Paying gratuities upfront

I'm wondering if you were charged that way because you used a European travel agent and paid in currency other than dollars. Most of the people who post here have more cruises under their belts than I do, in my time I've never had gratuities "forced" on me or been "forced" to prepay them. Because I know my gratuity is being shared by people I'll never see (as has been mentioned) I always give a small but respectable tip to the key people with whom I'm going to be in the most contact at the beginning of the cruise. I explain that there will be more at the end of the cruise regardless of how I do in the casino. This includes my favorite bar waiter(s), cabin steward, waiter, the maitre d' and masseuse. On the last night (or day) I track down those people and slip them a few bucks. Even on relatively impersonal lines like Royal Caribbean I receive superb personal service worthy of a Seabourn or Azamara.

If you pre-pay or auto pay, the crew knows tips have been paid. Once you pay you do not need to tip along the way on the ship. All of your bar bills will have a 15 % tip added to them not covered by your pre-paid tips.

I do tip extra to people that give exceptional service, mostly the cabin steward if they are very good and keep my ice bucket filled and fresh towels or the dining staff if they get me special meals that were not on the menu that night.

Enjoy your first cruise, I look forward to reading your review to see how you like cruising.

Hi we booked through an agent and he phoned me back the next day saying we had to add £200 onto the price he had quoted for gratuities and this was not an option,i dont mind paying this but i wasnt sure that the crew would know that we had already paid this amount,i am so glad i found this site as i am gathering alot of knowledge from it,if anyone has any tips i would greatly appreciate them thankyou

Did you book through an Agent or the cruise line direct. Also, did you speak to anyone during the process? I have not heard about mandatory prepayment for gratuities yet, although I know the daily fee is rising. Since this is your first cruise, ask a lot of questions from this site. The experience here is a vault of knowledge.

Sorry we are sailing on carnival liberty,if all guests have paid upfront then this is not an issue ,however most friends who have previously sailed have not had to pay upfront which is the reason i questioned it,Thanks for your replys

I can not add to the statements above. However, I can add have a great cruise!

Celebrity demands prepayment of gratuities if you are using their "anytime" dining.

For me, knowing that the money is going to many different people, the "forced "gratuity"" is a non-issue. I typically give over and above that to the steward or any other crewmember that I think is giving service over and above what is required of them.

Which line are you sailing on ? I'm guessing Royal Caribbean. I think they have a no removal policy. But MUST pay upfront ? That's a new one on me.

Thankyou for your replys,we were told that we must pay upfront and didnt have an option of withdrawing,if in fact the cruise team know that we have actually already paid upfront then thats fine and we will tip individuals as we sail but i do think it should be left as a choice and not forced as the holidays are a luxury for some like me,i am really looking forward to our cruise as it has been a dream of mine for so long and i certainly wont let the matter spoil it for me thankyou

Prepaying gratuities is an option. Many people do it, but I understand your point. In some cases, you save money because gratuities are rising. So, you can pay before the increase takes effect. That is happening to us on our upcoming cruise. If we were to pay onboard, we would get hit with the higher fee. Some companies will still allow you to remove them if you are not pleased with the service. We did this one time years ago, but things were really bad.