Removing pre paid gratuities while on the ship

[Vampiress88]

I know people hate a tipping thread and this isn’t that exactly. But I needed to ask, as I’ve asked Royal Caribbean chat directly but sometimes don’t trust what people say. 
 

Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that. 
 

But what I am slightly worried about is what if I don’t get that level of service. 
Normally if we are somewhere that I don’t get good service then I reduce the tip at the end. 
 

So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? 
 

Hopefully this won’t happen but I have been on quite a few cruises and the service doesn’t always warrant tips. 

[Biker19]

18 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that.

You’ve been told wrong - remove the prepaid grats now. Much more difficult to remove onboard. 
 

Be prepared for feedback, even if you don’t want it. 

Edited April 18 by Biker19

[DennysDad]

24 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

I know people hate a tipping thread and this isn’t that exactly. But I needed to ask, as I’ve asked Royal Caribbean chat directly but sometimes don’t trust what people say. 
 

Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that. 
 

But what I am slightly worried about is what if I don’t get that level of service. 
Normally if we are somewhere that I don’t get good service then I reduce the tip at the end. 
 

So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? 
 

Hopefully this won’t happen but I have been on quite a few cruises and the service doesn’t always warrant tips. 

If you pre pay(before cruise) you cannot remove once onboard. I'm not sure I understand you were told you have to pay upfront? Do you mean daily onboard? Or you already pre paid for the week while still at home? If your talking about pre paying onboard by being charged daily, you can have that removed at anytime onboard. Just go to guest services and ask for the daily gratuities to be removed. Then pay cash tips to whoever you choose. If you pre paid for your entire trips gratuities in advance of the trip, then you should try to have them removed and refunded now before the trip starts. Technically, pre paid gratuities (weeks or months in advance of the trip) cannot be removed onboard. But the daily gratuities (if that's what you mean by pre pay? Assuming pre meal service?) the daily gratuity charge to your onboard account can be removed for the entire journey at any point in the week by going to guest services and requesting the daily gratuities be removed. 

[DennysDad]

34 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

I know people hate a tipping thread and this isn’t that exactly. But I needed to ask, as I’ve asked Royal Caribbean chat directly but sometimes don’t trust what people say. 
 

Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that. 
 

But what I am slightly worried about is what if I don’t get that level of service. 
Normally if we are somewhere that I don’t get good service then I reduce the tip at the end. 
 

So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? 
 

Hopefully this won’t happen but I have been on quite a few cruises and the service doesn’t always warrant tips. 

If 530 and 830 is too early and late for you, where will you be planning on eating. I'm a bit lost as to how that plays into your gratuity question?

[Billy Baltic]

29 minutes ago, DennysDad said:

If 530 and 830 is too early and late for you, where will you be planning on eating. I'm a bit lost as to how that plays into your gratuity question?

I think prepaid gratuities was a condition of MTD at one time. I believe that’s no longer the case. Since the op appears to have been badly informed, they may have been given bad information here too. 

[DennysDad]

23 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

I think prepaid gratuities was a condition of MTD at one time. I believe that’s no longer the case. Since the op appears to have been badly informed, they may have been given bad information here too. 

I'm not real clear of her definition of pre paid. As in pre trip or pre paid each day. And she never mentioned MTD. 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Vampiress88 said:

I know people hate a tipping thread and this isn’t that exactly. But I needed to ask, as I’ve asked Royal Caribbean chat directly but sometimes don’t trust what people say. 
 

Ok so because I don’t want to eat at 5.30 Or 8.30 as that’s too early and too late for us then I was told that I have to pay gratuities upfront. That’s fine I’ve done that. 
 

But what I am slightly worried about is what if I don’t get that level of service. 
Normally if we are somewhere that I don’t get good service then I reduce the tip at the end. 
 

So what I’m asking is that if I don’t get the correct service, am I still within my rights to go to reception and ask them to reduce the gratuity or is it because I have already physically paid for them then it’s already a done deal kind of thing? 
 

Hopefully this won’t happen but I have been on quite a few cruises and the service doesn’t always warrant tips. 

Good morning Sue.

It has been years now since it was required that you had to Pre-Pay gratuities to eat in the My Time Restaurant on board.

If you have pre-paid you have been given the wrong information and I would contact your Travel agent NOW and insist they are removed from your cruise bill or refunded if you have paid your final balance.

Once on board a daily Auto gratuity is taken off every passengers in board account.

Most leave these in place for the crew but you can remove all of these auto gratuities by going to guest services who will take them off for you at any time.

Gratuities are added to every drink purchased which cannot be removed.

I know you like P&O but for younger more athletic passengers like yourself the larger Royal Caribbean ships have Awesome activities on board compared to P&O.

The Windjammer buffet food choices is on a different level to P&O and a good choice even for dinner.

Graham.

 

 

[gavvy]

If you book direct in UK then for MTD you still have to pre-pay.

 

There was a thread like this a few weeks ago, lots of noise on it but the consensus was you can't remove prepay tips once on board, though there was at least one person saying you could.

 

I would remove them now to avoid hassle if possible.

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, DennysDad said:

I'm not real clear of her definition of pre paid. As in pre trip or pre paid each day. And she never mentioned MTD. 

Not mentioned but it’s the only way I can make sense of it. At one time you had to pay for your gratuities before the cruise if you wanted MTD. 

[Billy Baltic]

44 minutes ago, gavvy said:

If you book direct in UK then for MTD you still have to pre-pay.

 

I’m in Ireland and I think we have the same terms and conditions. I thought that requirement had been removed. My bad. 

[BridgeMates]

I'm wondering....we booked our cruise (group of 14) early part of last year.  Gratuities were stated as  $16pp/pd.  Gratuities have since gone up to $18pp/pd.   Final confirmation has a paragraph that indicates if you booked before 11/11/23 we keep the same $16 rate "provided it is paid in advance at least 4-5 days prior to departure. These amounts can be adjusted onboard."

Altho in 50+ cruises I've never had to remove any gratuities, I think I can assume you can remove the tips if you feel it's necessary?  

Would you interpret this as I am?

Thanks all.

 

 

[DennysDad]

4 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

I'm wondering....we booked our cruise (group of 14) early part of last year.  Gratuities were stated as  $16pp/pd.  Gratuities have since gone up to $18pp/pd.   Final confirmation has a paragraph that indicates if you booked before 11/11/23 we keep the same $16 rate "provided it is paid in advance at least 4-5 days prior to departure. These amounts can be adjusted onboard."

Altho in 50+ cruises I've never had to remove any gratuities, I think I can assume you can remove the tips if you feel it's necessary?  

Would you interpret this as I am?

Thanks all.

 

 

As long as you didn't pre pay pre cruise. If your just getting charged daily onboard and didn't pre pay in advance, you can go to guest services and have them removed/stopped for no reason at all. I would never recommend pre paying. If your not happy with the service, you have no recourse. Tipping cash directly grants you control over your experience.

[Vampiress88]

Sorry I’m not being clear. 
we are sailing on anthem. I am from the U.K.  

the only way they let me do the my time dining was if I prepaid. I explained that if I am not happy with the service I may want to adjust it and they said that was no problem. 
 

last time I was forced to eat at a certain time it ruined the cruise for us as I don’t want to be in the buffet all the time just because I don’t pay in advance. 
 

the gratuities were already added to my final bill. These have already been fully paid. 
 

unfortunately the service from the chat hasn’t been great so far so that’s why I asked on here. 
 

hopefully this will all be amazing and won’t be an issue anyway

as they are not mandatory then I assume they should be allowed to be removed at any point. 

[Vampiress88]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning Sue.

It has been years now since it was required that you had to Pre-Pay gratuities to eat in the My Time Restaurant on board.

If you have pre-paid you have been given the wrong information and I would contact your Travel agent NOW and insist they are removed from your cruise bill or refunded if you have paid your final balance.

Once on board a daily Auto gratuity is taken off every passengers in board account.

Most leave these in place for the crew but you can remove all of these auto gratuities by going to guest services who will take them off for you at any time.

Gratuities are added to every drink purchased which cannot be removed.

I know you like P&O but for younger more athletic passengers like yourself the larger Royal Caribbean ships have Awesome activities on board compared to P&O.

The Windjammer buffet food choices is on a different level to P&O and a good choice even for dinner.

Graham.

 

 

hi Graham. Not sure about the “sue” 😂 

I don’t want to be stuck in the buffet. I like the mdr better. It was with Royal Caribbean direct I have booked not a travel agent. 
might have to find copies of the chat. 

[gavvy]

If you booked in UK and don't want to pre-pay the only other option is to ask to switch to MTD as soon as you board.  It will be subject to availability.

[Biker19]

25 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

 I assume they should be allowed to be removed at any point. 

As mentioned above, removing on board may prove quite difficult. Also, be prepared for a wait for MTD at popular times.

[Neosophy]

We just got off Anthem a couple of weeks ago, and our 5:00 early dining time was in Silk, which is normally a MTD venue.

 

Every night we walked up and walked in past long lines of both reservation and no reservation MTD diners.  I never ever want to do MTD.

 

The Windjammer on Anthem is super nice, and we ate there one night due to getting back to ship later than our 5pm dining time.  Didnt regret it at all.

 

MTD is a failure as currently implemented.

 

The App should let you reserve your time AND tell you your table so you just walk straight to it if you have a reservation.  Then MTD might be ok.  As it is now, its a nightmare.

[Vampiress88]

21 minutes ago, Neosophy said:

We just got off Anthem a couple of weeks ago, and our 5:00 early dining time was in Silk, which is normally a MTD venue.

 

Every night we walked up and walked in past long lines of both reservation and no reservation MTD diners.  I never ever want to do MTD.

 

The Windjammer on Anthem is super nice, and we ate there one night due to getting back to ship later than our 5pm dining time.  Didnt regret it at all.

 

MTD is a failure as currently implemented.

 

The App should let you reserve your time AND tell you your table so you just walk straight to it if you have a reservation.  Then MTD might be ok.  As it is now, its a nightmare.

oh god that doesn’t sound good. I really hope it won’t be like that. 
the only time it has let me book is 7.30 which is still too late. But i need flexibility. I have something similar to ibs and also chronic pain so having a strict schedule doesn’t work for me. And im not doing the buffet every night either. 

[2wheelin]

Have used MTD several times and found it very usable. Not quite as convenient as Carnival but still……We would go to the podium about 6:00 the first night and always get in within 10 minutes. We would be asked if we wanted to eat about the same time every night and have the same table. 

 

As for bad service, the tips cover all the service people, not just waiters. It would be more productive to address any perceived poor service at the time of occurrence and forget about the few cents that person would get in tips from that interaction. Just leave the tips in place and if you feel you get poor service more than a couple of times (rare in my experience) look inward at your expectations.

[BridgeMates]

12 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

 

 

As for bad service, the tips cover all the service people, not just waiters. It would be more productive to address any perceived poor service at the time of occurrence and forget about the few cents that person would get in tips from that interaction. Just leave the tips in place and if you feel you get poor service more than a couple of times (rare in my experience) look inward at your expectations.

Good point and I agree with you!   Someone in my group asked the question so I thought I'd try to find out.  

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

hi Graham. Not sure about the “sue” 😂 

I don’t want to be stuck in the buffet. I like the mdr better. It was with Royal Caribbean direct I have booked not a travel agent. 
might have to find copies of the chat. 

Sorry about the name mistake 😔 

For years we had to Pre-Pay gratuities to go into My Time Restaurant when booking in the UK but that stopped several years ago so you were misinformed when booking.

We were on Anthem twice last year as well as Oasis and tips were automatically deducted daily from our onboard account.

The service is usually excellent though so I don't think you need worry.

You might treat yourselves to 

Wonderland restaurant or 

Chops grill while on board.

I'm sure you will love Anthem.

Pauline loved the dodgem cars.

North Star is bookable and best to do this as soon as you can.

 

 

Edited April 18 by grapau27

[Vampiress88]

2 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Sorry about the name mistake 😔 

For years we had to Pre-Pay gratuities to go into My Time Restaurant when booking in the UK but that stopped several years ago so you were misinformed when booking.

We were on Anthem twice last year and tips were automatically deducted daily from our onboard account.

The service is usually excellent though so I don't think you need worry.

You might treat yourselves to 

Wonderland restaurant or 

Chops grill while on board.

I'm sure you will love Anthem.

Pauline loved the dodgem cars.

North Star is bookable and best to do this as soon as you can.

 

 

so did you still get the my time dining even though the tips were added to the onboard account? 
 

Unfortunately the chargable restaurants don’t really appeal as much. 
 

Will have another chat with them

[Biker19]

34 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

But i need flexibility.

With that flexibility comes the chances of having to wait. You are very unlikely to get into MTD before about 7 if you go into the no reservation line, though you should still book something (even if only 7:30 is available) and then adjust on board.

[TwoMisfits]

8 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

so did you still get the my time dining even though the tips were added to the onboard account? 
 

Unfortunately the chargable restaurants don’t really appeal as much. 
 

Will have another chat with them

 

Tips are for all meals, whether you eat them in the buffet, sit down, or pay restaurants.

 

So, even if you were to have dinner in the buffet all 7 nights, someone will be serving you on the buffet line and cleaning up after you from your table for dinner (as well as for lunch and breakfast).  So, I'm not sure why you'd worry about reducing tipping.  Just consider it a "done" part of cruise fare, and then ask for the service you need on board vs sitting back and then worrying you won't get it.

[Donsyb]

2 hours ago, DennysDad said:

As long as you didn't pre pay pre cruise. If your just getting charged daily onboard and didn't pre pay in advance, you can go to guest services and have them removed/stopped for no reason at all. I would never recommend pre paying. If your not happy with the service, you have no recourse. Tipping cash directly grants you control over your experience.

 It them you would have to pay the higher amount, the $16 pppd is ONLY if paid in advance.