early downline debarkation, are we required to pay full gratuities

[youngreflection]

Hi! We have requested and have been approved for an early downline debarkation. We are getting off on the morning of our 9th day on an 11th day cruise. We have traditional dining, thus, no prepaid gratuities. We plan to have our gratuities charged per day so we will be charged until the 8th or 9th day.

Question for seasoned cruisers pls. Will we be charged for the full 11 days of gratuities by Celebrity when we settle our account before debarking on the 9th day? Thank you.

[WestLakeGirl]

Expect to have your Sea Pass Account charged for all 11 scheduled days of the cruise

[Wine-O]

Hi! We have requested and have been approved for an early downline debarkation. We are getting off on the morning of our 9th day on an 11th day cruise. We have traditional dining, thus, no prepaid gratuities. We plan to have our gratuities charged per day so we will be charged until the 8th or 9th day.

Question for seasoned cruisers pls. Will we be charged for the full 11 days of gratuities by Celebrity when we settle our account before debarking on the 9th day? Thank you.

 

You would have to check with guest relations once you get on board the ship. You can turn off the automatic gratuities once you board, but you can't just pay partial gratuities -- it's all or none.

 

Again, check with guest relations and let them sort it out.

[youngreflection]

So in effect, we will be required by Celebrity to pay for all 11 day gratuities or is it just an automatic charge which can be adjusted?

[WestLakeGirl]

With traditional dining auto-tips can be removed, however, this is a black mark against the staff assigned to you, and you might not wish to do that to them

[youngreflection]

Wine-o, so it's all or none if we want gratuities to be charged to account. For those who don' t have it charged, they give tips for every service? Really a hassle esp to have those bills ready. Or maybe some dont give at all ? :eek:.

[youngreflection]

Westlake girl, a little off-topic, if auto-tipping is the usual thing, I wonder why not everyone does select dining since it seems more convenient esp if everyone pays the full gratuities in the end. If we are required to pay full gratuities despite early debarkation, we can opt for select instead of traditional right?

[Nancyquilts]

So in effect, we will be required by Celebrity to pay for all 11 day gratuities or is it just an automatic charge which can be adjusted?

 

Maybe just leave the 11 days on and don't add so much additional for the great service?

[ariawoman]

Considering the price of your cruise didn't change just because you decide to leave early, i'd say the same would go for gratuities. It would be one thing if this wasn't how most of these people were paid, but we all know that their salaries without tips are crap, so personally, I'd leave the gratuities at full, even though I was disembarking.

[CanWeGoYet?]

Maybe just leave the 11 days on and don't add so much additional for the great service?

 

This is what I did on the Century cruise where we disembarked a day early in Dover, instead of going on to Amsterdam. The service was fine in our cabin and phenomenal from our waiter in the MDR. I still regret not tipping him extra, in many cruises of good waiters he stood out as the best.

[fleckle]

Considering the price of your cruise didn't change just because you decide to leave early, i'd say the same would go for gratuities. It would be one thing if this wasn't how most of these people were paid, but we all know that their salaries without tips are crap, so personally, I'd leave the gratuities at full, even though I was disembarking.

You raise an excellent point!

 

Even if the cruise line allows the gratuities to be canceled, I would pay them anyway if deciding to disembark early simply because it is the ethical thing to do.

 

The stateroom attendants and waiters will still be there to serve the departing passengers.

They have done nothing wrong to warrant depriving them of their expected income for that time period.

 

A cruise is not like a hotel or restaurant on land where another customer can be booked as a replacement to fill the vacated room or table.

 

Edited March 10, 2014 by fleckle

[Suzanne123]

I can only speak to my HAL experience, but when DH joined our cruise 4 days into it, we were charged only the 6 or 7 days that he actually was on board. We got no discount off the cabin price, of course, but his tips were charged only cruising days.

[WestLakeGirl]

Lets try to clear up the OP's questions about dining.

 

Some people prefer traditional dining. They like knowing that they will have the same table and waiter each night, especially those with dietary restrictions who want to make sure that their specific allergies or diets are taken care of. Those with a lot of OBC might also prefer traditional because the tips are. It prepaid and the OBC can be used for that. The show times are set to the traditional dining times so that is a factor for some passengers.

 

Others like the flexibility, and don't mind the uncertainty, of Select Dining,which requires prepayment of tips. They know that this expense is already paid so don't need to budget for it as part of their SeaPaass expenses

[maxsales]

Expect to have your Sea Pass Account charged for all 11 scheduled days of the cruise

 

My uninformed opinion would be the exact opposite, you will be charged for the days you are on board. See how helpful cruise critic can be, LOL. However, in fairness to those receiving the gratuities it would be nice to pay all eleven days. You are irreplaceable, after all.

Edited March 10, 2014 by maxsales

[MarkusToe]

hmmmm - strange - if you go early and the tipp is added on daily bases: your account is closed on day 9 - how is it possible to add something on a closed account? - you do have your final bill on debarkation day...:confused::confused:

Edited March 10, 2014 by MarkusToe

[spookwife]

So in effect, we will be required by Celebrity to pay for all 11 day gratuities or is it just an automatic charge which can be adjusted?

 

it is not fair to the staff who will be stiffed. it is not their fault you are leaving early. and no their work load is not significantly reduced by you departing early.

[WestLakeGirl]

Late charges CAN be added to a SeaPass account, even after the cruise is over and the account settled. One example is then Luggage Valet is used and airline baggage fees get added. This should take place while the cruise is in progress, but twice we have had them show up on our credit card bill after disembark day

[miched]

If I were you and so concerned about the piddle 2 days of gratuities I would be more interested in not paying for the two extra days that I am not on board.

 

Have you also asked Celebrity to prorate the cruise to refund those two days?

 

 

💰

[cynbar]

Those 2 days of gratuities is only a very small percentage of your total vacation costs ---- why not leave them on, rather than deprive the hard working staff of compensation for those days? After all, they are there and ready to serve you, even though you left early, and your spot cannot be taken by new cruisers. Only my opinion, of course, but it doesn't seem like it's enough for you to worry about.

[phoenix_dream]

Can we not agree that by this point the OP has been sufficiently chastised about even thinking about leaving less tips and confine our remarks to logistics (I happen to agree they should be left in full for all the reasons mentioned, but IMHO enough already - it's starting to get nasty).

 

To the OP - if you really desire to do this, then just remove the automatic tipping at the beginning of the cruise and pay your tips in cash.

[youngreflection]

whoa! didn't expect all these---am actually thinking which perk to pick, the prepaid gratuities or the bev package. If we take the prepaid gratuities, we will pay for our bev package and vice-versa---and we also factor in that we are getting off on the 9th day and that we don't consume alcohol, just coffee, water and fresh fruit juice...

 

Anyway, I am sure even if it's only a minor savings difference between choosing which perk to pick, everyone here does calculate which is more worth it for them, right? Notwithstanding its miniscule amount compared to the overall vacation cost.

[miched]

whoa! didn't expect all these---am actually thinking which perk to pick, the prepaid gratuities or the bev package. If we take the prepaid gratuities, we will pay for our bev package and vice-versa---and we also factor in that we are getting off on the 9th day and that we don't consume alcohol, just coffee, water and fresh fruit juice...

 

Anyway, I am sure even if it's only a minor savings difference between choosing which perk to pick, everyone here does calculate which is more worth it for them, right? Notwithstanding its miniscule amount compared to the overall vacation cost.

 

You should have stated this to begin with. Even though you don't consume any alcohol the bev pack is worth it because you will still be able to get the coffees, teas and other crafted coffees at the coffee shop. Bottles of water, fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, NA cocktails, soda and etc. A few coffees, bottles of water and a glass of juice will exceed the cost of the gratuities.

 

 

🍸🍻

[ariawoman]

I'm in agreement with Miched. The beverage package will likely serve you better, unless you don't think you'll drive more than 12ish (depending on your cabin level) per day worth of drinks each.

[youngreflection]

why should I have stated it when I already know what we will drink and how much we will consume. And also know, through this forum and googling, the prices, more or less, of premium coffee, bottled water, fresh fruit juice and the 15% gratuities for each order. Also learned through this forum that bev package can't be prorated. What I didn't know and can't seem to search for an answer through googling or even through this forum, is if the gratuities can be prorated. I just need the cost of our total gratuities so I can compare with the cost of beverages we will order approx. per day til the 9th morning. Do the comparison costing and choose the perk. That is why I asked. Simple as that.

[spookwife]

why should I have stated it when I already know what we will drink and how much we will consume. And also know, through this forum and googling, the prices, more or less, of premium coffee, bottled water, fresh fruit juice and the 15% gratuities for each order. Also learned through this forum that bev package can't be prorated. What I didn't know and can't seem to search for an answer through googling or even through this forum, is if the gratuities can be prorated. I just need the cost of our total gratuities so I can compare with the cost of beverages we will order approx. per day til the 9th morning. Do the comparison costing and choose the perk. That is why I asked. Simple as that.

 

if its free who cares what the 'value' is.

 

you are getting unlimited drinks with the package. do you REALLY need to know how much you would have spent if paying OOP?

 

do people really crunch the numbers down to the thinnest dime?

 

I know for us we tend to consume MORE when on the package since we know we won't have a huge bill at the end of the day. therefore trying to factor in a cost is useless.. I never would drink that many if I had to pay for them all. instead of a cup of regular coffee at dinner I will go for the latte. thus artificially inflating the cost/worth.

 

and sorry but asking if you can prorate your gratuities just because you are leaving early still smacks of cheapness. if you really must compare relative cost then keep the gratuities at par and compare that you your intended drink consumption.