Vampiress88

that’s all I’ve got told. I’ll just see how things go and hope for best. glad to know it can be done though. Sets my mind at rest

When did you ask for the gratuity to be credited back? The first day? My question is more to do with if it will affect my dining. Since it says that I have to prepay to get the my time dining. Anyway if I get bad service and they don’t credit my gratuity back then it will just be a complaint. This is why I should just stick with the cruise line I know. Least I know what I’m getting then.

So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? that was my original question. as I feel the same as others. Tips are earnt not expected. Our MSC cruises we couldn’t go the MDR due to them putting it at 8.30 and couldn’t move it. Had they have not been late deals then I would have cancelled but I didn’t look at the line before booking. I did look at RC but missed the mandatory tip due to European sailing part for my time dining. Everyone keeps raving about how good RC is and I really hope it is cos I’ve paid £200 more than I usually would with the other cruise line then another £383 in tips on top. I asked the question as I get mixed messages from the staff. Few weeks ago it was go see reception. Now I get well if you have bad service then we might take it off. I feel like they have my money so don’t give a monkeys

Sorry you are correct. Only mandatory if you are booking a European cruise.

but I can’t. if I want my time dining then it is MANDATORY that I pay my tips before I cruise.

Anyway I will assume excellent service. If not I will just take out a complaint. Sorted. I can’t deal with the anxiety currently but so far I don’t like Royal Caribbean service.

it says Guests who choose ‘My Time Dining’ on all European sailings will have gratuities automatically added to their bill, as they may be served by different members of the team each night. This means tips for your waiting staff – as well as other dining and housekeeping staff – will be included in the quoted price for ‘My Time Dining’ on your cruise holiday. Guests who choose our open dining option may opt-in to pre-paid gratuities for dining, or add them to their account at check-out. For all European sailings you will need to pre-pay your gratuities because you may be served by different members of the team each night. This means tips for your waiting staff – as well as other dining and housekeeping staff – will be included in the quoted price for your cruise holiday. There are no exemptions to this so even if you have issues where you can’t eat at a set time then if you want the my time dining so that your not always forced to use the buffet, the gratuity still needs to be prepaid. this was the chat convo.

so did you still get the my time dining even though the tips were added to the onboard account? Unfortunately the chargable restaurants don’t really appeal as much. Will have another chat with them

oh god that doesn’t sound good. I really hope it won’t be like that. the only time it has let me book is 7.30 which is still too late. But i need flexibility. I have something similar to ibs and also chronic pain so having a strict schedule doesn’t work for me. And im not doing the buffet every night either.

hi Graham. Not sure about the “sue” 😂 I don’t want to be stuck in the buffet. I like the mdr better. It was with Royal Caribbean direct I have booked not a travel agent. might have to find copies of the chat.

Sorry I’m not being clear. we are sailing on anthem. I am from the U.K. the only way they let me do the my time dining was if I prepaid. I explained that if I am not happy with the service I may want to adjust it and they said that was no problem. last time I was forced to eat at a certain time it ruined the cruise for us as I don’t want to be in the buffet all the time just because I don’t pay in advance. the gratuities were already added to my final bill. These have already been fully paid. unfortunately the service from the chat hasn’t been great so far so that’s why I asked on here. hopefully this will all be amazing and won’t be an issue anyway as they are not mandatory then I assume they should be allowed to be removed at any point.

I know people hate a tipping thread and this isn’t that exactly. But I needed to ask, as I’ve asked Royal Caribbean chat directly but sometimes don’t trust what people say. Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that. But what I am slightly worried about is what if I don’t get that level of service. Normally if we are somewhere that I don’t get good service then I reduce the tip at the end. So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? Hopefully this won’t happen but I have been on quite a few cruises and the service doesn’t always warrant tips.

I like Britannia, also done iona and Arvia. I would normally pick based on itinerary rather than ship

It sounds cool. We’ve looked at doing a cruise around Japan next year with celebrity but then we decided to go back to Disney instead, but now there is a spanner in the works with that so might rehash the Japan idea.

I found iona and arvia exactly same standard. Nearly every cruise we get one that takes us all the way around the dining room trying to find a table and every cruise I get one that always gets the order wrong. Usually at breakfast and it’s always mine even though I speak clearly. But I was a waitress in a much smaller restaurant so completely understand even though I get a little annoyed. They always have a ticket though and we get to the table eventually so no issues. I’ll let you know my thoughts on royal Caribbean and princess when I’ve done them just like I did with Msc. I do have trip reports for the last two cruises we did on Iona and Arvia but I just haven’t got the energy to upload them, let alone do them live. P&o seem to be so easy for us to do that even when there are faults I can’t help but like them.

Isn’t it the age old “you get what you pay for?” Im going on Royal Caribbean next month. I have paid £2549 (as I had to prepay gratuity) for the p&o equivalent it’s £1856. ive paid 37% more so that I can go on a different line and I will expect it to be better due to paying more. if I don’t get good service I will remove the relevant gratuity though fyi but you get my point. however in August I have paid £3936 with princess (not included gratuity) for Iceland itinerary as p&o was coming in at £5036 for the same dates but to Mediterranean instead. so it’s all a bit subjective as the prices fluctuate way to much. I don’t think we are allowed on fred ones as I believe they are adult only. but my point is that p&o isn’t always the cheapest. Nor is it always the best but the amount you pay will tend to reflect the service you get.

is there anything you need to do to get the “dine my way” or is that included same as p&o s virtual queues are? I’m not paying the full amount until I really have to but it won’t let me book dining until I pay

Great. Thanks. I couldn’t get onto the RC website yesterday. I did a chat eventually and they said sofa bed. That’s great with me

Cheers. I’ve already seen that but it’s about the balcony. I was more concerned that there are 4 of us and some times were saying that particular room was only for 3 people.

Any one got any photos? wondering the layout and occupancy we are 2 adult and 2 children.

we are in Lisbon on Christmas Eve so can’t imagine being on a beach that day as it will be too cold. We only really have done the Xmas market as Lisbon

We have booked for ‘25 We went this December and there was a dinner with crackers that’s we missed. A Christmas jumper day. A panto and then a Christmas song tribute band. What is it going to be like on actual Christmas Day. How have people managed with young kids with Santa and stockings. Elf on the shelf and Christmas Eve boxes. Also we never go out on New Years so nothing to compare it to.

Make hubby walk. He spends more than the £130 I will save on beer on the ships so only fair he does it 😂 thank you all for your help. I literally couldn’t find anywhere and I really didn’t want to pay £270. parking4cruises is coming in at £140 so I’m good with that.

I did. Cps want £270. they charge more in school holidays than in April/March etc. which is so very annoying. anyway I have looked at parking4cruises. The price comes in at just under £150 which I am perfectly happy with. However I have no clue what it’s like- is it just more of less the same as cps and I can walk to the boat when the car has been dropped off?

So we are a little undecided what to do about parking. we see that all the princess and p&o ships all go from the same docks more or less. usually I have cps parking in with the holiday. This time I’m on my own. I did look at going with holiday extras as I like the meet and greet parking but when I mapped that I believe it’s not at the same dock. It’s next to AB parking who we will be using but for msc and royal Caribbean. so for those who go on p&o and princess and have to do their own parking please who do you go with. It’s in August and they are wanting £270 for two weeks which is quite a lot.