My Time Dining - Gratuities??

[lindalo5032]

I have read on some threads that when you choose MTD, they "immediately" charge the gratuity on your credit card.

 

Is this in addition to the $10.00 per day/per person that is added to your account? If not, how do you separate the two gratuity charges?

 

If you have to cancel the cruise, is it a hassle to get the gratuity refunded?

[nycruiser80]

They include the $10pp/pd grats as part of your cruise amount paid at the time when the final payment is due.

 

This is NOT in addtion to another charge however you can always tip more while you are their if you feel the need.

 

If you pre-pay your grats. it follows the same cancel penalties as canceling the cruise. For example you placed a deposit on a cruise and included the grats (which will be paid at the time of your final payment). You cancel the cruise and if the deposit os refundable which most of the time it is you get your deposit back.

 

If you are a week before sailing normaly the whole cruise is non-refundable so the grats are too unless you purchased insurance and you cancel for a covered reason.

[alicam]

To participate in MyTime Dining you have to prepay your gratuities...so....everyone is paid from that...your cabin steward, the head waiter, the waiter, the assistant waiter...no extra $$ unless you want to stick some in the envelope with the provided note saying you prepaid your tips

[grayesun]

We were unaware of the automatic (recommended amount) tipping charge applied to our credit card when we switched to My Time on the 3rd day of our recent 8 day cruise.

After sneaking a peek at our dining table the 1st night out & seeing we were seated with 4 elderly women, we decided to consider switching to My Time. We were either unable or not interested in doing a big dinner for a couple nights after signing up for My Time, so ended up using it only on our 6th night. The dinner and service were sub-par (waiters disappeared with our unfinished bottle of champagne); we're not fussy and usually more than satisfied with RCI food. We ended up eating in the dining room only 1 night but were charged the full tip amount as if we'd used it every night. I was a bit annoyed but made no issue of it...my oversight for not checking the My Time tipping policy...so we tipped dining staff $80 for serving 2 forgettable cod dinners & a half bottle of champagne.:rolleyes:

[elsje]

We were unaware of the automatic (recommended amount) tipping charge applied to our credit card when we switched to My Time on the 3rd day of our recent 8 day cruise.

After sneaking a peek at our dining table the 1st night out & seeing we were seated with 4 elderly women, we decided to consider switching to My Time. We were either unable or not interested in doing a big dinner for a couple nights after signing up for My Time, so ended up using it only on our 6th night. The dinner and service were sub-par (waiters disappeared with our unfinished bottle of champagne); we're not fussy and usually more than satisfied with RCI food. We ended up eating in the dining room only 1 night but were charged the full tip amount as if we'd used it every night. I was a bit annoyed but made no issue of it...my oversight for not checking the My Time tipping policy...so we tipped dining staff $80 for serving 2 forgettable cod dinners & a half bottle of champagne.:rolleyes:

 

 

I am not sure the tip is solely for the waiters you had at The My Time dining. I believe that money is also shared with wait staff at other venues? I might be wrong. Sorry you did not have a good experience. I hope ours will be better. We signed up for MTD as well.

[readytolose]

We were unaware of the automatic (recommended amount) tipping charge applied to our credit card when we switched to My Time on the 3rd day of our recent 8 day cruise.

After sneaking a peek at our dining table the 1st night out & seeing we were seated with 4 elderly women, we decided to consider switching to My Time. We were either unable or not interested in doing a big dinner for a couple nights after signing up for My Time, so ended up using it only on our 6th night. The dinner and service were sub-par (waiters disappeared with our unfinished bottle of champagne); we're not fussy and usually more than satisfied with RCI food. We ended up eating in the dining room only 1 night but were charged the full tip amount as if we'd used it every night. I was a bit annoyed but made no issue of it...my oversight for not checking the My Time tipping policy...so we tipped dining staff $80 for serving 2 forgettable cod dinners & a half bottle of champagne.:rolleyes:

 

Those tips are also shared with the workers in other areas of the ship such as the buffet so actually you paid your tips correctly.

[cb at sea]

You ate SOMEWHERE every night--so those pre-paid tips covered everyone who served you.

[Albert Ross]

I have read on some threads that when you choose MTD, they "immediately" charge the gratuity on your credit card.

 

Is this in addition to the $10.00 per day/per person that is added to your account? If not, how do you separate the two gratuity charges?

 

If you have to cancel the cruise, is it a hassle to get the gratuity refunded?

If you want MTD then the grats are added to the cost of your cruise booking now. You physically pay the grats when you pay the balance of yor cruise. It is not immediate.

It is a charge of $9.75pppd.

[Mim Lloyd]

We've prepaid our tips as we've booked MTD for our Liberty cruise next winter. Do we still get envelopes on the last night? If so, who do we give the dining room ones to if we have different servers each night?

[grayesun]

We've prepaid our tips as we've booked MTD for our Liberty cruise next winter. Do we still get envelopes on the last night? If so, who do we give the dining room ones to if we have different servers each night?

 

 

Yes, you'll get the envelopes & vouchers (for suggested tip amounts) in your cabin to distribute...if you feel your service was superior, you can add more gratuity. If service was not up to par, you're stuck...personally, I don't like paying tips in advance anytime, not that I've had problems on RCI (prior to this MTD disappointment)...but to me tips are based solely on merit, not bribery or expectation of performance...do your job to the best of your abilities & you'll be tipped accordingly.

[Mim Lloyd]

We'll know our cabin steward well by the end of the week so will happily give him/her their envelope with a little extra inside, but what if we have different waiters each time we use the main dining room on MTD, especially as we'll probably be dining at different times when there? We'll also be using Chops one night, the Windjammer one night and possibly Portofinos. The likelihood is that we'll have a variety of different waiters. Does it really matter if the envelopes are given out? I mean, is it just a token thing to do, as the tips are already paid and therefore pooled? I'm not sure of the best thing to do. :confused:

[cruizinmimi]

We'll know our cabin steward well by the end of the week so will happily give him/her their envelope with a little extra inside, but what if we have different waiters each time we use the main dining room on MTD, especially as we'll probably be dining at different times when there? We'll also be using Chops one night, the Windjammer one night and possibly Portofinos. The likelihood is that we'll have a variety of different waiters. Does it really matter if the envelopes are given out? I mean, is it just a token thing to do, as the tips are already paid and therefore pooled? I'm not sure of the best thing to do. :confused:

 

I would like to know the answer to this one as well. I'm thinking about using the My Time Dining on our next cruise and I don't know who to hand the envelope to when you've eaten at the different dining rooms.

[alexw]

This sounds like an excellent idea for me, as I dont really want to mingle with people I do not know.

 

Do they have tables for 2 on the FOS?

[grayesun]

I would like to know the answer to this one as well. I'm thinking about using the My Time Dining on our next cruise and I don't know who to hand the envelope to when you've eaten at the different dining rooms.

Exactly our situation...we ate at different venues each night, sometimes only at the cafes on the promenade and used the dining room only once; not knowing who to give our dining room envelopes/vouchers to...we just dropped them off at the business services desk to be added into the pool as has been mentioned.

[Mim Lloyd]

...we just dropped them off at the business services desk to be added into the pool as has been mentioned.

 

 

That's as good an option as any to make sure that the envelopes get used correctly.

[alicam]

I would like to know the answer to this one as well. I'm thinking about using the My Time Dining on our next cruise and I don't know who to hand the envelope to when you've eaten at the different dining rooms.

 

I just left my envelope on the table the last night we ate in the MDR...since all the tips for MTD are pooled anyway, I personally don't see a need to hand it to a particular waiter, unless...you tip over and above for exceptional service....in that case...hand that envelope to the waiter who is deserving...he/she will get the extra plus benefit from the pooled grats as well....I hope this makes sense to all who read it