nate55555

On 12/7/2019 at 6:47 AM, sanger727 said:

gratuities have always been added to your bill to cover the room steward, waiters, and some other behind the scenes staff. They have never included bartenders in that. So yes, you’ll still be charged the daily gratuity to your account. Without the drink package you would have had a mandatory gratuity added on top of each drink for the bar tending staff. With the drink package you won’t have any gratuities for the bar tending staff added.

This is the best answer I've gotten, although I hope it is not true.  Not that I love math, but this is what I am seeing:  $140 gratuities with my alcohol package for a 7-day cruise.  That's $20 a day ... if that's my 20% tip, I am buying $100 of alcohol per day? Honestly, I didn't have a problem with this, but now, if what you are saying is true, they are going to almost double it.  I don't consume $175 of alcohol and food/services a day (total $35/day tip).  Let's throw in a tip for the ladies in the engine room ... I like the way they do their work (what, you don't like engines working???  You can't afford another $10/day??).  And listen, I don't care what you call the charges, I am a bottom-line guy.  Seriously, I would have more respect for it, if you called it an F**k U fee.  I really hate hearing people equivocating what service is worth what.  Making it this hard to get a straight answer just makes me want to get the service charges refunded on principle.  Being opaque about pricing makes it nearly impossible (for a newbie) to balance the best value by cruise line.  It's not cool.  You can afford a $100 12oz coke, but is it worth it??  The point is that you already paid money for the cruise, right?  This nickel-diming is just tom-foolery.

Since gratuities are prepaid with the drink package, are service charges still added at the end of your vacation?

Many have posted that 'service charges' and 'gratuities' mean the same thing on NCL, but have not addressed if paying the pre-cruise gratuities cancels out post-cruise service charges.