OBC for tips? Yay or nay?

[drsel]

On one of my Costa Cruises, I heard that a family of four were disputing the service charges automatically added to the bill.
It was a 29 night Cruise so i expect the service charge would have been 1160 euros for a family of 4 (no children)

I heard that they did not carry so much cash and their credit cards were maxed out, so they were not allowed to disembark.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, drsel said:

On one of my Costa Cruises, I heard that a family of four were disputing the service charges automatically added to the bill.
It was a 29 night Cruise so i expect the service charge would have been 1160 euros for a family of 4 (no children)

I heard that they did not carry so much cash and their credit cards were maxed out, so they were not allowed to disembark.

That does not sound right. It may not be the moral thing to do, but you can opt out of paying tips.

 

What did they do make them sail the next voyage, and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on?

 

Reminds me of when we went to Jamaica for our 20th anniversary. There was a departure tax at the airport. We overheard a woman say she had spent all her money and could not pay it. She smiled an said please make me stay.😃 But they let her depart without paying.😢

[drsel]

In Costa, the service charges (for the waiters, room steward and kitchen staff) are mandatory and are not considered gratuities or tips, so they cannot be removed under any circumstances whatsoever.

 

I don't know what happened to that family afterwards, because we have to disembark ourselves

 

 

[Banditswife]

4 hours ago, drsel said:

This post is misleading.You should specify that they will charge your card if you do not directly pay/settle your bill at final disembarkation.

 

I never give any ship my credit card. I always pay cash at the end of the cruise.

I have read stories of inflated charges on the card after the passenger reaches home.

 

I also give cash tips and a small gift to my room steward, waiters and those in the entertainment team and guest services, who have made our cruise special

 

 

 

 

 

We have never had excess charged to our card/account.  I personally do not wish to carry that much cash around.

[Trueblueky]

On 7/18/2020 at 11:58 AM, drsel said:

Encash OBC in the casino and give cash tips to the waiters and your room steward.
they will really love you for it.
Also pay the automatic gratuities at the end, not earlier

Sorry, I don't do casino.  How does "encash" work?

[firefly333]

On 7/19/2020 at 4:55 AM, drsel said:

On one of my Costa Cruises, I heard that a family of four were disputing the service charges automatically added to the bill.
It was a 29 night Cruise so i expect the service charge would have been 1160 euros for a family of 4 (no children)

I heard that they did not carry so much cash and their credit cards were maxed out, so they were not allowed to disembark.

I was with someone  from cc, travel agent yet. Said she could just pay taxes and fees. Cheap skate. The alarm bell went off as we exited the ship. She was like as a ta she can get cheap cruises all the time, that me paying double fares  no big favor to her. Wasnt a good cruise.

 

Got to find out first hand what happens if your card is declined.

[firefly333]

21 hours ago, drsel said:

In Costa, the service charges (for the waiters, room steward and kitchen staff) are mandatory and are not considered gratuities or tips, so they cannot be removed under any circumstances whatsoever.

 

I don't know what happened to that family afterwards, because we have to disembark ourselves

 

 

Worse comes to worse they will allow the family to sign a promissory note.

[firefly333]

22 hours ago, ontheweb said:

That does not sound right. It may not be the moral thing to do, but you can opt out of paying tips.

 

What did they do make them sail the next voyage, and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on?

 

Reminds me of when we went to Jamaica for our 20th anniversary. There was a departure tax at the airport. We overheard a woman say she had spent all her money and could not pay it. She smiled an said please make me stay.😃 But they let her depart without paying.😢

Sounds right to me. If you cant afford tips stay home.

 

Some lines... I heard ncl  rcl not so easy, make it harder and harder to remove tips. You have to go down in person and explain why. You deserve to be embarrassed imo. 

[Jasalth]

Oddly enough... at this point in time I find myself more likely to give Carnival cash up-front than anyone else. While I don't have tips pre-paid on my 2 booked cruises right now, the ones they canceled did. I will have $1050 on an 8 day cruise and $1250 OBC on a 14 day... so I am set for those there at this point. 

 

This weekend has made me look at where my money goes before a trip in a lot of ways. 1st, the TA for the land/air portion of my canceled Med got me my refund 10 weeks later. Well... mostly. See I didn't cancel the air, they had me flying from Home >> Toronto, and then 23 days later, flying Barcelona >> Toronto >> Home, and the 5 different people I spoke with at times.. just couldn't get the "issue" with it, until I started asking if Canada now has teleportation devices because if that is the case I am sooo always traveling from Canada!! I say mostly because, the TA charged me their cancellation fee of $400. After arguing, it's all good, I can expect my $400 back in another 10-12 weeks.... 

 

I am also going to be filing a CC dispute against a tour I paid through with PayPal. For some reason... it is perfectly acceptable that the vendor will not contact me at all, and they "said" they will issue me a voucher! Good until December 2020... like WHAT is that going to do for me on a tour in Italy? Funny thing, I can go to the vendor's website and they say if I cancel 24 hours before the tour I get a 100% refund. Another $500 I have to fight for to get back...  In truth though, out of everything I had planned, 3 hotels, 7 tours (2 PIF, 5 with deposits) it's only the TA and the one company I am having issues with. But... $900 is some pretty big issues! 

 

I booked my air for December with Carnival. Decided to do this as long as the price wasn't over double booking myself. It was actually significantly cheaper and due with Cruise final payment. Will do the same thing for Oct 2021. If a Med cruise I like for 2022 is scheduled... you can BET I am booking my air with Carnival as long as it isn't double the price. 

 

I am not stressed out about not having that $900 in hand. I would have spent it on something I want, but don't need anyways like a new fridge or more indoor garden equipment. I am more stressed out that I have to find the time to sit on the phone for 3-4 hours, to maybe have a chance at getting an issue solved. So if I can hand one company my money and just have to deal with 1 company for 3-4 hours, instead of 3-4 companies for a total of 12-16 hours on hold? Yeah... take my money please! 

[drsel]

 

 

 

 

 

I was with someone  from cc, travel agent yet. Said she could just pay taxes and fees. Cheap skate. The alarm bell went off as we exited the ship. She was like as a ta she can get cheap cruises all the time, that me paying double fares  no big favor to her. Wasnt a good cruise.   Got to find out first hand what happens if your card is declined.

pardon me for asking, but

 

1. What happened after the alarm went off at the exit?

2. What happens if your credit card is declined?