Confusion over gratuities and dining options.

[ayr625]

I have pre-paid my gratuities for our forthcoming trip on Voyager OTS with my travel agent but since doing so I have had 3 different people tell me that Royal Caribbean always add gratuities automatically even if you have pre-paid and you need to queue to have it removed. Does anyone have experience of this?

 

My other question is regarding the dining times. I was offered 1st or 2nd sitting only and opted for first but now I see I might have been able to have flexible dining times. Would I be able to change this and how would I go about it?

 

I have only been on the flexible dining on Princess and it worked very well for us as you just arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a random table with different people every night. It was a good way to meet a lot of different people. If we arrived and there was not a table available we just waited and usually had no more than 5-10 mins wait time. Does it work in the same way on Voyager of the Seas?

This will be our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.

[andrzej5914]

I have pre-paid my gratuities for our forthcoming trip on Voyager OTS with my travel agent but since doing so I have had 3 different people tell me that Royal Caribbean always add gratuities automatically even if you have pre-paid and you need to queue to have it removed. Does anyone have experience of this?

 

My other question is regarding the dining times. I was offered 1st or 2nd sitting only and opted for first but now I see I might have been able to have flexible dining times. Would I be able to change this and how would I go about it?

 

I have only been on the flexible dining on Princess and it worked very well for us as you just arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a random table with different people every night. It was a good way to meet a lot of different people. If we arrived and there was not a table available we just waited and usually had no more than 5-10 mins wait time. Does it work in the same way on Voyager of the Seas?

This will be our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.

 

RC does not do automatic pre-paid gratuities UNLESS you chose to or if you're doing My Time Dining.

 

MTD works pretty much the same as Princess. Part of MDR is sectioned for MTD and you have a choice, either make reservations or just show up. We never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes without reservations. We always got the same servers who provided a wonderful dining experience even though we ate at different times and at different tables.

[Trainman-2]

Pre-Paid Gratuities are voluntary with RCI. You have to sign up for them if you are at either of the traditional seatings (early or late) in the Main Dining Room.

 

For My Time Dining, Pre-Paid Gratuities are required.

 

My thoughts on gratuities...

 

In the MDR they go to

 

- The Head Waiter

- Your Waiter

- Your Assistant Waiter

 

The Head Waiter is responsible for training and supervising your Waiter and Assistant Waiter. If you have excellent service, then all three of them did their job. If you don't have excellent service, talk to your Head Waiter, explain the problem, and ask him to resolve it. That is his job!

 

There is no excuse for poor service in the MDR. If you discuss a problem with your Head Waiter and get no satisfaction, ask to speak to the Dining Room Manager who supervises the entire wait staff.

 

Over and over again we read of poor service in the MDR but the cruisers never asked their Head Waiter to fix it.

 

It is our job to advise RCI of problems so that they can be fixed! If we don't do our job then how can we expect everyone on the ship to do their job!

 

Your Cabin Stewart will try to meet you during the afternoon or evening of Boarding Day. Make a point to find him or her and explain any special requirements or needs that you might have. If you have poor service form your Cabin Stewart, then report him to Guest Relations.

 

Crew Members come and go and RCI does the best it can to train them before they are given positions with direct passenger contact and responsibilities. Sometimes things go wrong and a Crew Member is not performing up to standard. Usually this is because they are new.

 

We need to keep in mind the fact that there are probably more "perfect" Crew Members on the ship than there are passengers who often exhibit poor behavior.

 

One other thought...

 

The comment cards that we are asked to fill out at the end of the cruise are a really big deal to the senior leadership on the ship. How do I know this? Because I have done a number of B-2-B cruises. About 30 minutes after the last passengers debark, the machine readable results are in from all of the comment cards and a ship wide announcement is made with the results. If all of the comments are good the crew is complemented. If their are bad comments you can figure out by yourself what kind of pep talk the crew gets. Cards with written remarks are automatically kicked out by the machine for review by senior staff.

 

I have always believed that RCI really does want every passenger to leave the ship happy.

[cb at sea]

If your TA is giving you the gratuities, you need do nothing else....they will pay them for you. If you've pre-payed them thru the TA, you need do nothing else.

 

My Time Dining is similar to what you've done in the past,....just tell your TA to change you to MTD. You've already pre-paid your tips, so that's no problem (MTD requires tips to be paid in advance.)

[ayr625]

Thanks for all the replies. I have received my documentation with first sitting for dining confirmed. Is it too late now to change to MTD?

[marci22]

Sign up now because MTD fills up quickly.

[ayr625]

How do I sign up - my travel agent only offered me early or late. Do you think this is because it is already full?

[sandian]

RC does not do automatic pre-paid gratuities UNLESS you chose to or if you're doing My Time Dining.

 

MTD works pretty much the same as Princess. Part of MDR is sectioned for MTD and you have a choice, either make reservations or just show up. We never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes without reservations. We always got the same servers who provided a wonderful dining experience even though we ate at different times and at different tables.

This is wrong info as in Britain it is added on automatically whether you do MTD or not.

We have opted for MTD this time and are looking forward to eating when we want as opposed to eating at a set Dining Time.

[Guest maddycat]

How do I sign up - my travel agent only offered me early or late. Do you think this is because it is already full?

 

Contact your travel agent. Tell him that you want to be switched to My Time Dining. If it is full, you can go to the dining room when you first board the ship and request a change.

[ayr625]

This is wrong info as in Britain it is added on automatically whether you do MTD or not.

We have opted for MTD this time and are looking forward to eating when we want as opposed to eating at a set Dining Time.

 

This is what is concerning me.......I have had a few people tell me that even though they had paid their gratuities through the travel agent RCI automatically charged them again on the ship. They said they are very bad for doing this.

 

Has anyone else had experience of this? :(

 

As I have already paid to the travel agent I am guessing it would be difficult to have it refunded - maybe I have to wait till I am onboard to see what happens.

 

I hate to have to waste precious time queuing up about this if I could have it settled beforehand.

[sandian]

This is what is concerning me.......I have had a few people tell me that even though they had paid their gratuities through the travel agent RCI automatically charged them again on the ship. They said they are very bad for doing this.

 

Has anyone else had experience of this? :(

 

As I have already paid to the travel agent I am guessing it would be difficult to have it refunded - maybe I have to wait till I am onboard to see what happens.

 

I hate to have to waste precious time queuing up about this if I could have it settled beforehand.

I dont think you have much to be worried about, we have only cruised once with RCI and had no problems with our onboard account. Addmitedly our Tips were not added on automatically that time but if in doubt check on the TV on a daily basis to see how things are looking . If you see any discrepencies you can then deal with them right away instead of waiting till the last minute.

[Albert Ross]

This is wrong info as in Britain it is added on automatically whether you do MTD or not.

We have opted for MTD this time and are looking forward to eating when we want as opposed to eating at a set Dining Time.

 

This is not true. The grats are never automatically added on any RCI ship, irrespective of which country you are from. You either prepay, you get a form in your room asking if they want them to add them to our on board account, or you put cash in envelopes.

[ayr625]

Thanks everyone. That's helped to put my mind at rest a bit. Will see what happens when onboard.

[Albert Ross]

How do I sign up - my travel agent only offered me early or late. Do you think this is because it is already full?

MTD is very very popular - it is only a small section of the dining room and it is probably already sold out - you can only ask.

 

This is what is concerning me.......I have had a few people tell me that even though they had paid their gratuities through the travel agent RCI automatically charged them again on the ship. They said they are very bad for doing this.

 

Has anyone else had experience of this? :(

 

As I have already paid to the travel agent I am guessing it would be difficult to have it refunded - maybe I have to wait till I am onboard to see what happens.

 

I hate to have to waste precious time queuing up about this if I could have it settled beforehand.

Your tickets will show on the first page that you have prepaid your service charge. I'd also take an invoice with you to show that you have prepaid if you are really worried about this, but in 15+ cruises I have never been double charged and I have never heard of anyone being double charged.

[sandian]

This is not true. The grats are never automatically added on any RCI ship, irrespective of which country you are from. You either prepay, you get a form in your room asking if they want them to add them to our on board account, or you put cash in envelopes.

I booked through RCI direct the gratuities were added on I did not get a choice

[FLACRUISER99]

If your TA is giving you the gratuities, you need do nothing else....they will pay them for you. If you've pre-payed them thru the TA, you need do nothing else.

 

My Time Dining is similar to what you've done in the past,....just tell your TA to change you to MTD. You've already pre-paid your tips, so that's no problem (MTD requires tips to be paid in advance.)

Bad advice, a TA that I used just gave me an OBC amount equal to the gratuities and I had to fill the form out for them to be paid. Also with a group booking You don't have to prepay but they are added automatically.

[Albert Ross]

I booked through RCI direct the gratuities were added on I did not get a choice

Sorry I misunderstood your post - I read it as the grats are automatically added on board, which they are not.

I also always book direct, and I could take them off if I wish but I never do.

[sandian]

Sorry I misunderstood your post - I read it as the grats are automatically added on board, which they are not.

I also always book direct, and I could take them off if I wish but I never do.

Thats okay it's the first time they have added the gratuities at booking. To be honest I was pleased as it saves me having to worry about paying them. All I have to do is pay extra if required.

[cometr]

We took our first cruise this past May, and we pre-paid gratuities but when I booked I forgot to ask for prepaid grats, so we actually paid a few days later than when we paid for the cruise. Our cruise docs showed that we DID NOT prepay our grats, so our TA called RCI and then put in writing via email to me who she talked to, and that they double confirmed grats were paid. We had no problems with our sea pass acct but did check every other day on the TV to make sure.

[AnDeNo.UK]

I booked through RCI direct the gratuities were added on I did not get a choice

 

Hi David, I booked thro' RCI direct, told them I didn't want to pre pay the gratuities, not a problem. It was only when I called them back to change to MTD that I had to pre pay the gratuities. ;)

[WOWJr1]

MTD is very very popular - it is only a small section of the dining room and it is probably already sold out - you can only ask.

 

Just curious: You can't sign up for BOTH traditional and MTD so more MTD = less traditional and vice versa. Why can't RCL adjust the size of the MTD space for a particular sailing to (more or less) match the number of passengers requesting MTD on that sailing? If MTD is "very very popular" it seems RCL would want to make as many of those pax happy as possible rather than forcing them to use a dining arrangement that will probably make them less satisfied with RCL.

[time4me2fly]

Ask your travel agent for the guest copy of your confirmation. Travel agencies are able to get an "agent" copy and a "guest"copy of their clients booking.

 

On your "guest" copy, under booking charges, you will see listed:

cruise fare

vacation protection

GRATUITIES

total charges

 

If there is no amount next to GRATUITIES, then your travel agent did not apply it to your booking. I would make sure it is listed on your comfirmation, so you do not have to waste time taking care of it on the ship.

 

The confirmation comes from Royal Caribbean and has it's logo at the top left corner of the page.

[yahootelemundo]

 

.1 If you don't have excellent service, talk to your Head Waiter, explain the problem, and ask him to resolve it.

 

 

 

2 If you have poor service form your Cabin Stewart, then report him to Guest Relations.

 

 

3 Cards with written remarks are automatically kicked out by the machine for review by senior staff.

 

 

1 I hope they dont put any human ingredients in your food

2 remember to lock everything in the safe after doing that

3 debarkation is by 8 am , bye royal caribbean

[jensue1]

We are from New Zealand and have sailed twice on RCL. Both times the gratuities have been prepaid. We have found this really great. Especially at the end of the cruise, we don't have to think about how much we will need for gratuities. Both times we received vouchers in our cabin the last day and envelopes we could put the vouchers in to give to the staff. We always add a little more cash to the envelope if we feel we have received great service, which we always have. I have read they don't give you vouchers now so I'm not sure, but I am sure that the staff will know that you have prepaid your gratuities.

 

Of course, you will need to pay direct gratuities to drink orders as you purchase them.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.