advantage to including gratuities in original booking?

[Jana60]

That came out a little blurry so I'm reposting.

[cmukid87]

I have 3%APY on my checking account w/ no fees (credit union)

 

It can be done.

 

I'm indifferent on gratuities and when they are paid though.

[Jana60]

I have 3%APY on my checking account w/ no fees (credit union)

 

It can be done.

 

I'm indifferent on gratuities and when they are paid though.

 

If you feel comfortable saying which credit union? I used to get 4% but when the Fed lower the interest rates the account interest lowered also because it's based on the prime loan rate.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Jana60

[declansdad]

I earn 1.49% interest on my checking account with the Credit Union. It's called a click account. Also if you book a cruise a year in advance you could even put that money into a CD or Treasury note.

 

 

No matter which way you do it, your return would be a couple of dollars (if you are lucky) at best.

[dmdiver]

It's just personal preference. We did prepay on the last couple of cruises, though. I know I'm going to be spending money on excursions either through the cruiseline or in port, so I just like to get the gratuity portion out of the way. I'm not concerned about adjusting tips, as I just won't do it. The staff works too hard to be stiffed. If I were to get poor service, I would mention it for sure. If I get excellent service, I may give cash in addition to the gratuities that I've already prepaid. I also like when I look at my vacation spreadsheet & there's not as much in the "owe" column as there is in the "paid" column.

[ksaunders]

Like a lot of folks,I like to prepay now. I didn't before because I didn't want to spend money before I had to. But the bill at the end can be scary enough as it is, so prepaying helps ease the pain a little.

[Gamecock]

Can i add the pre-paid gratuities to my booking after originally booking a few weeks ago? We are sailing in September. thank you

[hockeyluver]

Can i add the pre-paid gratuities to my booking after originally booking a few weeks ago? We are sailing in September. thank you

 

Yes you just need your booking number and make a call to carnival.

[GabbyCooks]

I don't understand all this worrying everyone does over what their final will look like.

 

The day I decide to book the cruise, I have the money. Maybe that is the difference. I don't thunk gee, I better use this money to pay for tips instead of having to worry about where the money will come from to pay the tips after the cruise.

 

If I pay it now our pay it later, the money is there. No reason to try to juggle it.

 

I don't care when you pay it, it just puzzles me how many post say they do it do so they don't have to worry about it later.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

I think you are taking the word "worry" a little too literal. I prefer to pre pay as much as possible on any vacation I take. I prefer to have less to pay at the end, thus less to "worry" about. Am I worried if I can afford it or not? No, of course not. Yes, the money is there either way. I prefer to give it to them in advance, you prefer not to.

[Jana60]

I think you are taking the word "worry" a little too literal. I prefer to pre pay as much as possible on any vacation I take. I prefer to have less to pay at the end, thus less to "worry" about. Am I worried if I can afford it or not? No, of course not. Yes, the money is there either way. I prefer to give it to them in advance, you prefer not to.

 

I just wish there was some way that I could have everyone who wishes to pay in advance pay me instead of the cruise line and let me take responsibility for paying the Cruise Line when it's actually due and then let me get the interest on all that money. I'd be a millionaire just for saving them the hassle of paying it later!

Edited February 4, 2016 by Jana60

[firemanbobswife]

I use 10% off Carnival Gift Cards and buy them when they are available so it doesn't matter from a monetary standpoint when I pay Carnival. Most of the time I prepay so it's done and over with. I would never reduce or remove them so that's not a concern.

 

I like walking on the ship knowing that I can in fact have a zero balance S&S account if I don't purchase anything.

 

I'll take my 10% savings over any microscopic amount of interest I might get on my $84 any day of the week.

[LMaxwell]

I just wish there was some way that I could have everyone who wishes to pay in advance pay me instead of the cruise line and let me take responsibility for paying the Cruise Line when it's actually due and then let me get the interest on all that money. I'd be a millionaire just for saving them the hassle of paying it later!

 

A woman after my own heart.

 

[gtalum]

Uh, yea, unless you can post a publicly accessable website I call BS on 1.49% on a checking account. I too am with a credit union and on my checking account I get 0.10%. Most banks give nothing on a checking account these days. My savings account is 0.25%. Interest on a 1 year loan is around 0.7%. So suffice it to say unless you can post a link I simply do not believe you when you say you get 1.49% interest these days on a checking account. As you can see below you have to go to a 5 year CD to break 1.49% on anything.

 

https://vystarcu.org/Rates/Deposit-Account-Rates

 

https://vystarcu.org/Rates/Certificate-Account-Rates

 

It's called "High Yield Checking". This link is to a bankrate.com article discussing the accounts. You're not likely to find it at your local brick and mortar bank or credit union. Generally you open the account and interact with the financial insitution online.

[TaDaaa!]

None at all.

 

Actually, it has already been shown in this thread there are some advantages to certain people. You may not care for those advantages but you are incorrect to claim as fact, "None at all".

Edited February 4, 2016 by TaDaaa!

[TaDaaa!]

OK here is screen shot from my credit union!

https://www.tinkerfcu.org/index.php/savings/current-savings-rate/

 

So your credit union is saying if you have LESS than $30,000 in checking you make 1.49% APR and if you have GREATER than $30,000 you make 0.10% APR? I think someone screwed up somewhere along the way. The rest of the rates look in line with other credit unions. Still doesn't change the fact that gratuities for 2 people on a 7 night cruise equals $ 168 which equals PENNIES in interest, even at 1.49% APR. I don't mind losing a few pennies to know I will step on the boat and off the boat and not owe a cent.

Edited February 4, 2016 by TaDaaa!

[TaDaaa!]

I just wish there was some way that I could have everyone who wishes to pay in advance pay me instead of the cruise line and let me take responsibility for paying the Cruise Line when it's actually due and then let me get the interest on all that money. I'd be a millionaire just for saving them the hassle of paying it later!

 

I don't think enough people cruise in all the world to make you a millionaire by holding people's gratuities for 6 months to a year.

[kayhold]

I swear to God some of you are 3 years old.

 

That said, I like to pay things the earliest I can. It gives me anxiety to have bills/debt/things coming up that aren't paid.

I will not sit around and stress out for a year or so knowing a fee is going to be due later when I can pay it now.

I'm not going to lose sleep over a few pennies I could earn.

I will lose sleep over looming bills.

I don't give a crap how others do it.

This is how I do it, and it works for me.

Edited February 4, 2016 by kayhold

[Jana60]

So your credit union is saying if you have LESS than $30,000 in checking you make 1.49% APR and if you have GREATER than $30,000 you make 0.10% APR? I think someone screwed up somewhere along the way. The rest of the rates look in line with other credit unions. Still doesn't change the fact that gratuities for 2 people on a 7 night cruise equals $ 168 which equals PENNIES in interest, even at 1.49% APR. I don't mind losing a few pennies to know I will step on the boat and off the boat and not owe a cent.

 

No. They pay 1.49% interest on the first 30000 + .1% on all the rest of the balance. They also have other forms of investment account such that a person can put the first 30000 in their checking using the click checking and the balance above this into other savings models in the institution.

[Jana60]

. Still doesn't change the fact that gratuities for 2 people on a 7 night cruise equals $ 168 which equals PENNIES in interest, even at 1.49% APR. I don't mind losing a few pennies to know I will step on the boat and off the boat and not owe a cent.

 

The credit union has been paying me interest on my account since I was 16 years old and with the advent of the click accounts has been paying me from 1.49% to as much as 4% several years ago when the interest rates were higher. I may seem like I'm pinching pennies but indeed it was because I learned how to pinch pennies till they squeal that I managed to work my way through school. There will always be some bill unpaid at least momentarily. After all each month we know that we will eventually receive a bill for electricity. Yet we do not pay the bill in advance even if we know approximately how much electricity we usually use. As long as the money is in the bank to pay it I don't really consider the bill unpaid. It is merely that the cash is in transit. Indeed since the banks are able to do bill pay services I actually have payments already entered and scheduled to pay when due. So I don't have any anxiety concerning it since essentially the bill is already paid but the money is simply sitting in my account earning interest till the day it is due.

[TaDaaa!]

The credit union has been paying me interest on my account since I was 16 years old and with the advent of the click accounts has been paying me from 1.49% to as much as 4% several years ago when the interest rates were higher. I may seem like I'm pinching pennies but indeed it was because I learned how to pinch pennies till they squeal that I managed to work my way through school. There will always be some bill unpaid at least momentarily. After all each month we know that we will eventually receive a bill for electricity. Yet we do not pay the bill in advance even if we know approximately how much electricity we usually use. As long as the money is in the bank to pay it I don't really consider the bill unpaid. It is merely that the cash is in transit. Indeed since the banks are able to do bill pay services I actually have payments already entered and scheduled to pay when due. So I don't have any anxiety concerning it since essentially the bill is already paid but the money is simply sitting in my account earning interest till the day it is due.

 

Yes, I know all about how to pinch pennies. In 8.5 years on one salary I saved enough to pay cash for our house when I left the military. But it doesn't matter that I or anyone knows how to pinch pennies. What matters is we get our monies worth for what we spend our saved pennies on. If someone receives comfort in paying their gratuities early then that has value and it probably has enough value to offset the interest earned. For that person, they have spent their money wisely.

 

Your electricity bill comparison doesn't hold water unless you know exactly how much you are going to spend on your electric bill 6 months before you use the electricity.

 

How you spend you money is no better nor worse than so many others out there.....just different. How about letting others spend their money the way they wish and you spend yours the way you wish without calling someone else wrong because they differ from what you do. ;)

Edited February 5, 2016 by TaDaaa!

[Jana60]

How you spend you money is no better nor worse than so many others out there.....just different. How about letting others spend their money the way they wish and you spend yours the way you wish without calling someone else wrong because they differ from what you do. ;)

 

The topic of the thread was a question asking if there is any advantage to paying gratuities in advance. I wasn't putting anyone down. I was just expressing and supporting the opinion that there is no advantage to paying gratuities in advance and slight though it is there is an advantage to not paying in advance. At least there is a slight advantage to not paying an extended period of time in advance. Since some people book their cruises a year in advance it's a reasonable consideration. At least it was a reasonable enough consideration for the person who started this thread to do so.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Jana60

[seventhwardhustler]

Listen to Natty on this! Especially reason #2. If there is *any* chance - even one in a hundred- that you will not use all your OBC (onboard credit) then you're want the OBC going toward your gratuity. Otherwise your OBC is simply forfeited.

 

wow, never thought about that!! thanks!

[sprint180]

I'm in the Pre-pay group. I like to have it out of the way. I can't think of any reason I would want to lower them as someone mentioned so that isn't an issue to me. Nothing like going on a vacation and not having to worry what the final bill is. And, I have never had OBC. so that isn't an issue either. I actually don't pay much in advance. I pay the deposit and then when final payment is due I pay everything else. Until then my money sits in a savings account. So the advantage to me is when it is paid in advance the only expenses you have to budget for is what you are spending on the ship or in ports.

Edited February 5, 2016 by sprint180

[almendrada]

We've prepaid for both cruises that we've booked.

 

Personally, since the crew works so hard and depends on the income they receive from gratuities, I feel that gratuities should be made non-optional and added to the fare as a service charge.

 

Since Carnival hasn't done that (yet), I'm putting my money where my mouth is and imposing it on myself. ;)

[TaDaaa!]

I'm in the Pre-pay group. I like to have it out of the way. I can't think of any reason I would want to lower them as someone mentioned so that isn't an issue to me. Nothing like going on a vacation and not having to worry what the final bill is. And, I have never had OBC. so that isn't an issue either. I actually don't pay much in advance. I pay the deposit and then when final payment is due I pay everything else. Until then my money sits in a savings account. So the advantage to me is when it is paid in advance the only expenses you have to budget for is what you are spending on the ship or in ports.

 

Even if prepaid, you can lower them if necessary. Prepaying doesn't change that.