Modifying gratuity value question

[PhDUnderTheSea]

Hello all and happy holidays. New to this forum, but not new to forums in general, and while not a first time cruiser, most definitely not an expert cruiser either. A colleague suggested this forum as a wealth of information.

 

We will be embarking on our first Royal Caribbean cruise shortly and it is my lady friend who has done most of the planning. I have a number of questions and will try to keep them to separate topics for ease of review.

 

I would like to know if there are methods by which the automatic gratuities can be modified onboard the ship and what the different methods may be. If this is covered in an FAQ please link me and I will read up.

 

Best -

 

Steve

[Clarea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

If you do not have prepaid gratuities, you can visit Guest Services during the cruise and fill out a form to modify your gratuities.

Edited December 26, 2014 by clarea

[Merion_Mom]

Hello all and happy holidays. New to this forum, but not new to forums in general, and while not a first time cruiser, most definitely not an expert cruiser either. A colleague suggested this forum as a wealth of information.

 

We will be embarking on our first Royal Caribbean cruise shortly and it is my lady friend who has done most of the planning. I have a number of questions and will try to keep them to separate topics for ease of review.

 

I would like to know if there are methods by which the automatic gratuities can be modified onboard the ship and what the different methods may be. If this is covered in an FAQ please link me and I will read up.

 

Best -

 

Steve

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic, Steve.

 

At the top of the page, where the threads start, there is a "search this forum" box. If you click on it, and then click on "advanced search", you should find that you can search for just about any question that you may have, and read its answer.

 

:)

[PhDUnderTheSea]

Good morning to you both. I had done a cursory search but did not find quite what I am looking for.

 

We are pre-paying gratuities for our Anytime Dining.

[cb at sea]

If you pre-pay your gratuities, there really is nothing else to do! You're done, and all is well! Everyone who is supposed to be tipped, will be!

 

If you wish to add more after you experience the service, you can extend cash on the last evening to those who you feel deserve more than the standard amount. That would be the easiest way.

[Clarea]

Good morning to you both. I had done a cursory search but did not find quite what I am looking for.

 

We are pre-paying gratuities for our Anytime Dining.

I do not believe gratuties can be reduced if they are prepaid. However, you can add to gratuties using envelopes provided at the end of the cruise.

[PhDUnderTheSea]

If you pre-pay your gratuities, there really is nothing else to do! You're done, and all is well! Everyone who is supposed to be tipped, will be!

 

If you wish to add more after you experience the service, you can extend cash on the last evening to those who you feel deserve more than the standard amount. That would be the easiest way.

 

We have a large OBC to use up. I was hoping there was a way to increase the tip amount for certain individuals above the pre-charged amount. For instance, if we happen to really like our daily room attendant, it would be nice to "give" some of that OBC to him or her instead of losing it as we leave the ship. Do they really not have a method for people to use OBC to increase tips, or add to a charge account to increase tips? Cash only?

[PhDUnderTheSea]

I do not believe gratuties can be reduced if they are prepaid. However, you can add to gratuties using envelopes provided at the end of the cruise.

 

I would like to add from our OBC if there are standout employees that we'd like to give more to. We have $850 OBC for a 1 week cruise and I'd rather not leave the ship with a large amount unused

 

Best-

 

Steve

[pennielz]

With prepaid gratuities, it depends on who you want to give additional gratuities to. Bartenders, just add it to the slip you sign for your drinks. Stateroom steward, you can leave in the envelope provided towards the end of the cruise. We like to leave an additional tip in a personally written thank you card. The same for our wait staff in MDR.

[pennielz]

I would like to add from our OBC if there are standout employees that we'd like to give more to. We have $850 OBC for a 1 week cruise and I'd rather not leave the ship with a large amount unused

 

Best-

 

Steve

 

Other than the bartenders, I do not know how to add it to your room. Check with Guest Relations on board.

[Ocean Boy]

I would like to add from our OBC if there are standout employees that we'd like to give more to. We have $850 OBC for a 1 week cruise and I'd rather not leave the ship with a large amount unused

 

Best-

 

Steve

 

You can get cash from the casino but they take a (I think) 3% service fee. But that is better than leaving the OBC unused.

[Clarea]

I would like to add from our OBC if there are standout employees that we'd like to give more to. We have $850 OBC for a 1 week cruise and I'd rather not leave the ship with a large amount unused

 

Best-

 

Steve

Talk to Guest Services. They have a gratuity modification form that changes automatic gratuties. I'm just not sure if it can be used with prepaid gratuties.

 

Depending on the source of your OBC, it may be refundable. If so, you can ask for cash on the last day of the cruise, or else they will credit your credit card with any leftover refundable OBC.

 

If your OBC is non-refundable, you can go to the casino and ask for cash against your onboard account. They will charge you 5% for this, but it's better than losing all your OBC.

[lisiamc]

You can also contribute to the crew welfare fund if you want to do something that benefits ALL of the crew. We've done that a few times when we felt that just about everyone taking care of us was going a great job, and that giving some extra to the waiter, room steward, etc, wasn't quite reaching all the corners.

[PhDUnderTheSea]

Thank you! I thought OBC was "use or lose" and could not be changed to cash. I will call our agent and ask what type we have and then just go that route.

 

Best-

 

Steve

[138east]

I have used the gratuity modification form on many cruises to tip additional money, particularly for the servers in the Concierge Lounge who are not covered by the daily "service fee". However you do need to know the person's name and position to do this. On one longer cruise the Diamond Lounge was overwhelmed and crazy and the concierge said I could just tip the Diamond Lounge bar service team. I have also paid the 5% to withdraw money in the casino. None of my OBC ever remains "unused" on the ship.

[twindaddy]

Congratulations on your first thread, and welcome to cruise critic! Probably the most interesting tipping thread title ever.

 

Also, this thread will end up about 20 pages long, eventually with a little lock next to it. You will see, tip threads never fail to entertain.

[Paulette3028]

Hello all and happy holidays. New to this forum, but not new to forums in general, and while not a first time cruiser, most definitely not an expert cruiser either. A colleague suggested this forum as a wealth of information.

 

We will be embarking on our first Royal Caribbean cruise shortly and it is my lady friend who has done most of the planning. I have a number of questions and will try to keep them to separate topics for ease of review.

 

I would like to know if there are methods by which the automatic gratuities can be modified onboard the ship and what the different methods may be. If this is covered in an FAQ please link me and I will read up.

 

Best -

 

Steve

 

There is a form available at Guest Services that you can use to specifically add more gratuities for a specific person and have it added to your Sea Pass Account and therefore use any OBC to pay for.

 

We used it on our recent Her Majesty cruise. We had attended their Taste of Tuscany specialty dinner. It was so wonderful that we felt the staff deserved a special thank you from us.....so I used the form available at Guest Services.

[PhDUnderTheSea]

There is a form available at Guest Services that you can use to specifically add more gratuities for a specific person and have it added to your Sea Pass Account and therefore use any OBC to pay for.

 

We used it on our recent Her Majesty cruise. We had attended their Taste of Tuscany specialty dinner. It was so wonderful that we felt the staff deserved a special thank you from us.....so I used the form available at Guest Services.

 

Thank you for this information. I am grateful for earlier information on how to cash out OBC, but seems to be extra steps, along with a penalty. Your solution is the type I have been looking for. I have never cruised on Royal or had such a large OBC to use up. Looking forward to our cruise and to the wonderful services so many have told us about.

 

Best-

 

Steve

Edited December 26, 2014 by PhDUnderTheSea

[Jimmers]

My wife is in charge of making sure we never leave any of our OBC behind and she hasn't let me down yet:)

[twindaddy]

My wife is in charge of making sure we never leave any of our OBC behind and she hasn't let me down yet:)

 

Right there with you brother. My wife cant even comprehend that being possible.

[ladysail2]

Right there with you brother. My wife cant even comprehend that being possible.

 

 

LOL. 'OBC and Leftover' in the same sentence , does not compute!!!! :p

 

 

One a more serious note...thank you for all the 'tips', no pun intended. I have a crazy $1000 OBC to use up on a 6-day cruise.....now I know for sure that it will all be used up!!!

:D

[Coralc]

LOL. 'OBC and Leftover' in the same sentence , does not compute!!!! :p

 

 

One a more serious note...thank you for all the 'tips', no pun intended. I have a crazy $1000 OBC to use up on a 6-day cruise.....now I know for sure that it will all be used up!!!

:D

 

I bought a watch, (a very nice Citizen Eco Drive) in addition to drink package, specialty dining, etc., etc.

[mollyeilis]

Congratulations on your first thread, and welcome to cruise critic! Probably the most interesting tipping thread title ever.

 

Also, this thread will end up about 20 pages long, eventually with a little lock next to it. You will see, tip threads never fail to entertain.

 

His title was "Modifying gratuity value question" and NOTHING in his post said anything about lowering it. I think it's a perfect title for what his question was. Maybe not a perfect way to ask what many people *thought* he was asking. But newbies sometimes just don't know how everything works on a ship, and want to know.

[twindaddy]

His title was "Modifying gratuity value question" and NOTHING in his post said anything about lowering it. I think it's a perfect title for what his question was. Maybe not a perfect way to ask what many people *thought* he was asking. But newbies sometimes just don't know how everything works on a ship, and want to know.

 

 

calm down, it was a joke....but probably true anyway.

[GUT2407]

We have a large OBC to use up. I was hoping there was a way to increase the tip amount for certain individuals above the pre-charged amount. For instance, if we happen to really like our daily room attendant, it would be nice to "give" some of that OBC to him or her instead of losing it as we leave the ship. Do they really not have a method for people to use OBC to increase tips, or add to a charge account to increase tips? Cash only?

 

 

I just got back off Celebrity the newsletter on 2nd last day invited all to go to Guest relations if they wanted to make special tips on their account.

 

As Cel and RCI are owned by the same company assume they offer exactly the same service.