Pre pay your gratuities now!!!!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I think 11:50 is very fair ...

[jimbo5544]

I think 11:50 is very fair ...

agree and most other cruise lines are already there or higher.

[momof4boys]

I think it is a fair raise. I always pay extra anyway.

 

We are booked for a July cruise with our tips to be prepaid. (Included in our final cost) Since I am paying for 9 people, will my cost be this little bit more or will my cost be what my TA gave me when I made the deposit?

 

Like I said, it seems fair, I just want to make sure our group of 13 knows what to expect in April when weall have to make final payment.

[jaddld]

DH will have to settle for a couple less buckets of beer:D

[firefly333]

I think it is a fair raise. I always pay extra anyway.

 

We are booked for a July cruise with our tips to be prepaid. (Included in our final cost) Since I am paying for 9 people, will my cost be this little bit more or will my cost be what my TA gave me when I made the deposit?

 

Like I said, it seems fair, I just want to make sure our group of 13 knows what to expect in April when weall have to make final payment.

 

If you have not prepaid your tips, then it will be $11.50 per day as your cruise is after Dec 1st.

 

Im a little confused .. is the amount already included in the total your were billed?? If so, then I might still make sure they are prepaid by tonight .. thats a hard one.

 

You have been billed for $10 pp per day right?? but not yet paid them.

 

I guess we will have to see how this all plays out.

[genegri]

With CCLs website you are lucky you can make a payment online. The stars have be aligned just right for that to happen.;)

 

Haha, no wonder! It took me forever to finally manage to pay the full amount on Saturday. I was like, why don't they want my money?!?!? :p And now I have to watch for my credit card statement to make sure I was not double, triple or quadruply charged because I attempted so many times.

 

ETA: I am ok with the increased amount. I always give extra tips anyway. But the stealth way that Carnival is telling us, or rather not telling us, is kind of, well, not the best. Unless I am missing something.

[momof4boys]

Fire: It makes sense to me that we will pay the small increase. I booked through a TA in September for our July cruise, with final payment not due until April 3. We told the TA we all wanted to prepay our tips, so that amount is included in the amount due. Does that make sense?

 

$11.50pp/pd for what I get is a bargain at any rate!! :D

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Haha, no wonder! It took me forever to finally manage to pay the full amount on Saturday. I was like, why don't they want my money?!?!? :p And now I have to watch for my credit card statement to make sure I was not double, triple or quadruply charged because I attempted so many times.

 

CCL has the worst website I have ever encountered since Al Gore invented the internet!:D Very user unfriendly .

 

Bill

[blondietink]

OK, so we are sailing on Nov. 27th on a 7 day. Will our tips be $10.00/day or $11.50/day? Will it be a combination? There are 4 of us, so this would equate to an extra $6.00 per day or on a 7 day cruise, $42.00 extra.

 

I know the stateroom crew and waiters work very hard. However, since I am paying for 4 people, I think this is a little much. I believe that the room steward makes $20.00 per day on our cabin. I know they have to share it with their assistant, but that is a lot of money extra per day over and above their salary for our cabin that we straighten up before we leave. I straighten up because since there are 4 of us; things get lost/misplaced very fast if we don't stay organized. If the steward has multiple cabins with more than 2 in a cabin, then they can make a lot of extra money per day ..... more than I make per day for sure. And they have their room and board paid for, so they have virtually no expenses.

 

Anyway, just venting. I'm not sure how to handle this. I'll call our PVP tomorrow and see what the scoop is. I have to make a shore excursion ressie anyway for DH.

[jennim]

I don't think you can pay on line... Just looked. Pretty sure you have to call the 800#

[S.S.Oceanlover]

OK, so we are sailing on Nov. 27th on a 7 day. Will our tips be $10.00/day or $11.50/day? Will it be a combination? There are 4 of us, so this would equate to an extra $6.00 per day or on a 7 day cruise, $42.00 extra.

 

I know the stateroom crew and waiters work very hard. However, since I am paying for 4 people, I think this is a little much. I believe that the room steward makes $20.00 per day on our cabin. I know they have to share it with their assistant, but that is a lot of money extra per day over and above their salary for our cabin that we straighten up before we leave. I straighten up because since there are 4 of us; things get lost/misplaced very fast if we don't stay organized. If the steward has multiple cabins with more than 2 in a cabin, then they can make a lot of extra money per day ..... more than I make per day for sure. And they have their room and board paid for, so they have virtually no expenses.

 

Anyway, just venting. I'm not sure how to handle this. I'll call our PVP tomorrow and see what the scoop is. I have to make a shore excursion ressie anyway for DH.

 

I've never known CCL to split it midweek. Most likely they will implement it the first full week after November 1st.

 

Bill

[italianfemmy]

What I think would be "fair" would be that if WE must pay additional for the crew to have jobs, it should be added in to the up front cost and billed as part of your cruise fare. I would rather not think about whether or not every person earned everything. I've been on my share of cruises and there have been a couple of times that people in my opinion didn't deserve the full tip. But we paid anyway because we knew these people wouldn't be paid otherwise. To make a consumer feel guilted into spending money that way isn't fair in my opinion.

 

We've also paid extra for people that really went out of their way to be awesome and take care of us. Then we've had people that didn't replace our towels and never made towel animals for us a single night on the entire voyage which was just strange.

 

I know tipping is heavily debated and with good reason. Having been in the service industry for many years and relying on tips since my salary was 2.13 per hour to wait tables, I know the importance of this income to survive. But I still prefer feeling like the cruise is taken care of and like I don't have to spend extra. So, I'd rather it be included in my fare.

 

With that said..

 

Put 4,000 people on a ship for a week with the average cost being 450 per passenger. That is 1 million, eight hundred thousand dollars PER 7 day sailing that they take in on the fare alone.

 

A report was released in 2009 saying that Carnival was averaging 76% of revenue from the fare and another 24% from the money people spend while on the ship. I don't feel like doing the actual math but this would be roughly another 540 thousand dollars of revenue that they take in per 7 day sailing.

 

So, now we're at roughly 2 million, three hundred and forty thousand dollars per 7 day voyage.

 

Yes, they have to pay for a lot of things like..

 

Food

Performer fees

Fuel

Maintenance costs

Captain, Cruise Director, Chef, etc. salaries

New beds, linens, couches, etc. (occasionally)

I am sure the list really does go on and on here.

 

But we're talking about a revenue of nearly 2.5 million bucks PER WEEK, per ship. I seriously would think that the cruise lines would pay their employees all properly.

 

Again, I am all for everyone making a fair and honest wage. These crew bust their behinds to do all of the work that they do. I just don't think they should have to wonder where their money is coming from and whether or not people will remove or add more tips. They should just get paid a salary for the hard work they do, regardless of whether or not our cruise fare goes up as a result.

[blondietink]

I've never known CCL to split it midweek. Most likely they will implement it the first full week after November 1st.

 

Bill

 

Word is that Dec. 1st is the magic date, not Nov. 1st.

[blondietink]

Sorry for an error in my math. Our tips are $3.50 per day for the stateroom per person, which is $14.00 per day for our party of 4.

 

Just checked the Carnival website and the tips are still quoted as being $10.00 per day per person. No mention anywhere I could find of an increase.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Word is that Dec. 1st is the magic date, not Nov. 1st.

OOPS You are correct. December 1st. Sorry for the misinformation!:o

 

Bill

[BaseballMomof4]

My gratuities are already paid, and I agree the staff works hard, but that's a 50% increase per person, per day!

 

Now, an extra 3.50 per day, or $24.50 for a 7 day cruise per person, may not sound like much, but for our family that is an additional $147 for a total of $441 in tips alone for a family of 6 on a 7 day cruise. :eek:

 

That pays for a whole nother cruise!

 

Don't mind me, I am an idiot :p I had $7/day on my brain - ignore me!

[halos]

:rolleyes:

Great, now there will be a constant squabble over the lousy $1.50 per day.

The 'number crunchers' will all sharpen their pencils.

 

Nevermind that basic rates are cheap as dirt compared to the cost of everything else one purchases in their daily lives....

yet this $1.50 a day will have the boards all a-buzz.

:rolleyes:

 

 

 

The crew more than earns that. Don't see the big deal.

[B and C Blake]

Word is that Dec. 1st is the magic date, not Nov. 1st.

 

Even so, just like the new no smoking in cabins starts Dec 1st but if a cruise starts before and does not end until after the 1st then the new smoking rules start on the next cruise.

 

Same principles.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

What I think would be "fair" would be that if WE must pay additional for the crew to have jobs, it should be added in to the up front cost and billed as part of your cruise fare. I would rather not think about whether or not every person earned everything. I've been on my share of cruises and there have been a couple of times that people in my opinion didn't deserve the full tip. But we paid anyway because we knew these people wouldn't be paid otherwise. To make a consumer feel guilted into spending money that way isn't fair in my opinion.

 

We've also paid extra for people that really went out of their way to be awesome and take care of us. Then we've had people that didn't replace our towels and never made towel animals for us a single night on the entire voyage which was just strange.

 

I know tipping is heavily debated and with good reason. Having been in the service industry for many years and relying on tips since my salary was 2.13 per hour to wait tables, I know the importance of this income to survive. But I still prefer feeling like the cruise is taken care of and like I don't have to spend extra. So, I'd rather it be included in my fare.

 

With that said..

 

Put 4,000 people on a ship for a week with the average cost being 450 per passenger. That is 1 million, eight hundred thousand dollars PER 7 day sailing that they take in on the fare alone.

 

A report was released in 2009 saying that Carnival was averaging 76% of revenue from the fare and another 24% from the money people spend while on the ship. I don't feel like doing the actual math but this would be roughly another 540 thousand dollars of revenue that they take in per 7 day sailing.

 

So, now we're at roughly 2 million, three hundred and forty thousand dollars per 7 day voyage.

 

Yes, they have to pay for a lot of things like..

 

Food

Performer fees

Fuel

Maintenance costs

Captain, Cruise Director, Chef, etc. salaries

New beds, linens, couches, etc. (occasionally)

I am sure the list really does go on and on here.

 

But we're talking about a revenue of nearly 2.5 million bucks PER WEEK, per ship. I seriously would think that the cruise lines would pay their employees all properly.

 

Again, I am all for everyone making a fair and honest wage. These crew bust their behinds to do all of the work that they do. I just don't think they should have to wonder where their money is coming from and whether or not people will remove or add more tips. They should just get paid a salary for the hard work they do, regardless of whether or not our cruise fare goes up as a result.

 

The cruise lines don't want to advertise a higher price because it will drive some people away. If you go to a store and see an item for $99 psychologically it seems a lot less than $100 even though it's just a dollar.

 

So what should they get paid? $8.00 an hour? Just asking, what do you think is an honest wage?

 

Bill

[firefly333]

What line is lower? NCL at $12 I think. RCL is at $11.65.

 

I dont think you can get away from it by picking another cruiseline. I noticed carnival got right under what RCL is now charging.

[JIslandGirl]

I am in agreement that the workers deserve bigger wages. What I think they should do is grandfather everyone that already has booked a cruise and any new bookings for travel after December 1st state the new rate.

[H82seaUgo]

the brand ambassador is not aware of this. yet.

[prattmom]

the brand ambassador is not aware of this. yet.

 

Seems to happen a lot...

[Alliezona09]

My PVP stated that if you pay your tips TODAY you will be grandfathered in at the $10 pp/pd for cruises leaving Dec 1 and beyond. She says the policy starts tomorrow, which I take to mean that if you book a cruise leaving Dec 4, today and prepay your tips it will be $10pp/pd but if you booked the same cruise tomorrow and prepaid your tips they would be at $11.50 pp/pd.

[halos]

the brand ambassador is not aware of this. yet.

 

It may just annoy him a little that it came out here first.