Prepay Gratuities?

[BennyandBo]

1 hour ago, dunrobbin said:

Can you remove pre paid gratuities on Royal Caribbean?

 

 

In the unlikely event that a guest onboard being charged the daily automatic tip does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services onboard and will be able to do so until the morning of their departure.

 

That's for the daily charged gratuities. NOT the pre paid. Pre paid in advance gratuities cannot be removed. "Guests onboard being charged the daily automatic tip" That's NOT the pre paid. 

[steveru621]

It's all personal preference I guess.  If you use your CC you actually end up paying for gratuities almost a month after you get home.  

[dunrobbin]

14 minutes ago, BennyandBo said:

That's for the daily charged gratuities. NOT the pre paid. Pre paid in advance gratuities cannot be removed. "Guests onboard being charged the daily automatic tip" That's NOT the pre paid. 

Ahhh Thanks for explaining.  We always pre-pay, but if service sucks I guess we could just not  give the extra we usually do.

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

Yes, but if your credit card hasn't cleared the billing cycle /credited your points /if you haven't had time to have the OBC credited, you'll have to wait until your next cruise to use those points.  That assumes you choose Royal Caribbean again for your next cruise; if you opt for another cruise line, those points could "sit there" until they expire.

My credit card gives points for every purchase. I don't have to wait for anything. 

[Mum2Mercury]

9 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

My credit card gives points for every purchase. I don't have to wait for anything. 

So you spend on Monday and your points credit /are available for use on Monday?  Before you've even paid the bill?  I think that's unusual.  

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, dunrobbin said:

Can you remove pre paid gratuities on Royal Caribbean?

 

 

In the unlikely event that a guest onboard being charged the daily automatic tip does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services onboard and will be able to do so until the morning of their departure.

 

So the answer is no. Someone on board who has prepaid is not being charged the daily automatic gratuities so there is nothing to adjust.

[BennyandBo]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

So the answer is no. Someone on board who has prepaid is not being charged the daily automatic gratuities so there is nothing to adjust.

Exactly. Better to not pre pay in advance. You can remove for bad service and tip cash to those who provided good service only.

[time4u2go]

17 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

So you spend on Monday and your points credit /are available for use on Monday?  Before you've even paid the bill?  I think that's unusual.  

I'm not really understanding what you are asking. Whatever charges I make during a month result in points accumulated. They aren't available the day I make the purchase but I accumulate points for every purchase. Maybe we are talking about a different type of points? My points earn me free stays in hotels.

[poocher]

59 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I'm not really understanding what you are asking. Whatever charges I make during a month result in points accumulated. They aren't available the day I make the purchase but I accumulate points for every purchase. Maybe we are talking about a different type of points? My points earn me free stays in hotels.

I think your statement that you don’t have to wait for anything sounded like the points you earn are immediately available to use as opposed to after your billing cycle closes.  This is the way most rewards cards work.  You accumulate points as you make purchases but they are not available to use until you billing cycle closes.  Your post sounded like yours worked differently.  I believe that’s what Mom2Mercury was trying to understand.

[time4u2go]

11 hours ago, poocher said:

I think your statement that you don’t have to wait for anything sounded like the points you earn are immediately available to use as opposed to after your billing cycle closes.  This is the way most rewards cards work.  You accumulate points as you make purchases but they are not available to use until you billing cycle closes.  Your post sounded like yours worked differently.  I believe that’s what Mom2Mercury was trying to understand.

Mine work that way too. I probably worded one of my responses poorly to indicate otherwise.

 

I was originally responding to a poster that said, "Prepay a week or two prior to cruise to get our credit card points." It sounded to me like they were saying that they don't get their credit card points if they don't prepay the gratuities. I was questioning why that was.

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by time4u2go

[Seville2Cabo]

12 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

So you spend on Monday and your points credit /are available for use on Monday?  Before you've even paid the bill?  I think that's unusual.  

My card gives the points about 3 days after spend.  Paying the bill has nothing to do with it.

[Mum2Mercury]

11 hours ago, poocher said:

I think your statement that you don’t have to wait for anything sounded like the points you earn are immediately available to use as opposed to after your billing cycle closes.  This is the way most rewards cards work.  You accumulate points as you make purchases but they are not available to use until you billing cycle closes.  Your post sounded like yours worked differently.  I believe that’s what Mom2Mercury was trying to understand.

Exactly.  To my knowledge, all credit card reward cards work like this: 

- You spend.

- At the end of your billing cycle, the points are awarded.  

 

What I was saying is that if you pre-pay your gratuities, you earn your points before your trip and can use them for OBC for this trip.  

[Mum2Mercury]

5 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

My card gives the points about 3 days after spend.  Paying the bill has nothing to do with it.

 

That is unusual.  

Not paying the bill, but the bill cycle ending.  

 

[time4u2go]

2 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Exactly.  To my knowledge, all credit card reward cards work like this: 

- You spend.

- At the end of your billing cycle, the points are awarded.  

 

What I was saying is that if you pre-pay your gratuities, you earn your points before your trip and can use them for OBC for this trip.  

It sounds like we are talking about different types of points and credit cards.  My credit card purchases earn me points for a specific hotel chain that I can use for free stays.  Prepaying the gratuities would get me those points earlier, but that's most likely of no benefit to me (earning them earlier).

[Seville2Cabo]

1 minute ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

That is unusual.  

Not paying the bill, but the bill cycle ending.  

 

The only cards that wait until the end of the cycle are the cards that give points for other travel (Marriott visa, American Air MC, etc).  Cards that accumulate their own points post points as soon as charge posts.  

[Mum2Mercury]

2 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

It sounds like we are talking about different types of points and credit cards.  My credit card purchases earn me points for a specific hotel chain that I can use for free stays.  Prepaying the gratuities would get me those points earlier, but that's most likely of no benefit to me (earning them earlier).

Yes, rewards cards may work differently.  Some give a free hotel stay (or airline ticket or whatever) after spending X number of dollars.  Others award points for every X number of dollars spent.  

 

Regardless of the type, having your points earlier does benefit you, if you're able to use the rewards sooner; that is, if you can use the rewards for this trip instead of saving them for a future trip, which may or may not happen before the rewards expire.  

[time4u2go]

4 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yes, rewards cards may work differently.  Some give a free hotel stay (or airline ticket or whatever) after spending X number of dollars.  Others award points for every X number of dollars spent.  

 

Regardless of the type, having your points earlier does benefit you, if you're able to use the rewards sooner; that is, if you can use the rewards for this trip instead of saving them for a future trip, which may or may not happen before the rewards expire.  

My points don't expire, and I have more than enough for whatever trips I take.

[Javert1969]

On 4/20/2023 at 10:07 PM, pghflyer said:

Well if you booked prior to 09/07/2022, you can prepay your gratuities prior to boarding and get the lower rate (normal went from $14.50 to $16.00 and suites went from $17.50 to $18.50).

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/08/23/royal-caribbean-increases-gratuities-crew-members-its-cruise-ships

 

Their increase wasn't as bad as some other lines, but it can still make a moderate difference if you have a full family cabin on a long itinerary.

Thanks for the hint.  We are already sailing tomorrow so I suspect it’s a bit late to prepay them as I’m already sitting on the poolside in Barbados and I am not planning to spend the afternoon on the phone at 2gbp per minute 😀

 

I also note the point that you have the option to remove some all all of the gratuities if you are not happy.  I guess the issue with this is that according to RC the gratuities go to a bunch of different staff, some of whom you might never meet - as such it would seem a bit odd to take the tips away from all the staff just because I had bad service from one or two.

 

Of course this doesn’t address the underlying issue that really, companies should pay their staff adequately and tips should be an optional extra for exceptional service, otherwise it’s just a hidden part of the price of he service you are buying.

[adolfo2]

On 4/20/2023 at 7:23 AM, Javert1969 said:

Also is there any reason to do this - e.g. do you get a discount for paying before the cruise?  Otherwise I don't see much point in prepay.

It makes on-board book keeping easier. No daily his/her gratuities charge on your FOLIO obscuring an errant charge.

 

[bigque]

On 4/20/2023 at 12:49 PM, BennyandBo said:

If you pre pay you cannot remove them.  maybe you prefer to tip in cash, maybe you just don't like tipping. Pre paying will take that option away.

If you like tipping in cash or just don’t like tipping as you say then you wouldn’t be prepaying in the first place. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by bigque
Spelling

[bigque]

On 4/20/2023 at 3:19 PM, poocher said:

When you prepay, that’s when it gets paid, with final payment at 90 days. It’s not like you pay it when you add it.  It doesn’t change the initial deposit.  So $320ish for 90 days.  What’s the savings?

Exactly! 

[karena1]

On 4/20/2023 at 7:23 AM, Javert1969 said:

Hi - our cruise agent told us that we can prepay the gratuities if we want before the cruise on the Royal app.

 

However I can't find that option?

 

Also is there any reason to do this - e.g. do you get a discount for paying before the cruise?  Otherwise I don't see much point in prepay.

You can have your TA add them when you book or call Royal to add them.  We always do it, then don't have that bill at the end of the cruise.  Otherwise you get charged the tip amount daily on your shipboard account.  Totally worth it to us.

[poocher]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:53 AM, adolfo2 said:

It makes on-board book keeping easier. No daily his/her gratuities charge on your FOLIO obscuring an errant charge.

 

Each charge is listed separately so how would it obscure a different charge?

[adolfo2]

14 hours ago, poocher said:

Each charge is listed separately so how would it obscure a different charge?

7-Day cruise for two = 14 different line-item charges on your folio on a small screen. Makes it more difficult to pick out an errant charge.

[HappyTexan44]

On 4/20/2023 at 2:25 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

It depends on how much OBC I have.  If I have more then I plan to spend on board I will wait to pay them.  If not I pre pay. I prefer to get it out the way.  

 

I think this will be why I won't prepay.  We have $200 in OBC from that Premier thing.  I don't see us naturally using that.  Just before I got the OBC, I'd bought the stuff I'd wanted to buy: Arcade, etc.  I guess I could cancel those and use OBC, but it seems easier to just use the OBC for gratuities.