How are pre-paid gratuties impacted by increased gratuities

[Hobar]

Pre-paid gratuties for Mach 2024 cruise.  Will I be charged more $ for the crew gratuity increase coming Feb 1, or am I locked in at current rate (that will be former rate at time of cruise)?  The “fine print” says prices subject to change, so wondering if that means the prices I already paid are subjec to change, or that the change is for those who have not pre-paid by Feb 1.  

Edited January 26 by Hobar
Typo

[kazu]

I don’t think anyone can answer your question (yet).

 

there was mixed reporting on another thread about the prepaid gratuities.  Some experienced them honoured and others reported of it being charged daily - prepayment applied so the new charge was applied.

 

I had prepaid ours as well a while ago  - not to beat the crew appreciation increase but because of the favourable exchange rate on our dollar.  

 

It will be interesting to see what happens - I suspect we will be charged the difference?

[*Miss G*]

I’m going to make a wild guess that a pre-payment will give you that amount of OBC and the new charges will be applied against that set amount.  If the crew appreciation was part of a package, it should cover the increased amount.  As @kazu says, we won’t know for certain until first-hand experiences start coming in when the increase kicks in.

[pilot]

We are leaving February 3.. On the App is states that I have Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation. 

[kazu]

47 minutes ago, pilot said:

We are leaving February 3.. On the App is states that I have Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation. 

 

As it does no mine.  But the cost has gone up since your and I paid.   One of two things happens.  Crew appreciation doesn’t show (as some have reported) and the price you paid is honoured or the OBC for the pre-paid crew appreciation shows on your account.  If that happens, you’ll see the credit for what you paid and the minus for the new crew appreciation.

 

Since you are sailing so soon, I hope you come back and tell us how it was handled on your ship.

[CanadianPacific]

I was in this situation over the prior gratuity increase.  Prepaid at the lower rate.  Onboard, the current higher rate was charged daily, with a corresponding credit of the (slightly lower) daily amount I'd prepaid.  Brought up the discrepancy, and was offered to complete the 'usual' form to request lowering of the gratuity.  Not a big deal, but it did leave a bad taste.  I believe most lines honor the prepaid amounts (for....everything!) or else what's the point?

[kazu]

4 minutes ago, CanadianPacific said:

I was in this situation over the prior gratuity increase.  Prepaid at the lower rate.  Onboard, the current higher rate was charged daily, with a corresponding credit of the (slightly lower) daily amount I'd prepaid.  Brought up the discrepancy, and was offered to complete the 'usual' form to request lowering of the gratuity.  Not a big deal, but it did leave a bad taste.  I believe most lines honor the prepaid amounts (for....everything!) or else what's the point?

 

If I am charged extra for the crew - so be it.  I will not remove the differential.  I have warned my travelling partner we may hit this.

[CanadianPacific]

4 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

If I am charged extra for the crew - so be it.  I will not remove the differential.  I have warned my travelling partner we may hit this.

I agree!  My point  I guess (beyond answering OP's question) is that there's really no reason to PREPAY the gratuities months in advance.  The website could be clearer that you're just buying $XX of OBC, but not locking in the gratuity cost.

 

Gratuities is one item we can prepay in Cdn$ - HAL's exchange usually much better than from a credit card.  So I may 'prepay' for my upcoming cruises, but much closer to the sail date.  

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, CanadianPacific said:

I agree!  My point  I guess (beyond answering OP's question) is that there's really no reason to PREPAY the gratuities months in advance.  The website could be clearer that you're just buying $XX of OBC, but not locking in the gratuity cost.

 

Gratuities is one item we can prepay in Cdn$ - HAL's exchange usually much better than from a credit card.  So I may 'prepay' for my upcoming cruises, but much closer to the sail date.  

 

The exchange rate is one of the reasons I prepaid and to help my travelling partner and reduce on board charges.  I chose the timing due to the exchange rate.  HAL adjusts it on a regular basis.

If it is honoured, I will just increase my tips to the crew in cash and if not, so be it.

 

edited to say - By the way - I LOVE your CC name 🙂 

[CanadianPacific]

7 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

edited to say - By the way - I LOVE your CC name 🙂 

Thank you!!  I'm an avid LURKER on this board for <checks avatar> 10 years now.  Very impressed and thankful for the tremendous amount of useful HAL info and memories shared.  ☺️

[Pushka]

I was looking at pre paying to get the better exchange rate but for the AUD HAL's exchange rate is woeful for us. 

[Hobar]

Interesting posts and thank you all for taking the time to post. I prepaid because I didn’t want to deal with any bill post-cruise. I’ve not been on a cruise in a very long time where I had to pay for add-ons and so I just wanted to be done with it in one shot before I boarded. This cruise is ending up costing me not much less than an all inclusive. I don’t mind paying if it’s up front but I just want to know and not be surprised with additional charges after I’ve prepaid. HAL has had my money since July 2023.   If I am charged the up charge it’s only about $1.50 per person per day, so no big deal but it just irks me that there is an add on here and another one there. 

Edited January 27 by Hobar
Punctuation

[sunviking90]

10 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

I’m going to make a wild guess that a pre-payment will give you that amount of OBC and the new charges will be applied against that set amount.  If the crew appreciation was part of a package, it should cover the increased amount.  As @kazu says, we won’t know for certain until first-hand experiences start coming in when the increase kicks in.

I think this is exactly how it’ll go. When we prepay our ÇA to get the better exchange it has just shown up as a credit on our account and the daily fees eat away at it. 
I would think that those who booked under the free crew appreciation promo before Christmas as we did will be ok. If not, I’m not going worry about the small amount.

Edited January 27 by sunviking90

[boeckli]

4 hours ago, Pushka said:

I was looking at pre paying to get the better exchange rate but for the AUD HAL's exchange rate is woeful for us. 

 

IMHO woeful is a bit strong. Even though HAL's exchange rate adjustment late last year made it less attractive to pre-pay for us Aussies, it's still better than the current rates you can get from the banks - YMMV.

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, boeckli said:

 

IMHO woeful is a bit strong. Even though HAL's exchange rate adjustment late last year made it less attractive to pre-pay for us Aussies, it's still better than the current rates you can get from the banks - YMMV.

Yes, mmv. Not from ING which is the same as the currency rate.    I wish we could pay online in USD as I would be better off than letting HAL do the exchange.   Celebrity has a much better exchange rate. 

Edited January 27 by Pushka

[boeckli]

22 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Yes, mmv. Not from ING which is the same as the currency rate.    I wish we could pay online in USD as I would be better off than letting HAL do the exchange.   Celebrity has a much better exchange rate. 

 

Must check out ING. I didn't think banks offered transaction rates better than the RBA published rate (latest 0.6575).

HAL is still better than that.

[Pushka]

1 minute ago, boeckli said:

 

Must check out ING. I didn't think banks offered transaction rates better than the RBA published rate (latest 0.6575).

HAL is still better than that.

It’s a great card for travel and as long as you deposit $1000 the month prior and do 5 transactions - eg I do 5 separate items at Woolies, then 5 of the international atm fees that month are credited back. 

[GeezerCouple]

Hmmm.

 

On at least two other cruise lines, when there was an increase in gratuities, it was made clear that IF one pre-paid them by <date>, then the old/lower rate would be honored for the sailing.

But if one waited to pay after that date, either by waiting until the last minute or by pre-paying but at a later date, then the new gratuity rate would be in effect.

 

There was a lot of chatter about hurrying to pre-pay the gratuities before *that* date.

 

GC

[kazu]

18 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Hmmm.

 

On at least two other cruise lines, when there was an increase in gratuities, it was made clear that IF one pre-paid them by <date>, then the old/lower rate would be honored for the sailing.

But if one waited to pay after that date, either by waiting until the last minute or by pre-paying but at a later date, then the new gratuity rate would be in effect.

 

There was a lot of chatter about hurrying to pre-pay the gratuities before *that* date.

 

GC

 

I remember that.  The thing is this time nothing was said about that and there’s nothing I saw on the T & C indicating that.  It’s worded differently this time that it’s effective on sailings of Feb. 1st and after.

 

 

[Tigerlily75]

13 hours ago, Pushka said:

I was looking at pre paying to get the better exchange rate but for the AUD HAL's exchange rate is woeful for us. 

 

8 hours ago, boeckli said:

 

IMHO woeful is a bit strong. Even though HAL's exchange rate adjustment late last year made it less attractive to pre-pay for us Aussies, it's still better than the current rates you can get from the banks - YMMV.

I thought it was pretty good for my upcoming cruise - gratuities for us would be US$448 onboard which is AU$681 at the banks rate. HAL charged me AU$582 to pre-pay them. Did it used to be much better? 
 

The exchange rate for us is just terrible in general, so I was happy to save $100!

[Tigerlily75]

15 hours ago, CanadianPacific said:

I agree!  My point  I guess (beyond answering OP's question) is that there's really no reason to PREPAY the gratuities months in advance.  The website could be clearer that you're just buying $XX of OBC, but not locking in the gratuity cost.

 

Gratuities is one item we can prepay in Cdn$ - HAL's exchange usually much better than from a credit card.  So I may 'prepay' for my upcoming cruises, but much closer to the sail date.  

I agree. My receipt simply says “1x prepaid hotel service charge” for each of us. If I’ve only bought OBC then my receipt should reflect that. It’s just poor business practice to claim I’m purchasing something that I’m really not, and then potentially inflate the price afterwards. It’s misleading and has nothing to do with how much I appreciate the crew! 

[boeckli]

1 hour ago, Tigerlily75 said:

 

I thought it was pretty good for my upcoming cruise - gratuities for us would be US$448 onboard which is AU$681 at the banks rate. HAL charged me AU$582 to pre-pay them. Did it used to be much better? 
 

The exchange rate for us is just terrible in general, so I was happy to save $100!

 

No,  what you got was the old (very favourable ) rate. At their current exchange rate it would be AU$666 for a 14 day trip, so the difference to the bank rate is much less.

 

[Tigerlily75]

7 minutes ago, boeckli said:

 

No,  what you got was the old (very favourable ) rate. At their current exchange rate it would be AU$666 for a 14 day trip, so the difference to the bank rate is much less.

 

Ooh, thank you, I got very lucky then!

[ExArkie]

Would I be correct in assuming that the same conditions would apply for gratuities included with the HIA Early Booking Bonus?

 

We booked a transpacific trip on Noordam for April 2025 under Early Booking. The confirmation shows an inclusion for “Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo HIA,” which appears to be essentially the same wording as for those who use actual money to prepay.
 

It seems logical to assume it would work the same way, i.e., charges applied daily with a credit for the prepayment…always assuming that it really does work that way. However, in dealing with most businesses, I find “logic” to be a poor indicator of how things actually are handled. 

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

Would I be correct in assuming that the same conditions would apply for gratuities included with the HIA Early Booking Bonus?

 

We booked a transpacific trip on Noordam for April 2025 under Early Booking. The confirmation shows an inclusion for “Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo HIA,” which appears to be essentially the same wording as for those who use actual money to prepay.
 

It seems logical to assume it would work the same way, i.e., charges applied daily with a credit for the prepayment…always assuming that it really does work that way. However, in dealing with most businesses, I find “logic” to be a poor indicator of how things actually are handled. 

 

HIA Crew Incentive should be safe.  At least it was for me, last time the crew incentive was increased.

It doesn’t show on your statement as OBC.  I could see the bracketed charge on my Navigator but it didn’t appear on my final statement.