Pre paid gratuities

[vegancruiser!]

Hi guys,

 

Probably a stupid question but if we have pre paid our gratuities through our TA, we won't get charged the daily fee and get presented with that bill at the end?

 

Thank you!

Gem

[DonnaK]

Hi guys,

 

Probably a stupid question but if we have pre paid our gratuities through our TA, we won't get charged the daily fee and get presented with that bill at the end?

 

Thank you!

Gem

 

No, you won't get charged the daily fee.

[Northern Aurora]

Gem: You are correct. If you have pre-paid your gratuities, either through your travel agent or through a direct booking with Celebrity, there will not be a daily charge for gratuities on your account. And remember, you can check your onboard account on the interactive feature on your stateroom TV.

[vegancruiser!]

Thanks guys! Cruise virgin here! ;-)

[Chunky2219]

Here's a tip though. We always pre-pay gratuities when we have the chance - you save a few £.

 

But last time out MDR wasn't much cop on the first night so we spent most of the cruise in the speciality restaurants. We never had the sort of MDR experience that we would expect. If we hadn't pre-paid, we would have cancelled a small proportion of the daily charge and handed it over elsewhere.

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[sandancer]

Thanks guys! Cruise virgin here! ;-)

 

Oh dear, you may end up like us, totally addicted. It is very moreish you know. If your screen name is an indication of your food preference, you might want to let the cruise line know in advance so that you can be sure that they can meet your requirements.

[cynbar]

Just be sure that the daily charge is not being added to your account. This is done every day, for those who haven't prepaid, so will be easy to check. I have seen an occasional post on these boards where something agreed to in advance (prepaid gratuities, OBC, etc) was somehow lost in the system and unknown to the ship. Bring some written confirmation with you, and check early in your cruise so you're not left standing in a long line on the last morning, trying to straighten things out.

[vegancruiser!]

Oh dear, you may end up like us, totally addicted. It is very moreish you know. If your screen name is an indication of your food preference, you might want to let the cruise line know in advance so that you can be sure that they can meet your requirements.

 

Haha, I have a feeling I may get addicted too :D

My husband is the real seafarer though, he loves boats.

 

I e-mailed Celebrity to let them know, they e-mailed back and said they didn't have any menu example but to ask the maitre d' and he would sort everything out for me.

I am going to print that e-mail and take it with me! ;)

[vegancruiser!]

Just be sure that the daily charge is not being added to your account. This is done every day, for those who haven't prepaid, so will be easy to check. I have seen an occasional post on these boards where something agreed to in advance (prepaid gratuities, OBC, etc) was somehow lost in the system and unknown to the ship. Bring some written confirmation with you, and check early in your cruise so you're not left standing in a long line on the last morning, trying to straighten things out.

 

Thank you for the advice, I will print my confirmation and take it with me!

[miched]

Even though it is prepaid the daily fee will show up on your folio, and then subtracted. When you look at the folios they will also show the same charges on the other person's folio as if you were being double charged. The cruise lines have a strange way of book keeping and it is confusing.

 

 

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[vegancruiser!]

Even though it is prepaid the daily fee will show up on your folio, and then subtracted. When you look at the folios they will also show the same charges on the other person's folio as if you were being double charged. The cruise lines have a strange way of book keeping and it is confusing.

 

 

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OK thanks Mitched, I will bear that in mind :)

[cruisestitch]

Even though you might not eat in the MDR for dinner presumably you will eat somewhere on the ship for breakfast and lunch...Aqua Spa Cafe, hamburger grill, buffet, snacks from Cafe al Bacio, ice cream treat in the afternoon. If you start taking away tips all if these people are affected. Something to keep in mind.

[Chunky2219]

Even though you might not eat in the MDR for dinner presumably you will eat somewhere on the ship for breakfast and lunch...Aqua Spa Cafe, hamburger grill, buffet, snacks from Cafe al Bacio, ice cream treat in the afternoon. If you start taking away tips all if these people are affected. Something to keep in mind.

Yep. That's why I said a proportion of the standard charge.

 

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[aikensbest]

Here's a tip though. We always pre-pay gratuities when we have the chance - you save a few £.

 

But last time out MDR wasn't much cop on the first night so we spent most of the cruise in the speciality restaurants. We never had the sort of MDR experience that we would expect. If we hadn't pre-paid, we would have cancelled a small proportion of the daily charge and handed it over elsewhere.

.

.as someone else mentioned, all these gratuities go into a total pot and if you try to eliminate a percentage, you are eliminating for all the workers not just a certain group.

[dkjretired]

Thank you for the advice, I will print my confirmation and take it with me!

 

You can check it on your TV, always a good idea to keep an eye on your account.

[dkjretired]

Here's a tip though. We always pre-pay gratuities when we have the chance - you save a few £.

 

But last time out MDR wasn't much cop on the first night so we spent most of the cruise in the speciality restaurants. We never had the sort of MDR experience that we would expect. If we hadn't pre-paid, we would have cancelled a small proportion of the daily charge and handed it over elsewhere.

.

.as someone else mentioned, all these gratuities go into a total pot and if you try to eliminate a percentage, you are eliminating for all the workers not just a certain group.

 

You can't lower the daily tips, only eliminate them altogether, you can however raise them if you wish.

 

On Celebrity the tips do not go into a tipping pool except for a couple special situations

[cruisestitch]

My point... You can't just adjust certain tops because you don't eat dinner in the dining room. People on these boards have discussed certain ideas like "I only ate dinner in the dining room 50% of the time so I want to remove 50% of my waiters tips". That won't work on Celebrity.

[MicCanberra]

I have always prepaid my tips as I dine Select, The daily charge appears daily on the your account (TV ) and shows up as $0 (as being paid) so it does not accrue along with the other charges.:D

[vegancruiser!]

I have always prepaid my tips as I dine Select, The daily charge appears daily on the your account (TV ) and shows up as $0 (as being paid) so it does not accrue along with the other charges.:D

 

Cool, I'm dining select too so that makes sense :-)

Good to know I'm all paid up in that sense, although I'm sure I will still be tipping extra for room service and just 'stand out' amazing staff as well :-)

[MicCanberra]

Cool, I'm dining select too so that makes sense :-)

Good to know I'm all paid up in that sense, although I'm sure I will still be tipping extra for room service and just 'stand out' amazing staff as well :-)

 

Yes, I always have some bar staff that get some extra.:D

[RBKL]

I've only sailed with Celebrity twice and the second one was just a week ago and we never saw the gratuities on our stateroom account.

 

I believe if you prepaid because you are in select dining you may not see them but if your TA is paying them for you as a perk you may see them and a credit from your TA.

 

Even if you prepay you can go to Guest Services and have a gratuity removed if you feel you had poor service. They can just remove the part you're not pleased with.

 

You can also add more for better service.

[dkjretired]

I've only sailed with Celebrity twice and the second one was just a week ago and we never saw the gratuities on our stateroom account.

 

I believe if you prepaid because you are in select dining you may not see them but if your TA is paying them for you as a perk you may see them and a credit from your TA.

 

Even if you prepay you can go to Guest Services and have a gratuity removed if you feel you had poor service. They can just remove the part you're not pleased with.

 

 

 

You have to remove them all or none, that's their policy....

[MicCanberra]

I've only sailed with Celebrity twice and the second one was just a week ago and we never saw the gratuities on our stateroom account.

 

I believe if you prepaid because you are in select dining you may not see them but if your TA is paying them for you as a perk you may see them and a credit from your TA.

 

Even if you prepay you can go to Guest Services and have a gratuity removed if you feel you had poor service. They can just remove the part you're not pleased with.

 

 

 

You have to remove them all or none, that's their policy....

 

And all the relevant staff get stiffed for the poor service by one/few.:D

[Skyrules]

Cool, I'm dining select too so that makes sense :-)

Good to know I'm all paid up in that sense, although I'm sure I will still be tipping extra for room service and just 'stand out' amazing staff as well :-)

 

Yes, we pre-paid our gratuities, but we also tipped our cabin steward a bit extra above that, and also our table waiters in the MDR.

[Knolmom]

I believe if you have select dining and prepay your gratuities, you cannot remove them at guest relations