Did I Miss This News?

We are booked on the Radiance for the NYE cruise, leaving Sydney on 26 December. Having paid final payment, I went to the Online Check-In and noticed that our "booked" Traditional Dining was set down for 5.30pm:eek: We have "traditionally" been booked for second sitting because we generally have not done the MDR but utilised the specialty restaurants.

We decided to do the MDR this cruise as we enjoyed it on the Legend (recent cruise) but when we saw the (ridiculously early) dining time of 5.30pm decided to do My Time Dining and rang the TA we booked through - a well known OZ cruise outfit.

Well, we were expecting to pay the suite tips of (I think) $US15.95pp per day BUT we were told today that NO, the tips are no longer payable upfront when you select My Time Dining on cruises out of Australia. They will be applied daily once on board however, you can have them removed - just as you can for Traditional Dining.

Finally, we can dine when we want and pay our tips to whom we want to pay. We don't shortchange our Cabin Steward, Waiters, Concierge, etc but it's nice to finally have the My Time Dining on equal footing to Traditional Dining - even though I do appreciate their previous logic.

Did you know this???

Cheers

Di

Not sure it was discussed here, but yes the MTD tips change process changed a couple of months back.

Not sure it was discussed here, but yes the MTD tips change process changed a couple of months back.

The OP stated "cruises out of Australia" does that mean all cruises or just RC cruises?

We are sailing on Celebrity and were booked for 2nd sitting and then saw it was 8.30pm so changed it to MTD and our balance payable was increased by the tips. So does this mean I can ring and get them taken off??

Not sure if that is good or bad with the way the dollar is going atm. By the time we sail in November could be a lot more than it is now.

OMG - I missed this too - I work in the travel industry too, and never saw this in our trade press. This is excellent news! Like you, I saw my traditional dining had been moved from 6.30pm to 5.30 pm - what is with that?? I assumed it was a mistake. But will definitely be moving to my time dining now.

shrekaus - I'd think its just RCL cruises, each line would make their own call but it looks like RCL is responding to Australians market which is great. And smart.

I only knew of the change happening for RCL. That doesn't mean Celebrity haven't done the same thing though, so worth checking with them if you decide you want to change things.

You can't seem to make the change online though, it still adds on prepaid gratuities...

The OP stated "cruises out of Australia" does that mean all cruises or just RC cruises?

 

We are sailing on Celebrity and were booked for 2nd sitting and then saw it was 8.30pm so changed it to MTD and our balance payable was increased by the tips. So does this mean I can ring and get them taken off??

 

Not sure if that is good or bad with the way the dollar is going atm. By the time we sail in November could be a lot more than it is now.

No, it's only Royal Caribbean and only cruises out of and returning to Australia or NZ. Unfortunately, we revert back to the same old story when we do the repositioning cruise on the Explorer in April. Nonetheless, it's a start.

Your Celebrity tips amount shouldn't change but I wonder how long it will be before they follow the suit of its parent company whilst it is Downunder.

Cheers

Di

You can't seem to make the change online though, it still adds on prepaid gratuities...

I had my TA do it.

Cheers

Di

 

Your Celebrity tips amount shouldn't change but I wonder how long it will be before they follow the suit of its parent company whilst it is Downunder.

 

Cheers

Di

I think they will change because they are in USD, atm being added to the balance due in 2 weeks I don't think they will change as I have an invoice. If I get them taken off and pay onboard it will be at the prevailing exchange rate.

The great thing about Princess is they charge everything in AUD so you know what your pricing will be :) but I was tempted by a great deal on Solstice and wanted to sail in/out of Sydney, so deal might be great but flights and accommodation certainly hit the hip pocket. Looking forward to it.

I had my TA do it.

 

Cheers

Di

Yes, it needs to be done through the TA, or RCL direct, whoever your booking was made through.

No, it's only Royal Caribbean and only cruises out of and returning to Australia or NZ. Unfortunately, we revert back to the same old story when we do the repositioning cruise on the Explorer in April. Nonetheless, it's a start.

 

Your Celebrity tips amount shouldn't change but I wonder how long it will be before they follow the suit of its parent company whilst it is Downunder.

 

Cheers

Di

Dizziedi we are on a repo cruise next year on voyager and with have MTD and didn't have to prepay tips?

Hi,

Sorry, I am a bit confused. We booked about a month or so ago on Radiance out of Australia. We pre paid gratuities as we were told we could only do My Time Dining if we did this. Is that correct? So if I have paid them upfront are they going to apply them again once on board?

Thanks

Hi,

Sorry, I am a bit confused. We booked about a month or so ago on Radiance out of Australia. We pre paid gratuities as we were told we could only do My Time Dining if we did this. Is that correct? So if I have paid them upfront are they going to apply them again once on board?

 

Thanks

You definitely don't have to prepay gratuities for MTD anymore on RCI if you have them included in your price and have MTD you can have them removed if you do remove them you will be charged approx. $12 per day pp once onboard ,if you don't remove them then you wont be charged any more on board ,you can also ask on the first day to have gratuities removed completely regardless whether you prepay or not that is up to you ,hope this helps

You definitely don't have to prepay gratuities for MTD anymore on RCI if you have them included in your price and have MTD you can have them removed if you do remove them you will be charged approx. $12 per day pp once onboard ,if you don't remove them then you wont be charged any more on board ,you can also ask on the first day to have gratuities removed completely regardless whether you prepay or not that is up to you ,hope this helps

Hi,

Thanks! That is clearer now. :D

Sounds silly but we have always just tipped with cash daily and then more at the end if we found exceptional service. If it is all pre-paid does it just go into a fund and get divided between all the service staff?

Thanks again.

you can also ask on the first day to have gratuities removed completely regardless whether you prepay or not that is up to you ,hope this helps

I don't believe this is correct - unless it's recently changed.

When it was prepaid, you were not able to get a refund once onboard.

Hi,

Thanks! That is clearer now. :D

 

Sounds silly but we have always just tipped with cash daily and then more at the end if we found exceptional service. If it is all pre-paid does it just go into a fund and get divided between all the service staff?

 

Thanks again.

Prepaying is the same as the auto payment onboard; they just collect it in advance so you don't have to pay later.

They previously used to specify the amounts that each would get e.g. your room attendant, waiters and so on. They no longer do this, so some speculate it goes into a pool, but effectively it should achieve the same outcome.

I don't believe this is correct - unless it's recently changed.

 

When it was prepaid, you were not able to get a refund once onboard.

On our Radiance cruise earlier this year a couple traveling with us had their prepaid grats refunded in OBC ,they still tipped staff individually it was just their choice . So whether this is normal practice by RCI not really sure?

Should add they changed from MTD to traditional dining once onboard,I thought you couldn't do that but they did

Prepaying is the same as the auto payment onboard; they just collect it in advance so you don't have to pay later.

 

They previously used to specify the amounts that each would get e.g. your room attendant, waiters and so on. They no longer do this, so some speculate it goes into a pool, but effectively it should achieve the same outcome.

Thanks :)

Prepaying is the same as the auto payment onboard; they just collect it in advance so you don't have to pay later.

 

They previously used to specify the amounts that each would get e.g. your room attendant, waiters and so on. They no longer do this, so some speculate it goes into a pool, but effectively it should achieve the same outcome.

I agree BigM. We were on Radiance for the Transpacific and then the Legend back and this was not available. If you have paid your tips upfront - that's it - money accepted, thank you very much - and we are Diamond Plus (closer to Pinnacle) and travel in a full suite. Until now, we have selected Traditional Dining and gone to Reception and asked for our tips to be taken off and then paid our Cabin Steward, Concierge, Diamond Concierge and any waiters who have looked after us.

With respect Chester, your friends perhaps got a one off - Royal aren't renown for giving money back;)

Cheers

Di

We travelled on voyager a few years ago. Family members pre-paid where as we chose to wait until we got on boat. We cancelled tipping and paid cash, family members who pre-paid also cancelled and were refunded back to their credit card