Pre pay gratuities norwegian cruise line?

Hi,

I'm new to cruising and have been told not to pre pay gratuities? If I don't prepay what is the usual way of tipping, would this be following each meal served or just at the end of the cruise via envelopes ect? Sorry I just don't know what is best? Also with regards to the tours my children are 15,16 and 7 would it be better to book a taxi from the port and have free time in each area? We are cruising into Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes and marseille?

Thanks so much any advice would be apprecited

Lisa Moore

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You may also want to ask your question on the NCL forum here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

More people familiar with NCL will see your question on that forum.

The DSC will be added to you onboard account then at the end of the cruise put on the credit card you provide when you check in at the start of the cruise

They will assess a Service Charge to your onboard account.

Pre-paying it simply means paying it before the trip.

Be aware that Rome and Florence are not ports; you will have to travel from the actual ports to reach either one, and a taxi will be expensive. That's not to say you need to do ship's excursions (Rome, for instance, is easily reached from the port of Civitavecchia by train) but you do need to plan ahead for the best way to tour on your own.

did the person tell you why its not a good idea to prepay your tips?

I prepay each cruise-- I put it there with final payment and not have to worry about it while onboard.

did the person tell you why its not a good idea to prepay your tips?

 

I prepay each cruise-- I put it there with final payment and not have to worry about it while onboard.

She said that it's cheaper that way and the members of staff get the gratuities direct, I'm heading more towards the idea of paying upfront then it's sorted before we go onboard.

Thanks

Lisa

Be aware that Rome and Florence are not ports; you will have to travel from the actual ports to reach either one, and a taxi will be expensive. That's not to say you need to do ship's excursions (Rome, for instance, is easily reached from the port of Civitavecchia by train) but you do need to plan ahead for the best way to tour on your own.

Thanks so much for your reply, my girls want to see (and climb) the leaning tower of pisa would you recommend an organised tour for that?

Any advice regarding the ports would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Lisa

OP, if you pre-pay, you're done. No need to tip anymore unless you have butler or concierge services, or for some spa services.

However you may tip extra in cash at time of service if someone does something "extra" for you. You define what the "extra" is.

She said that it's cheaper that way and the members of staff get the gratuities direct, I'm heading more towards the idea of paying upfront then it's sorted before we go onboard.

 

Thanks

 

Lisa

Nope. The daily charge is the same whether you prepay or let them tack it on daily. Furthermore regardless of when you pay, they are distributed to the crew the same way.

Your instinct to prepay is smart unless you have a lot of on board credit to burn through

Like the p.p. You are assessed the Daily Service Charge for each passenger for every day. If you are not in a suite that will be $13.50 x the the 4 of you x how many days you're sailing.

Now, if you want fewer charges at the end of the cruise, by all means pre-pay this amount, otherwise it will show up on your bill as a daily charge and all paid on the credit card you check in with.

I don't think that you understand that these are not something you simply don't pay. On NCL because it is "Freestyle" you won't have the same waitstaff every day, you can dine in any restaurant on board because there is no assigned seating in the venues. Therefore you will be at your wits end trying to find all the service personnel that are taking care of your needs. How do you tip the behind the scenes staff that you never see... the buffet servers... the laundry... etc.

By all means you can tip in cash to bar servers, room service and room stewards, but this is at your discretion.

I consider tips a cost of the cruise and like to pre-pay so it is taken care of before I board. Makes budgeting easy.

I consider tips a cost of the cruise and like to pre-pay so it is taken care of before I board. Makes budgeting easy.

I agree! Thanks very much

Hi,

I'm new to cruising and have been told not to pre pay gratuities? If I don't prepay what is the usual way of tipping, would this be following each meal served or just at the end of the cruise via envelopes ect? Sorry I just don't know what is best? Also with regards to the tours my children are 15,16 and 7 would it be better to book a taxi from the port and have free time in each area? We are cruising into Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes and marseille?

Thanks so much any advice would be apprecited

Lisa Moore

You do not have to pre-pay gratuities. On NCL they will be automatically charged on a daily basis to your onboard account. Therefore you do not have to worry about tipping anyone. The waiters as well as your room steward are included as well as some behind the scenes folks.

That said, we usually tip our cabin steward extra for great service, we tip a room server a dollar or two for bringing breakfast tray. None of that is required.

Incidentally we DO pre-pay the gratuities. We do it partly because it makes our final bill easier to read without those daily charges for each of us. Also it puts the charge in a different credit card billing period making our onboard charges less on that credit card statement.

For your question regarding the ports I suggest you go to the Ports Of Call forum on CC and choose Europe, then choose Italy. Lots of information there and you can ask questions there too.

Also, have you found your Roll Call in the Roll Call forum? There might be fellow passengers organizing some tours.

Can I ask if the poster is from the UK and if what she means is to not pay the automatic gratuity which is added to your account daily and just to tip who she wants to at the end of the cruise?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

If it is what I have said, when we took our first cruise earlier this year

A few people we know who are regular cruisers said to go to guests services and have the daily gratuity removed! We didn't and wouldn't even consider doing this. It helped make our decision to not remove the service charge even easier after watching the series "The Cruise" (actually being repeated on TV currently), and seeing what the other crew members you don't see have to do to make your trip amazing! Eg the person who washes your dishes, makes up your room service tray etc!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

If it is what I have said, when we took our first cruise earlier this year

A few people we know who are regular cruisers said to go to guests services and have the daily gratuity removed! We didn't and wouldn't even consider doing this. It helped make our decision to not remove the service charge even easier after watching the series "The Cruise" (actually being repeated on TV currently), and seeing what the other crew members you don't see have to do to make your trip amazing! Eg the person who washes your dishes, makes up your room service tray etc!

The service charge is certainly 'part of the fare' but many seem ignorant of that. If they eliminated it the fares would go up equally to cover the increased operating expenses. The customer, who would still be paying the same amount to be served, loses because accountability fades away. Making sure the customer is pleased because compensation is at risk would no longer be a primary factor, they would get paid the same either way.

I'm confused. :confused: When I did a mock cruise booking on NCL.com just to get some idea of the final cost, I was under the impression that gratuities are included in that final fare, as are all taxes, port charges, etc. So if they are not included, how do you prepay them?

I'm confused. :confused: When I did a mock cruise booking on NCL.com just to get some idea of the final cost, I was under the impression that gratuities are included in that final fare, as are all taxes, port charges, etc. So if they are not included, how do you prepay them?

Gratuities are not included in your fare, taxes etc. With NCL there is a charge of $13.50 per person, per day for gratuities. You can pay them before your trip or wait and pay at the end of your trip when it is charged to your onboard acct on last day.

I'm confused. :confused: When I did a mock cruise booking on NCL.com just to get some idea of the final cost, I was under the impression that gratuities are included in that final fare, as are all taxes, port charges, etc. So if they are not included, how do you prepay them?

There is a special going on starting today or tomorrow where NCL is offering gratuity paid for passenger 1&2 as a booking perk. This offer is replacing the $50 per port shorex perk.

Two advantages of pre-paying gratuities. One, its paid and done for, so your bill while on board is smaller. Some people prefer that for budgeting purposes. Two, if gratuities increase between now and the time you set sail, you're locked in at the lower price (this happened to me on Royal Caribbean in May, wasn't a HUGE savings, but for 4 of us it was about $25 or so).

If you choose not to pre-pay, they will automatically add the daily gratuities to your on-board account. You will give them a credit/debit card and they will automatically charge the card upon disembarkation. You may add or reduce the amount of gratuities at the Customer Service desk depending on how you felt service was. The gratuities cover not only your stateroom attendant but the dining staff, kitchen staff, and many other customer-service staff on board. If you wish a little extra go to a specific employee, they will usually have vouchers or envelopes where you can reward a staff member.

Your experience will not vary based on if you pre-pay or not. Enjoy your cruise!

Hi,

I'm new to cruising and have been told not to pre pay gratuities? If I don't prepay what is the usual way of tipping, would this be following each meal served or just at the end of the cruise via envelopes ect? Sorry I just don't know what is best? Also with regards to the tours my children are 15,16 and 7 would it be better to book a taxi from the port and have free time in each area? We are cruising into Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes and marseille?

Thanks so much any advice would be apprecited

Lisa Moore

Tips used to be given out in envelopes on the last night of the cruise. But they are now added to you "bill" . It like this across most cruiselines .

The typical ways to pay the tips is to prepay the tips or to have the tips charged to you as a daily service charge (DSC). I see no reason to prepay the tips. I don't prepay tips at restaurants, hotels, or taxis, why should I do it on a cruise?

You are paying the same amount either way. Thus budgeting has nothing to do with it. If you are expecting to pay $330 in tips then you could pay that three months ahead of time or just budget $110 for tips for the three months and you have still "prepaid" the tips, it is just that you still have the money until the bill arrives from the credit card company and even then you still have three weeks to pay it.

Yeah, I guess it makes sense not to prepay gratuities if you're using a credit card to book and pay for your cruise, especially if you're making monthly payments. Why pay interest on top of that?

But I'd rather get the necessities out of the way, so that anything I spend on the cruise itself is just spur of the moment stuff.

Thanks so much for your reply, my girls want to see (and climb) the leaning tower of pisa would you recommend an organised tour for that?

Any advice regarding the ports would be very much appreciated.

The best thing for you will be to go to the Italy board under the Europe Ports of Call section here; lots of information about the tower in Pisa and how to do it, among other things. I also recommend getting a good guidebook before you go.