Rare shof515 Posted October 18, 2018 #1 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) I received this email about my upcoming cruise: Quote October 18, 2018 Dear Carnival Guest, Effective with all cruises departing on or after December 1, 2018, the recommended onboard gratuities will be as follows: Standard staterooms: $13.99, per person, per day Suites: $15.99, per person, per day The recommended gratuities are automatically added to your onboard Sail & Sign® account as a convenience. However, while on board, you are free to adjust gratuities at your discretion. No adjustments will be made after the cruise. Guests who have booked directly with Carnival may visit our website to pre-pay their gratuities online prior to December 1, 2018, at the current rates ($12.95 per person, per day for standard staterooms and $13.95 per person, per day for suites). Should you decide to do so, follow these simple instructions: Visit Carnival.com and access "Your Cruise Manager" Click on "Cruise Details" "Add" under "Prepaid Gratuities" 100% of the gratuities go towards our shipboard team members. They work hard to provide exceptional and friendly service, so we hope you will agree that this minor increase is well deserved. We welcome our guests showing appreciation for the crew's efforts and the entire team looks forward to having you aboard for a fun and memorable cruise! Sincerely, Richard Morse Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations Edited October 18, 2018 by shof515 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evandbob Posted October 18, 2018 #2 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Doesn't affect me in the least, it's a $1 pp/per day increase, so $14 extra for a couples' week long cruise, not a big deal. Will affect cruising families more, of course. I've often posted that cruiselines should just fold the gratuities into the fare price, but that shows no signs of happening. I hope this doesn't increase the # of cruisers "adjusting" or eliminating tips at GS the last night of a cruise. I'm all for giving the crew a higher wage, they make a pittance for the hours they put in every day. Chengpk once posted that the average crew member gets some ridiculous amount, it was so low I hope he comes back to remind us what that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bury me at sea Posted October 18, 2018 #3 Share Posted October 18, 2018 It's been a while since the last increase. Seems reasonable to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can'tWait2SetSail Posted October 18, 2018 #4 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Good. They deserve it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel24m Posted October 18, 2018 #5 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I bet that's to combat all the losers that remove grats. Hopefully next we'll see that they cannot be removed or adjusted except for certain documented circumstances 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimgpayne Posted October 18, 2018 #6 Share Posted October 18, 2018 1 minute ago, mikel24m said: I bet that's to combat all the losers that remove grats. Hopefully next we'll see that they cannot be removed or adjusted except for certain documented circumstances As long as they are gratuities; they can never be mandatory. By their very definition, they are optional. If they make them mandatory, then they will have to classify them as some kind of housekeeping fee. Which then means that Carnival must declare them as income and pay taxes on them. Right now, as gratuities, Carnival doesn't pay taxes on them - only the receiver does (or may, depending on the tax jurisdiction). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel24m Posted October 18, 2018 #7 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I get it. I guess I'm just hopeful some day they will just be all inclusive with grats built into the cruise fare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pyropoodle Posted October 18, 2018 #8 Share Posted October 18, 2018 At first, I panicked, because I'm not that good at math and for some reason I had calculated that this would cost us an extra $256 on our upcoming cruise. then I thought to myself, "that's crazy, it can't be correct" . so I busted out the old calculator and sure enough, it's closer to $64.00, so I calmed down a bit. we always pre-pay grats and we always put something in an envelope on the last day anyway, so, it's all good. but man, for a moment there, I was a little bit shaken. I need to go take another math class :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernardo62 Posted October 18, 2018 #9 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Giving a little more make a great deal for their service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aknguyen Posted October 18, 2018 #10 Share Posted October 18, 2018 We already pre-paid for our tips for next year's cruise. Do we now need to go back in and pay the balance? I'm having trouble logging into Carnival right now. (I forgot my password. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pyropoodle Posted October 18, 2018 #11 Share Posted October 18, 2018 1 minute ago, aknguyen said: We already pre-paid for our tips for next year's cruise. Do we now need to go back in and pay the balance? I'm having trouble logging into Carnival right now. (I forgot my password. ) I just logged in an looked at ours since we prepay as well, and nothing had changed. you should be good. I think it's for people who did not prepay and they are giving them an option to now prepay at the lower rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljd Posted October 18, 2018 #12 Share Posted October 18, 2018 2 minutes ago, aknguyen said: We already pre-paid for our tips for next year's cruise. Do we now need to go back in and pay the balance? I'm having trouble logging into Carnival right now. (I forgot my password. ) If you have/will prepay your gratiuties before 12/1/18, you won’t have to pay more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BENHANDEL Posted October 18, 2018 #13 Share Posted October 18, 2018 1 minute ago, eljd said: If you have/will prepay your gratiuties before 12/1/18, you won’t have to pay more. Have you confirmed that? We have already prepaid our gratuities. I got the email today. I logged into my account and it does not indicate any balance due. I was wondering if the extra would be added once we were on board or if we would be grandfathered in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BENHANDEL Posted October 18, 2018 #14 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Ok...I just read the email more carefully and got my answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljd Posted October 18, 2018 #15 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Just now, BENHANDEL said: Have you confirmed that? We have already prepaid our gratuities. I got the email today. I logged into my account and it does not indicate any balance due. I was wondering if the extra would be added once we were on board or if we would be grandfathered in? The email implies that any one who paid before 12/1, regardless of when before that time, will be grandfathered in to the current prepaid gratuities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcuchio24 Posted October 18, 2018 #16 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I have zero problem with this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHNEV2003 Posted October 18, 2018 #17 Share Posted October 18, 2018 8 minutes ago, elcuchio24 said: I have zero problem with this. Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schazzy Posted October 18, 2018 #18 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I have no problem with this either, the work they do and the service they provide is worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlkubi Posted October 18, 2018 #19 Share Posted October 18, 2018 I have no problem with this at all! They all work so hard! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger0613 Posted October 18, 2018 #20 Share Posted October 18, 2018 The new breakdown isn't posted on the Carnival website. I want to know who is getting what from the extra $1.04 or $2.04 per day. I like knowing where my money goes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWolver672 Posted October 18, 2018 #21 Share Posted October 18, 2018 This is why I like to pay for everything upfront. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bevv Posted October 18, 2018 #22 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scpirate Posted October 18, 2018 #23 Share Posted October 18, 2018 1 hour ago, shof515 said: I received this email about my upcoming cruise: The wages are low for you.for them it's great or they wouldn't be doing the job.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katscrapfever Posted October 18, 2018 #24 Share Posted October 18, 2018 aren't the gratuities automatically charged to your sail and sign card? i prefer to tip in person as we've done in the past. it should be optional instead of automatic, in my opinion. we do tip generously. don't get me wrong, we know the help works hard and diligently. but we've requested the gratuities be taken 'off' the credit card so that 'we' control whom and what is given. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bevv Posted October 18, 2018 #25 Share Posted October 18, 2018 5 minutes ago, katscrapfever said: aren't the gratuities automatically charged to your sail and sign card? i prefer to tip in person as we've done in the past. it should be optional instead of automatic, in my opinion. we do tip generously. don't get me wrong, we know the help works hard and diligently. but we've requested the gratuities be taken 'off' the credit card so that 'we' control whom and what is given. Options are: Prepay, have them charged to your sail and sign card and leave them, or have them charged to your sail and sign card and adjust/remove them. I prepay them and tip more if I feel it is warranted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts