Having an ahhh haaa moment over gratuities...

[Biker19]

With the new dynamic dining on both the Quantum and the Anthem, gratuities are due with the final payment. There is no traditional (fixed) dining on either ship. There is no option for paying the gratuities once on board. At least that is what we were told when we booked both ships while on board the Explorer.

 

Nope - grats are NOT due at final.

[BekkaW]

I know this is one of those highly controversial subjects, but I guess I don't see why. I understand not wanting to spend the, what was it, $186/pp for 7 night cruise in advance, but it's not like you need to spend it the day you book. It's due when 75 days out? With the rest of your $700-$2000 and higher price cruise. It's a service charge they call a tip. Is it so important to those of you that RCI or your TA actually pay for your tips in the form of OBC? Is this the real cause of the angst? You really don't want to pay the tip at all, and have it paid for you? Would you be happier if they charged you $200/pp more for the cruise and you didn't tip anyone if you didn't want to? This seems to be the the most overrated controversy on this board. When anyone brings up the cost of the cruise, the beverage packages, the shore excursions, etc...the standard response is "if you can't afford the vacation, don't take the vacation" type of responses. The same should be said for the under $200 tip for 7 nights.

 

I'm a big boy, go ahead and tell me I'm wrong, but it better make sense. And this wasn't directed at anyone, but everyone that is against this prepaid service charge.

 

I am against the mandatory pre-payment as it is inequitable to require one group (those who choose MTD) to pay in advance. The amount is not relevant to this consideration.

 

I always take traditional dining so it doesn't affect me personally, but if RC thinks its fine to charge my sea pass daily then why do MTDers have to pay ahead of time? As with any kind of inequity it should be opposed.

[MrsPete]

It's much ado about nothing:

 

Okay, so if you want MTD (which many, if not most of us, prefer strongly over traditional timing), you have to pre-pay your tips. You may dislike this on philosophical grounds, but realistically it doesn't make more than a few cents difference in your life. If your tip money is sitting in your savings account between final payment and sailing date (still in your possession), it's probably earning less than a nickel's worth of interest. So while you might roar about the "wrong-ness" of paying tips two months in advance, it's not really about the money.

 

I definitely see the point in wanting to use OBC to pay tips! However, again, the reality is that few of us are going to leave the ship without having bought something -- whether it's drinks, casino money, specialty restaurants. Even people like me who spend little onboard don't find it difficult to run through a typical $100-200 OBC during a week. The only time I had a significant amount of OBC (it was when we had three cabins and had a price drop), I went to guest services and asked for a "cash advance" against my OBC, which we then used for our private excursions.

 

You may find prepaid tipping an aggravation, but it isn't a real problem.