Forced to pre-pay gratuities??

[a3593]

New to RCI, and I booked the Vision out of Colon, Panama next April. I can't wait! However, the rep on the phone advised that I must pre-pay gratuities because the only dining option left at this time is your time dining. I went along with it, but it just sounded odd. Is this the norm?

[Mark_K]

For My Time Dining, yes, it is the norm. For regular dining, the norm is a charge every day to your on board account.

 

 

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Edited November 11, 2013 by Mark_K

[ryano]

Yes, its the norm to have to prepay gratuities for My Time Dining. If you want traditional dining, I think you can be waitlisted but RCI will still charge 12.00 pp per day to your onboard account for gratuities.

[setsail]

The gratuities are NOT paid till final payment:rolleyes:

[Mark_K]

The gratuities are NOT paid till final payment:rolleyes:

Which makes them prepaid as opposed to pay as you go.

 

 

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[Let'sGo!]

Yes, as other's have said, it is the norm to pre-pay your gratuities for MTD. However, you can always ask your rep to waitlist you for traditional dining, or ask about it once on board.

 

Also, if for some reason you want to have your pre-paid gratuites removed from your account, you can always go to guest services once on board and request them to credit them back to your account.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Ann

[a3593]

Thanks guys for letting me know this. I have no problem pre-paying, I just didn't want to be forced if that's not the rule. Just getting used to the little nuances between RCI and Carnival.

[Merion_Mom]

Yes, as other's have said, it is the norm to pre-pay your gratuities for MTD. However, you can always ask your rep to waitlist you for traditional dining, or ask about it once on board.

 

Also, if for some reason you want to have your pre-paid gratuites removed from your account, you can always go to guest services once on board and request them to credit them back to your account.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Ann

 

Not if you have MTD.

[cb at sea]

Nowadays, even if you don't pay grats. in advance, they will be added to your seapass. The "cash in an envelope" thing has gone away!! However, those who serve you and are getting the tips don't receive them until the cruise is over.

[Toddcan]

I much prefer the prepaid grats.

 

However, I do find it odd that for our last 2 cruises, we booked a full 9-10 months in advance, yet there are no traditional dining times available - only MTD, which forces the prepaid grats. I actually don't mind this, so I am not complaining, but I struggle to believe that all traditional dining times are booked 10 months out.

[DonnaK]

I don't know why traditional dining is often "full" many months in advance, but it's been our experience that it suddenly opens up before final payment. You can get on the waiting list for traditional dining, and then when you clear the list, you can ask to have the prepaid gratuities removed from your balance due at final payment. We've done this for our last several cruises, and always cleared the waiting list. We'd rather have the daily gratuities added to our onboard account so that we can put our onboard credit towards paying for them.

[springfire]

I don't know why traditional dining is often "full" many months in advance, but it's been our experience that it suddenly opens up before final payment. You can get on the waiting list for traditional dining, and then when you clear the list, you can ask to have the prepaid gratuities removed from your balance due at final payment. We've done this for our last several cruises, and always cleared the waiting list. We'd rather have the daily gratuities added to our onboard account so that we can put our onboard credit towards paying for them.

 

This is what happened with us on the Allure. First they say it is full and than it opens up. I would just hate to prepay gratuities.

[jenfromjersey]

I had to prepay mine at the time of booking with my TA.

[spookwife]

The gratuities are NOT paid till final payment:rolleyes:

 

WRONG.

 

when getting My Time Dining you MUST prepay your gratuities. that is the situation the OP finds themselves in as regular dining( early or late seating) was not available to them at all

[roccomom1]

I don't understand this rule about pre-paid gratuities either for MTD. They will get there tips on a daily basis while on the ship anyway. I think this is just a way for RCI to get the money ahead of time.

[landerslp]

We booked cruise almost a year out and were not given traditional dining option. Seemed strange, but as we are in port for three days we are willing to give MTD a try. Also means less to pay on the cruise. For another cruise 6 mos out we wanted early dining that wasn't available so took MTD and waitlisted for early. Changed our minds and called to replace MTD with late dining and had tips deleted; but then invoice showed no waitlist for early dining. When I called back they got us into early dining. Lesson learned: persevere with what you want.

[Langley Cruisers]

WRONG.

 

when getting My Time Dining you MUST prepay your gratuities. that is the situation the OP finds themselves in as regular dining( early or late seating) was not available to them at all

 

Uhh... not wrong. The pre-paids are added to our TA's invoice and the full payment is made when it is due. We do not pay them separately and/or at the time of booking.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I much prefer the prepaid grats.

 

However, I do find it odd that for our last 2 cruises, we booked a full 9-10 months in advance, yet there are no traditional dining times available - only MTD, which forces the prepaid grats. I actually don't mind this, so I am not complaining, but I struggle to believe that all traditional dining times are booked 10 months out.

 

We were told the same thing when we booked last summer, for a cruise in March. The only time left was MTD or the late sitting.

 

Since we chose MTD, they said that we must pre-pay the gratuities. I don't mind doing that, but I can't see why. Our past cruises were on NCL, which is entirely freestyle (dining when and where you choose to). They never asked us to prepay our gratuities, and we paid them as an onboard charge.

[dacsmom]

I don't understand this rule about pre-paid gratuities either for MTD. They will get there tips on a daily basis while on the ship anyway. I think this is just a way for RCI to get the money ahead of time.

 

If they did not require pre-paid gratuities for MTD which server would you pay your gratuities to since they may change every day? This was the only fair way to do it.

[Ocean Boy]

Yes, as other's have said, it is the norm to pre-pay your gratuities for MTD. However, you can always ask your rep to waitlist you for traditional dining, or ask about it once on board.

 

Also, if for some reason you want to have your pre-paid gratuites removed from your account, you can always go to guest services once on board and request them to credit them back to your account.

Enjoy your cruise!

Ann

 

You can have the daily gratuities removed from your account but it is my understanding that pre-paid gratuities cannot be adjusted or removed.

[setsail]

WRONG.

 

 

I could explain it to you but, I can't understand it for you:D

[Ocean Boy]

The gratuities are NOT paid till final payment:rolleyes:

 

WRONG.

 

when getting My Time Dining you MUST prepay your gratuities. that is the situation the OP finds themselves in as regular dining( early or late seating) was not available to them at all

 

Isn't that what setsail said? You pay them at the time of final payment. Don't be so quick to label people as WRONG.:rolleyes:

[Langley Cruisers]

I could explain it to you but, I can't understand it for you:D

 

LOL! Oh my goodness. :D

[DicAnns]

If they did not require pre-paid gratuities for MTD which server would you pay your gratuities to since they may change every day? This was the only fair way to do it.

 

How is it different when paying the automatic $12/day? You still don't know which server you're paying and all servers get the same amount anyways.

[dancing dragon]

if you have MTD you must pre-pay because you may not have the same server each night. I personally like to pre-pay, that way I don;t have to worry about it on the final bill when I am on the ship, I just include it in the price of the cruise..

 

the reason I think they have cut out the envelopes and printing the slips that go into them, cost savings... on a ship like the Oasis, you are looking at 20,000 to 24,000 envelopes and another 6,000 pieces of special paper (perforated) and that is just on one ship for one week. now imagine that across the fleet, per week, so it's a cost sharing measure. People were still going to pay it at the end of the cruise one way or the other....

 

before I get nasty comments... it's just my opinion.... and I do understand that they are having people pay it months ahead of time.... so it is tying up your money.... I get that....

 

but I just find it odd that people are rushing to Guest services as soon as they get on board to have the automatic ones taken off, and then at the end they will pay it anyway.... or maybe they won't, they don't eat in the dining room so why pay the waiter/ asst waiter, even though the same water/asst waiter's are doing duty in the Windjammer for Breakfast and Lunch... guess those people aren't eating anywhere on the ship...

 

anyway... I hope you all have a great cruise, I wish I could plan a cruise that far out, as it is my current job only allows me to book one two months out at the most (so I pretty much have to pay the whole thing all at once)...

 

may you enjoy your next cruise...a bad day at sea beats a good day at work...:)