Pre-paid Gratuities - Service Charge?

[melsuli]

If you're from the UK (like me) stump up the readies and simply regard it as V.A.T. ie Value Added Tips? ;)

[alexspepa]

stump up the readies ;)

 

wow - thanks for the great new phrase!...can't wait to use it on the wife!

Edited July 10, 2014 by alexspepa

[jammen]

Should my parents have been charged an extra 15% on the wine package when they have pre-paid their gratuities?

 

Thank you all - again!!

 

Nick

 

Thank you both.

 

So they save 10% on inboard prices but get charged 15% on top.

 

Would they be better buying the wine by the bottle. They have paid about $38-40 per bottle in the package.

 

If they but on ship in the restaurant, they won't be charged this 15%?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Either way, it would be 15% unless you BYOB, open it up in your cabin and carry into dinner. :eek::p:)

[cherylroslyn]

I appreciate the time you took to write this but I still think it's a con to prepay gratuities for wait staff and then be charged 15% on wine they serve.

 

The US are entitled to their own way.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I hope your parents aren't as ungrateful as you are........at least five of us have painstakingly tried to explain it to you.

 

You ask a question but you don't really want the answer, you want to promote your view, well none of us agree with you so do yourself a favor and stay on land......

 

 

If you have ever been on a cruise you would know the staff work like dogs..... And you are totally wrong when you choose to use the term "wait staff" to cover your cheapness....

 

 

I specificically told you each and every member of the team that will be serving your parents.....

 

 

It is not "wait staff"!!!!! It is a sommellier, bar server, assistant waiter and a head waiter....and that is just for the evening meal.

 

The food waiters (i.e. the head waiter and assistant waiter) are tipped as part of the gratuities, the bar and wine sommelier do not share in them.....

 

If your parents walk up to a bar and buy a bottle to share you are suggesting that the person who opens it and pours it should not get a tip because they have tipped their food waiters in the dinning room?

 

My God.....are you kidding me??????

 

 

There is no con....

[WestLakeGirl]

Hard to believe that someone might think they could order, lets say, a $150 bottle of wine and then balk at the 15% additional, declaring, "but I prepaid my gratuities""

 

Or might hire a masseuse for a treatment and then say "you get no tip because I prepaid my gratuities"

 

Hmmmm?

[dkjretired]

You have prepaid gratuities for food wait staff, not for beverage wait staff. It isn't really that complicated

 

Especially since they have been on a cruise before....

[Natalia&Nick]

Everyone's comments are very much appreciated, except the rude and condescending ones. If you don't have the patience to help people, why not leave it to people who do?

 

Quite simply, for an old couple to choose to prepay gratuities and then be charged 15% on a wine package is, to me, a con. It's my opinion and I'm perfectly entitled to it without being called cheap by some arsehole who thinks they have a right to be rude to anyone they like.

 

Thanks everyone and goodbye.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Wine-O]

Everyone's comments are very much appreciated, except the rude and condescending ones. If you don't have the patience to help people, why not leave it to people who do?

 

Quite simply, for an old couple to choose to prepay gratuities and then be charged 15% on a wine package is, to me, a con. It's my opinion and I'm perfectly entitled to it without being called cheap by some arsehole who thinks they have a right to be rude to anyone they like.

 

Thanks everyone and goodbye.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I, too, think the whine should be free. :rolleyes:

[BigJH]

They don't have to pay 15% if they don't purchase anything else that haven't paid gratuities on.

 

If they drink the free items: coffee, tea, water, juices then no need to pay more.

 

But just like when you go to a bar or restaurant and purchase items, you need to tip.

 

At this point they've paid gratuities only on the meals they will enjoy as part of the cruise fare and on the cabin they will occupy.

 

They can sail without making any onboard purchases easily, many do. But if they want to enjoy upgraded beverages and alcohol, they will need to either buy a package or pay as they go, remembering they will add a minimum 15% gratuity, which they can increase if they want, just like in any restaurant.

 

There are several opportunities for complimentary beverages if they watch the dailies, also can bring on 2 bottles of wine to enjoy in their cabin without paying a gratuity on those.

I thought it was purchase tax, as opposed to an additional gratuity, as it is an American ship - very much in the same way as you would pay purchase tax in America, but a constant rate as opposed to it changing in each state - in essence it's VAT (I may be wrong)...

[cle-guy]

I thought it was purchase tax, as opposed to an additional gratuity, as it is an American ship - very much in the same way as you would pay purchase tax in America, but a constant rate as opposed to it changing in each state - in essence it's VAT (I may be wrong)...

 

It's definitely 15% gratuity all the time on F&B purchases. 18% in Spa.

 

VAT comes into play based on some certain itineraries I believe but if a ship touches multiple countries it gets more complicated. The receipt indicates TAX versus Gratuity separately to be sure. I'm not positive, but maybe if ship[ departs and returns to UK it collects VAT (is food zero rated)? I also wonder if the ship doesn't just "eat" the VAT in the small situations it applies. If a ship leaves UK and lands someplace else, not sure how VAT is charged along the way if at all.

 

In the US, for example, if on drinks package no worries on tax. If in port in New Jersey, you pay $9 for drink 15% gratuity and whatever the sales tax rate is. Once in international waters no tax any longer once their reach that geographical boundary.