Another service charge question (sorry!)

So, we booked our cruise many many moons ago. When we booked, the service fees were 12.00 per person. We paid for our cruise in full, and also prepaid the service fee.

Now, the service charge has been raised to $14.95 a day per person, for suite people according to the NCL website.

The website USED to list our names, and what was paid for each person under the vacation summary page. Now it is just saying xxx.xx has been paid.

The difference from what I paid, and what is being charged now is under $100.

Final payment is due in 3 days if that matters.

Here are my questions?

(1) If i do indeed owe XX more dollars for the increased service fee, will NCL cancel my cruise if I do not pay it by the next 3 days?

(2) Should I have to pay the extra increase since when I booked and paid in full it was one price, and now it is another?

Thanks in advance!

Good question waiting to see the answer. Might make a difference whether I prepay my next 2 cruise gratuities.

If you pre-paid the service charges, you will not owe any thing additional. If you had waited until you were on-board, you would incur the new price.

Since you pre-paid you will not incur any increase in the charge (this time).

I too am booked in a suite in the fall, and we did the same thing ...

(1) If i do indeed owe XX more dollars for the increased service fee, will NCL cancel my cruise if I do not pay it by the next 3 days?

Should I have to pay the extra increase since when I booked and paid in full it was one price, and now it is another?

Bottom line, if your booking confirmation shows an outstanding balance for final payment of $XXX.XX, all you have to pay is $XXX.XX. But you should be sure you have confirmation somewhere that this also includes the pre-paid service charges.

If I am correct, the OP says they did already prepay the service charges ( and they should not be charged the difference between that and the new DSC) and also paid in full for the cruise. Now, after paying in full, it says they owe more. How can that be?

If you thought you were fully paid but now NCL is telling/showing you that you owe more, and you can't determine why, you will want to call them and ask. And yes, before your final payment date!

If I am correct, the OP says they did already prepay the service charges ( and they should not be charged the difference between that and the new DSC) and also paid in full for the cruise. Now, after paying in full, it says they owe more. How can that be?

Thank you all. I did not book through NCL. I booked through a TA that I have used many times before. My TA is telling me that NCL is showing that I do not have any balance due. But since the service change did not "have" to be pre-paid, I was uncertain since it would never show as "owing" (at least that is how I see it).

You're right, they already paid everything in full, I missed that. I don't think NCL is now telling them that they owe more. The OP is just wondering if they now owe more. (They do not.)

I re-read the OP again as well, and I think the wording or set up on the website has

changed, but unless it says under payment an amount is due, then yep, that should be fine.

OP, check on MyNCL under vacation summaries payment tab. If you prepaid everything it should say Amount Due: $0.00

With your DSC prepaid (prior to the March 1st change) BCL will not charge you the difference, so no worries there!

Edit: oops! You just posted regarding booking through a TA. Not sure how that changes access to MyNCL.

Before the change, the Vacation summary USED to list out each person, and list next to them that they were pre-paid and the amount pre-paid (84.00 per person)

=======================================

now it does this:

Payment Summary

Listed is the total amount that has been paid for prepaid service charges on your vacation.

Total Service Charges Paid: $336.00

=========================================

That is what worried me, why would it go from saying pre-paid, to now saying the above?

That is what worried me, why would it go from saying pre-paid, to now saying the above?

Anyway, in the very unlikely case that NCL is planning to charge you the extra $2.95pppd, they can't force you to pre-pay it, and there is no advantage to you in pre-paying. And if they try to charge you on board, you can simply refuse to pay.

Just to make it clear: I see no reason to believe that NCL is doing this. We would never hear the end of it around here. :eek: You have nothing more to pay.

Good question waiting to see the answer. Might make a difference whether I prepay my next 2 cruise gratuities.

I don't believe pre paying for you will save you anything at this point.

Just before NCL raised the DSC they sent out an email notifying people of the upcoming change. They gave folks, who had already booked, the option to keep the old amount by saying they you needed to pre-pay by March 1st. Folks interested contacted their TA or PCC and let them know that they wished to pre-pay the DSC. Many reported here on CC that by doing so at that time they did not necessarily have to actually have to come up with the cash at that point but rather it was noted on their accounts and that prepayment would be done upon final payment.

Seeing as it is after March 1st I do not think you will still be able to have this option as there was definitely no mention of it being grandfathered in to any bookings.

Rochelle

I don't believe pre paying for you will save you anything at this point.

 

Just before NCL raised the DSC they sent out an email notifying people of the upcoming change. They gave folks, who had already booked, the option to keep the old amount by saying they you needed to pre-pay by March 1st. Folks interested contacted their TA or PCC and let them know that they wished to pre-pay the DSC. Many reported here on CC that by doing so at that time they did not necessarily have to actually have to come up with the cash at that point but rather it was noted on their accounts and that prepayment would be done upon final payment.

 

Seeing as it is after March 1st I do not think you will still be able to have this option as there was definitely no mention of it being grandfathered in to any bookings.

 

 

Rochelle

Just FYI - I NEVER got an email from NCL about this matter. Maybe because I was already paid? That would make sense....

I don't believe pre paying for you will save you anything at this point.

 

Just before NCL raised the DSC they sent out an email notifying people of the upcoming change. They gave folks, who had already booked, the option to keep the old amount by saying they you needed to pre-pay by March 1st. Folks interested contacted their TA or PCC and let them know that they wished to pre-pay the DSC. Many reported here on CC that by doing so at that time they did not necessarily have to actually have to come up with the cash at that point but rather it was noted on their accounts and that prepayment would be done upon final payment.

 

Seeing as it is after March 1st I do not think you will still be able to have this option as there was definitely no mention of it being grandfathered in to any bookings.

 

 

Rochelle

Actually, that's not exactly what the email said. The $12.95 DSC applies to any booking 3/1/15 and later. If you booked 2/28/15 or earlier, AND pre-pay your DSC before boarding; it's still $12.00. If you wait to pay the DSC while on the ship, you'll pay $12.95 even if you booked 2/28/15 or earlier. You didn't have to pay the DSC before 3/1. I just logged into myNCL and was given the option of paying $12.00 (per person, per day) for my cruise that is in 2017 (I booked it in January 2015).

They will NOT cancel you because you didn't pay the full gratuity....and if you booked BEFORE the new rates went into effect, you shouldn't have to pay the increased amount.

Thought I'd update my original question. I just downloaded my Edocs - in my edocs was this paragraph

Things To Know

ONBOARD SERVICE CHARGES. Effective March 1, 2015 the pre-paid Service Charges increased from $12 per person per day to the following:

•Studio, Inside, Ocean view, Balcony, Mini Suite - $12.95 per person, per day

•Suites and Haven - $14.95 per person, per day

 

•All service charges paid onboard on sailings on or after March 1 will be at the new fee of $12.95 (All categories) and $14.95 (Suites and Havens)

•All prepaid service charges on bookings made on or after March 1 will be at the new fee of $12.95 (All categories) and $14.95 (Suites and Havens)

•All prepaid service charges on bookings made prior to March 1 will be protected at the $12 per person, per day

 

These charges are additional. If you have not pre-paid your service charges, the charge will be added to your onboard account for all guests 3 years and older. Please see our brochure or http://www.ncl.com for details.

I received the email for the DSC increase as well and it said I needed to pay before 3/1 to be charged at the old rate, but since I didn't want to pay this months in advance, I didn't. When I called NCL the other day to confirm my $275 OBC (one place on the website says $200, another says $100 and nowhere does it show the $75 from Costco), he told me as long as I paid online before my cruise it would still be at the $12 rate, but if I waited until I boarded the ship, it would be at the current rate. I looked and sure enough, if I prepaid that now as of today, it would be at the $12 rate.

I know this isn't helpful to the OP but thought I'd share that with anyone else curious. I wasn't planning to pay this in advance; figured I'd use my OBC towards it. But the diff for 3 people on a 7 day cruise is almost $20, so I might pay a few days before we leave. Just means I can't apply my OBC towards it, and I don't know what else to use it on. Casino? I hate to pay an extra $20 by paying on board, but I also don't want to waste money by spending on OBC on something I otherwise wouldn't buy. I haven't cruised NCL before, and all my previous cruising was done with my grandma who handled all billing, so this is my first cruise as a paying adult. Can I cash it out at the casino?

I received the email for the DSC increase as well and it said I needed to pay before 3/1 to be charged at the old rate, but since I didn't want to pay this months in advance, I didn't. When I called NCL the other day to confirm my $275 OBC (one place on the website says $200, another says $100 and nowhere does it show the $75 from Costco), he told me as long as I paid online before my cruise it would still be at the $12 rate, but if I waited until I boarded the ship, it would be at the current rate. I looked and sure enough, if I prepaid that now as of today, it would be at the $12 rate.

 

I know this isn't helpful to the OP but thought I'd share that with anyone else curious. I wasn't planning to pay this in advance; figured I'd use my OBC towards it. But the diff for 3 people on a 7 day cruise is almost $20, so I might pay a few days before we leave. Just means I can't apply my OBC towards it, and I don't know what else to use it on. Casino? I hate to pay an extra $20 by paying on board, but I also don't want to waste money by spending on OBC on something I otherwise wouldn't buy. I haven't cruised NCL before, and all my previous cruising was done with my grandma who handled all billing, so this is my first cruise as a paying adult. Can I cash it out at the casino?

It is my impression that one cannot use OBC to pay DSC - am I wrong?

It is my impression that one cannot use OBC to pay DSC - am I wrong?

It depends on the type of OBC. If it was gifted from NCL as part of a promo, then correct, it cannot be used for DSC.

If it was purchased by the guest, or gifted from a travel agent, or as a result of a refund for a cancellation of an excursion, then yes, it can be used.

Refundable OBC may be used. Non-refundable OBC may not.

I didn't realize there was difference in types of OBC. $200 of our OBC was from an NCL promo, $75 from a Costco promotion. I guess I will go ahead and prepay, sounds like I can't use it for the DSC anyway. Glad I asked, thank you!

I have a feeling no matter how much I prepare for this trip and how much I read, I will still be surprised by charges.

So, we booked our cruise many many moons ago. When we booked, the service fees were 12.00 per person. We paid for our cruise in full, and also prepaid the service fee.

 

Now, the service charge has been raised to $14.95 a day per person, for suite people according to the NCL website.

 

The website USED to list our names, and what was paid for each person under the vacation summary page. Now it is just saying xxx.xx has been paid.

 

The difference from what I paid, and what is being charged now is under $100.

 

Final payment is due in 3 days if that matters.

 

Here are my questions?

 

(1) If i do indeed owe XX more dollars for the increased service fee, will NCL cancel my cruise if I do not pay it by the next 3 days?

 

 

(2) Should I have to pay the extra increase since when I booked and paid in full it was one price, and now it is another?

 

Thanks in advance!

(1) If i do indeed owe XX more dollars for the increased service fee, will NCL cancel my cruise if I do not pay it by the next 3 days?

They might.

(2) Should I have to pay the extra increase since when I booked and paid in full it was one price, and now it is another?

You need to call. When NCL raised the DSC they gave everyone a chance to pay by a certain date to avoid the fee going up. I don't remember the details, but the grace period may have only applied to cruises within a certain time window. If that is not the case, then a call to NCL should get the matter resolved without paying the extra fees.

IF you are dealing with a TA, and not NCL directly then the TA may not know what they are doing. Have them get you on a 3 way call with NCL to resolve the situation.

The money as you say is not much, but you need to look into the issue.

Thank you all. I did not book through NCL. I booked through a TA that I have used many times before. My TA is telling me that NCL is showing that I do not have any balance due. But since the service change did not "have" to be pre-paid, I was uncertain since it would never show as "owing" (at least that is how I see it).

I posted my other reply before I got to this post. Here we have the classic TA in the middle. Since the TA says you don't owe anything, and you are paying for his services, why did you not believe him?

(1) If i do indeed owe XX more dollars for the increased service fee, will NCL cancel my cruise if I do not pay it by the next 3 days?

 

They might.

 

 

(2) Should I have to pay the extra increase since when I booked and paid in full it was one price, and now it is another?

 

You need to call. When NCL raised the DSC they gave everyone a chance to pay by a certain date to avoid the fee going up. I don't remember the details, but the grace period may have only applied to cruises within a certain time window. If that is not the case, then a call to NCL should get the matter resolved without paying the extra fees.

 

IF you are dealing with a TA, and not NCL directly then the TA may not know what they are doing. Have them get you on a 3 way call with NCL to resolve the situation.

 

The money as you say is not much, but you need to look into the issue.

Why would they cancel OP's cruise? They don't require it to be prepaid, even if it was not fully prepaid, why would they cancel the cruise? It's not even mandatory. I haven't paid mine and my cruise isn't cancelled.