Pre-paying Gratuities

[m3owbox]

I see a lot of posts about pre-paying gratuities. How do you do this? My cruise is next month but it would be nice to pre-pay and get it out of the way.

 

[rsx3bishop]

We use a TA and she takes care of that for us but I am sure you could call the cruise line number and take care of the gratuities early!

 

[Otimon]

Prepaid gratuities for our upcoming Dec. cruise when I called DCL to pay in full. Just had them add the gratuities on at that time.

 

[DisFanJen]

We just phoned DCL and added credit to our account. You can do it ages ahead too. We don't sail until Feb but we already added it on. As soon as we get our excusions & meals booked we'll prepay for all of those too.

 

[PlanoNana]

Prepaying gratuities was an option when we booked online but if you didn't then you can call and add them. And it's my understanding that should the unthinkable happen and you get poor service, you can go to guest services and get a refund of some or all. We always prepay and then take some extra cash so we can reward great service. We've used it on both our DCL cruises.

 

[Dug720]

Prepaying gratuities was an option when we booked online but if you didn't then you can call and add them. And it's my understanding that should the unthinkable happen and you get poor service, you can go to guest services and get a refund of some or all. We always prepay and then take some extra cash so we can reward great service. We've used it on both our DCL cruises.

I JUST booked my parents' cabin and never saw the option - nor was there an option to select dining, so luckily they were also assigned late as my cabin was (also automatic). I really miss the old set-up of the website both for booking and for once you're booked.

I'll be calling before the cruise to add those and one-way transfers to the airport at some point before the cruise.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I JUST booked my parents' cabin and never saw the option - nor was there an option to select dining, so luckily they were also assigned late as my cabin was (also automatic). I really miss the old set-up of the website both for booking and for once you're booked.

I'll be calling before the cruise to add those and one-way transfers to the airport at some point before the cruise.

It's my understanding, once the reservation is made, you can go back in and "change" dining preference, if there's still a choice.

 

[Bree]

I had the gratuities tacked onto my cruise total at the time of booking for our trip coming up in March. Prior to that I just called DCL and added onboard credit. You will get an email from them showing that you purchased it and you will also get a notecard left in your stateroom on embarkation day.

 

[Dug720]

It's my understanding, once the reservation is made, you can go back in and "change" dining preference, if there's still a choice.

Yes, luckily I didn't have to deal with that. But you used to be able to select - or at least know which you were assigned - while booking.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes, luckily I didn't have to deal with that. But you used to be able to select - or at least know which you were assigned - while booking.

Yeah, I know. But that changed when DCL went to the "new" website. Originally, all reservations defaulted to second seating. And you had to actually call DCL to have it manually changed if you wanted. But, they "fixed" it by making it so you can just use the "change" link on an already existing reservation online to switch what seating you want - don't have to call any longer.

 

[MickeyEarrings]

If I want to prepay and add $X for the server, assistant server and stateroom host and $Y for the head server, can I do that? How do I know it will be distributed the way I want?

 

[professorandmom]

If I want to prepay and add $X for the server, assistant server and stateroom host and $Y for the head server, can I do that? How do I know it will be distributed the way I want?

You actually don't "pre-pay" anything - instead you are simply adding dollars to your onboard account prior to boarding.

The standard gratuity amounts will be charged at the end of the cruise- to change the amounts simply stop by Guest services and let them know how much you'd rather have for each person...I recommend you don't wait until the last night to stop by as the line can be a bit long

 

[PrincessShmoo]

If I want to prepay and add $X for the server, assistant server and stateroom host and $Y for the head server, can I do that? How do I know it will be distributed the way I want?

You fill out a form designating who and how much to each person. Then you will get gratuity coupons in your room to be put in the tip envelopes to hand out. Or you can just leave the suggested amounts in place, and you'll get gratuity coupons (individual for each position) that show name, position title, and amount of tip. And you can add cash to the envelope you place the tip coupon in.

 

[Imahikergirl]

You actually don't "pre-pay" anything - instead you are simply adding dollars to your onboard account prior to boarding.

The standard gratuity amounts will be charged at the end of the cruise- to change the amounts simply stop by Guest services and let them know how much you'd rather have for each person...I recommend you don't wait until the last night to stop by as the line can be a bit long

This is incorrect. You can pre-pay gratuities so they are included in the cruise price. For my upcoming cruise I an PIF, including gratuities.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Some people mentioned that if you pre-pay gratuities they become included in the cruise price. If you have a DU travel agent does that mean that your amount of the obc goes up? For example lets say my cruise fare is $3900 so I get $150 obc for booking with DU. I prepay the tips in the amount of $250. This now brings me over $4000 for the cruise. Does that mean the obc goes up?
Or are the prepaid gratuities a separate amount from the actual cruise fare.

 

[shoes99]

This is incorrect. You can pre-pay gratuities so they are included in the cruise price. For my upcoming cruise I an PIF, including gratuities.

Correct, ours was also added to our cruise fare and I used my Disney Visa to PIF so I get the
6 months extension to pay with no interest. Also the daily gratuities will not show up on our
on board account daily as it used to be. You get a receipt but it will not show on your daily additional
shipboard charges if you added it to your cruise fare. Works for us. We have never had to
reduce the suggested amounts.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Didn't someone do this and then, at the last minute had to cancel their cruise. The insurance paid for the cruise, but they lost the gratuities, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

This is incorrect. You can pre-pay gratuities so they are included in the cruise price. For my upcoming cruise I an PIF, including gratuities.

What's incorrect about it? You "pre-pay" the gratuities, by over paying the cost of the cruise. Any over payment goes into your onboard account as a credit. The onboard account is where the gratuities are paid from.

No one gets their gratuities until the end of the cruise.

While you've prepaid them, it's actually only a credit you bought on your account.

 

[Imahikergirl]

What's incorrect about it? You "pre-pay" the gratuities, by over paying the cost of the cruise. Any over payment goes into your onboard account as a credit. The onboard account is where the gratuities are paid from.

No one gets their gratuities until the end of the cruise.

While you've prepaid them, it's actually only a credit you bought on your account.

My understanding of it was the same as shoes99. That the gratuities are completely paid for and wouldn't be showing up anywhere other than on my booking. Not showing up as a credit on my onboard account and then charged against it. I wanted as few transactions on my OB Account as possible, because I hate dealing with the money side of the cruise and scrutinizing the OB account. The conversations on here with regards to the assorted money saving tricks make my head spin. I guess I'll see what it looks like next month.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My understanding of it was the same as shoes99. That the gratuities are completely paid for and wouldn't be showing up anywhere other than on my booking. Not showing up as a credit on my onboard account and then charged against it. I wanted as few transactions on my OB Account as possible, because I hate dealing with the money side of the cruise and scrutinizing the OB account. The conversations on here with regards to the assorted money saving tricks make my head spin. I guess I'll see what it looks like next month.

It may be kinda hit or miss. We've always prepaid our gratuities. Sometimes the final bill has gratuities added to it, with an immediate credit in that amount. Sometimes it's not there at all.