OBC and Gratuities Suspicion

[stratixman]

So, our last couple of cruises (both booked as much as 9-12 months in advance) Celebrity was including perks, drinks packages and OBC etc.. The OBC amounts would have been sufficient to cover gratuities but in both cases we were forced to use select dining so the gratuities had to be prepaid, thus eliminating the opportunity to apply the OBC for them. When I say we were required I mean exactly that as in both cases when the reservations were made we were told that both early and late seating dining times were already fully booked and only select was available. I find that hard to believe (early and late seat all booked a year in advance??? Really?) and am thinking that this is more a neat ploy by Celebrity to force their OBC to be spent on something else. Why would they do that? Here's my thinking and someone correct me if they think I'm off base.

 

It seems to me that if you could apply OBC to gratuities then the amount of OBC actually applied to gratuities leaves Celebrity's pocket (i.e. goes to pay the staff), whereas anything spent in OBC on other stuff (like liquor, trinkets, shore excursions, etc) only leaves their pocket to the amount that the stuff cost them to provide (i.e. wholesale cost if you will). So in the end they come out ahead substantially better by not permitting the OBC to be used on gratuities in these cases. Over many cruises and thousands of passenger bookings the amount they save would be quite significant. Am I wrong to be so suspicious?

[cb at sea]

Get on the Waitlist for traditional., thus preserving your obc...and change onboard to anytime, if you want...then you can use the OBC for tips!

[WpgCruise]

There's lots of speculation as to why Celebrity has Select Dining pay Grats with final payment, and truth to be told, as far as I know it's all speculation.

Celebrity as far as I know has never provided a reason for the policy.

 

Now I do agree that if one uses the OBC to buy drinks, stuff from the shops, speciality dinners et al, there is an actual savings to Celebrity, as their cost is far below the actual OBC $$ amount.

 

If that's really irritating a solution might be to go to the Casino and draw out the OBC as cash. They'll charge a fee to do this, (I think it's 5%) but you'll get the bulk of the OBC in cash.

[digital_curator]

We were able to book late dining on our next cruise. We did so specifically to be able to use OBC towards gratuities. We booked less than 6 months in advance, so it sounds like yours is just a coincidence. How fully booked are your cruises?

 

Perhaps X is reserving seats in all seatings to allot onboard? Or perhaps suite guests are choosing the set options?

 

We actually prefer Select and we might try to switch when we get on the ship but we like late too. I know on some itineraries, certain choices are more popular....

[neverbeenhere]

stratixman: I believe your suspicions are correct. But... That's business.

[wallie5446]

And I think you are over thinking.

[POA1]

Can you make a phone call to see how far down the wait list you would be? We were wait listed for late fixed dining on Holland America and the phone rep looked to see how far "deep" we were. There were 10 sets of guests in front of us, so the phone rep said that we'd have an excellent chance at getting our preferred time. Sure enough, when final payment time came, we made it to late fixed. I would imagine that Celebrity can do something similar.

[elbowroom]

We had the same problem last year.

 

Tips were built in to the booking system; we were in Aqua Class.

After much huffing and puffing, gratuities (funny old word that!) were removed and we paid service with OBC.

Two things, though: this was achieved by a very persuasive TA; we live in Europe, so maybe elsewhere, it wouldn't be allowed.

 

I got the impression that if you really pushed and pushed, you would succeed, but then we often thought, is it worth all the hassle?

[ghstudio]

I believe there are only two possible reasons for early/late showing as full on most future cruises (2016/2017)

 

1) Celebrity is considering moving to all select/dine anytime dining

 

2) An OBC spent on gratuities is 100% out of celebrity's pocket (assuming all gratuities actually go to the staff)...and an OBC spent on board for an excursion/specialty dining/etc only costs celebrity 25-50% of the amount given. Financially, they would rather you spend the OBC on something...anything but gratuities. So force most folks to pay for the gratuities in advance so they can't use the OBC for them.

 

My guess is with the OP....number 2....but I'm often wrong.

[dkjretired]

We had the same problem last year.

 

Tips were built in to the booking system; we were in Aqua Class.

After much huffing and puffing, gratuities (funny old word that!) were removed and we paid service with OBC.

Two things, though: this was achieved by a very persuasive TA; we live in Europe, so maybe elsewhere, it wouldn't be allowed.

 

I got the impression that if you really pushed and pushed, you would succeed, but then we often thought, is it worth all the hassle?

 

Aqua Class is a different situation since it is totally Select dining but there is a major problem with Celebrity's web site. No one should pre pay gratuities in Aqua Class, it is a matter of knowing that Celebrity's web site stinks. This has been a problem since AQ was introduced on Solstice.

Edited October 14, 2015 by dkjretired

[themutis]

Once on board, you could try canceling your gratuities (as they really are optional) and then recharging them using OBC.

 

I'm not sure if this would work of not, but worth a try.

[DYKWIA]

When we booked for our Med cruise about 3 months before sail date on the Eclipse, we got a real good price but no OBC or Drinks Package etc - Only Fixed Time dining was available, select was not available

[Wine-O]

Once on board, you could try canceling your gratuities (as they really are optional) and then recharging them using OBC.

 

I'm not sure if this would work of not, but worth a try.

 

Not possible since your gratuities have already been paid in full at final payment with your cruise fare -- 75 days prior to the cruise.

[M&Dcruisers]

I also believe Celebrity is doing something fishy with the dining times. Two months ago, I booked a cruise for March 2017 and was told only Select dining was available. I find it hard to believe.

[Tangocherie]

I booked three new cruises two days ago. One in April 2016, one in Januay 2017 and one in April 2017. Only select dining was available for these three cruises. I think the OP might be on to something.

[MAHA]

When booking this far in advance on Royal (Celebrity's sister line), we have had similar problems that far out, but did not have to pay gratuities until final payment. I just called my TA a couple of times before final payment to see if we could get on Traditional Dining. We have always been able to get our preferred dining time closer to final payment date. I would keep checking as it gets closer. I don't know if they are trying to encourage cruisers to go to Select Dining (or MTD on Royal) versus Traditional Dining Times.

 

Mary Anne

[SantaFeFan]

There's lots of speculation as to why Celebrity has Select Dining pay Grats with final payment, and truth to be told, as far as I know it's all speculation.

Celebrity as far as I know has never provided a reason for the policy.

 

And they don't have to . They paid for the boat - they can make their rules.

Edited October 14, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[Wine-O]

My brother booked a Panama Canal cruise for 2017, and only Select dining was available. He has a lot of OBC, so wanted to use it to pay for the gratuities. He called the Captain's Club, and they got him switched to Traditional (late) Dining.

[Princesshhi]

The reason is that when you have a different waiter each night some people DO NOT TIP. It's as simple as that.

[ghstudio]

The reason is that when you have a different waiter each night some people DO NOT TIP. It's as simple as that.

 

That's not justification for collecting it 75 days early....they could just add it to your OB account like any other gratuity...and not allow those in select dining to cancel their gratuities.

 

It's quite possible that Celebrity is looking at Viking and how they financed their new ships....they make you pay in full when you book. If celebrity makes everyone pay gratuties in advance, they have a pocketful of money to help finance their new ships.

 

Let's go through the math....

 

Celebrity has roughly 23000 people on board on any given day. In total, they pay roughly $300.000 in gratuities for each day on board. The average cruise is about 8 days (avg of 4-16 day cruises), so the gratuity bucket at any time is $2.4 million. I know this assumes all the cruises leave the same day...and they don't...they roll...but it's an approximation.

 

If everyone books select, that's $2.4 million a day they are sort of holding in escrow but without restrictions so they can spend it in between the time it's paid and when they pay the gratuities to the staff. Note: the math is probably lousy, but I was trying to get some sort of "how much is this worth to Celebrity" ballpark.

 

That's not much in the scheme of things given Celebrity's size.....which is why I suggested option 1....maybe they really are thinking of switching to all select dining. On the other hand, I guess you have to watch every penny for the stockholders (eg. me) so maybe $2.4M working funds each day is a big deal...or got some staff person a big bonus. So I think that using the gratuity float for financing the new ships is a weak suggestion on my part.

 

In any case...not much any of us can do about it.....if you are in aqua...complain and you'll probably prevail because you never should have to pay gratuities in advance......if you really want early/late seating, then keep bugging them until they react.

Edited October 14, 2015 by ghstudio

[BecciBoo]

From our 123Go promo booking invoice which included $250 obc on current cruise, $300 on the Alaska cruise we booked while on board Reflection, plus paid grats and the classic beverage pkg for each of us, this paragraph:

 

Celebrity Select Dining has been chosen on this reservation. This allows more flexibility for your dinner experience. Every evening, you can choose what time you would like to dine in the main dining room during dinner hours, based on availability. Reservations can be made online up to 4 days prior to your cruise, or once onboard the ship. Please be advised that you must prepay your gratuities. Please verify that your gratuities are on this invoice and paid when Final Payment is due. For more information, or to make your pre-cruise dining reservations, please contact your travel agent or go to http://www.celebritycruises.com (The Celebrity Select option is not available on Celebrity Xpedition).

 

Then under the booking charges it shows they charged us for gratuities and then shows the credits for the gratuity charges for us both.

Edited October 14, 2015 by BecciBoo

[shipgeeks]

Our experience has been that many passengers book traditional dining in order to avoid pre-paying gratuities, but have no intention of being there, choosing to go to Select instead. People brag about doing this, on roll calls, on a regular basis. It would explain why traditional bookings are filled up far in advance, and it would explain why there are always so many empty seats in traditional dining during the cruise.

[neverbeenhere]

But... you can't just "choose to go to Select".

[MartinsCruise]

We have two upcoming cruises booked, both with gratuities included. The first is aqua class booked through a TA which shows gratuities as $0. The second is booked as Select dining (at our request) through Celebrity. The gratuities are showing up to be paid by us on our confirmation. When it's time for final payment, I hope to have them removed. Has anyone else had this situation?

[BecciBoo]

But... you can't just "choose to go to Select".

 

We did.....if there are accomodations, they will put you there.

 

:confused:

Edited October 14, 2015 by BecciBoo