Sascol Posted February 2, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 2, 2023 OK. We are not rookies. We have cruised almost 30 times …about half of those with Celebrity. Every time we cruise we book several specialty restaurants. I seem to remember clearly that the cover charge, as explained also included gratuities for the staff and while not necessary, you could then pay the staff additional $$ after dining. In other words $50 covered the meal and the gratuity. I do not ever remember being charged a gratuity in addition to the $50 in advance. We recently reserved specialty restaurants for our upcoming cruise and I noticed in the confirmation we received after the fact via email we received that an 18% gratuity was added to our charge. Is this normal? If so, when did this start? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39august Posted February 2, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 2, 2023 This started a few months ago. Higher base prices and 18% gratuity added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrk2cruise Posted February 2, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 2, 2023 This change was made about 3 months ago, not too long after they raised the prices of the specialties about 10-15% as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinfly Posted February 2, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) This is how Celebrity is increasing their revenue while staying competitive in the cruise market. (lower advertised prices/cost to book while increasing revenue by making money onboard) You are correct that when specialty restaurants were a new thing, the extra fee was noted as a gratuity to the staff. It was also quite reasonable. This has evolved into a lucrative revenue stream. I don't hold it against them, however, as long as their "included" dining continues to be high quality with good service. (Note that a lot of people say "free" dining...it's not "free", it's included in the price of the cruise.) On an NCL cruise before COVID, the service and food in the main dining room was very poor while their specialty restaurants had excellent food and service. I felt that this was done intentionally to "convince" people who wanted good food/service to spend extra money to get it. I haven't been back on NCL since (and they seem to be close to bankruptcy). Edited February 2, 2023 by cruisinfly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted February 2, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted February 2, 2023 This is such BS. Nickel and diming everywhere now. Thanks for the replies. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted February 2, 2023 Author #6 Share Posted February 2, 2023 17 minutes ago, cruisinfly said: I don't hold it against them, however, as long as their "included" dining continues to be high quality with good service. (Note that a lot of people say "free" dining...it's not "free", it's included in the price of the cruise.) Sadly, last fall on Beyond we felt that the food and service in the main dining rooms (the ‘free’ ones) had slipped. This is why we booked the specialty restaurants this time. We did not realize though until today that another 18% had been added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Fly and Sail Posted February 2, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 2, 2023 58 minutes ago, Sascol said: Sadly, last fall on Beyond we felt that the food and service in the main dining rooms (the ‘free’ ones) had slipped. This is why we booked the specialty restaurants this time. We did not realize though until today that another 18% had been added. I felt that on Solstice and Millennium but not on EDGE class. You think $50++ for specialty dining is worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS2BS Posted February 2, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 2, 2023 So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp! Hal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted February 2, 2023 Author #9 Share Posted February 2, 2023 57 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said: I felt that on Solstice and Millennium but not on EDGE class. You think $50++ for specialty dining is worth it? Depends on how much ++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted February 2, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 2, 2023 7 minutes ago, HS2BS said: So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp! Hal Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICCruisers Posted February 2, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 2, 2023 20 minutes ago, jelayne said: Yes Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_T Posted February 2, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 2, 2023 1 minute ago, RICCruisers said: Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person. Similarly, Murano is $60, and Tuscan $55 these days (both +18% gratuity) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted February 2, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 2, 2023 13 minutes ago, HS2BS said: So that fifty dollar specialty that had the gratuity included prior, is now really $59pp! Hal It is always a good idea to check the pricing pre-cruise. They have both a first night discount as well as sales pre-cruise. Example of 1st night Discount - they apply tip at checkout 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jim_Iain Posted February 2, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Also was checking on e-Class Fine Cut is now up to $65 + Tip Pre-Cruise Price 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted February 2, 2023 #15 Share Posted February 2, 2023 The multi-night packages can get the average down a little. mac_tlc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Alsmez Posted February 3, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 3, 2023 20 minutes ago, mac_tlc said: The multi-night packages can get the average down a little. mac_tlc True - but they are charging gratuity on these now as well. I bought a 5-nighter today for my upcoming cruise and noticed it at checkout. We typically leave a tip when we buy a specialty package anyway so no biggie, we just won't bother anymore since it's now prepaid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascol Posted February 3, 2023 Author #17 Share Posted February 3, 2023 Remember Olympic for $15? I do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaKahuna Posted February 3, 2023 #18 Share Posted February 3, 2023 5 hours ago, RICCruisers said: Unfortunately the $50.00 Specially Restaurant is hard to find. On E Class ships Eden is $60.00 + $10.80 gratuity and Fine Cut is $65.00 + $11.70 gratuity. That’s $70.80 and $76.70 per person. I pre-booked dinner for two in the Tuscan Grill on our upcoming Millennium cruise for $49.99 each which, with the added 18% gratuity comes to $117.98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_T Posted February 3, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 3, 2023 9 hours ago, mac_tlc said: The multi-night packages can get the average down a little. ... but you are left to scramble for the times/days you want when you board, which we do not consider to be a reasonable exchange for the relatively small discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homestyle Posted February 3, 2023 #20 Share Posted February 3, 2023 9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said: It is always a good idea to check the pricing pre-cruise. They have both a first night discount as well as sales pre-cruise. Example of 1st night Discount - they apply tip at checkout Wouldn't recommend. We did this last cruise, we were 45 mins late being seated, they were under so much pressure the food and service were compromised. We didn't get our main course until nearly 10pm. We should have complained, but we let it go. Even with the discount, it's a lot to pay for not 100% satisfaction. I love Murano, but there's a limit to what I'd pay for a family of four. Two cruses booked Dec 2023 and Feb 2025. Dread to think what it will be like by then after all the price hikes and cost cutting. I'll not book anything else, might be time to look at other holiday options in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Captain Funtime Posted February 3, 2023 #21 Share Posted February 3, 2023 My first specialty was on Princess years ago. 8 dollars. I will be on Summit starting Monday for my first 2023 cruise and all the “adjustments”. IMHO Tuscan is not worth $64 additional. Was on Sky Princess in December. Queen’s Grille was excellent and $29. I will tough it out in the MDR and see if the quality is indeed as bad as recently reported on CC. While we all understand the pandemic was very tough on the cruise industry they were very profitable pre-pandemic and will be again. Most cruise lines are reporting record bookings. Record profits will follow. I don’t understand expecting to recoup their losses rout step. Can you say GM, Mobil, Exxon ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serene56 Posted February 21, 2023 #22 Share Posted February 21, 2023 where do we see pricing> Looking at booking Reflection but wanting to see pricing across the board first I have searched this site. I cant see pricing unless I am booked, I see Lawn Club Grill Tuscan Grill. THe porch and Le Petit (which can i order off the other menu just for the soup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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