Prepaid Grantuities or not??

[BeachLover3]

We are new to cruising so we need some guideance.

 

What are the pros and cons of pre paying our grantuities? :confused:

[Quilting_Cruiser]

The biggest pro is that it's one fewer thing to do once you're on board (not that it's difficult to do on board since they're automatically charged to your account). It just means it's one more thing you've taken care of before you even board the ship.

 

The con is giving Carnival $$ before you have to.

[BeachLover3]

So you pay the same amount either way?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

So you pay the same amount either way?

 

 

Yep. $11.50 per person per day.

[BeachLover3]

So if you wait and pay on board, how and/or where and when do you do that?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

So if you wait and pay on board, how and/or where and when do you do that?

 

They will automatically charge it to your Sail & Sign account. When that's done seems to depend on the ship. Some have reported a separate charge each day but most seem to report the full charge on the first or second day of the cruise.

[tallyho8]

You would do better paying your mortgage a month in advance. At least it would lower your interest charges. You get nothing off by paying gratuities in advance.

[Cyn7]

It's really a personal choice of whether you pre-pay the gratuities. I pre-pay as a personal choice because it's one less thing I will have to pay at the end of the cruise.

 

I don't mind giving Carnival the money to hold onto until my cruise. Some people seem to think that's it's a horrible thing to let Carnival hold onto your money for some reason.

 

It's all a personal choice.

[n6uqqq]

The only real downside to prepaying gratuities is if you cancel your cruise you are going to have to wait a while to get your money back. I personally am in the no prepay camp as I would rather hold onto my own money. If you have a a credit card with rewards that is a good way to shave some cost off your cruise. Many cards will give you 2% back for travel, so when you charge a cruise and pay your sail and sign on the card you could easily be looking at 80 dollars if your cruise costs around 3 thousand and 1 thousand spent onboard. There is zero effort to paying the tips onboard, as it is automatically placed on your account.

[TruckerDave]

I prepay, that way I get my airline miles faster.:D

[k2excursion]

Some people have expressed concern that if they don't prepay their tips now, they will wind up having to spend that money on something else, and then they won't have it for the cruise. Or that they would then have to cut something else out from their trip in order to pay tips. Personally, I am not like that. If I've got the money now, I'll still have it come cruise time. I won't spend it on something else in the meantime. For others, they have a clear budget in mind, and taking the tips out of the equation early simplifies their budget for the trip. It's one less thing for them to keep track of. For others, it seems to weigh on their minds during the cruise, not allowing them to have as much fun, as they worry about it. Again, I'm not like that at all, but some people are.

 

I don't prepay, because it doesn't save any money, and it's one less thing to do. Prepaying is pretty quick and easy, but it's still something. Paying them on board is automatic, so I do nothing. It's not about angrily refusing to let Carnival hold the money, nor is it about making tons of interest on keeping that money in savings. It's just about simplicity for me. Also, if you wind up with plenty of OBC on your cruise, the gratuities helps to wipe some of that out.

[n6uqqq]

Some people have expressed concern that if they don't prepay their tips now, they will wind up having to spend that money on something else, and then they won't have it for the cruise. Or that they would then have to cut something else out from their trip in order to pay tips. Personally, I am not like that. If I've got the money now, I'll still have it come cruise time. I won't spend it on something else in the meantime. For others, they have a clear budget in mind, and taking the tips out of the equation early simplifies their budget for the trip. It's one less thing for them to keep track of. For others, it seems to weigh on their minds during the cruise, not allowing them to have as much fun, as they worry about it. Again, I'm not like that at all, but some people are.

 

I don't prepay, because it doesn't save any money, and it's one less thing to do. Prepaying is pretty quick and easy, but it's still something. Paying them on board is automatic, so I do nothing. It's not about angrily refusing to let Carnival hold the money, nor is it about making tons of interest on keeping that money in savings. It's just about simplicity for me. Also, if you wind up with plenty of OBC on your cruise, the gratuities helps to wipe some of that out.

 

I agree with all of the above :D

[gelo7]

I like pre paying and not having to deal with it on the cruise.

[cruzinlisa]

It's really a personal choice of whether you pre-pay the gratuities. I pre-pay as a personal choice because it's one less thing I will have to pay at the end of the cruise.

 

I don't mind giving Carnival the money to hold onto until my cruise. Some people seem to think that's it's a horrible thing to let Carnival hold onto your money for some reason.

 

It's all a personal choice.

 

Typically I do that as well. Additionally, the amount seems so high when I have to see it on my SS bill ($241.50 for the three of us). When I prepay, I only have to see it when I pay it. Then I can forget. :p

 

The major con is that if you do not prepay at the time of booking, I believe you have to call Carnival to prepay- you cannot do it online (except of course at time of booking). With the most recent events and the stories about hold times, I am not sure I want to call Carnival.

[MrPete]

We are new to cruising so we need some guideance.

 

What are the pros and cons of pre paying our grantuities? :confused:

 

As far as I'm concerned, there is no pro to prepaying a tip.

[mibarron]

I like pre paying and not having to deal with it on the cruise.

 

I agree. I'm in finance, so budgeting comes second nature to me. Will I have the money to pay for tips when I'm on bored, if I don't prepay? Yes. But I would rather get it out of the way now and not have to think about it later. I pay for my excursions up front too, so I don't have to worry about doing it on the ship. It's all about convenience for me. :)

[rjrpar]

I do not understand why so many prepay. If service in a given area is bad, you have no option to reduce your tip. I'm from the old school, pay for service after it is rendered.

[MrPete]

I do not understand why so many prepay. If service in a given area is bad, you have no option to reduce your tip. I'm from the old school, pay for service after it is rendered.

 

That's not true. You can adjust even if you prepay.

[JdoggCruiser]

I prepay. I call my PVP about a month or so out and pay them. I like seeing my s&S at the end low. It doesnt save you money its just a convienience.

[nylori]

with all the sales going on it is another thing to use obc for if u get some.

[Sneezykevina]

I prepay and get some excursions ahead like others just to spread out the charges.

 

It's a budget thing.

[lady_cruiser]

You would do better paying your mortgage a month in advance. At least it would lower your interest charges. You get nothing off by paying gratuities in advance.

We do. It is one less thing charged to our Sign and Sail card.

[wannago35]

That's not true. You can adjust even if you prepay.

 

Is this right? When we cruised back in 2010 our PVP told us if we prepaid tips and had any problems on board there was no way to readjust. Has the policy changed? If so I'd be more inclined to prepay.

[wack001]

Hard to Beverie this topic keeps on resurfacing, times have changed pre pay is the only way to go much like online check, some folks are still holding on to documents etc.

To often on European cruises the staff is shortchanged.

cruisinbob

[askimdog]

I am with the "service first" idea. I won't pay until services are rendered. If they perform above what I expect the tip shall come. I rarely have contact with them ( some folks say they chat with staff and have stewards and waiters call them by name~ 3 cruises never seen this personally).(we also rarely use the MDR though).

 

For the most part they do darn well. One cruise we had our room missed twice for turn down, and on another cruise we witnessed staff in 3 seperate verbal altercations amongst themselves. Over all, clean areas and folks are cordial.

 

But, I like having the option of raising my tip or lowering. Paying early, just can't get it through my head as a good idea?