MTD: When do you pay?

[Kellie Poodle]

Thinking of doing MTD on a port intensive cruise. I booked the cruise with a future cruise certificate and it sails in August 2013. All we have at stake is $200 until 90 days prior to sailing when final payment is due.

 

Reservation is for early seating. If I change to MTD, will I have to pay gratuities now or will they be included in final payment?

 

This will be our first experience with MTD.

[leaveitallbehind]

Thinking of doing MTD on a port intensive cruise. I booked the cruise with a future cruise certificate and it sails in August 2013. All we have at stake is $200 until 90 days prior to sailing when final payment is due.

 

Reservation is for early seating. If I change to MTD, will I have to pay gratuities now or will they be included in final payment?

 

This will be our first experience with MTD.

 

I have never done MTD but all gratuities are prepaid with this option and I believe charged at time of final payment. If I am incorrect I'm sure I'll be corrected.

[Starry Eyes]

If you switch to MTD now, your gratuities will be due with your final payment. If you switch to MTD after final payment, you pay when you switch.

[rubrrick]

Janet, no problem changing to MTD, and payment is always collected on the date of final payment.

 

If you decide to do MTD when you get aboard, and there is still room (that is a BIG if!!) then it will be added to your Sea Pass account on day one of the cruise!:)

 

Rick

[Pushka]

Everyone here is correct.

 

MTD gratuities are not payable until your final payment is due. People complain that MTD means that RCL gets to keep your tips for months, but that is just wrong and obviously they have never experienced MTD at all.

[dz9yvr]

MTD sometimes gets filled to capacity, so if you are thinking about MTD, I would go ahead and sign up now.

[negc]

We have become big fans of MTD and I think you will find that it works exceptionally well when you are on a port intensive cruise and can schedule your dining times to reflect the various times you will be getting back to the ship. :)

[orville99]

Everyone here is correct.

 

MTD gratuities are not payable until your final payment is due. People complain that MTD means that RCL gets to keep your tips for months, but that is just wrong and obviously they have never experienced MTD at all.

 

 

True. One thing that most people don't realize, however, is that (depending on whom you purchase from) if you purchase cruise insurance it doesn't go into force until the premium is actually paid. So, if you use the cruiseline's insurance and wait until final payment date to pay everything other than your deposit, your cruise insurance goes into force on that day.

[Eng23]

True. One thing that most people don't realize, however, is that (depending on whom you purchase from) if you purchase cruise insurance it doesn't go into force until the premium is actually paid. So, if you use the cruiseline's insurance and wait until final payment date to pay everything other than your deposit, your cruise insurance goes into force on that day.

What does cruise insurance have to do with MTD (My Time Dining)?

[Coralc]

We booked a cruise by phone last evening for Dec 2013.

 

We used a Next Cruise that we purchased on Radiance in April.....and it was the oddest experience with a RCI Vacation Planner that I've ever had.

 

She couldn't seem to get anything right...we requested MTD and she said in addition to the $100 deposit for your husband, we will be charging the gratuities now.

 

I told her that we won't be paying them now...19 months in advance, I will pay them at final payment, as we always do.

 

And she said, "Okay that's fine, I'll just note that in your file." Weird. :rolleyes:

 

We have never before been asked to pay MTD gratuities at booking.

 

We usually book through C&A, but they were closed.

 

I don't know if she was slightly off, or what. :)

[Kellie Poodle]

Thanks everyone. I'll switch to MTD sooner than later, as I do know it fills up fast.

 

The cruise is a B2B so I'm deciding if the second leg, a TA, but with lots of ports, too, is also a good fit for MTD.

 

We've never been thrilled with the buffet as a dinner venue and the specialty restaurants require advance reservations.

[Pushka]

True. One thing that most people don't realize, however, is that (depending on whom you purchase from) if you purchase cruise insurance it doesn't go into force until the premium is actually paid. So, if you use the cruiseline's insurance and wait until final payment date to pay everything other than your deposit, your cruise insurance goes into force on that day.

 

Who cares about insurance when they want to know about mtd?

[orville99]

Read the first post. The op made the statement that the only $$ that they were concerned about before final payment was their $200 deposit. I was merely pointing out that if they added cruise insurance when they booked, they had no coverage unless they paid enough prior to final payment to activate the insurance.

[Pushka]

No, re read the first post. The op said the only thing they had at stake was their $200 deposit. If something happened between now and final payment date then that was all they risked losing if they had to cancel.

[Eng23]

Read the first post. The op made the statement that the only $$ that they were concerned about before final payment was their $200 deposit. I was merely pointing out that if they added cruise insurance when they booked, they had no coverage unless they paid enough prior to final payment to activate the insurance.

And still, what does this have to do with MTD?

[orville99]

No, re read the first post. The op said the only thing they had at stake was their $200 deposit. If something happened between now and final payment date then that was all they risked losing if they had to cancel.

 

Moral : never try to be helpful when others just want to be snarky:rolleyes:

[Pushka]

Moral : never try to be helpful when others just want to be snarky:rolleyes:

 

Hmm, providing information that is not relevant to the question or issue at hand is not being helpful. :rolleyes:

 

Not trying to be snarky at all, just answering the OP question without adding detail that is not required.

[Kellie Poodle]

Read the first post. The op made the statement that the only $$ that they were concerned about before final payment was their $200 deposit. I was merely pointing out that if they added cruise insurance when they booked, they had no coverage unless they paid enough prior to final payment to activate the insurance.

 

 

OP here. I knew what you meant.

 

For the record, I get my insurance privately. Cruise line's insurance has split loyalties.

[KeywestK]

Thanks everyone. I'll switch to MTD sooner than later, as I do know it fills up fast.

 

The cruise is a B2B so I'm deciding if the second leg, a TA, but with lots of ports, too, is also a good fit for MTD.

 

We've never been thrilled with the buffet as a dinner venue and the specialty restaurants require advance reservations.

 

We did MTD on our TA last fall and I do recommend it. We did, however, end up finding our "sweet spot" for our preferred dinnertime, and we were able to make a reservation with the maitre' d for our preferred dining time and wait staff. It was a very pleasant experience. Have a wonderful cruise. We really enjoyed our TA sailing, and it won't be our last.....:)

[marci65]

We made MTD reservations online 2-3 weeks ago for our 6/9 Liberty cruise. Our balance was paid in full over a month ago. I am not aware of any gratuities billed to us yet. Should I call RC about it, or wait to see what happens at check-in or after embarkation?

[marci22]

What does cruise insurance have to do with MTD (My Time Dining)?

 

Who cares about insurance when they want to know about mtd?

 

I think Orville made a good point. A lot of people don't realize that if you purchase insurance from Royal, you have to make sure they take your payment then. Otherwise, you may be excluded from coverage in certain cases. It's not relevant to the OPs post, but it is a side note that people may see and it may save them trouble in the future.

[Pushka]

I think Orville made a good point. A lot of people don't realize that if you purchase insurance from Royal, you have to make sure they take your payment then. Otherwise, you may be excluded from coverage in certain cases. It's not relevant to the OPs post, but it is a side note that people may see and it may save them trouble in the future.

 

Except that people who have queries about insurance wont be looking for it, or searching for it, in a thread about MTD.

 

It's like saying, make sure you board on time so you don't miss the boat, when someone asks a question about muster for instance.