Prepay gratuity online?

[mevelandry]

Hi!

I think I read somewhere on Disboards that we can prepay gratuity online?

If this info is correct, where do I have to go?

Thanks in advance!

 

[disfans44041]

I always call DCL directly and do it. You can pay up to 3 days prior to sailing. I find this a great way to budge and not have huge onboard expenses. It will show up as a credit when you get on the ship and check your folio. Then the last night of the cruise you will get slips and envelopes (assuming things have not changed in the last 2 years) to give to the respective people.

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I always prepay by phone as well. If you later decide to increase or decrease (highly unlikely, of course) your tip amounts, you can do that onboard at guest services during your cruise or add extra cash to your tip envelopes on the final night.

 

[hubbard53]

I've always been a bit confused with he pre-payed gratuity slips and envelopes. Do you actually have to give it to the people or is it just a formality?

 

[DISNEYFAN3260]

I've always been a bit confused with he pre-payed gratuity slips and envelopes. Do you actually have to give it to the people or is it just a formality?

Servers will receive the tip either way so if you forget the slips, don't worry. But I think most people prefer handing them to servers personally and often adding cash for extraordinary service as a gesture of appreciation for their efforts.

 

[lanejudy]

If tips have been pre-paid or charged to your onboard account, technically you do not have to physically give the coupon/envelope to the staff member. However, it does help them with accounting to know what they should expect to receive and balance that against what is deposited to their account. If you pay cash or add cash with coupons, you must physically hand over the envelope in order for the person to receive it.

As to pre-paying... I don't believe it can be added online. Possibly at the time of booking. We always call a month or two prior to sailing to add the gratuities.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[sdjen]

And just FYI... If you have a Disney visa. You can prepurchase OBC to cover tips and any other expenses (drinks/Palo/spa) and get 6 months no interest.

 

[CM Dad]

If you use a travel agent, you may need to get them contact DCL to add the gratuities. I have done 2 recent cruises and paid for them using the Disney Vacation Account. Normally when paying for a cruise and you are using a travel agent, you need to make payments through the agent. The exception to that is if you are using the vacation account, you are supposed to call Disney yourself. On one of those cruises, I was able to prepay the gratuities as well as add stateroom credit to cover expected excursions. For the second one, I was told that I needed to have the travel agent add the gratuities before I could pay them. I just increased the amount I had planned to add to add for other expenses by the prepaid gratuity amount, since the money for the tips would come out of there anyway.

 

[mevelandry]

No travel agent. No Disney Visa.

I just wanted to know if paying online on the DCL website was a possibility because I thought I had read that info here.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

It can't be done on-line. Need to call.

 

[mevelandry]

It can't be done on-line. Need to call.

Thank you!