Is Dynamic Dining the end of using OBC for gratuities?

[Cruising.Lovers]

Question, what are MTDs?

 

 

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[RoamingRetirees]

Question, what are MTDs?

 

 

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MTD is My Time Dining,

[Cruising.Lovers]

MTD is My Time Dining,

 

 

Thank you, I'm not too smart when it comes to RCI my dining times, I guess the freestyle dining option is a better option for me

[RoamingRetirees]

Thank you, I'm not too smart when it comes to RCI my dining times, I guess the freestyle dining option is a better option for me

 

MTD is RCI's version of freestyle dining.

[Cruising.Lovers]

MTD is RCI's version of freestyle dining.

 

 

I thought my TA said that DD was like freestyle dining, now I'm really confused, all I know is that I have 475.00 OBC and I was hoping to use it on Gratuities

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

I thought my TA said that DD was like freestyle dining, now I'm really confused, all I know is that I have 475.00 OBC and I was hoping to use it on Gratuities

 

 

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It will be once it goes operational

 

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[Clarea]

I thought my TA said that DD was like freestyle dining, now I'm really confused, all I know is that I have 475.00 OBC and I was hoping to use it on Gratuities .

DD is very similar to freestyle. You can choose from 3 or 4 "free" restaurants and either make reservations or show up when you want.

[Cruising.Lovers]

I guess I'll use my OBC for some speciality dining once they allow booking for the Quantum online

[RoamingRetirees]

I thought my TA said that DD was like freestyle dining, now I'm really confused, all I know is that I have 475.00 OBC and I was hoping to use it on Gratuities

 

 

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MTD is "freestyle" in the main dining room on other RCI ships. There is no main dining room on Quantum and no traditional, set dining times. It is replaced by 5 smaller complimentary restaurants (one for suite guests only). So, your TA is correct. Does that make sense?

Edited October 12, 2014 by RoamingRetirees

[LMaxwell]

I guess I'll use my OBC for some speciality dining once they allow booking for the Quantum online

You would have to book specialty on board to use obc. Any specialty booked ahead of sailing is charged at time of booking.

[Oville]

You would have to book specialty on board to use obc. Any specialty booked ahead of sailing is charged at time of booking.

 

But if you are a couple you could make reservations for one and use the OBC to pay for your partner.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Oville

[SherriZ366]

I've not yet seen any policy from Royal with regard to gratuities and DD. All we have to go on is people's experiences posted here.

I think RCI's policy on using OBC for gratuities under DD is murky like many things associated with DD. I expect the murkiness to clear up as RCI gets experience with DD with the early QU sailings.

[styxfire]

RCCL has successfully strategized how to force you to spend onboard. They've become a merchandising company.

[Cruising.Lovers]

RCCL has successfully strategized how to force you to spend onboard. They've become a merchandising company.

 

 

I can't agree with you more, one more reason to cancel my upcoming Quantum cruise and RCI could care less because my balcony cabin will sell in less then 5 minutes, what a shame, NCL, I love you guys!

[styxfire]

I see your point, but the problem here wasn't pre-payment . . . it was NOT being able to get the dinner seating you wanted.

 

However, you're not sunk: I don't know the source of the $75, but you should be able to go to Guest Relations onboard and ask for the $300 in cash. You can then use that money for your island stops or even gas money to get back home after the cruise.

 

So it all works out fine in the long run.

Aww crap, I wish I'd seen your response 2 weeks ago! We ended up going on an excursion we didn't really want, and buying a bunch of photos we didn't want, and a bunch of junk jewelry and a severely overpriced cotton dress, in an attempt to spend all the OBC. I essentially wasted $375 and it made me sick to do it.

 

Can you clarify your $300 and $75 breakdown? ie. Is there a rule that they'll refund up to $300 of OBC? I had believed it HAD to be spent! It was $100 for Royal for the 1st cabin, $100 from Royal for the 2nd cabin, and $175 from the travel company.

[LMaxwell]

Aww crap, I wish I'd seen your response 2 weeks ago! We ended up going on an excursion we didn't really want, and buying a bunch of photos we didn't want, and a bunch of junk jewelry and a severely overpriced cotton dress, in an attempt to spend all the OBC. I essentially wasted $375 and it made me sick to do it.

 

Can you clarify your $300 and $75 breakdown? ie. Is there a rule that they'll refund up to $300 of OBC? I had believed it HAD to be spent! It was $100 for Royal for the 1st cabin, $100 from Royal for the 2nd cabin, and $175 from the travel company.

 

OBC comes in two basic varieties: Refundable and Non-Refundable. Guest Services on the ship can tell you how much is in each category. Guest Services will refund you any of the REFUNDABLE OBC without any penalty or surcharge.

 

For NON-REFUNDABLE OBC you simply go to the casino and ask for a cash advance against your Seapass; they charge 5% for this.

 

In your scenario of having $375 OBC you could have cashed it out for anywhere from $357 cash (casino) to $375 cash (guest services) depending on the type; or some amount in between.

[SF]

HInteresting thread....

 

We have two cruises coming up, one on Allure with the traditional dining still available and one on Oasis with the new DD. We have always used our OBC to pay gratuities and had them added daily to our shipboard account. If Royal doesn't continue this with their new dynamic dining I am cancelling Oasis and switching to another cruise line. We are not going to prepay our gratutities and then like other posters above said be forced to use our OBC for things that we don't really need or want.

 

Guess we'll all have to wait and see if they get some consistency since it seems to be some passengers have to prepay and others don't.

Edited October 24, 2014 by SF

[Paulette3028]

I'm not sure it has either, but numerous posts have relayed that when people were switched from their seating preference to DD (when DD was unveiled) that Royal was handling it like My Time Dining.

 

I've never had the opportunity to use OBC for gratuities; and whatever Royal decides to do I hope they just apply it to all guests in an equitable fashion.

 

I believe your point is correct....I also hope that if the line goes forward with pre-payment of tips it does it 'across the board' and not have some situations where it is not applied.

 

Do I like pre-paid tips -- no. But if everyone on board regardless of cabin type or dinner choice option had to prepay tips, it at least would be fair. I would not like to have to pre-pay my tips, at the onset of my booking. It should be required at 'final payment' and not before.

 

On almost all of our cruises we have had some amount of OBC, and OBC's just get credited against your bill, so in effect we used our OBC to offset our tips.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Paulette3028

[John&LaLa]

I believe your point is correct....I also hope that if the line goes forward with pre-payment of tips it does it 'across the board' and not have some situations where it is not applied.

 

Do I like pre-paid tips -- no. But if everyone on board regardless of cabin type or dinner choice option had to prepay tips, it at least would be fair. I would not like to have to pre-pay my tips, at the onset of my booking. It should be required at 'final payment' and not before.

 

On almost all of our cruises we have had some amount of OBC, and OBC's just get credited against your bill, so in effect we used our OBC to offset our tips.

 

Technically the tips are paid at final payment. Only the deposit is paid at booking. The tips are on the bill at time of booking, but you don't pay them yet

 

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[styxfire]

LMaxwell, thank you so much for the response. Excellent info to keep in mind for the future. (But right now it is making me sick.)

 

Regarding the Dynamic Dining, I haven't heard anything about it that sounds appealing. However, I do notice that Mexican is rarely/never on the MDR menu, so if one of the 4 comp restaurants offers Mexican fare, that would be a welcome change...

[shay869]

As per an e-mail i have from RCCL the pre-paid gratuities will not be forced at the D/D.

You can use your OBC for the gratuites payment. At the end of the cruise.

My TA already confirm that they will remove my pre-paid gratuities from our account.

[dorisis]

We were not required to pre-pay gratuities for our December cruise.

 

We just booked for a November cruise and we DID have to pay gratuities. We were assigned to 5:30 dining. We will have a $100 stockholder's OBC. I had hoped we could use it for gratuities. But RC will get it one way or another.

 

Gratuites are no longer gratuities. They have become a service charge and should really be in the quoted price of the cruise.

[04cruises]

I like to look at requiring pre-pay of gratuities is the same as upping the price of the cruise and making it a "no tips" cruise. I add in the price of the tips when comparing cruises so I would really prefer it if the cruise lines would simply pay their staffs a decent wage and then charge me accordingly. Comparing all of the assorted fees and such is really getting to be irratating!

 

I cruise 90% for the itinerary, 10% for the cruise experience. All I want/need is a clean and comfortable room, a breakfast buffet, and a nice dinner.

 

I've gotten so sick of the high on-board prices and other games the lines play that I have discovered that without even trying, I have had zero on-board charges (for a family of 3) my last four cruises. I had arranged with my TA for "compensation" other than an OBC so I did not have to worry about refunds or the like

 

We save beer purchases for on-shore where the selection is better and prices are too. We typically eat lunch at a local spot and do our wine drinking there. After being held "hostage" one too many times at some schlocky tourist shop, we stopped doing ships excursions -- it is on-our-own or private tours only. I don't need to gamble on-board. I can walk to a casino from my home and never bother going there.

 

I know the cruise lines "hate" me for not beefing up their profits -- but when they keep pushing and pushing and pushing with all of these extra (overpriced) expenses, they hit my breaking point.

 

Agree with you 100%.We have reached the same point.

[styxfire]

What's aggregious is when they force you to pay tips in advance, when you would've preferred to pay them at the end, and then they come begging at the end of the cruise with envelopes they want everyone to put even MORE tips in!

[Paulette3028]

What's aggregious is when they force you to pay tips in advance, when you would've preferred to pay them at the end, and then they come begging at the end of the cruise with envelopes they want everyone to put even MORE tips in!

 

So far I have not been forced to pay gratuities in advance. I don't like the concept of having to even have them added to my cruise booking and then pre-paid when my final payment is due. Will I have to do it that way, if it goes fleet wide, sure.....unless some of the friends I know within Royal (who work for Royal) can let me know a way around that.

 

I don't mind gratuities added on a daily basis to my SeaPass, once I am on board....and then if I feel it is well deserved, I add to that amount with cash on the last day of the cruise.

 

For now.....I will let DD work itself out...my next cruise on Indy, still has traditional dining options, and even for that I had to use my inside resources to be confirmed for early seating, because when we booked I was told I had to take MTD (which I did not want) or be wait listed for early dining....then a few days later, I got it magically changed and confirmed for early seating. I just reached out to a friend over at Royal.

 

It should not have required that....but I will play the game, if need be.