They work very long hours all day long. This allows you to decide when you want to eat, and who you want to sit with, instead of traditional dining where you have set times and sit with the same group each day. 0000902188 00000 n Note, however, that this means you may not be able to have as flexible of a dining experience as you might be hoping for, especially if prime reservations have been secured in advance by other guests. You can eat anytime between 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm. 0000828884 00000 n If you opt out of daily gratuities your account will not be charged for them. As soon as you place the deposit for your cruise, you will gain access to the Cruise Planner. Unlike traditional dining - where a dining time is assigned to you - guests who opt for My Time Dining can eat in the Main Dining Room whenever they like during dining hours, according to availability. It is more difficult for the Main Dining Room to accommodate larger groups with My Time Dining, as there are fewer tables set for bigger parties. Below is a line-by-line look at policies for automatic gratuity charges (called service charges or crew appreciation charges at some lines). Also as others have stated, prepaid gratuities and MTD have nothing to do with each other anymore. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. That's because some cruise lines tack daily service fees onto passenger bills yet many travelers still hand out additional cash gratuities, either as a matter of course or for exemplary service. So therefore it does not show on our invoice. Here's how it works on Royal Caribbean: As of September 7 th, 2022, the automatic service gratuity of $16.00 USD per . This is why we recommend making reservations for My Time Dining, whether that be in advance via the Cruise Planner or onboard by speaking with a head waiter. Even if I opt out of automatic gratuities? Just head over to the Main Dining Room to speak with a head waiter, and they will assist you! 0000015069 00000 n I am looking at cancelling my gratuities when I get on board so I can pay these personally. You can save even more $$$ by eating in the Lido on the last evening and avoiding your cabin steward that night also ? ?xtp~?f~j)Br$7q,,"Sf%SXAii%1O=]rlsE"V3ueGWY^U?h2/?7>V1yP GoW}wA[5!>0yuoe See what a point or mile is worth with our appraisals of a loyalty programs currency, based on redemption values. HW[U5}@iy% $Q'i'xNg2f(-E2obIcUHQ?/yZ!X}qu`?x %PM-*9:^C^%4eKYT,wybq6hkG7w@N5r~ wj,_u';d'QLOC >g18&fa[2.K\TXHkAnA;C:j>, F nf9|t&ix2KXRlb@}dnMqe@Vc8pXN-:{d2{sPVuINq?1k0BaL ;>9tH4w%E3@NH"e&z j9VMF}|^~*h hXH9K That said, if you want to, you can often adjust the charges (either up or down) while youre on board by visiting the guest relations desk. There is a $9.75 gratuity per day that is required and this actually covers not only the wait staff but your room steward as well. The annual airline fee statement credit can be complicated to take advantage of compared to the broader travel credits offered by competing premium cards. Your automatic gratuities also cover your cabin steward and other behind the scenes personnel; not just dining room staff. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. 0000419307 00000 n These 9 Drinks Are Free on Royal Caribbean Cruises. There is a $9.75 gratuity per day that is required and this actually covers not only the wait staff but your room steward. Display as a link instead, Now you have a choice to prepay gratuities or not with either Traditional or MTD. Jon lives in the foothills of North Carolina and wishes there were a cruise port that far inland. Please note, you can only choose one dining style per sailing so once they join you they must use My Time Dining for the rest of the cruise. If, for instance, you plan on staying late in port one day but still wish to eat in the Main Dining Room, you could make a reservation for later in the evening, rather than miss out on the experience because you have early dining. The closer you get to your cruise vacation, the fewer reservations you may find. You may find that you are split up at different tables that are not located near each other. My Time Dining is now a choice within the booking process. Plus Ups are excluded. Feel free to leave a comment below to let the community at Cruise Fever know how you feel about My Time Dining in the comment section below. All rights reserved. To ensure quick seating, we encourage guests who have selected the Flexible option to place a reservation for each evening. Wondering if anyone can help out with this? The early seating is usually around 5:30pm, while the late seating is around 8:00pm. Theyll be able to make recommendations based on what youve previously ordered and make sure your favourite drink is waiting for you, if you want them too. The longer you wait to arrive, however, the longer you will have to wait for an available table. Im really asking the opposite - We havent prepaid gratuities, but the agent has booked us in for My Time Dining! Throughout the cruise, you may be able to change your My Time Dining reservations on the app or by calling the dining hotline from your stateroom's telephone, but it is dependent on availability. You also will not be able to switch after the second day, so you'll want to visit Guest Services and/or the Main Dining Room when you embark-- Guests can only participate in one dining style per sailing. And, unlike the typical service fee or resort fee found at a land resort, they are not per room. MY FAMILY TIME DINING MY TIME DINING DAILY RESERVATIONS Awards FOLLOW US JOIN CROWN & ANCHOR SOCIETY CALL US NOW +971 4 331 4299 I have just booked the allure this afternoon and was told by the iglu cruiserep that if I wanted my time dining then I would HAVE to pay the gratuities up front at the time of booking,but if I had first or second sitting then I didn't need to pay I was imformed that royal had made this part of their booking conditions 2 months ago.this is royal caribeans latest sneaky trick to get you to part with more money than you need to.the gratuities payment are VOLUNTARY you have the choise to pay them or request onboard the ship to take them off of your account . Our points-obsessed staff uses a plethora of credit cards on a daily basis. Search Now When you log into the Cruise Planner, all you have to do is navigate to the "Dining" tab and scroll down until you see "My Time Dining.". Like what you see? But its definitely not for everyone. 0000003836 00000 n Get $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings, which requires a minimum two-night stay, through American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card. For example, Norwegian offers a complimentary Open Bar drinks package for travelers who book its "free at sea" promotion. You can then make reservations for your restaurant, or just turn up at the restaurant between 6 pm and 9.30 pm and wait for a table to be available. 0000006714 00000 n If you are adjusting a gratuity charge downward, expect to be asked about the reasons behind the adjustment. If you have multiple people in your stateroom or travel party, you can make multiple reservations each evening to accommodate everyone's preferences. Never feel pressured to add an extra tip when you've already paid one. 0000002916 00000 n If you keep things as they are, everyone who is supposed to be tipped, WILL be tipped. 0000913926 00000 n 0000891696 00000 n If you do not prepay gratuities, they will be charged to your onboard account automatically, on a daily basis. Started June 21, 2021, By View All Cruises 0000011404 00000 n Speciality restaurants require reservations but they dont have traditional dining times. Traditional seating will mean that guests will keep the same wait staff and dining companions throughout the cruise. ( use to happen frequently). 0000896900 00000 n Pasted as rich text. 0000896807 00000 n 0000417807 00000 n 0000891999 00000 n You do have to prepay your gratuities in order to sign up to My Time Dining. For guests staying in Grand Suites and above, the fee is $18.50 per person, per day. It has its advantages, but for a lot of people, its too restrictive. The rates listed are per person, per day. The benefits of My Time Dining are that you decide who you eat with, and when. 0000005051 00000 n If you're wondering how much you should tip on the specific cruise line you're considering or have already looked, we've compiled that information here. I think you probably have had you questions answered already but I wanted to show an example. Whether you cruise multiple times per year or you're new to cruising, the goal of Royal Caribbean Blog is for it to bea useful resource for keeping up to date with what's new and exciting with Royal Caribbean. I am looking at cancelling my gratuities when I get on board. Some guests choose to recognize particularly exceptional service with an additional cash gratuity on the last night of their cruise. Related: 9 times you do not need to tip on a cruise. It's easy, convenient, and if you wish to recognize outstanding service you can always tip extra cash personally. Upload or insert images from URL. You can choose a different time each day, so you can fit dinner around the rest of your onshore and onboard plans. A world of culinary exploration awaits you onboard Royal Caribbean. Related: The best cruise booking perks and which ones are actually free. However, if you dont sign up for My Time Dining within the first two days of your cruise, then youre stuck with traditional dining times. Royal Caribbean gratuities for children and infants Credit ranges are a variation of FICO Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application. 0000909381 00000 n 0000017159 00000 n Yes. Read on to learn what My Time Dining is, the benefits that it offers, and how to book. If youre not someone who has cruised before, you might not be aware of traditional dining times on cruise ships. My Time Dining is one of the options youll get to choose from when you book your cruise. My Time Dining usually begins around 6:00pm and lasts until 9:30pm, giving you a wide range of times to choose from. Please don't disrupt the system that works that was put in place that is fair to crew and guests . Can a family in one stateroom dine at different times with My Time Dining? Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member only. Seldom travelers may not get enough value to warrant the cost. However, as mentioned, it is usually just easier and more convenient to leave the auto-gratuity/service charge/hotel charge (it is called different things on different cruise lines) in place. 0000424501 00000 n Depending on the choice of the guests on board, there may be designated restaurants for those on a traditional dining plan and those on a My Time Dining plan. If not, you might be stuck eating even later than the second seating! 0000747552 00000 n I'm travelling with guests from another stateroom who selected Traditional Dining. 0000019459 00000 n Find the right card for you. Early dining is around 6 pm, while late dining is closer to 8:30 pm. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. but only parties of 20 or less can be seated at one time. I am not trying to get out of tipping, I would like to be convinced that the automatic charge actually gets passed on to the crew?? Royal Caribbean Dining. Here is why some people dislike the more informal dining option. It is possible to snag dining times around 7:00pm every night, but this is a highly desirable dinner time. Another method is to just simply show up at the Main Dining Room each night when you are ready to eat. There are even more places your Platinum Card can get you complimentary entry and exclusive perks. The included tip amount varies by cruise line, but is typically 15% to 20% of the bill. A fun part of cruising can be meeting the same people for lunch or diner every day and discussing things about the ship or about the excursions they went on. Don't know why you want to do this (are you planning to carry cash every time you go to the WJ?) 0000422496 00000 n (Sponsored). 0000423354 00000 n Learn more. Privacy Policy | If you are unable to book show times in advance via the Cruise Planner when you are making your My Time Dining reservations, you may end up booking a dinner time that clashes with one of the shows. If we paid the gratuities up front when onboard would we still have able to do MTD? Search Multiple Sites at Once You dont really get to know the people you are eating with that well. If you cancel prepaid gratuities, you can visit Guest Services once you are onboard and request they discontinue automatic gratuties. If you dont like tipping in advance to your service, and you would rather leave generous tips individually, there is nothing stopping you from going the extra mile to tip your waiter or waitress each night you use the My Time Dining option. However, you can still make reservations, based on availability, once onboard. You can then book dinner in the Main Dining Room for any time you want, or just walk in without a reservation. Check out Intelligent Cruiser here for a better cruise vacation. The wait. Maximum of 10 guests per reservation. Im sorry you never received a tip in your years of "slogging your guts out." 0000426236 00000 n 0000736746 00000 n Your browser is outdated and does not support many of the modern features of this website, Love Cruise Fever?Sign Up to Our FREE Newsletter! Sorry- Im not expressing myself too well! Also (and I'm probably being the grammar police on this one) do you really mean "you HAVE to pay the gratuities up front at the time of booking" or do you mean they have to be added to your bill at time of booking? 0000418920 00000 n Started August 27, 2021, By Perhaps as more and more cheapos remove their grats the cruise lines will finally just increase fares so everyone pays the same in tips. Additionally, if you are traveling with a large party, you might find Traditional Dining to be easier. has written about cruising for more than 25 years and for many years oversaw USA Todays award-winning cruise site. To ensure quick seating, we encourage guests who have selected the Flexible option to place a reservation for each evening. 0000418076 00000 n Posted June 24, 2017. To this day it still references dynamic dining in the cruise planner even though that is long gone. 0000425403 00000 n | Finally, the evening shows are often scheduled around Traditional Dining times with early and late showings. 0000737875 00000 n Pardon? You will have to make each reservation individually and add them to your cart one-by-one. TPG values it at $1,600. Heres my confusion: I understand prepaid gratuities is required for My Time Dining. Seating can also be reserved while onboard. 0000014874 00000 n Outside of the current welcome bonus, youre only earning higher rewards on specific airfare and hotel purchases, so its not a great card for other spending categories. Automatic Gratuities were added to lessen the event of "skipping out" on tips and to make sure MTD waiters were tipped. I take any thread older than a year (sometimes less) with a grain of salt. 0000422815 00000 n This website uses cookies in order to offer you the most relevant information. Your browser is outdated and does not support many of the modern features of this website, Sunshine State. In this case, no gratuities will be charged to your onboard account. Improve earnings, maximize rewards and track progress toward dream trips. 0000891587 00000 n The Dining experience was Excellent as were the Waiting Staff, the only gripe, there had to be one, was the cost of the Wine.