bad experience

Item: Carnival Victory
Rating: 1
Author: bastienmarcvall

Carnival Victory Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

bastienmarcvall

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 22

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

Verified Review

4 Night Bahamas (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 31, 2017

Ship: Carnival Victory

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1203

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

They charged us $51 per person for gratuities when there is already a 15% gratuity added to your bill for every purchase. I could not understand why this was never mentioned to us.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

1 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

1 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

1 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

18 Comments

MrChocoholic 7 years ago

You screwed up and let it affect your mental state during the entire vacation. Too bad. You might have had a really great time...if you were a little bit more flexible. Miami is a wonderful city. Nassau is a lot of fun. If you ended up broke at the end of your cruise, perhaps you might have avoided the bars and casino. Check out my experience aboard Victory and see how yours compared. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIHiNWFaws4 - Welcome Aboard www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_cO7I-hbBQ - Nassau www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZD0uEhjERU - FOOD! www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EHMhU33GY&t=21s - Entertainment Night www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0pqDdlCzMc - Chef's Table

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Pixystix646 7 years ago

Please please please do not remove your gratuities. That is split between a great deal of staff that make your cruise wonderful, but you do not directly interact with. You can't possibly tip them all on your own. You should tip those that go above and beyond extra.

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cruisefiend79 7 years ago

I have no problem prepaying for gratuities. I also give the room steward a little extra when we first meet. This way I make sure the service is exceptional. The wait staff will get more at the end as well. There are people that the gratuities go to that work behind the scenes.

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christyac 7 years ago

I've never cruised before. My first cruise will be in May 2018 but even I have seen in multiple places about paying gratuities.

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aljhoffman 7 years ago

My wife and I come from a service business and now retired. Tipping is for good or great service, why would I prepay for a service I have not received or been able to rate. We have been on 40 cruises and never prepay for gratuities

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cruisefiend79 7 years ago

That 15% goes to bartenders. The prepaid gratuities go as follows, Housekeeping Team $4.05 (Suites $5.05) Dining Team $6.40, Alternatives Services Laundry, Cleaning, etc $2.50.

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sopha 7 years ago

Yes. you can pay in your own. I don't remove it. But you can. I just give extra to the one's I want.

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shauntia3 7 years ago

Dpdavis15 that's an option? I thought it was pay what they recommend or pay at the end? Cause sometimes people deserve more than they recommend

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dpdavis15 7 years ago

You can always go to guest services and take the gratuity off your account and pay what you feel like giving them

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aharbison66 7 years ago

The employees are paid wages accordingly to the country from where they're from. They work long hours and very seldom get to go home. I read that this is changing, but if someone goes out of their way, we will tip them more. We prepaid tips and bought the Cheers package, but we'll be open to tipping more. I usually tip 20%, so with good service I'll tip extra.

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cruiser086 7 years ago

Wow just wow! Read your freaking contract when purchasing your ticket! Those employees work their buts off! They don’t see families for months at a time! It’s nice to give your steward a tip and talk to him/her rather than just brushing them off like if they are lower class trash.

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sopha 7 years ago

When you get charged gratuity on your bill, that goes to people that are not included in the "per day gratuity".

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chadley77 7 years ago

We had the gratuities removed from our bills and we gave our room steward a much better tip than he would have gotten had we kept the prepaid gratuities on our last cruise. He was awesome and we felt that he deserved more than he would have gotten had we kept the prepaid gratuities. Plus we tipped the servers who waited on us in the steakhouse and the dining rooms and also the bartenders.

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TNTGreen 7 years ago

So basically if you're not prepaying when booking your cruise you will pay at the end of your cruise.

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TNTGreen 7 years ago

Should have said I may have to take a break from this site; dang autocorrect

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TNTGreen 7 years ago

I may have to take from this site because some of the post are just asserting. When you booked did you miss the part when it said "Yes or No" under the prepay gratuities? Even if you booked through AAA or Cruiseline.com in some shape or form that question is asked before you click submit. I don't get how "I didn't know"; it's all in your cruise contract.

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Rcbelieve 7 years ago

I am baffled also that this information was not reviewed from the policy data you would have authorized and printed out with your luggage tags.

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banaford 7 years ago

It is mentioned everywhere. On the website if you book there, customer service, if that is where you book. All cruise lines charge gratuities. It is for your room steward, servers, and some behind the scenes. Sorry you feel you were caught off guard.

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