Pre-Paid Gratuities

[october37]

Does anyone know if there is any benefit to doing this? Do you just Carnival and make arrangements? Is it better to just put the cash in your sail/sign account when you get there? We want to get as much paid for in advance as possible so we know how many rum runners we can enjoy on deck :D!

 

Any thoughts will be appreciated!

 

Michelle & Jeff

[SueG]

I just called and paid for them before my cruise. It was great not having that expense when we boarded.

[mrpayroll]

Like the saying says....you can pay me now or you can pay me later....No real benefit to paying beforehand..

[hockeyluver]

I have been thinking about prepaying also, $80 this month and another $80 next month. Also i am buying drink coupons for myself and preordering a bottle of gin for dh. I would like to have as much as i can paid for before the cruise. It is easier for us to do it this way. My part time pay cheque goes towards our vacation so a little goes a long way for us. The only benefit is avoiding the sticker shock at the end of the cruise!!!

[uppitycats]

I'm another of those who try to pay for everything in advance. Yes, I know all the arguments "against" which boil down to "why give them your money and let them earn interest on it??"

 

to which I respond, "peace of mind". One less expense I have to worry about, and having it all paid for before I step foot on the ship makes it feel like a real vacation! I hate having bills show up 6 weeks after the vacation is over (like what happens with a credit card) that I now have to pay!

 

There's no benefit to the cruise line...but as you say, having it paid for in advance means you can save up your $$ for more fun things on board! :)

[punkidoodle]

We always prepay out tips. Saves us from scrambling for cash the last night of the cruise.

[Unknotted]

I try to prepay tips too. I don't like having to count every penny I spend on the ship to make sure I can afford my fun. If everything possible is prepaid then I can relax and not feel guilty if I buy a DoD or something.

[zenful6219]

We always prepay gratuities. We think of it as a wage supplement fee, much like the fuel supplement only Carnival doesn't make it mandatory.

[Akgoalie7]

It's really a mental thing for me.

 

When I look up my folio on the television I don't see this $140 charge. Makes me feel better "knowing" it is already paid for and has been taken care of.

[Crazy4Koko]

we prepaid this time because it was a 8 day cruise with 4 in the cabin..I preferred the peace of mind of not seeing that $320 on my S and S!

 

I will prepay before our next one, too.

[viaggi_per_mare]

Never really thought of this as an option, but as people who like to have everything paid (as much as possible) before we go it is a great option. We started thinking of 2 of our upcoming cruises:

12 days - which will be $240 for gratuities & a 16 day which will be $320 in gratuities

 

We would rather pay it ahead of time and be done. We might even do it for our 4 day that will only be $80 but I will probably use the opportunity to pay it will my final payment. I thinks it's a great idea.

 

....plus interest?? In this day an age the mere 1% you get (that you have to pay income taxes on) is a joke and certainly not a good reason not to pre-pay.

[snow bunny]

We have prepaid for the three cabins we booked on our New Year's cruise. This is a special gift for our kids and we didn't want them to have to worry about coming up with the $70 pp at the end of the cruise. We try to prepay for every cruise as then our S & S expense is less. Also do the same for excursions so that when we go it is just our on board purchases that we need to cover which we do with cash as opposed to our credit card.

 

Snow bunny

[Barsnikel]

I always pre-pay tips, but never drink coupons or excursions.

 

I think the drink coupons are a hassle to deal with, and really offer no savings (maybe a few cents, at most ).

 

If I have done the same excursion before, or know people that have, I might pre-book it with the cruise line. But otherwise, I wait to see what it really offers, and what alternatives might be.

 

For example, in Cancun, there is no reason to book the ship excursion to Chank park.... a taxi is only $10, and park entry is only about $20... from there, most everything else is free (swimming, snorkeling, etc). Why pay the cruise line an inflated price for the same thing?

 

In Grand Cayman, we booked the "swim with the manta-rays" through a local agency for half the ship costs, and had a better experience.

[amylee1178]

We like to prepay as much as possible in advance. Not only do we prepay our tips, but we like to order Fun Ship Dollars so that we can have some money already on our S&S (we do cash - we don't have credit cards).

[dvan68]

I just don't understand giving a company money when you don't have to. Is it that you are not able to save a bit each week/month on your own, and then bring the cash?

 

But to each their own...and I guess I should thank all of you...we are shareholders, maybe this is why they started paying dividends!

[Name Of The Game]

There's enough that we already pay months in advance: cruise fare, air fare, trip insurance.....why the tips too? We'd rather keep our money and pay the sail & sign after we come home.

[uppitycats]

I just don't understand giving a company money when you don't have to. Is it that you are not able to save a bit each week/month on your own, and then bring the cash?

 

But to each their own...and I guess I should thank all of you...we are shareholders, maybe this is why they started paying dividends!

 

It's not a matter of "not (being) able to save". It's a matter of convenience. I don't have to worry about saving..I pay for it, it's done. I pay bills in advance whenever I can...like property tax bills (around here people generally pay them in installments), or income tax as soon as I prepare it, not waiting until April 15.

 

The little bit of interest I lose is the little bit of interest Carnival (or some other cruise line) might gain. Not only as an investor do you come out ahead, but also as a customer..maybe all of us paying our bills on time means they can keep their prices low?

[scchasgal]

I just don't understand giving a company money when you don't have to. Is it that you are not able to save a bit each week/month on your own, and then bring the cash?

 

But to each their own...and I guess I should thank all of you...we are shareholders, maybe this is why they started paying dividends!

 

I agree to each his own but why would you bring cash for tips?? I understand a few bucks for room service. But all the tips are added to you sail and sign account.

[sky_blu_eyz]

If you pay in advance, you can't base the amount on the quality of service. I don't tip a waiter in advance when I go out to eat. I give an amount equal to how well the service was. I almost always give 20%, but sometimes they go above and beyond and I like to give even more.

[Bigeee67]

For us, we paid all we could in advance for our upcoming cruise to take advantage of a near even exchange rate for the U.S. dollar at the time of booking. Our last cruise was paid at a 23 cent exchange rate - ouch. We book very early, six months or more in advance. Due to the economy - exchange rates are all over the place, up /down.

[Barsnikel]

If you pay in advance, you can't base the amount on the quality of service. I don't tip a waiter in advance when I go out to eat. I give an amount equal to how well the service was. I almost always give 20%, but sometimes they go above and beyond and I like to give even more.

 

I don't disagree. I tip based on service provided. But unless someone receives very poor service, they are unlikely to "not tip", and the "suggested" amounts are going to be added to your account anyway... (unless, of course, you have a legitimate complaint and want to dispute it.)

 

As said previously, it's not a mater of having the money or not having the money. It comes down to convenience. It's one less thing to remember. All I have to do is show up for embarkation.

[uppitycats]

If you pay in advance, you can't base the amount on the quality of service. I don't tip a waiter in advance when I go out to eat. I give an amount equal to how well the service was. I almost always give 20%, but sometimes they go above and beyond and I like to give even more.

 

 

In cruising, you *don't* "base the amount on the quality of service", especially now when cruise lines have established amounts that you're asked to give (some call it a "service charge", others an "auto-tip" added to your bill.) If you spend some time on these boards there are dozens of threads about tipping -- about what happens when you attempt to "base the amount on the quality of service", where the receiver of your tip has to turn it in to be pooled with everyone else (unless you've left the autotip in place), and about the people that you don't see so don't tip, who have given you "quality service", are part of the tipping pool, and who get "stiffed" when you don't pay the auto-tips.

 

So as generous as you are on land..it just doesn't work that way on cruise lines.

[gsueagle2424]

I have prepaid my tips for our cruise coming up SATURDAY!!! My question is, do the room stewards, waiters etc... expect more of a tip if you have already prepaid? Do they know that you have already prepaid and are not just being cheap?

 

With this said I will tip extra if I feel it is deserved just curious on what their perception on pre-tipping is.

[uppitycats]

I have prepaid my tips for our cruise coming up SATURDAY!!! My question is, do the room stewards, waiters etc... expect more of a tip if you have already prepaid? Do they know that you have already prepaid and are not just being cheap?

 

With this said I will tip extra if I feel it is deserved just curious on what their perception on pre-tipping is.

 

They are informed about who has NOT pre-paid tips...so conversely, if you've pre-paid, they know. They don't expect more, and generally are happy that you've pre-paid, because they know that when their paycheck arrives, it'll have the tips on it. If you've not pre-paid (or arranged to auto-pay -- have the fee show up on your bill as you check out of the ship on the last day), they'll be required to turn over any tips you've given them, to be redistributed to everyone else in the tipping pool.