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Benefits and Disadvantages of prepaying gratuities?


Nixieh
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Firstly, this is not intended as another discussion on removing gratuities. I will not (and never would) do that as I know that all crew staff work extremely hard for the customers, get paid a pittance and rely on the tips and I strongly feel that the tips are a part of the cruise cost and, as such, should always be paid.

 

I have been reading various threads about the advantages and disadvantages of pre-paying gratuities and I have summarised what the threads seem to suggest below:

 

Advantages

 

Paid before leaving for cruise so don't have big bill at the end and if you are not from the US (like us) you can pay in your own currency before the cruise so avoiding currency fluctuations and potential foreign currency transaction fees from your bank.

Disadvantages

 

You could be getting the interest on the money in your bank account up until the end of the cruise.

My question is, will the room steward know that the tips are already prepaid or not? I want to prepay for the reasons stated above but I read a worrying thread in which someone talked about poor attitude from the room steward after he was given a cash tip (in addition to the prepaid gratuity) as the poster believed the steward may have thought the additional cash tip was instead of the auto gratuity. In that thread, it was suggested that people buy an OBC to cover the tips instead but I would prefer just to prepay the tips so I just want to make sure there are not likely to be any other issues with me doing that.

Thanks for any insights.

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Firstly, this is not intended as another discussion on removing gratuities. I will not (and never would) do that as I know that all crew staff work extremely hard for the customers, get paid a pittance and rely on the tips and I strongly feel that the tips are a part of the cruise cost and, as such, should always be paid.

 

I have been reading various threads about the advantages and disadvantages of pre-paying gratuities and I have summarised what the threads seem to suggest below:

 

Advantages

 

Paid before leaving for cruise so don't have big bill at the end and if you are not from the US (like us) you can pay in your own currency before the cruise so avoiding currency fluctuations and potential foreign currency transaction fees from your bank.

Disadvantages

 

You could be getting the interest on the money in your bank account up until the end of the cruise.

My question is, will the room steward know that the tips are already prepaid or not? I want to prepay for the reasons stated above but I read a worrying thread in which someone talked about poor attitude from the room steward after he was given a cash tip (in addition to the prepaid gratuity) as the poster believed the steward may have thought the additional cash tip was instead of the auto gratuity. In that thread, it was suggested that people buy an OBC to cover the tips instead but I would prefer just to prepay the tips so I just want to make sure there are not likely to be any other issues with me doing that.

Thanks for any insights.

 

Always pre-pay - just paid for our June cruise. Shows as paid on invoice & I am sure the only way the steward would find out was if this was removed for whatever reason & they questioned his 'level' of service because of that.

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If you are not from the US there could be an exchange rate advantage or disadvantage. Otherwise it's up to you. Do what makes you feel most comfortable. The Crew does not care if you pre-pay or get billed at the end of the voyage. They get their share either way. I would not worry about interest rates. The amount is less than 2 cents/week.

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Never would prepay a gratuity if you prepay it no longer meets the definition of gratuity. Always remove the daily service fees and tip those who I feel have earned a tip.

 

How could anyone prepay sine it is gratuity from the Princess information: "the amount of the gratuities is up to your own decision. Many passengers, however, ask for some recommendations." and "our crew members will provide you with excellent service, but many of them will remain invisible. In order to do justice to all our crew members who care for your well-being, a discretionary gratuity...." Again Princess clearly says discretionary so no one could really know what is correct until after services have been provided.

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I usually have OBC for gratuity and some wine so I don’t prepay so that can be used up. And they have your credit card so you don’t have to do anything at the end of the cruise if you have a balance. I see no advantages on board in prepaying anything.

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I'll prepay the grats if I get a notice that the rate is increasing and that I'll lock in the lower rate by prepaying. Or if my credit card is running a deal where I might get back a bigger reward on travel during a certain time period prior to my cruise dates. Otherwise I'll pay onboard, knowing I saved the 2 cents interest I'd have lost by prepaying!

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Firstly, this is not intended as another discussion on removing gratuities. I will not (and never would) do that as I know that all crew staff work extremely hard for the customers, get paid a pittance and rely on the tips and I strongly feel that the tips are a part of the cruise cost and, as such, should always be paid.

 

I have been reading various threads about the advantages and disadvantages of pre-paying gratuities and I have summarised what the threads seem to suggest below:

 

Advantages

 

Paid before leaving for cruise so don't have big bill at the end and if you are not from the US (like us) you can pay in your own currency before the cruise so avoiding currency fluctuations and potential foreign currency transaction fees from your bank.

Disadvantages

 

You could be getting the interest on the money in your bank account up until the end of the cruise.

My question is, will the room steward know that the tips are already prepaid or not? I want to prepay for the reasons stated above but I read a worrying thread in which someone talked about poor attitude from the room steward after he was given a cash tip (in addition to the prepaid gratuity) as the poster believed the steward may have thought the additional cash tip was instead of the auto gratuity. In that thread, it was suggested that people buy an OBC to cover the tips instead but I would prefer just to prepay the tips so I just want to make sure there are not likely to be any other issues with me doing that.

Thanks for any insights.

If I have OBC I wait to pay gratuity if not I prepay, I like stepping off the ship with 0 balance on my CC. I have not noticed any difference in service, some stewards are better than others.

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Nixieh - are you from the UK ?? If so the exchange rate for any prepaid items will be fixed based on when you booked your cruise. With Brexit there have been some large fluctuations (I have one cruise at $1.25/£1 and one at $1.42/£) If it is a good rate then I would prepay; if the current rate is better then I pay on my credit card. Hope this makes sense !!

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Nixieh - are you from the UK ?? If so the exchange rate for any prepaid items will be fixed based on when you booked your cruise. With Brexit there have been some large fluctuations (I have one cruise at $1.25/£1 and one at $1.42/£) If it is a good rate then I would prepay; if the current rate is better then I pay on my credit card. Hope this makes sense !!

 

Yes I am from the Uk. Great point about the rate being fixed when you book. How can I find out what ‘my rate’ would be?

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Yes I am from the Uk. Great point about the rate being fixed when you book. How can I find out what ‘my rate’ would be?

 

Easiest way is to look in your Personalise how much it would cost to purchase On Board Credit. The £ amounts quoted are for $25, $50 and $100 respectively so you can do the calculation from there.

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I like to prepay everything that I can. I enjoy a vacation more if it's totally paid for or nearly totally paid for before we go. If I needed the amount of interest I'd get on the gratuities total, I wouldn't be able to afford to cruise anyhow.

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Then you should ask to speak to whoever is in charge of Housekeeping, and report the problem/s so they can investigate and take the appropriate action.

Agree, we have never, ever had a single problem that could not be resolved, and all were resolved talking only to the steward. We have also never left a cruise without upping the tips to the room steward and wait staff, as they have all been excelent.

 

As for pre paying, we have always paid at the end so we have a single bill to resolve. If there was an advantage that helped us such as exchange rate, we wouldn't hesitate to save a few bucks so we can tip more later.

Another CC member has mentioned giving his waiter a $15 dollar tip at the end of the cruise for every time he wasn't charge a corking fee. We do the same.

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If I have OBC I wait to pay gratuity if not I prepay, I like stepping off the ship with 0 balance on my CC. I have not noticed any difference in service, some stewards are better than others.

This. And the fact that if I pre-pay in CAD I usually get a better exchange rate than having them charge to my credit card in USD and converted.

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Thanks everyone for the helpful posts and advice. Sorry I really didn’t mean to stir up a controversial topic.

 

Don’t be sorry. This happens every other day on Cruise Critic..:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tony

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