Pre-pay tips?

[wdwlovin'family]

This is not another thread to discuss the virtues of pre-paying vs. not. Rather, I am asking how you do it? I feel like a dork because I have looked all over my online reservation/confirmation and I can't find the link to allow me to do this. And, do you have to pay it in a lump sum or can I add $50 here and $50 there to the account? I would like to walk onto the ship and know that all of the required payments are taken care of and that everything else that I am spending is just gravy. TIA

 

[kcashner]

If you used a travel agent, you must do this thru the agent. If you booked directly with DCL, simply call them with your card number. They are always happy to take your money.

You can add any amount you want to your account. Some TAs will only process certain increments (I haven't had the experience personally, but I've read of it here where an agent would not process anything less than $100. Makes sense as it is some effort for them).

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

This is not another thread to discuss the virtues of pre-paying vs. not. Rather, I am asking how you do it? I feel like a dork because I have looked all over my online reservation/confirmation and I can't find the link to allow me to do this. And, do you have to pay it in a lump sum or can I add $50 here and $50 there to the account? I would like to walk onto the ship and know that all of the required payments are taken care of and that everything else that I am spending is just gravy. TIA

If you used a travel agent, you must do this thru the agent. If you booked directly with DCL, simply call them with your card number. They are always happy to take your money.

You can add any amount you want to your account. Some TAs will only process certain increments (I haven't had the experience personally, but I've read of it here where an agent would not process anything less than $100. Makes sense as it is some effort for them).

Just as kcashner described - no issues at all. The first two cruises I booked directly with DCL and I just called them up and asked to prepay my gratuities and I used Disney gift cards to pay. No problem. For my upcoming Fantasy cruise, I booked through Costco and I called up Costco, who in turn called DCL and gave them my gift card numbers and they were applied. It really didn't take that long and I've never had any issues. Like you - I just like knowing it's done! Adding more is never an issue as well - should you choose to once you board.

Heather

 

[wdwlovin'family]

Thank you! We didn't end up going with a travel agent, so it's good to know how to do this on my own. When I call in payments like this, is this known as pre-paying my tips or just adding money to my account?

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

I always tell them upfront I'm pre-paying the gratuities. Then towards the end of the cruise (last night) you'll receive slips of papers showing you pre-paid and the amounts and you can give your servers, stateroom host, etc these slips of papers in the envelopes that come with them. Their names and yours will be printed on the slips of paper. Very simple and organized!

Heather

 

[2Princess&aPrince]

We went to Guest Services mid-cruise and paid for ours. No problems at all. Then they gave us the slips to give to all who applied and we just put the slips in the corresponding envelopes for delivery to the people. So, no worries if you don't pre-pay...you can do it onboard.

 

[Momma2Jax]

Just a reminder... If you don't prepay now, they will automatically charge them to your on board account at embarkation. So for those who are doing cash or using the "line of credit" on their account, keep this in mind!

 

[Bear3412]

If prepaying tips they can only charge the recommended amounts to each position in advance, no tweaks. Since it is charged to the onboard account anyway we just applied the amount we anticipated to tip to the onboard account. We knew we were going to tip above, and I like round #'s, so I just applied that total amount to our onboard account. Then once onboard I filled out the specific amounts for the tipped positions early on. It still showed the recommended being charged, then removed, then my #'s being charged. It all worked out though.

 

[kcashner]

Correct--if you tell them you are pre-paying tips, only the correct amount for the tips can be charged to the account. Alternatively, if you wish to break it up, you can pre-pay tips for each guest separately rather than for the whole family. That way, you could pay in $84 increments on a 7 night cruise rather than nearly $350 for a family of 4.

However, you can apply any amount you wish to the onboard account and the standard tips will be charged to the account automatically unless you give other instructions. If you do this, there is no requirement or restriction as to how much or little you can place on the account at any time or how many times you can do it.

 

[Aurora l]

Oh my, I'd forgotten about this.