Pre-Paid Gratuities

[cruisemate2007]

Hi - Are pre-paid gratuities worth it?  Taking a 10 day cruise next year and cruise line is offering pre-paid gratuities in the amount of $153 per person.  This is for the entire onboard crew.  If I purchase this package, how will the crew know?

[Host Kat]

8 minutes ago, cruisemate2007 said:

Hi - Are pre-paid gratuities worth it?  Taking a 10 day cruise next year and cruise line is offering pre-paid gratuities in the amount of $153 per person.  This is for the entire onboard crew.  If I purchase this package, how will the crew know?

 

What cruise line are you sailing? There is different information regarding different cruise lines.

 

Looking forward to your reply,

 

Host Kat

[NotADopey1]

We prepay our tips. But we tip extra for those who provide excellent service.  And we leave good comment cards as well so that management is aware of crew members providing great service.

[SelectSys]

33 minutes ago, cruisemate2007 said:

Hi - Are pre-paid gratuities worth it?  Taking a 10 day cruise next year and cruise line is offering pre-paid gratuities in the amount of $153 per person.  This is for the entire onboard crew.  If I purchase this package, how will the crew know?

Are they offering to cover your gratuities or is this simply an option for paying customary gratuities.  From a strictly financial perspective, why pay for something in advance when you can do so later?  I am sure the cruise lines love it when we pre-pay gratuities as they get to use our money for free for maybe a year or more.  That said, there may be some value in terms of knowing your account is zero when you board the cruise.

 

Regardless of when you pay, I certainly hope that you at least pay the suggested tip amounts and when you feel like it, give more for excellent service.  

 

In terms of knowing who paid, I think - but don't really know - the your direct crew probably gets a report of who paid their customary gratuities.

[Aquahound]

59 minutes ago, cruisemate2007 said:

Hi - Are pre-paid gratuities worth it?  Taking a 10 day cruise next year and cruise line is offering pre-paid gratuities in the amount of $153 per person.  This is for the entire onboard crew.  If I purchase this package, how will the crew know?

 

Whether you pre-pay or you auto-pay on board, the crew will know.  No worries there.  

 

The question is, how much per day are the auto-gratuities on board?  If they are $15.30 per person per day, you're breaking even, and it is simply your choice if you want to pre-pay or be automatically charged while on board.  

[cruisemate2007]

It is a Viking cruise.

[Host Kat]

24 minutes ago, cruisemate2007 said:

It is a Viking cruise.

 

@cruisemate2007 Thank you for the information!

 

Since the Ask s Cruise Question forum is for general questions regarding cruising, your inquiry was off topic since we now know the specific cruise line. To help you out, your new thread has been moved to the Viking Ocean forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed the line frequent this forum and provide the type of feedback you are seeking here. Browse through the thread titles in this forum looking for threads of interest. You may find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already poste d questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you have posted! Please click here Cruise Critic Community for all our various discussion forum categories. I suggest you put the page link in your browser's Favorites for quick & easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the various discussion forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

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Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[CDNPolar]

34 minutes ago, cruisemate2007 said:

It is a Viking cruise.

 

Viking offer you the opportunity to prepay,  and if you don't prepay then the same amount will appear on your stateroom account the day before debarkation.  It is really your choice.

 

If you wait until this appears on your stateroom account, then you can remove, reduce, or increase the amount.  If you prepay, it is done and over with.

 

The crew do not know specifically that YOU paid your gratuities.

 

We pay onboard before debarkation, but we also pass cash gratuities to people onboard that go above and beyond.

[millybess]

2 hours ago, cruisemate2007 said:

Hi - Are pre-paid gratuities worth it?  Taking a 10 day cruise next year and cruise line is offering pre-paid gratuities in the amount of $153 per person.  This is for the entire onboard crew.  If I purchase this package, how will the crew know?

We never prepay gratuities because there have been occasions where we have received nonrefundable onboard credit for various reasons.  We would normally use that to pay the gratuities at the end of the cruise.

[duquephart]

13 minutes ago, millybess said:

We never prepay gratuities because there have been occasions where we have received nonrefundable onboard credit for various reasons.  We would normally use that to pay the gratuities at the end of the cruise.

 

They won't. What you are really doing is paying a fee to the payroll account.

[millybess]

16 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

They won't. What you are really doing is paying a fee to the payroll account.

That's not an argument I going to get into.  I need to see reasonable proof.  So far there has been none that has convinced me..  🙂

Edited September 22 by millybess

[msualum]

If you prepay up to two  weeks before the cruise and use ACH you can save 3,3%.  We usually do that so we don’t have to worry about it.

Maureen 

[Hanoj]

3 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Whether you pre-pay or you auto-pay on board, the crew will know.  No worries there.  

 

The question is, how much per day are the auto-gratuities on board?  If they are $15.30 per person per day, you're breaking even, and it is simply your choice if you want to pre-pay or be automatically charged while on board.  

Viking markets cruises using days but charges gratuities based on nights. 9 x $17 = $153.

[Mike07]

I seem to remember gratuities being based upon the total number of nights on-board a Viking ship... not the total number of nights of the itinerary.

 

I say that because right now, Viking prepaid gratuities *appears* to be charging me based upon total nights of the itinerary (16) and not total nights onboard a Viking ship (14).

 

I didn't see this thread and posted this in the VR roll call.

 

 

 

[millybess]

4 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

I seem to remember gratuities being based upon the total number of nights on-board a Viking ship... not the total number of nights of the itinerary.

 

I say that because right now, Viking prepaid gratuities *appears* to be charging me based upon total nights of the itinerary (16) and not total nights onboard a Viking ship (14).

 

I didn't see this thread and posted this in the VR roll call.

 

 

 

You are right, we were charged for each leg of our Far Horizons cruise.  The account was settled after each leg.  So on some days, we would be paying 2 days gratuity for the same 1 day.  We took it up with Guest Services....hence, nonrefundable OBC.

[Mike07]

2 minutes ago, millybess said:

You are right, we were charged for each leg of our Far Horizons cruise.  The account was settled after each leg.  So on some days, we would be paying 2 days gratuity for the same 1 day.  We took it up with Guest Services....hence, nonrefundable OBC.

 

 

Thanks... I think I'm going to elect to wait to be charged onboard as it's not worth the fight of paying now and then arguing later. Onboard, they might realize the error of their ways, but it's a small ship.

 

Though, I have to ask how many people on this itinerary pre-pay and think nothing of it.

[Mike07]

1 hour ago, msualum said:

If you prepay up to two  weeks before the cruise and use ACH you can save 3,3%.  We usually do that so we don’t have to worry about it.

Maureen 

 

 

FWIW, Costco Citi offers 3% CB on travel and Viking passes the right merchant code to Citi from my experience. There are other travel cards out there that might earn the same, or similar, percents.

 

But, if you don't use credit, then that 3.3% is a decent chunk of savings.

Edited September 23 by Mike07

[duquephart]

The whole "pre-pay" business baffles me. Think about it.

[duquephart]

9 hours ago, millybess said:

That's not an argument I going to get into.  I need to see reasonable proof.  So far there has been none that has convinced me..  🙂

 

Viking, themselves, refer to this payment as a "discretionary hotel and dining charge" - those who think the $$$$$ go into a cigar box for later distribution are being fooled. There apparently is some sort of accounting gimmick which allows these "discretionary" fees different treatment for tax purposes.

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Thanks... I think I'm going to elect to wait to be charged onboard as it's not worth the fight of paying now and then arguing later. Onboard, they might realize the error of their ways, but it's a small ship.

 

Though, I have to ask how many people on this itinerary pre-pay and think nothing of it.

 

Mike - I know what you are saying, but there is never an "argument" when you are paying onboard.  You can simply give them an amount that you are comfortable paying and they will add to the amount, reduce the amount, or remove the complete amount.  We have done all.

 

ONCE, I had a Program Director on a River ship say something like - "you realize that you are taking money away from the crew" - and on that comment, when I was just going to reduce the gratuity, I asked her to remove it completely.  I later shared this story with tellus@

 

If this is truly discretionary, then NEVER shame me for wanting to make a change to the amount.  NEVER.  That was unacceptable and the only time this ever happened.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Mike - I know what you are saying, but there is never an "argument" when you are paying onboard.  You can simply give them an amount that you are comfortable paying and they will add to the amount, reduce the amount, or remove the complete amount.  We have done all.

 

ONCE, I had a Program Director on a River ship say something like - "you realize that you are taking money away from the crew" - and on that comment, when I was just going to reduce the gratuity, I asked her to remove it completely.  I later shared this story with tellus@

 

If this is truly discretionary, then NEVER shame me for wanting to make a change to the amount.  NEVER.  That was unacceptable and the only time this ever happened.

Sounds like you punished the wrong person.

A complaint to the PD's higher ups would have been more appropriate.

[duquephart]

Crew are paid the same whether or not you contribute. The service charge becomes part of the fund out of which salaries are paid. There is no bonus at the end of a cruise.

[CurlerRob]

17 minutes ago, duquephart said:

Crew are paid the same whether or not you contribute.

I am curious as to your source for your definitive statement above. Do you have insider knowledge of the details of Viking’s crew compensation program?
 

A combination of fixed and variable compensation does exist  on other lines who have provided public information on the topic, but I am unaware that Viking has ever commented. 🍺🥌

[duquephart]

2 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

I am curious as to your source for your definitive statement above. Do you have insider knowledge of the details of Viking’s crew compensation program?
 

A combination of fixed and variable compensation does exist  on other lines who have provided public information on the topic, but I am unaware that Viking has ever commented. 🍺🥌

 

Reports of conversations with crew.

[Jim Avery]

Same here