the sign & sail account easier to swallow on the last morning

[ScottsSweetie]

I usually pay the gratuities at the same time I make final payment. At that time, only an extreme emergency would make me cancel, and it makes for less of a shock for the onboard account total.

[MrPete]

I've only prepaid where it's mandatory, which is on the CTN's.

 

But why pay something sooner than you have to?

 

I much prefer the autotips that are part of my final S&S bill. This I don't pay until a month after the cruise (CC).

[tnt091605]

We have paid on the ship and pre paid. We really like having the trip paid for before we leave. We buy OBC and Fun Ship Dollars to apply. I think it just depends on your personality. We just have a better time knowing it is all paid for.

[murphalina]

Hi,

 

We are going on our first cruise in 18 days on the Valor. Has anyone prepaid their ship gratuities as opposed to paying it during or after the cruise? Are there any pros or cons to pre-paying?

 

We prepaid ours. The sticker shock of seeing our bill on the last day is bad enough.:p

[MAZANDSTEVE]

I can only think of a positive side to paying them, we have prepaid, exchange rate means we pay less paying them ahead than on board and one less thing to pay at the end of cruise.

[drana]

Thanks all for your replies.

 

I've also heard/read that the ships give a sheet to their staff that contain the pasengers/cabins that have prepaid for their gratuities and this could affect the service that you receive. From what I've read on other sites, the service is better if you prepay. Is this true?

 

Sorry for my ignorance of a first time cruiser. :confused:

[iewe]

Thanks all for your replies.

 

I've also heard/read that the ships give a sheet to their staff that contain the pasengers/cabins that have prepaid for their gratuities and this could affect the service that you receive. From what I've read on other sites, the service is better if you prepay. Is this true?

 

Sorry for my ignorance of a first time cruiser. :confused:

 

Hey -- we are on that same cruise :) You should come on over to the roll call, there are quite a few CC members on that sailing :)

 

In addition, we were toying with the idea of prepaying too this time... Maybe, maybe not now...

[mrgame101]

I agree what others have said. Pre paying means less of a bill at the end of the Cruise! I usually kept applying cash to the S/S account as I kept winning in the Casino

[MAZANDSTEVE]

Thanks all for your replies.

 

I've also heard/read that the ships give a sheet to their staff that contain the pasengers/cabins that have prepaid for their gratuities and this could affect the service that you receive. From what I've read on other sites, the service is better if you prepay. Is this true?

 

Sorry for my ignorance of a first time cruiser. :confused:

 

 

I have been told by many people the service is the same if you prepay, no better nor worse. Staff will still treat you well because they may get an extra tip.;)

[Kurbanfan]

Staff will still treat you well because they may get an extra tip.;)

 

Really? And all this time I thought treating people well was what they were trained to do:p;)

[momofzeke]

We prepaid our gratuities one cruise, and left the auto-tips on the other 2. Never felt like there was any difference at all in the quality of service....we had great service in the dining room and our cabin all 3 cruises. :)

[drana]

Hey -- we are on that same cruise :) You should come on over to the roll call, there are quite a few CC members on that sailing :)quote]

 

I've been reading through the roll call as well. Can't wait to get away!

[dan40]

We usually prepay our gratuities. It's one less expense you have to think about onboard. You can always adjust the gratuities up or down even if they are prepaid, so I don't see any downside to it.

 

Auto-tips show on your S&S account and can be adjusted anyway you wish.

 

Prepaid tips DO NOT show on your S&S account. How are they to be adjusted?

 

Dan

[noblepa]

We usually prepay our gratuities. It's one less expense you have to think about onboard. You can always adjust the gratuities up or down even if they are prepaid, so I don't see any downside to it.

 

Have you ever adjusted prepaid tips? The one time I prepaid them, I was told that they could not be adjusted onboard. This makes sense, because they did not show up on our S & S account. Therefore, there was nothing to adjust.

 

Has Carnival changed their procedure? I suppose that they could show your prepayment as a credit that would offset the auto-tips. On our cruise, in 1999, they didn't do that. It just didn't show up at all.

 

And, yes, our dining room waiter knew that we had prepaid.

 

Paul

[momofzeke]

I believe that if you pre-pay the gratuities they cannot be adjusted once onboard the ship.

 

This was copied from another thread about this subject, and I believe it came from the Carnival website:

 

2. Pre-Paid Gratuity Policy - Gratuities are pre-arranged and paid at the time of booking or any time up to two weeks prior to the sail date.

 

All guests on each booking must prepay the gratuities, with the exception of children under two. The pre-paid gratuities can not be removed once the booking has been ticketed. The guest will not have the option to adjust the gratuities (up or down) based on the level of service received during the cruise.

[steveaaaaa]

Hi,

 

We are going on our first cruise in 18 days on the Valor. Has anyone prepaid their ship gratuities as opposed to paying it during or after the cruise? Are there any pros or cons to pre-paying?

 

 

Yes there is a downside.Everyobe states they know when the tips are removed,so they would know when they are pre-paid so they can give you lousy service because they know you can't remove or adjust them.

If you remove them,they work harder to try and get them back.:D

 

Steve:p:D

[steveaaaaa]

We usually prepay our gratuities. It's one less expense you have to think about onboard. You can always adjust the gratuities up or down even if they are prepaid, so I don't see any downside to it.

 

Where did you get that info from?:confused::rolleyes:

Steve

[FabFourLover]

I'm a little confused. When you say "pre-pay" are you talking about the $10/day/passenger charge they put on your S&S card when you get on the ship or are you talking about any extra tips you might want to give?

[aggieastrosfan]

If you want to prepay without losing the option to adjust up or down, just buy Fun Ship dollars to put on your account instead.

[ScottsSweetie]

I'm a little confused. When you say "pre-pay" are you talking about the $10/day/passenger charge they put on your S&S card when you get on the ship or are you talking about any extra tips you might want to give?

 

Yes, this is the charge we're talking about. Some people like to have it charged to their card before the cruise so that it's not added in at the end. I prepay mine with my last payment. That means $140.00 less on my sail & sign card at the end of the cruise. It's just a way of spreading out the payments a little differently. If you take ship excursions, buy a lot of drinks, go to the spa, buy internet time, and purchase photos, adding $140.00 to all of that can shock a body at the end of a cruise!