Help with Gratuities on NCL

[torres09]

Hi,
We are a middle aged couple going on our first cruise in July next year.
We would appreciate any info on the best way of sorting out the tips whilst on board as we have not paid in advance and freinds who have been on other cruise lines have told us to negociate with the percer when we board the ship.
Also we are planning to sort out our own excurtions to Pisa from Livorno ,Rome from Civitavecchia and Pompeii from Naples any advice would be much appreciated.

[sparks1093]

Originally Posted by torres09

Hi,
We are a middle aged couple going on our first cruise in July next year.
We would appreciate any info on the best way of sorting out the tips whilst on board as we have not paid in advance and freinds who have been on other cruise lines have told us to negociate with the percer when we board the ship.
Also we are planning to sort out our own excurtions to Pisa from Livorno ,Rome from Civitavecchia and Pompeii from Naples any advice would be much appreciated.

NCL has a daily service charge of $12 per day per person that takes the place of staff gratuities. If you have bar service you are charged an automatic 15% gratuity and I believe the gratuities are automatic for spa services. Kids crew, Butlers and Concierge are outside of the service charge pool and you should give them a separate gratuity comensurate with service given (the latter two are only if you stay in a suite). The daily service charge will go on your onboard account and will be on your final invoice.

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by torres09

We would appreciate any info on the best way of sorting out the tips whilst on board as we have not paid in advance ...

On the assumption that you've booked in the UK, the first thing to do is to read the brochure and the small print to see whether your fare already includes the service charge. Some NCL packages booked in the UK include this.

If yours does, you will typically see nothing about the daily service charge posted on your onboard account. If you aren't already sure about the position, the absence of a daily $12 per person charge can leave you in a state of uncertainty over whether you have already paid it, so it's better to make sure you know in advance what the position is.

If yours doesn't include the service charge, then you should see the $12 per person per day charge on your onboard account. You don't need to do anything more than pay this in order to make sure that all standard tips have been paid. Obviously, if anyone's really gone above and beyond, you can tip them extra. If you are paying the $12 a day, the person you've tipped extra gets to keep that tip personally. Also, as sparks1093 says, bar and spa tips are extra but automatically-added as you use the services, and some crew and staff are outside those tipping arrangements.

As for shore excursions, you're probably best going to the relevant Ports of Call forum (Italian ports are here) and looking at the information there.

[mypleasure]

Originally Posted by torres09

Hi,
We would appreciate any info on the best way of sorting out the tips whilst on board as we have not paid in advance and freinds who have been on other cruise lines have told us to negociate with the percer when we board the ship.

Best way is to pay up front if you can. NCL uses a weird exchange rate that makes this to your financial advantage currently. Otherwise allow the $12 per person per day to go onto your shipboard account and pay at the end of the cruise. This will ensure that all waiting staff in the restaurants you use and your room steward are appropriately tipped. You can of course leave extra if you wish.

Bar staff are tipped automatically by adding a 15% tip to all drink purchases.


No need to negotiate anything with the purser.

[Number34]

Originally Posted by mypleasure

Best way is to pay up front if you can. NCL uses a weird exchange rate that makes this to your financial advantage currently..

I paid up-front for my August 2010 12 day cruise, 2x12x$12=$288 cost £156 so as Mypleasure said a good exchange rate at present. On the invoice is down as onboard charges. Two main reasons for paying up-front were:

1. As it is nearly compulsory to pay it I wanted to include it in the cost
2. I don't really understand the US tipping culture and didn't want to inadvertently upset any of the staff.

On a slightly different tack I'm thinking of buying vouchers for OBC on a regular basis before the cruise as a 'hedge' against the £ falling against the $, has anyone from UK done this?

[callyuk]

I agree with Number34 and mypleasure; we've pre paid our gratuities through our travel agent, it was added on to our final balance which we've just paid.
For our Feb 2010 15 day cruise it was £70 each.
(Already paid, know what it's cost, no worries about the correct thing to do, and can always tip more if we feel so inclined.)

[mypleasure]

Originally Posted by Number34

On a slightly different tack I'm thinking of buying vouchers for OBC on a regular basis before the cruise as a 'hedge' against the £ falling against the $, has anyone from UK done this?

I bought a $200 OBC with some spare cash only last month and will probably get some more soon when I have tallied up this months income and expenditure. It will help a little with the bill when I leave the ship. I may also buy some dollars cash to help with onshore expenses. I tend to do this not as a hedge but more of a spreading the costs thing. I could just keep the money seperate but I always find something to spend it on

I am obsessed with the £ to $ exchange rate since I buy my business stock in dollars. It is good at the moment but was pure hell a year ago, the move has generally been in our favour since last Christmas. Having said that the major moves have been since August which means my cruise to Alaska in June 2009 was a lot more expensive than the one a year previously.

[hamrag]

Originally Posted by Number34

I paid up-front for my August 2010 12 day cruise, 2x12x$12=$288 cost £156 so as Mypleasure said a good exchange rate at present. On the invoice is down as onboard charges. Two main reasons for paying up-front were:

1. As it is nearly compulsory to pay it I wanted to include it in the cost
2. I don't really understand the US tipping culture and didn't want to inadvertently upset any of the staff.

On a slightly different tack I'm thinking of buying vouchers for OBC on a regular basis before the cruise as a 'hedge' against the £ falling against the $, has anyone from UK done this?

On previous threads about tipping some have cautioned against pre-paying, mainly in the case of service levels not being up to the mark! Obviously you cannot amend a payment that has already been made, but have the opportunity to adjust the on0board tips which are referred to as the daily service charge (DSC).

[RiverCityCruiser]

Originally Posted by torres09

Hi,
Also we are planning to sort out our own excurtions to Pisa from Livorno ,Rome from Civitavecchia and Pompeii from Naples any advice would be much appreciated.

We were on a 14 day NCL Jade Western Mediterranian cruise this summer. It was our first time to all ports. The Meet & Greet was very valuable for tips on port tours. Our only Italian ports were Livorno (Florence & Pisa) & Civitavechia (Rome).

In Lisbon, Spain (3 ports), Cannes and Gibralter we were advised to do our own in port bookings and we did so, without problems, and at a great deal of savings off of the on board excursion prices.

In Livorno, there were Small buses going to Florence and Pisa. They were a relatively high price but could be shared by all the passengers. They were slow filling. Hertz and Avis were renting cars, right at ship side, at a reasonable price. Armed with our portable GPS and tour books we toured both cities in the rental car and would do that again.

Civitavechia (Rome), the Meet & Greets consensus was to take the ships tour due to the relatively short time in port. Even though pricey we were very happy we did. Even if we were familiar with Rome we could not have seen or done as much on our own.

The problem with both of these ports is that you have to pay for a shuttle bus to get you out of the port, a taxi to the train station, and confusing train connections. Even the UK passengars that had been to Italy said the trains were confusing and often became less reliable later in the afternoon.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

[RiverCityCruiser]

Here is Rome train info elseware on this board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1089031

May help or discourage Rome on your own!