Prepay tips before boarding?

[cruiseguymfr]

Is it possible to prepay the tips before you board. Is this worthwhile or just more time consuming to call RCCL rather than just paying at the end of the cruise?

[Linda/Ohio]

You can certainly have them connect to your SetSail Credit account.

[cb at sea]

You can do it either before you board, when you board on your shipboard account, or pay cash at the end of the cruise---it's up to you.

[steponboard]

If you miss the cruise wave bye bye to your prepaid tips. I prefer to pay after service is rendered.

[dplusd]

If you choose My Time Dining, gratuities are automatically added to your account and included in your final payment. Personally, I like it that way because it makes my shipboard account smaller!

[Rancher Dave]

I prefer to give tips after the service...paying ahead may or may not affect services, but rewarding appropriately for the service never seems to fail.

[waterbugohio]

cruiseguy,

 

I just paid my tips today for our cruise in November. I didn't realize that we would forfeit them if we cancel, but then I don't plan to cancel.

 

I just wanted to get them on this months credit card bill so they are paid for before we sail.

 

Just keep in mind, when I called RCI today, I could not do it thru them or their website, because I had booked thru a TA. However I called the TA, she put me on hold for less than a minute to call RCI and get the correct amount and they were paid. Just one less thing to worry about and I can always tip cash for over and above service.

[negc]

I prefer to give tips after the service...paying ahead may or may not affect services, but rewarding appropriately for the service never seems to fail.

 

Whether or not you pay in advance the staff doesn't receive their tips until the end of the cruise, and it is my understanding that until the last day or two of the cruise, the staff doesn't know who has prepaid their gratuities (unless they are in MTD). Unless you really anticipate receiving poor service, paying ahead for your tips shouldn't make a significant difference. However you pay them- in advance, or at the end of the cruise - you always retain the right to provide extra rewards to those whose service is above and beyond the norm, and if you believe that the possibility of receiving an additional tip will cause someone to provide you with better service, the incentive has not been removed.:)

[PhoenixCruiser]

If you miss the cruise wave bye bye to your prepaid tips. I prefer to pay after service is rendered.

 

If you cancel before final payment you will get reimbursed...

 

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[temple1]

If you miss the cruise wave bye bye to your prepaid tips. I prefer to pay after service is rendered.

 

If I miss the boat, I'll be out a lot more than gratuities. :eek:

[kyriecat]

Whether or not you pay in advance the staff doesn't receive their tips until the end of the cruise, and it is my understanding that until the last day or two of the cruise, the staff doesn't know who has prepaid their gratuities (unless they are in MTD). Unless you really anticipate receiving poor service, paying ahead for your tips shouldn't make a significant difference. However you pay them- in advance, or at the end of the cruise - you always retain the right to provide extra rewards to those whose service is above and beyond the norm, and if you believe that the possibility of receiving an additional tip will cause someone to provide you with better service, the incentive has not been removed.:)

I've always heard that, but the two times that I paid my gratuities with my final payment, I had the ABSOLUTE WORST service by the cabin stewards. The waiters weren't that great either. The first time I thought it was a fluke and the steward was just not very attentive. We never saw him and it seemed like he didn't really clean things the way other stewards had. The second time I prepaid, the service was even worse - no ice, no towels, only had turn-down every 2 or 3 nights, and we only saw her 3 times on a 13-night cruise. After a complaint to the head of housekeeping, things got better for two days, then she quit coming to our cabin completely. She didn't even make the bed the last 5 days of the cruise. I was mad enough to try to get my gratuities removed, but once they are added, you don't get them back, even if the service is awful.

 

I'm going to put them on my Sea Pass account after I board and give extra in cash IF it's deserved. So far, we given extra to all the cabin stewards EXCEPT those two.

[temple1]

I've always heard that, but the two times that I paid my gratuities with my final payment, I had the ABSOLUTE WORST service by the cabin stewards. The waiters weren't that great either. The first time I thought it was a fluke and the steward was just not very attentive. We never saw him and it seemed like he didn't really clean things the way other stewards had. The second time I prepaid, the service was even worse - no ice, no towels, only had turn-down every 2 or 3 nights, and we only saw her 3 times on a 13-night cruise. After a complaint to the head of housekeeping, things got better for two days, then she quit coming to our cabin completely. She didn't even make the bed the last 5 days of the cruise. I was mad enough to try to get my gratuities removed, but once they are added, you don't get them back, even if the service is awful.

 

I'm going to put them on my Sea Pass account after I board and give extra in cash IF it's deserved. So far, we given extra to all the cabin stewards EXCEPT those two.

 

We always prepay and have never had a problem with service. Our cabin steward has always been attentive - if my cabin was not cleaned - I would not wait around for 5 days to see when it would be cleaned!

[kyriecat]

We always prepay and have never had a problem with service. Our cabin steward has always been attentive - if my cabin was not cleaned - I would not wait around for 5 days to see when it would be cleaned!

Who do you complain to when the purser's desk (customer service) and the head of housekeeping don't care? We were actually told that the bad service was our fault because we "violated" RC's policies. We never saw our cabin steward the first day, which was unusual since they normally come by and say hello and ask if we need anything. I ended up leaving a note requesting ice and extra towels when we left for dinner. We didn't get them. I left another note the following day. Still nothing. We finally tracked down our cabin steward who told us that she doesn't provide ice anymore and we couldn't have any extra towels due to the "Save the Waves" program. OK, fine - I can get my own ice. I didn't know that RC had removed that from the steward's duties. I like to have an extra towel to wrap around my hair after I shower so I got one from the pool deck. My mistake was leaving it in the cabin. After a couple of days, the steward quit leaving any towels so we kept getting pool towels. After a couple days of that we complained to the head of housekeeping. That's when we found out that we weren't "allowed" to get pool towels to use as cabin bath towels and we were "violating" RC policy. I didn't know that - it's not like it's posted anywhere that I can find. In the past, my cabin stewards have ALWAYS left an extra towel when I asked. I felt like we were being punished for breaking rules that we didn't know about. A written warning would have been nice - "Quit using pool towels for your hair or we'll cut off your cabin service." The cabin steward left us towels for a couple of days after the complaints, then stopped again. I quit using pool towels on my hair so I wasn't violating any rules then. We ended up getting several pool towels to keep in the cabin because we needed something to dry-off with after showering. I guess that made her mad so she quit coming to the cabin at all. What were we supposed to do since she wasn't leaving towels - dry off on our clothes! It seemed pointless to complain since I'm sure that lack of service would be explained as being my fault again. I wrote a letter to corporate when we got back and ended up with a form letter reply that the would investigate my complaint and a coupon for $25 off my next cruise, valid for 1 year.