Newbie question - gratuities not included on Avalon

[3CanadianBears]

We are considering our first  river cruise for 2024. Gratuities have been included on ocean cruises we have taken and 

I realize they are not included on Avalon cruises.  How is this handled?  Is it possible to pre-pay gratuities? How

would I find out how much that would be?  I like the idea of having it all taken care of up front. 

 

Thanks for the help! 

[TMLAalum]

@3CanadianBears

Ours are included, but we booked through a local, brick and mortar Travel Agent. So check into using a TA near you.

As an aside, DH and I visited Ottawa for the 1st time on the last Sunday last month. Had a guided tour of the Senate, went to mass at the cathedral, lunch at Bite Burger and then the Byward Market. Enjoyed our time except for the smoke. Between the smoke and rain over the next few days in St. Hippolyte we shortened our trip, only to come home to smoky NE Ohio

[YoungDubFan]

Americans are able to pre-pay gratuities at the time of booking, whether booking direct with Avalon or through a TA. I’m not sure if the rules are different for Canadians. If you are already booked, check to see if you can add pre-paid tips. 

[gnome12]

1 minute ago, YoungDubFan said:

Americans are able to pre-pay gratuities at the time of booking, whether booking direct with Avalon or through a TA. I’m not sure if the rules are different for Canadians. If you are already booked, check to see if you can add pre-paid tips. 

I am Canadian and was able to pre-pay gratuities on Avalon. I’m pretty sure @Daisi was too. 

[3CanadianBears]

Thank you - we do usually use a TA for our cruise bookings, haven't contacted her yet as I'm still doing some research.  I'll check with her for sure. 

 

@TMLAalum glad you enjoyed your brief visit to Ottawa.  The smoke is something "unique" this year, hopefully the fires are under control soon. 

[Daisi]

@3CanadianBears yes, you can pre-pay your gratuities. Either your TA will do it for you, or if booking on your own, you can do so on the first page where you fill in how many rooms are required etc. They have some deals on for 2024 if you choose the right cruise - air at $699 (which sounds good until you add the air taxes and everything else on, but at least you are guaranteed that flight cost), and also single supplement is waived.  Gratuities are waived on 2023 cruises, however you have to have a new booking.

[3CanadianBears]

@Daisi thank you. I guess I can do a mock booking to see the cost of the gratuities, seems it may bring the cruise cost higher than other lines. So much research to do!! 
 

we have a ton of points that will cover air, I think I’d rather be in control of flight times etc but appreciate the heads up.  

[Daisi]

Just checked our invoice for Sept - Budapest to Nuremburg. Our gratuities are $368.00 for the two of us. This also includes the guide & driver for all our tours, not just the crew and CD. To me, it's worth it just so we don't have to sit there on the last night trying to figure out what we owe.

 

We do our air with Avalon as well. My TA and I look at available flights, and we know when Avalon sends us the selected flights what is available for booking - I'm fussy about what airline and route I want. This year we are doing KLM from Montreal to Amsterdam to Bud, and home Prague to Amsterdam to Mtl.  These weren't the flights Avalon first sent us, but they arranged them for us. We also chose a later departure in Prague (didn't want to fly out at 5:00 in the morning then sit in Amsterdam until the afternoon to fly home). No problem, and the cost was better than what we had found online. I then went online with KLM and choose our seats, upgraded from economy to premium economy for a bit more. Everything was done seamlessly, once they were given the flights we wanted, they sent us the booking # so I could do so.  You may wish to have your TA look into this. We did the same with our air last time, but with no transfers as the hotel we were staying in provided transfers.

 

Good luck, Avalon is a great line to sail with, and are really great at handling water issues... which I hope we don't have to do this year. 🙂

 

[franski]

Yes, you can pre-pay your gratuities...  Avalon will let your TA know how much they recommend. 

 

We have done it a couple of times.  We are also going to pre-pay our gratuities with AMA for our cruise next year.

 

Fran