Carnival Cruise Line wants its bartenders, waiters, and room stewards to know which passengers prepaid their gratuities. It’s a major change for the cruise line, which has been spotted putting stickers on guests’ Sail & Sign cards that show the passenger has prepaid their gratuities. It’s not clear how widely Carnival has rolled out the change. A number of posts on Reddit and Facebook have shown images of the sticker, while Cruise.Blog, a credible insider blog, has also reported the change while also sharing pictures of Sail & Sign cards with the stickers. Before you can react to this change, it’s important to understand that the gratuities in question are daily charges. They can be prepaid or paid daily on your cruise, or you can opt out of them. Previously, at least as far as passengers knew, crew members serving passengers had no way to know who had opted out of paying daily gratuities. Under the new sticker system, waiters, bartenders, room stewards, and other passenger-facing employees would be able to easily see who prepaid their gratuities, but would not know whether passengers had opted out of paying or were simply paying on a daily basis. As someone who always pays daily gratuities on the 20-25 cruises I take each year, that distinction matters and would likely push me to prepay. A quick look at Carnival’s gratuity policy Carnival explains its gratuity policy on its website: Gratuity for Team Members recognizes the crew members who help make your vacation enjoyable, including: Stateroom attendants Dining team members Behind-the-scenes crew who support your cruise experience Gratuities are paid in addition to team members’ guaranteed compensation. Recommended daily amount (per guest, ages 2 and older): Standard Staterooms: $17 per day Suites: $19 per day A quick look at Carnival’s gratuity stickers Carnival appears to be testing the stickers, as I have friends currently on Carnival cruises who have not seen them. In looking at the stickers in pictures shared on social media, they feature hearts and the words “Crew love I pre-paid my gratuities.” On top of the sticker, passengers on ships that have adopted the policy received a letter in their room thanking them. “On behalf of our entire team, thank you for pre-paying your gratuities. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps recognize the many team members who work together to make your cruise vacation fun, memorable, and enjoyable,” Cruise.Blog shared, along with a picture of the letter. Daily gratuities go partially to behind-the-scenes workers who help make your cruise better. Image source: Carnival Cruise Line. What this means for Carnival cruisers I am booked in January on Carnival Celebration, and I had not planned to prepay my gratuities. If this policy appears to be in effect, I probably will. That’s because, while Carnival has not stated any intention to use — or even confirmed it currently uses — the stickers, crew members who see that a customer has tipped them will likely offer better service. Of course, some people could also use having the sticker as a justification to not add additional tips. On any cruise, I generally tip on top of the daily gratuities at bars. If I’m just having a drink, I tip $1. If it’s a bar I plan to frequent regularly, I may tip a $20, then add $1 here and there. If I know a bartender from a previous sailing, I’m almost certainly starting with $20. At restaurants, since we do specialty dining most nights, we generally also leave a cash tip. In my experience, bartenders, both at bars and on the casino floor, treat me exceptionally well. I have always attributed that to tipping and getting to know the crew. “It’s just human nature,” PostCard Travel Planning co-owner Amy Post told TheStreet. “If you show someone you value their service both in cash and kindness, they’re going to treat you well.” More Travel: “The Traitors” has luxury travelers flocking to castles all over the UK Costco brings back Disneyland ticket deal that could save hundreds Another travel agency shuts down after 19 years Her husband Dennis Post, who travels with me regularly, shared his own thoughts. “You’re not tipping to be treated better, you’re tipping because cruise ship service is usually great, and getting even better service is a byproduct of that,” he added. Carnival has not formally confirmed the policy or the extent to which it has been implemented. Carnival may want more cash upfront Carnival shared some insight in a 2022 SEC filing that may explain why it wants more people to tip upfront. It may not be about the gratuities at all. “We operate with a substantial working capital deficit. This deficit is mainly attributable to the fact that, under our business model, substantially all of our passenger ticket receipts are collected in advance of the applicable sailing date,” the cruise line shared. “These advance passenger receipts generally remain a current liability until the sailing date,” it added. Essentially, Carnival does not record the revenue until the sailing happens. And since many people book cruises a year out or longer, the cruise line has a deficit on paper, but can use the cash collected ahead of each cruise. “The cash generated from these advance receipts is used interchangeably with cash on hand from other sources, such as our borrowings and other cash from operations. The cash received as advanced receipts can be used to fund operating expenses, pay down our debt, make long-term investments or any other use of cash,” Carnival shared. In theory, encouraging people to pre-pay gratuities also means that fewer will opt out of paying at all. “Opting out of paying gratuities, even if you tip your waiters, room steward and bartenders, takes money out of the pocket of people you don’t see. Carnival does not share a breakdown of where the daily gratuities go, but they also take care of people who do things like wash your sheets and towels,” Amy Post added. Related: Cruise passengeres told to get off after line shuts down
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