Common on Celbrity or Was This a Fluke?

[djandnic]

We just returned from our first Celebrity crusie. We have sailed many times on Royal, a few on Princess, and one on Carnival.

 

We pre-paid tips because of select dining, but on all other crusies we received 'coupons' with envelopes to hand out to all the folks, but on Celbrity we did not.

 

On all other cruises, on all lines, we received a copy of our seapass charges on the last day. We did not on Celebrity.

 

Were these flukes, or does Celebrity not provide tip slips and final bill receipts?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I haven't sailed Celebrity since 2009 but they did not give you the envelopes unless you had removed the tips and you can get them at the front desk. Also, you can keep track of your shipboard account on the television. I don't recall not getting a print out but they may be cost cutting and only provide them upon request.

[mferranti]

We just returned from our first Celebrity crusie. We have sailed many times on Royal, a few on Princess, and one on Carnival.

 

We pre-paid tips because of select dining, but on all other crusies we received 'coupons' with envelopes to hand out to all the folks, but on Celbrity we did not.

 

On all other cruises, on all lines, we received a copy of our seapass charges on the last day. We did not on Celebrity.

 

Were these flukes, or does Celebrity not provide tip slips and final bill receipts?

We haven't seen tip slips for several years, but we always get a printout of seapass charges. Last time was on Equinox in February.

[Gonzo70]

As others have said, no need for either of these on X - your account can be checked at any time on your TV in the stateroom. If you need a hard copy, you can ask Guest Relations to print this out for you.

 

X offers either pre-paid gratuities or automatically deducts the daily gratuities against your sea pass card if you do not pre-pay. There would be nothing to put in tip envelopes. You can hand cash out as extra gratuity to any staff who you felt went above and beyond expectations.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I usually give a little extra to my room steward. The room stewards make less money than the MDR waiters- who are the highest paid crew member. Room stewards make less and IMO do more.

[djandnic]

Okay thanks, sounds like Celbrity is ahead of the game at going paperless.

 

We did check our account on the TV, but other lines also had a hard copy in your slot by the door. Kind of nice if there was ever an error when the cc bill comes to have a hard copy to refer to.

 

As far as the tips go, when we pre-paid on other lines, we would still get a 'slip' saying we pre-paid with an envelop for each of the normal folks that get tips. You could always add extra cash along with the slip if you wanted. This was the first cruise we did not get these slips and envelopes, and no one seemed to be looking for them on the last night, so I kind of figured Celebrity didn't do that, but thought I would ask.

 

Thanks for the replys!

[cruisestitch]

I think it is part of the "save the waves" campaign". I have seen several other cases where paper is being saved -- things that used to come on two separate sheets of paper are now printed back-to-back and so forth. In this case, the envelopes are available if you ask, but not needed.

[ghstudio]

We always get a printed copy of our bill before we leave the ship but I've never had to use it. You do have to ask for it which is fine with us.

[SugarLover]

We are just off the Eclipse last Saturday, and we received paper copies twice -- one about halfway through the cruise, and the second after midnight on the last night before disembarking. We did not ask for either, btw. (I did notice everyone on our hall had gotten them, stuck in their cabin number slots.)

[KruzPrincess]

I got a paper copy of the bill on the Equinox in November. Also, I haven't gotten tip envelopes on Princess in years. They have them available at the front desk, but they don't put them in your cabin. Princess auto-bills all tips on board for all passengers whether you have Anytime Dining or Traditional.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We've always gotten paper copies of our bills on the last evening. If you don't get one, or if the amount on your credit card does not match the paper bill and you cannot figure out why you can request a copy from Celebrity. They will email you a PDF file of the charges. Sometimes last minute purchases, especially in some gift shops, do not show up on the bill you are given. By the time the credit card comes through it can be hard to remember why there is a difference in the paper bill and credit card bill.

Mary Lou

[Lois R]

I also got a hard copy of my charges at the end of the cruise when I

sailed in February. From reading this thread, looks like sometimes you

get them and sometimes you don't.

[Kellie Poodle]

Is what I read correct? Celebrity does not give you envelopes marked "To my waiter" etc. when youput the gratuities on your sea pass card?

 

We usually sail with RCI and we like getting the envelopes with the vouchers inside. We almost always add cash and hand the envelopes to the appropriate crew member in person so that we can also give them our personal thanks and a handshake from DH.

 

Will I have to bring my own envelopes on our Celebrity cruise to give the staff extra over what is charged?

[Miss SeaBee]

 

As far as the tips go, when we pre-paid on other lines, we would still get a 'slip' saying we pre-paid with an envelop for each of the normal folks that get tips.

 

We sailed Princess 2 years ago with pre-paid gratuities, and I do not recall any envelopes with slips being given to us. I think I would remember that. We got envelopes from guest services for extra gratuities to those that went above and beyond.

[Lois R]

Is what I read correct? Celebrity does not give you envelopes marked "To my waiter" etc. when youput the gratuities on your sea pass card?

 

We usually sail with RCI and we like getting the envelopes with the vouchers inside. We almost always add cash and hand the envelopes to the appropriate crew member in person so that we can also give them our personal thanks and a handshake from DH.

 

Will I have to bring my own envelopes on our Celebrity cruise to give the staff extra over what is charged?

 

Hi Kellie,:) I can't remember the last time they passed out envelopes

with vouchers but you don't need to bring envelopes from home though.

Whenever I have needed any I just go to Guest Relations and ask

them for some and they have always been readily available. I give

extra money to certain folks at the end of the cruise as well.

 

Your crew and staff who are being tipped from your S&S account

are informed of this so they do know about it.

[Miss SeaBee]

Regarding the envelopes, for my cruise next week I have actually packed some pretty thank you cards to give with extra tips for those I wish to recognize. I was thinking a nice personal note along with the extra tip would be appreciated.

[Lois R]

Regarding the envelopes, for my cruise next week I have actually packed some pretty thank you cards to give with extra tips for those I wish to recognize. I was thinking a nice personal note along with the extra tip would be appreciated.

 

They are for sure.:) I have done the same thing many times in the past.

[LinAli55]

We just recently returned on a 7 night on the Solstice where we received our bill twice throughout the cruise. With regard to the tips, the waiter/assistant waiter already know about the prepaid gratuties when you come to dinner the first evening. We give extra tips to our waiter/assistant waiter/room attendant and others and they truly appreciate it. What they appreciate even more are the positive comments made on the comments card. That is how they can be promoted or move into other positions.

 

Linda

[miched]

We have sailed over 15 times on Carnival, 10 on Princess and always and prepaid gratuities. Never had any vouchers or coupons to give to the staff. Last year was the first time we sailed on RCCL and were given those vouchers. Thought it was a little strange, but I guess some passengers want to get the personal recognition from the staff for the gratuity that they are giving them. I asked the service desk what to do for the service staff in the dining room since we had anytime dining and had different servers everyday. Was told that those vouchers don't mean anything since the tips for those servers are all pooled and the room stewards don't need the voucher either. It is prepaid and automatic.

[djandnic]

Is what I read correct? Celebrity does not give you envelopes marked "To my waiter" etc. when youput the gratuities on your sea pass card?

 

We usually sail with RCI and we like getting the envelopes with the vouchers inside. We almost always add cash and hand the envelopes to the appropriate crew member in person so that we can also give them our personal thanks and a handshake from DH.

 

Will I have to bring my own envelopes on our Celebrity cruise to give the staff extra over what is charged?

 

I too was used to the vouchers from RCI, but these are not given on Celebrity. It sounds like Princess has also stopped this since we last cruised with them a couple years ago.

 

It must have just been a fluke with our sea pass account that we didn't get a print out, but it wasn't a big deal since we had pre-purchased the drink package and our account was very small.

[Solstice23]

On eclipse a few weeks ago we got a printed bill last night folded behind our room number. The account was also available up to the minute. On your TV this was the same in Oaisis for us.

 

As for tips it's automatic no envelopes, but they are available at front desk but if you have select time dining you can't remove them only get envelopes to provide more. They keep a list who has paid the grats' just like most lines

[Spender Nui]

We go to the purser's office and get envelopes for those we want to gave extra.

 

Final statement should be at your door the morning you debark.

 

Our last cruise was on the Emerald Princess. They had a setup at the captain's club desk where you could swipe your sea pass and print out a statement any time during the cruise.

[eandj]

We wouldn't leave the ship with out a hard copy of the final bill. We check our receipts against the running total on the tv every night before bed. We have found a rare mistake and it's a lot easier to fix the mistakes when they happen as opposed to standing in long lines on the last night.;) And we don't want something showing up on our credit card that isn't on the final written bill when we are home.

[Goldeneye]

This is the second year that they haven't given envelopes, we did go to the reception on the last but one day and they had placed a stack of envelopes on the counter.. We picked some up and just added the 'extra' amount we would have normally given and wrote on the envelope 'A little extra ~ thanks for the great service'... I didn't want them to think that we had 'opted out' of the tips and what I was giving them was the total amount.. We were on the premium drinks package and where as we would normally have given a little extra to our favourite bar staff we went around with envelopes to them..