loman

I showed up at 6 pm and they seated the two of us right away but on a different floor .

No lines at that time. We had 645 time and wanted a two top. 

They have no shows for early fixed dining.

This was on Harmony . We got different floors and different waiters every time.

Fort Lauderdale also.

Direct 3 hr  flights from Toronto .

Riverside Hotel on Las Olas is nice .

We never  had any dishes in the cabin as all food is consumed elsewhere .

Garbage can is rarely full . Only thing in there is a few sheets of paper and a couple of water bottles.

If we have wet towels we hang them on the hooks on the door to dry until we get cabin service.

Then we put them on the floor. 

We seemed to be fine with once a day .

Twice a day was overkill for us. 

Harmony Main dining room food was fine . Only thing i wasnt too fond of was mexican night .

Windjammer was ok too. 

We had 645 MTD on deck 3  on Harmony in September . 

We would show up around 6 pm each night and the doorman would check with other floors for no shows from early fixed seating. We needed a two top.

We were the only people there and no lines.

We were seated right away , but on a different floor and table each evening with different waiters .

Worked out really well for us. All the waiters were great and service was fine. Food wasnt bad either.

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

It really becomes significant once you get to Pinnacle - between just the free internet and the 6 drinks/day, it works out to between $1,250 and $1,750 for a 7 night cruise - depending on what you are drinking🍺🍹🍷

Yes that is very significant !

Im happy just getting to diamond .🙂

Congratulations on reaching Pinnacle and hope you enjoy all RC has to offer.

When looking at other lines you should factor in that your diamond benefits are more than

$ 400.00 USD per person per week ( adding in a few specialty coffees in the Crown Lounge ).

Although RC seems to be gouging , There still may be some value left. 

If you feel they arent beneficial then i would look at other lines for sure.

I dont think i could not prepay my tips , as i value the service the employees provide.

But i do think RC is pushing the limits now. 

Maybe they have too many diamonds now and want to pee them off so they will switch providers and allow more room for new pax.🙂

Greed and arrogance to the highest degree .

Thats what i think of them , and i like them .

Arrogance in my opinion . 

Didnt they increase gratuities last year ?

They think they can get away with anything now. 

When people start talking with their feet they will get what they deserve.

I only went in the morning for a cappuccino and mid afternoon for a double  expresso.

We did go once to see the spread at 5 pm , but that was about it. ( i wouldnt miss that )

RC is not in the discounting business much these days .

We got late afternoon ( around 4 -5 pm ) service on harmony , and it was ok.

We never had a messy room and the covers were pulled up on the bed so it didnt look messy.

And we never left anything out , lying around .

Made the room stewards job as easy as possible.

Na , think im gonna wait about 5 years until the novelty has worn off.🙂

We had 6:45 MTD  , deck 3 , on the Harmony last month .

We showed up around 6 pm , no lines , and the door man checked with other floors if there was any no shows from early first seating . We needed a two top.

We were seated right away on different floors every night . 

Different waiters each time and they were all great.

I didnt care for the Mexican night meal . Every thing else was good enough for me.

I wouldnt do a guarantee either . You might end under the pool deck and they drag chairs around up there early morning.  ( So  i have heard from other pax as i would never end up there.)

A more peaceful cabin would be one where you have cabins above and below you.

And i would pick Wonder too.

2 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

To stop your rude questions! Save your $1, you obviously need it more than a lowely waiter. 

I tip them extra , as i stated and prepay my gratuities when i book the cruise. 

I am not rude , just stating what others have said. 

If you think the server doesnt get compensated , thats ok . 

38 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

18% of zero is still zero. 

I guess you missed post # 59 .

I have a technical background and understand math quite well . 

Why would some  ( honest ) servers say they get compensated from the service charge 

and other servers say they dont. I would tend to believe the honest ones. 

2 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Looking at a receipt right now. The bottom of the receipt has the 18% verbiage, but the top of the receipt shows a gratuity of $0. Like others have stated, 18% of zero is zero. 

I found this online  . ( i dont know how old it is )  It states at the bottom, a service charge is added to the bill . It doesnt state any amount but i take this to mean that the tip is taken from 14.00 allowance and awarded to the server ? ( I hope it is )

And any additional tip is a bonus for good service.

This was my understanding of the server always getting a tip whether you tip the extra or not .

I always tipped extra in cash regardless. 

Does the receipt still have this verbiage at the bottom?

17 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Not true. I am on Independence right now and there is no tip shown on the receipts for drinks I have ordered as a Diamond Plus. It was the same on Mariner, Freedom and Grandeur, which I have sailed on the last three months. I always tip at least $1 when getting D+ drinks and when getting free drinks in the casino based on being Prime (and getting close to Signature). 

Doesnt the bill say something to the effect of ....  a service charge is added  ... somewhere on the bottom of the receipt ?

I like to pick my cabin and wont even do royal ups for fear of getting a suite in a place i dont like.

8 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Not when you use a voucher.  

 

We tip a buck for each drink...each time.  And I tip for the 1-3 bottles of water I get in the SL as well.   

 

I always to the bank before a cruise to get packs of dollar bills.  Much easier than "begging" for them at CS or the casino.  

 

 

 

 

Perhaps i was hallucinating ,  lol  , but i thought i saw a gratuity line whenever i got one of my free drinks and there was a space to add extra gratuity . ( I tipped in cash .)

Sometimes i saw the bill , and other times the waiter didnt bring one. 

I dont drink much and never use the full allotment for alcohol in a day and got water bottles with the extra vouchers at the end of the day.

55 minutes ago, doghog said:

Any OBC and were those 18% charges deducted from it  or did your end of cruise invoice show those charges what you owe? 0 x 18% = 0

The tip was shown on the invoice at 18 % . I was not charged anything for the drink . 

The tip was included with the drink and the drink was totally free. 

My invoice at cruise end did not show any extra charges .

I did not have any OBC. 

2 minutes ago, mets123 said:

You are never charged 18% tips for your free CAS drinks. If you are, go to Guest Services. It shouldn't happen. I became diamond over 20 years ago and never had tips added to my account for the free drinks.

If memory serves me correctly , i am pretty sure i saw 18 % on the printed invoice

The drink was still free though .

4 minutes ago, doghog said:

Not on the CAS drinks for D, D+ and Ps. 

There was a 18 % tip included on my 4 free drinks . I gave a couple of bucks more to the waiter.