Roberta

Melski94. Thanks for your reply. I wasn’t asking about gratuities in general, but about the (apparently no longer enforced per other respondents here) requirement that anyone using anytime dining prepay gratuities, which is apparently not the case for persons at the early or late seatings. I didn’t understand, and still don’t, the logic that one set of diners was required to prepay and others not, and wondered about it.

So...I don’t see a coffee card as an option on my upcoming cruise, I see drink packages but no coffee card. Does that mean it’s not available on the Explorer or do I need to search some hidden menu?

We are scheduled for a transpacific cruise in October, our first on RC. We are very excited about the upcoming cruise, except for one thing that is clouding my anticipation as I just don’t understand. The only seating time available was 8pm, so our agent suggested we choose anytime dining. In reading “fine print” I found that that option requires prepaid gratuities. I have not experienced this on other cruise lines so this concept is new, confusing, and frankly, somewhat heavy handed and insulting. I just signed up for this forum and have seen some posts to the effect that pretipping is no longer required (is this true?) , but that I must sign on daily somehow now not dining “anytime” but by reservation, and pay gratuties at that time. I am very confused, first, in just how to do that. Further, am I tipping the dinner service waitstaff only? Am I required to tip the suggested daily amount? And why, if it’s anytime dining, do I have to make a dalily reservation? Thanks, I’m obviously a Newbie to RC...