Aqua Class & Gratuities

[bjs1234]

Hello

Last time we booked Aqua class we our TA made us pay the gratuities up front as they said it was anytime dining.

Is that correct?

 

It was just that some others appeared not to have paid up front

 

Thanks

 

Brian

[cruisestitch]

It is open seating. However you can make your cruise booking two ways. If you tick the box for traditional dining ( even though you won't be doing fixed dining times) the gratuities will not be prepaid. If you tick the box for Select, the gratuity will be prepaid. This is a quirk in the Celebrity booking engine.

 

That being said, some UK travel agencies do require prepaid gratuities. You don't say where you are from, but that is another possibility .

[ghstudio]

Hello

Last time we booked Aqua class we our TA made us pay the gratuities up front as they said it was anytime dining.

Is that correct?

 

It was just that some others appeared not to have paid up front

 

Thanks

 

Brian

 

Your ta was wrong.

[galavant3]

It is a little confusing. We just booked AQ and chose 6 PM dining (we will never eat at 6, nor will we eat in the MDR). We did not prepay gratuities. It appears as if your TA is not familiar with AQ.

[keesar]

Hello

Last time we booked Aqua class we our TA made us pay the gratuities up front as they said it was anytime dining.

Is that correct?

 

It was just that some others appeared not to have paid up front

 

Brian

 

If you are going to eat dinner in the MDR as part of Select Dining (often called anytime dining), you will have to pay gratuities up front. However, if you will be eating dinner in Blu, you do not have to pay up front. It can be confusing!

[dkjretired]

If you are going to eat dinner in the MDR as part of Select Dining (often called anytime dining), you will have to pay gratuities up front. However, if you will be eating dinner in Blu, you do not have to pay up front. It can be confusing!

 

It should be pointed out that whether you choose traditional dining or select dining you are always assigned to Blu, not the MDR.

[ghstudio]

If you are going to eat dinner in the MDR as part of Select Dining (often called anytime dining), you will have to pay gratuities up front. However, if you will be eating dinner in Blu, you do not have to pay up front. It can be confusing!

 

The problem is the antiquated celebrity billing system. One would think a large corporation would update their billing system in the three plus years since they started aqua class. Obviously celebrity doesn't care....

[Crazy Cruzer]

The problem is the antiquated celebrity billing system. One would think a large corporation would update their billing system in the three plus years since they started aqua class. Obviously celebrity doesn't care....

 

Please don't even suggest that. The current system might be dated and confusing but at least it works. We don't want them breaking it completely like they do so often to the web site. Leave well enough alone!

[richstowe]

I booked direct with a Celebrity rep for my Aqua class room.

I was told that Anytime Dining is assigned to Aqua and therefore gratuities are to be prepaid.

 

It doesn't really matter to me and as the Celebrity currency rate for Canadian currency is great, I certainly don't wish to change.

[dkjretired]

I booked direct with a Celebrity rep for my Aqua class room.

I was told that Anytime Dining is assigned to Aqua and therefore gratuities are to be prepaid.

 

It doesn't really matter to me and as the Celebrity currency rate for Canadian currency is great, I certainly don't wish to change.

 

As long as it doesn't matter its great but the Celebrity rep is dead wrong. Their customer service is so often wrong it is pathetic.

[keesar]

It should be pointed out that whether you choose traditional dining or select dining you are always assigned to Blu, not the MDR.

 

On recent and my upcoming trip, I am in Aqua Class. Although I am technically assigned to Blu, this is how it reads on My Celebrity:

 

Traditional Dining:

06:00 PM

08:30 PM - Unavailable.

 

Please add me to the waitlist.

Traditional Dining offers seating in the Main Dining Room for guests who wish to be seated at the same time every evening

[Wine-O]

As long as it doesn't matter its great but the Celebrity rep is dead wrong. Their customer service is so often wrong it is pathetic.

 

Maybe it should be a Celebrity condition of employment that their employees read the Celebrity section of Cruise Critic. Try calling a Celebrity rep and asking them whether a particular stateroom has the bed by the bath or bed by the balcony. You'll get deer in the headlights. :D

[dkjretired]

On recent and my upcoming trip, I am in Aqua Class. Although I am technically assigned to Blu, this is how it reads on My Celebrity:

 

Traditional Dining:

06:00 PM

08:30 PM - Unavailable.

 

Please add me to the waitlist.

Traditional Dining offers seating in the Main Dining Room for guests who wish to be seated at the same time every evening

 

That is simply a computer thing that they haven't changed. When you get to your room there will be a letter requesting you to dine the first night at your assigned time. The letter will also tell you that dining in Blu is anytime dining. You may eat the first night and every night anytime you wish. You do not have an assigned spot in the MDR. I know it sounds crazy but that is the way it is.

[varoo]

The way it was explained to us is that even though Aqua Class is come whenever you like without an assigned time, for the first night only they put passengers down for either the main or late dining time.

 

It is done that way to schedule dinners around the muster drill, which occurs between the two seatings on some cruises. So for consistency, they just do it that way for Aqua Class passengers regardless of when the muster drill actually takes place.

 

But they don't schedule dinners that way for Select passengers who also attend the same muster drill, so the explanation did not make sense to us.

 

(To us it looked more like somebody in a hurry did not want to be bothered with re-programming the section for dining choices when they introduced Aqua Class, but what do we know.)

 

Another inconsistency is that Aqua passengers are not required to prepay gratuities, while Select main dining room passengers are, even though neither category has assigned seating.

 

Maybe someone can post a logical explanation, if there is one. :confused:

 

Edited January 27, 2014 by varoo

[riclop]

Hello

Last time we booked Aqua class we our TA made us pay the gratuities up front as they said it was anytime dining.

Is that correct?

 

It was just that some others appeared not to have paid up front

 

Thanks

 

Brian

Time for a new TA.

[beachjulie]

The way it was explained to us is that even though Aqua Class is come whenever you like without an assigned time, for the first night only they put passengers down for either the main or late dining time.

 

It is done that way to schedule dinners around the muster drill, which occurs between the two seatings on some cruises. So for consistency, they just do it that way for Aqua Class passengers regardless of when the muster drill actually takes place.

 

But they don't schedule dinners that way for Select passengers who also attend the same muster drill, so the explanation did not make sense to us.

 

(To us it looked more like somebody in a hurry did not want to be bothered with re-programming the section for dining choices when they introduced Aqua Class, but what do we know.)

 

Another inconsistency is that Aqua passengers are not required to prepay gratuities, while Select main dining room passengers are, even though neither category has assigned seating.

 

Maybe someone can post a logical explanation, if there is one. :confused:

 

We are in Aqua Class for our upcoming cruise and were told we must prepay our gratuities . Our TA did contact Celebrity booking to confirm and that is the case.

[cruisestitch]

This MAY have to do with your country of origin, but more likely, as stated above, you are caught between a TA and a Celebrity rep who are both not as knowledgable as they ought to be. You can check this out by instructing the TA to change your dining choice to Fixed Traditional and the prepaid gratuities should disappear from the booking. Note that this will NOT put you in the MDR nor actually give you Fixed Seating. Aqua Class dining room is Blue and it will be Open Seating.

[galavant3]

I am booked in Aqua Class for the second time and neither time were our gratuities prepaid. Honestly, it would be fine if they were and I may pre pay them at some point for our upcoming cruise.

 

I think the key is to select a dining time and not "select" when choosing a dining preference.

 

Both times I spoke directly with Celebrity when booking.

 

It is interesting how different people receive different responses.

[nancyox]

we just returned from a cruise and were booked in aqua class. we, too, had an assigned table in the MDR on paper. when we checked in at Blu on the first night we told the maitre'd and sure enough, according to the computer we WERE assigned also to a particular table in the MDR which he promptly cancelled since we had no intention of dining there.

[dkjretired]

We are in Aqua Class for our upcoming cruise and were told we must prepay our gratuities . Our TA did contact Celebrity booking to confirm and that is the case.

 

Absolutely not the case.

[ozark74]

Hello

Last time we booked Aqua class we our TA made us pay the gratuities up front as they said it was anytime dining.

Is that correct?

 

It was just that some others appeared not to have paid up front

 

Thanks

 

Brian

 

We have been in Aqua 6 times and have never prepaid our gratuities. As Cruisestitch said tick traditional dining and you will be charged o/b.

[Blue_Flame]

It's not just some TA's and some Celebrity customer service reps who get this wrong. Even though I knew how it should go when booking (choose a traditional dining time even though in AQ/Blu to avoid pre-payment of gratuities, thanks to posts by dkjretired and others), I had a Future Cruise Consultant on the Summit last year dispute this with me and INSISTED I had to choose Select Dining and pre-pay the gratuities.

 

After getting nowhere with her, I let it go, but when I got home, I simply went into my reservation on My Celebrity and ticked the box for Traditional Dining instead and it removed the gratuities from my booking. Easy fix, but I would have thought a FCC would have known better.

[Hooking4]

We are in Aqua Class for our upcoming cruise and were told we must prepay our gratuities . Our TA did contact Celebrity booking to confirm and that is the case.

 

 

 

this is why ,

 

the difference between a Canadian and a canoe is , the canoe will tip !

[bigbenboys]

I booked direct with a Celebrity rep for my Aqua class room.

I was told that Anytime Dining is assigned to Aqua and therefore gratuities are to be prepaid.

 

It doesn't really matter to me and as the Celebrity currency rate for Canadian currency is great, I certainly don't wish to change.

 

Our last cruise we were in Aqua. We prepaid as we thought. after final payment I was a thread here that you dont have to prepay gratuities if in Aqua. So I call my TA after final payment. She call Celebrity and changed us to 1st or 2nd dining. As Blu is dine when you want having us listed as 1st dining means nothing. Our Visa was credited back our gratuities. That why we could use our OBC to pay for gratuities. Richard

[elbowroom]

I have read this thread, as we are experiencing similar problems, which have nothing to do with canoes...

In our case (Spain) even though the options "traditional" and "selected" dining are set by side on the reservations page, and even if it looks as if you could switch from one to another as a matter of course, the "selected" offer remains unchanged even if you choose the other option. I have tried several times.

Two thoughts: first, it is clear that this is in contradiction to the conditions, the small print at the back of the brochures, which specify you can pay before or on board. Surely, this is legally binding.

Second, obviously, with so many "offers", tips, drink packages etc., what national agencies or Celebrity itself do not want is for onboard "free" credit to be used to pay for gratuities, which is presumably what many customers what to do. Which is pretty gratuitous in both cases; the pun is inevitable! Sorry.

Any thoughts?