Pre-paid gratuities vs. paying with OBC

[lidorose]

I know if you pay your gratuities with your onboard credit, you get envelopes with vouchers (instead of needing to use cash) that you need to hand out. If you prepay, do you still get envelopes with vouchers or do you not need to bother with envelopes at all?

 

Thanks!

[rummenroman]

You still get the vouchers to give....if you want. They are getting their money, but to me it just looks better to hand them the envelope instead of appearing to "stiff" them. I usually give some extra if the service warrants it. So having the envelops is a big help as far as that is concerned.

[lidorose]

So we can choose whether or not we want to give out the vouchers if we prepay? How does that work? This is our first cruise on a cruiseline that still had envelopes. I prefer prepaying and having one less thing to think about.

[critterchick]

You never need to deal with the vouchers if you don't want to - whether you pay prior to the cruise or fill out the form onboard, the voucher will say "Prepaid Gratuities" on it and you can either hand it to the crewmember or toss it in the trash. I like to hand it to them because it helps them reconcile with the report the ship gives them.

 

And they will know before the last night whether or not you tipped them, so unless you really care what your tablemates are speculating, that alone isn't a good reason to hand out the vouchers.:)

[msbptg]

I always have and always will hand out tips according to whom I,ve met on the cruise..If the wine steward doesen,t pour me wine, I don,t need to tip her. The same goes for anyone that does not come in contact with my wife and I.

[lovemylab]

If you prepay your tips you still get the vouchers and envelopes. The staff will receive the tip whether you give them the vouchers or not. So even if you didn't want to bother with them, the staff would still receive their tips.

 

We prefer to still give out the envelopes on the last night of the cruise and we usually include some extra to the staff that we felt were exceptional.