Tipping process

[LoveCruisingCC]

My previous cruises on Princess & RCI had both had prepaid gratuities as well as Select / Anytime Dining, I did not have to handle the actual tipping part at all apart from when we gave extras cash to our stewards as well as waiters.

 

For this cruise, the travel agent has provided the first 2 person complimentary gratuities, but not 3rd person, I am trying to understand how the process will work.

 

Will the complimentary gratuities appear on my onboard account (I can't see it on Celebrity website)? Are tips meant to be in cash? Or just a note / envelope saying how much to draw from my onboard account for each person / service area? What about the 3rd person gratuities that I still have to add? Do I add it to the onboard account?

 

Appreciate your help and suggestions?

[Mr. Click]

The two pre-paids should show up in your onboard account on you are on the ship. They should also show up on your invoice so you have some proof in case there is a problem on board. The third, they typically just add that to your on board account during the trip. They call it a tip but they way they handle it now it is more like a mandatory fee.

[Lsimon]

Tipping on Celebrity is done either through prepaid gratuities or, if not prepaid, through automatic daily charges for the gratuities.

 

Cash tips are only needed if you choose to tip additional, over and beyond the standard gratuities, for any reason. Not 100% sure how your TA's included tips will work but you can double check with guest relations once you are on board to determine. It will either just be noted on the record so they won't be automatically charged daily (just as prepaid tips would be) or appear as a credit on your on board account to offset the daily charges.

[WestLakeGirl]

If you want to eliminate all further thought about this you can simply tell the travel agent to add the third persons tip to your cruise fare and pay them when you make Final Payment

[ECCruise]

If you want to eliminate all further thought about this you can simply tell the travel agent to add the third persons tip to your cruise fare and pay them when you make Final Payment

 

That's the ticket!

[miched]

If you want to eliminate all further thought about this you can simply tell the travel agent to add the third persons tip to your cruise fare and pay them when you make Final Payment

 

Not good advice.

 

If you don't pay your total fare before taking the cruise you will not be allowed to board the ship. Why add more expense to it? That is why the drink pack upgrade, or excursions are not added to the cruise fare and charged as a separate charge. Basically a technicality but don't say add it to the fare, tell them that you want to pay before the cruise but not added to the cruise fare.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[cynbar]

Extra charges such as pre paid gratuities, beverage packages, etc are not technically added to the cruise fare. But they can indeed be paid at the same time as the cruise fare, and are listed separately on the invoice. So, really, both of you are right --- but it's true that the easiest thing is to pay for everything at once, in answer to the OP's question.

[cruisestitch]

The TA, or Celebrity, will know that any extra expenses, be they pre-paid gratuities, or pre-paid shore excursions, or pre-paid beverage packages, or pre-cruise hotels, or Choice Air aren't actually added to the cruise fare. The point was, that you don't need to wait until you are on board and see the gratuities added daily to the SeaPass account, they can be paid ahead of time even if not in Select Dining (where such payment ahead of time is required).

[LoveCruisingCC]

Thank you for all your helpful replies.