Why is Royal pushing "My Time Dining"?

[04cruises]

I have been told this on 3 bookings until I tell the TA that to put a 24 hr. hold on the cabin as we may not book it. It then takes about a 3 minutes when they come back on and say they got us the dining time we wished, so lets book it now.

[trev71]

I am from Atlantic Canada, and a 6pm dining time is like me eating at 7pm. That is the latest I normally can eat. I cant imagine late night dining

[papaflamingo]

I have always handed out tips equal to or above the recommended amount per day but sometimes I would give more to someone who did extra well and less to someone who didn't measure up. Now they trying to take that discretion away and then what incentive is there for any staff to go the extra mile if they are going to get the same either way? And as soon as they make tips mandatory they can raise them to what ever they want and you have to go along. When that happens it isn't a tip anymore.

 

Tips are always optional. You can have them removed once you get on board. You are quite correct, if it isn't optional, it isn't a tip. As someone said that would likely result in some type of tax issues, so I suspect that will never happen.

I am not a "conspiracy theorist." I think that believing that some number cruncher in the head office worked up the earnings on the interest on the money collected 70 days out on tips for part of the passenger load is incorrect. If they wanted to do that, they'd simply require pre-paid tips for everyone.

The reason pre-paid tips came about is because My Time Dining began before Automatic Tips. Now that tips are automatic, it would be easy to simply add tips to everyone's account regardless of dining choice. But I don't think RCCL wants to bother with the accounting changes. So they leave things as they are. As for MTD, if that is what you have, go on line and reserve the same dining time each night, and you will effectively give yourself traditional dining. We had a group of 10, did that, and had the same table, same waiters the entire cruise. It was great. Yes we pre-paid tips, but really that was no issue for us. I easily blow through any OBC I have. But if you don't spend all your OBC, go to the casino and cash it out as chips, then cash in the chips and take the money home. Sure you pay 3% or so, but if you have $100 OBC left, you get $97 back. Beats losing it.

[Havingfun2010]

What does tips have to do with MTD? Unless you plan on not paying the crew any tips, it should make no difference if prepaid or not. Personally, I have always prepaid my tips once it was offered as an option. Why do I want to carry cash to hand out. I want to carry the least amount of cash as possible. When I step on that ship, I want everything prepaid. My soda, my beer, my mixed drinks, my food.

 

Why should I care how those tips are handled? I give them and they distribute it. I don't care if anyone wants to consider it a fee. 25 years ago, I paid tips in cash. The recommended amounts were published, I was given an envelope, and I gladly handed it over. Today, I might hand over some extra cash with a thank you, but I still give, just like 25 years ago, the recommended amount, and enjoy my cruise.

 

So MTD might turn tables faster. Great, let it. The employees are their to serve me, and that is what I pay for.

 

I like MTD on short cruises. Longer ones, I stick with traditional. I like meeting people. I enjoy long dinners as a time to relax over food and drink. :D

[PORT ROYAL]

Paul, spot on. A thread by someone with barely a minimal understanding of RCi and the dinner process.

 

egads...

 

jc

 

 

For the record we left RCI/Celebrity being over 70% to reaching P and Z.

 

In support of the OP.

One objects to prepay Gratutities to go MTD, then to discover the word "MY" actually equals "OUR", and "OUR" relates to he ship, with no recourse by the guest.

[dcgrumpy]

I booked our August cruise more than a year in advance and all that was available was MTD. There wasn't even a waitlist for early or late seating. And there seemed to be plenty of availability. I was deciding between a Family Promenade Room and Family Oceanview. Every single one was available.

Edited February 10, 2015 by dcgrumpy

[tigger-ttfn]

Huh? :confused:

I agree Huh:confused:

[awhcruiser]

We have a winner.

What does tips have to do with MTD? Unless you plan on not paying the crew any tips, it should make no difference if prepaid or not. Personally, I have always prepaid my tips once it was offered as an option. Why do I want to carry cash to hand out. I want to carry the least amount of cash as possible. When I step on that ship, I want everything prepaid. My soda, my beer, my mixed drinks, my food.

 

Why should I care how those tips are handled? I give them and they distribute it. I don't care if anyone wants to consider it a fee. 25 years ago, I paid tips in cash. The recommended amounts were published, I was given an envelope, and I gladly handed it over. Today, I might hand over some extra cash with a thank you, but I still give, just like 25 years ago, the recommended amount, and enjoy my cruise.

 

So MTD might turn tables faster. Great, let it. The employees are their to serve me, and that is what I pay for.

 

I like MTD on short cruises. Longer ones, I stick with traditional. I like meeting people. I enjoy long dinners as a time to relax over food and drink. :D