Gratuities on dinning packages. Is this new ?

[brockmom]

Morning all

just went to peek at the cost of dinning packages and I see a gratuities charge added to the cost of the package.

I honestly can’t remember seeing this before. 
For those of you who purchased on board, have you been charged an added charge to the price of your dinners ?

Also, there is a discount for Captain club status, how do you get that applied ?

we have always tipped after the wonderful service we receive in the specialty restaurants, so I am sure I would have 

recalled if I had paid an added gratuity to my purchase.

thoughts ?

thanks !

Brockmom

[WestLakeGirl]

When you give your server your SeaPass card at the end of the meal, be sure to point out your Captain’s Club tier to get the discount applied

[jelayne]

They added the a 18% gratuity in late April.  On some cruise planners the original price remained the same and a gratuity is added, on other cruise planners the price was increased by 18% so either way the  cost has gone up by 18%.

 

We have not been able to book pre-cruise and get the CC discount applied, even on the ship when they said they would it didn't happen.

Edited August 28, 2022 by jelayne

[sdnich]

I was going to post a similar question. I booked specialty dining at  Murano for the first night with OBC for a future cruise . And they charged my credit card separately for the gratuity even though I had lots of OBC ??

[WestLakeGirl]

You can always cancel it if its wrong and start over

[dreamer321]

 

11 minutes ago, sdnich said:

And they charged my credit card separately for the gratuity even though I had lots of OBC ??

I recently booked Murano using onboard credit(OBC). When it came time to pay for the reservation they showed me the pre-cruise discount price plus 18% gratuity as well as my OBC balance and asked how much OBC credit I wanted to used. I paid for the meal plus tip with OBC, no charge to my credit card.

[sdnich]

I didn’t get that option ( but I was drinking some wine;) I might cancel it and then rebook ! It was only $15 but with lot’s of OBC I would rather use 

[brockmom]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

They added the a 18% gratuity in late April.  On some cruise planners the original price remained the same and a gratuity is added, on other cruise planners the price was increased by 18% so either way the  cost has gone up by 18%.

 

We have not been able to book pre-cruise and get the CC discount applied, even on the ship when they said they would it didn't happen.

Thanks for the heads up.

i will try to call Captain club this week to get the scoop. If they tell me the ship will adjust I will know that won’t happen.

and I do recall online purchases can’t be touched on board so that makes sense.

so I did go ahead and book and if they cannot apply my elite plus discount, to my reduced (7% but something lol) online booking then I will just cancel it and purchase on board.

thanks Brockmom

 

[brockmom]

1 hour ago, WestLakeGirl said:

When you give your server your SeaPass card at the end of the meal, be sure to point out your Captain’s Club tier to get the discount applied

So if your buying a package how do they apply the discount?

thanks

 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, brockmom said:

So if your buying a package how do they apply the discount?

thanks

 

The dining packages are already discounted, we have never gotten a additional Elite+ discount on those.  But who knows with all the new people if you call to book you may get a discount. 

[brockmom]

Well I will report back cause this will be interesting to see how it 

works.. keep ya all posted !

Brockmom 😉

[Pennstatedj]

The auto tipping for specialty dinning started a few months ago. I was on the equinox last month. We went to Tuscan and Murano and in both cases we did not get a bill. Charges are now just charged to your room with gratuity included. We booked on board and got our CC discount at least. I do know that to get special price of CC you must call ahead of time, otherwise you will not get it. If you go to restaurant or GR you might get it but they could turn it down. 

We have a cruise next month and I booked an excursion and they charged me on my credit card instead of using our OBC which I did not give them. They had it from our last cruise I guess. We have not checked in yet. I will have to call or cancel to straighten it out. All I know it is not right to do this. 

[brockmom]

Update !

Spoke to a lovely representative today in hope  they would apply

my Elite plus dinning discount. Apparently this cannot be done.

So no need to buy the package on line unless they are reduced MORE than

your Elite discount of 15%.

I was disappointed I couldn’t take advantage of both deals.

Package is cancelled and will purchase on board.

cheers

Brockmom

[Moonarino]

I just checked a speciality dining I purchased in June, and the emailed receipt shows a line item for gratutiies (and it calculates to 18%). The "advertised price" that I paid included the 18% gratuity, so I didn't even notice I was paying it. So @brockmom, I thank you for asking this question.