Trying to Charge for Everything?

[csopi]

I think the wandering two meant that the perk "cost" at $14.22 per day equates to less than two drinks. In other words the Open Bar (UBP) perk is cost beneficial to some, including the drinker in your example.

 

 

If you are planning on having more than 4 drinks per day (at maximum price of $15) then the UBP is beneficial even if you pay for it and don't receive it as a perk.

If you receive it as a "free" promotion then even one drink at the maximum level of $15 +18% is more, so basically you can only have one beer or one glass of wine per day to be able to spend less than the $14.22 perk cost

[AtlantaCruiser72]

There are no mandatory additional gratuities.

 

It's a daily service charge and its discretionary meaning it can be removed...adjusted...etc

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

The DSC can no longer be adjusted or removed onboard. You MUST pay them before disembarking, then submit a form post cruise to corporate guest relations explaining WHY you want them reimbursed and then wait, and wait, and wait, and WAIT ..... They do reserve the right to deny the claim, but even if approved it can take weeks, if not months for reimbursement.

 

In my eyes that basically makes the DSC mandatory.

Edited September 24, 2016 by AtlantaCruiser72

[AdoraBelle]

There are no mandatory additional gratuities.

 

It's a daily service charge and its discretionary meaning it can be removed...adjusted...etc

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

It's disingenuous to suggest to people, especially new cruisers, that removing the DSC is easy. NCL has made it as difficult as possible.

 

I'm not suggesting the crew shouldn't be paid. I am suggesting that acting like these costs are "optional" is not helpful, especially when most of the second poster's post included unavoidable service charges (unless they decided not to choose any "free" "perks" at all).

 

The point is the price they quote for your cruise at the outset is far from the final price you really pay, even if you don't do anything "extra".

Edited September 25, 2016 by AdoraBelle

[purpletequila]

The UBP is now $79 pppd:eek:. 18% of that is $14.22 pppd in gratuities.

 

And no water or canned soda....LOL!! Sorry...can't help myself. It is beyond ludicrous and so obvious that they inflate the "value" of their package to increase their take on the mandatory charges they toss on top of that.

 

My main objection is, if I remember correctly, there used to be a no promo option that was considerably lower. Now, it is the exact same price as choosing a promo or 2, minus of course, the 18%, DSC or whatever it is they are tacking on but still, they know perfectly well, most people will choose the promos when looking at the exact same price.

[csopi]

And no water or canned soda....LOL!! Sorry...can't help myself. It is beyond ludicrous and so obvious that they inflate the "value" of their package to increase their take on the mandatory charges they toss on top of that.

 

 

 

My main objection is, if I remember correctly, there used to be a no promo option that was considerably lower. Now, it is the exact same price as choosing a promo or 2, minus of course, the 18%, DSC or whatever it is they are tacking on but still, they know perfectly well, most people will choose the promos when looking at the exact same price.

 

 

That is why you should calculate overall cost all the time and forget all the names and games they play. At the end there is a bottom line price you will need to pay.

[sfaaa]

My main objection is, if I remember correctly, there used to be a no promo option that was considerably lower. Now, it is the exact same price as choosing a promo or 2, minus of course, the 18%, DSC or whatever it is they are tacking on but still, they know perfectly well, most people will choose the promos when looking at the exact same price.

 

Just so you know, there are promos with no 18% grats attached to them or promo free Guarantee cabins at lower rates. But if you insist on picking the promo with 18% grats, that's your decision and no one else to blame.

Edited September 25, 2016 by sfaaa

[SheehanDJ]

The simple fact is that they are filling up their ships, so are all the other cruise lines. As long as they continue to do so prices are going to be adjusted upwards until they reach that point of balance where it is more than the market will bear. Only then will prices start being slowly reduced.

 

Cheap cruising is available on all of the cruise lines. Inside cabin, only drink what is free, and only eat where it is free and it can be an amazingly inexpensive vacation. Right now you can go on a 7 day Eastern or Western for $379 pp (+taxes and fees), so probably right around $1000, and that's on the Escape.

 

BOOK IT! $1000 for vacation, let's go! Wait, though. It's only $38.50 p/p per day more for a balcony, why be stuck in a cabin where you can't enjoy your own private little paradise, especially at that small of a price. Then a few drinks around the pool while enjoying the sun and music, of course it would be uncivilized not to have a glass of wine with dinner, not to mention another while enjoying this amazing evening on our own private balcony. You know, that drink package only adds about $14 p/p per day to the total cost of this cruise, we might as well get it as it pays for itself. You know what also would be good though, it is vacation, we should treat ourselves to a nice steak dinner. Oh, and look here, the price of just paying for that steak dinner is more than it would cost us if we just signed up for the 3 free specialty dinners. It would be foolish not to do that.

 

Every single person complaining about price and/or nickel and diming has made those exact rationalizations to themselves. If you are honest with yourself you know it's true, we do it every single cruise. Those that post here complaining about it just haven't come to terms with it yet. Those that post here and don't complain have. Then there are those who don't post here, and don't even know or care that here exists. Those are the folks only spending the $1000 and are going on 3 to 5 cruises for every one of ours.

[AdoraBelle]

All the long posts in the world won't change the point of OP's post, which is that NCL's reputation for "nickel and diming" is still at the top of the list of mass market lines.

[biker@sea]

The simple fact is that they are filling up their ships, so are all the other cruise lines. As long as they continue to do so prices are going to be adjusted upwards until they reach that point of balance where it is more than the market will bear. Only then will prices start being slowly reduced.

 

Cheap cruising is available on all of the cruise lines. Inside cabin, only drink what is free, and only eat where it is free and it can be an amazingly inexpensive vacation. Right now you can go on a 7 day Eastern or Western for $379 pp (+taxes and fees), so probably right around $1000, and that's on the Escape.

 

BOOK IT! $1000 for vacation, let's go! Wait, though. It's only $38.50 p/p per day more for a balcony, why be stuck in a cabin where you can't enjoy your own private little paradise, especially at that small of a price. Then a few drinks around the pool while enjoying the sun and music, of course it would be uncivilized not to have a glass of wine with dinner, not to mention another while enjoying this amazing evening on our own private balcony. You know, that drink package only adds about $14 p/p per day to the total cost of this cruise, we might as well get it as it pays for itself. You know what also would be good though, it is vacation, we should treat ourselves to a nice steak dinner. Oh, and look here, the price of just paying for that steak dinner is more than it would cost us if we just signed up for the 3 free specialty dinners. It would be foolish not to do that.

 

Every single person complaining about price and/or nickel and diming has made those exact rationalizations to themselves. If you are honest with yourself you know it's true, we do it every single cruise. Those that post here complaining about it just haven't come to terms with it yet. Those that post here and don't complain have. Then there are those who don't post here, and don't even know or care that here exists. Those are the folks only spending the $1000 and are going on 3 to 5 cruises for every one of ours.

 

NCL Is NOT FILLing the ship's!!

 

Thats why you see $379 cruise's

 

Dawn's first Canada run had over 500 empty beds

 

Most NCL ships still have rooms for sale the day before sailing. Check some.

Edited September 25, 2016 by biker@sea

[zqvol]

The UBP is now $79 pppd:eek:. 18% of that is $14.22 pppd in gratuities.

 

The only way that the beverage package is a good deal is if the amount of alcohol you consume would cost more than you have to pay for the package. Even if you are only paying the gratuity you still need to determine if it is a good fit for you. In my case it isn't because I rarely have an alcohol bill of more than $75 for a week. If on the other hand you drink like a fish and run up huge bills then it is a good deal.

 

Just like every other charge on the ship, you have to understand what you are buying, and whether or not it is less expensive off the ship. It is quiet easy to leave the ship with a bill of less than $100 if you simply prepay your service charges.

[4774Papa]

I applaud your self control, I assume you would then pay al a carte for drinks and spend less per day than the $14.22 gratuity would cost.

 

Happy cruising!

 

DW and I keep tabs on our alcohol spending. We normally spend about $400 total together for a 14 day cruise. We don't drink before 5pm. We mainly drink wine. Since we became Platinum, on our last cruise to Alaska for seven days, we had the beverage package via a promo, but on the two days we dined in specialty restaurants where we had the free bottle of wine, we didn't even use the beverage package.

 

On previous NCL cruises, we usually purchased a wine package, which was good, since we saved 20%.

 

I prefer the unbundled prices without the promos.

 

On Celebrity, which we cruise a lot, we are elite and enjoy the free happy hour from 5-7pm and our liquor bill drops even more.

[DaisyDebmo]

If I understand your statement correctly, I think I can explain why you had to pay "gratuities again" on top of the gratuities you paid in advance.

The gratuities for the UBP perk are distributed among all the bar staff personnel on the ship, even those that didn't serve you.

The gratuities for the SDP perk are distributed among all the dining staff personnel on the ship, even those behind the scenes.

The gratuities you pay "again" are distributed among the other personnel on the ship, like the housekeeping staff and others. This is called the Daily Service Charge. (Of course, if you didn't have the UBP or SDP, you'd pay gratuities per order, but those still just go to bar or dining.)

 

Thank you TIger that is what I was speaking of. I personally will tip my "staff" because I honestly believe when "companies/corporations/whatever" add on service charges, the servers are probably only seeing a portion of that. Sneaky way of passing on costs/profits, just my opinion. And as for the same people complaining all of the time, this was the first post I have ever posted in this forum questioning charges on packages, thank you.

[steership]

The DSC can no longer be adjusted or removed onboard. You MUST pay them before disembarking, then submit a form post cruise to corporate guest relations explaining WHY you want them reimbursed and then wait, and wait, and wait, and WAIT ..... They do reserve the right to deny the claim, but even if approved it can take weeks, if not months for reimbursement.

 

In my eyes that basically makes the DSC mandatory.

 

 

Your post contains many inaccuracies and what you state "They do reserve the right to deny the claim" is a pure outright lie.

NCL could not have made it actually more easier to remove the DISCRETIONARY Daily Service Charge, call it whatever you want: tips, gratuity etc...

PLEASE do not dish out misinformation, if you are misinformed or ignorant of NCL's official policy, it is best that you do not respond at all rather than respond with INCORRECT information or worse yet, lie.

Please post NCL documentation to support your assertion that NCL "reserve the right to deny the claim".

From my side I will post ONLY facts and also attach an OFFICIAL NCL document which proves "NCL would be happy to process a refund for the amount you wish to have credited".

 

Here is the EASY-PEASY procedure for having these DISCRETIONARY service charges removed:

Go to the Passenger Services Desk and ask to have all the DISCRETIONARY Daily Service charges removed.

They give you a form, on my last cruise which was only last week, my form was numbered 67 (this number is linked to your shipboard account) which indicates that were 66 other passengers before me who removed these DISCRETIONARY service charges. Once you get home, fill the form out, scan it and email it to NCL as an attachment to the email address listed on the form. NCL WILL refund you any amount you wish to have refunded back to the same credit card you had originally used to establish your onboard account during your cruise.

 

I have ALWAYS and without fail received my refunds within 5 weeks of submitting my request. Naturally, last week's request is still being processed by NCL so it will be approximately another 4 weeks or so until I see my refund.

Here is NCL's official request form from my cruise last week:

 

FORM # 067

 

Dear Valued Guest:

 

We are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the service provided to you by our crew members and that we were unable to resolve your concerns through our guest satisfaction program. Our top priority is to work to resolve any guest issues when they occur, to everyone’s complete satisfaction.

 

If you would like to proceed with adjusting your service charges according to the level of inconvenience caused, we would be happy to process a refund for the amount that you wish to have credited. In order to do so, please complete this form and email it to:

 

ServiceCharges@ncl com

 

To process the adjustment we kindly ask you to provide us with the following information,

 

Sail Date:

 

Guest Name (s): Cruise Reservation Number. Reason for Adjustment:

 

 

Adjustment Amount:

 

 

Please send your form within 30 days after the end of your cruise.

Please note that we cannot accept refund requests received outside of this period.

 

 

ALL SERVICE CHARGE ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE PROCESSED WITHIN 3 WEEKS OF RECEIPT.

______________________________________________________________

 

 

On Tuesday I will be boarding the Jewel in Vancouver to Los Angeles and I plan to do this again. When NCL makes these service charges mandatory, I will pony up and pay them, as long as they are DISCRETIONARY, I will continue to choose to remove them, period!

Edited September 25, 2016 by steership

[steership]

It's disingenuous to suggest to people, especially new cruisers, that removing the DSC is easy. NCL has made it as difficult as possible.

 

I'm not suggesting the crew shouldn't be paid. I am suggesting that acting like these costs are "optional" is not helpful, especially when most of the second poster's post included unavoidable service charges (unless they decided not to choose any "free" "perks" at all).

 

The point is the price they quote for your cruise at the outset is far from the final price you really pay, even if you don't do anything "extra".

 

 

Your assertion that NCL has made it as difficult as possible to remove the DSC could NOT be any further from the truth.

I just posted above how easy NCL has now actually made it to remove such DISCRETIONARY charges.

Edited September 25, 2016 by steership

[Sissaaaaaa]

1 - NCL is not filling ships;

 

2 - They DO nickel and dime. I have defended them for years, but it's just out of hand now;

 

3 - They cannot "deny" your claim LOL If you want the service charges removed, fill out the form and send it in. I don't see why it has to be announced to everyone on a message board that you're doing it.

[Sissaaaaaa]

Your post contains many inaccuracies and what you state "They do reserve the right to deny the claim" is a pure outright lie.

NCL could not have made it actually more easier to remove the DISCRETIONARY Daily Service Charge, call it whatever you want: tips, gratuity etc...

PLEASE do not dish out misinformation, if you are misinformed or ignorant of NCL's official policy, it is best that you do not respond at all rather than respond with INCORRECT information or worse yet, lie.

Please post NCL documentation to support your assertion that NCL "reserve the right to deny the claim".

From my side I will post ONLY facts and also attach an OFFICIAL NCL document which proves "NCL would be happy to process a refund for the amount you wish to have credited".

 

Here is the EASY-PEASY procedure for having these DISCRETIONARY service charges removed:

Go to the Passenger Services Desk and ask to have all the DISCRETIONARY Daily Service charges removed.

They give you a form, on my last cruise which was only last week, my form was numbered 67 (this number is linked to your shipboard account) which indicates that were 66 other passengers before me who removed these DISCRETIONARY service charges. Once you get home, fill the form out, scan it and email it to NCL as an attachment to the email address listed on the form. NCL WILL refund you any amount you wish to have refunded back to the same credit card you had originally used to establish your onboard account during your cruise.

 

I have ALWAYS and without fail received my refunds within 5 weeks of submitting my request. Naturally, last week's request is still being processed by NCL so it will be approximately another 4 weeks or so until I see my refund.

Here is NCL's official request form from my cruise last week:

 

FORM # 067

 

Dear Valued Guest:

 

We are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the service provided to you by our crew members and that we were unable to resolve your concerns through our guest satisfaction program. Our top priority is to work to resolve any guest issues when they occur, to everyone’s complete satisfaction.

 

If you would like to proceed with adjusting your service charges according to the level of inconvenience caused, we would be happy to process a refund for the amount that you wish to have credited. In order to do so, please complete this form and email it to:

 

ServiceCharges@ncl com

 

To process the adjustment we kindly ask you to provide us with the following information,

 

Sail Date:

 

Guest Name (s): Cruise Reservation Number. Reason for Adjustment:

 

 

Adjustment Amount:

 

 

Please send your form within 30 days after the end of your cruise.

Please note that we cannot accept refund requests received outside of this period.

 

 

ALL SERVICE CHARGE ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE PROCESSED WITHIN 3 WEEKS OF RECEIPT.

______________________________________________________________

 

 

On Tuesday I will be boarding the Jewel in Vancouver to Los Angeles and I plan to do this again. When NCL makes these service charges mandatory, I will pony up and pay them, as long as they are DISCRETIONARY, I will continue to choose to remove them, period!

 

I wonder if the form number relates to the number of people on that cruise who requested the form? In other words, maybe you were number 67?

[steership]

I wonder if the form number relates to the number of people on that cruise who requested the form? In other words, maybe you were number 67?

 

Yes it does and I actually stated so in my post.

[Sissaaaaaa]

Yes it does and I actually stated so in my post.

 

Oh, sorry. I read another thread you started last night that said it was linked to the on-board account, and that did not sound right to me.

[steership]

Oh, sorry. I read another thread you started last night that said it was linked to the on-board account, and that did not sound right to me.

 

No worries, Sisaaaa.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

And as for the same people complaining all of the time, this was the first post I have ever posted in this forum questioning charges on packages, thank you.

 

My comment wasn't directed at any one person and certainly not at you.

[SheehanDJ]

NCL Is NOT FILLing the ship's!!

 

Thats why you see $379 cruise's

 

Dawn's first Canada run had over 500 empty beds

 

Most NCL ships still have rooms for sale the day before sailing. Check some.

 

I did check, having empty beds has nothing to do with the profitability. At current price points NCL is making money and not loosing enough customers to change their price point.

 

You, however, didn't address the over all theme of my post. That being you/us the passengers are choosing to pay more than we have to.

 

I booked on the Escape for next year, I could have gone for $1500 ($599 p/p inside guarantee) I didn't. On your next NCL cruise are you going to be staying in an inside guarantee? Are you not going to consume paid beverages, meals, and shows?

 

If you answered yes, how is that NCL's fault? It isn't it's yours. You are making the choice and in doing so you are rewarding NCL's behavior and encouraging them to continue. If you want them to stop, then start booking the cheapest inside guarantee and don't participate in any upcharged items.

 

Nickel and diming would be if NCL advertised a cabin price, then forced you to buy a drink, dining, and entertainment package. If you didn't purchase these additional things, they wouldn't sell you a cruise. This isn't happening. What is happening is people are blaming NCL for their own lack of ability to control their own spending.

[NLH Arizona]

I did check, having empty beds has nothing to do with the profitability. At current price points NCL is making money and not loosing enough customers to change their price point.

 

You, however, didn't address the over all theme of my post. That being you/us the passengers are choosing to pay more than we have to.

 

I booked on the Escape for next year, I could have gone for $1500 ($599 p/p inside guarantee) I didn't. On your next NCL cruise are you going to be staying in an inside guarantee? Are you not going to consume paid beverages, meals, and shows?

 

If you answered yes, how is that NCL's fault? It isn't it's yours. You are making the choice and in doing so you are rewarding NCL's behavior and encouraging them to continue. If you want them to stop, then start booking the cheapest inside guarantee and don't participate in any upcharged items.

 

Nickel and diming would be if NCL advertised a cabin price, then forced you to buy a drink, dining, and entertainment package. If you didn't purchase these additional things, they wouldn't sell you a cruise. This isn't happening. What is happening is people are blaming NCL for their own lack of ability to control their own spending.

Very well said. I don't think any of us know what NCL's break even point is with regard to occupancy and just because it was reported that 500 cabins are empty, it doesn't mean that they are not making money. Not to mention, even with 500 cabins not occupied, one doesn't know the occupancy rate of the others, were many occupied with 3 or 4 or did they all just have 2 passengers in each cabin.

 

And thank you very much for your comment on nickel and diming, you are spot on as far as what the definition is. What folks call nickel and diming on here, is actually a company extracting extra dollars from their customers, but certainly not nickel and diming.

[biker@sea]

Very well said. I don't think any of us know what NCL's break even point is with regard to occupancy and just because it was reported that 500 cabins are empty, it doesn't mean that they are not making money. Not to mention, even with 500 cabins not occupied, one doesn't know the occupancy rate of the others, were many occupied with 3 or 4 or did they all just have 2 passengers in each cabin.

 

And thank you very much for your comment on nickel and diming, you are spot on as far as what the definition is. What folks call nickel and diming on here, is actually a company extracting extra dollars from their customers, but certainly not nickel and diming.

To Quote

 

BirdTravels

Blue Ribbon Cruiser

 

Join Date: Apr 2015

Location: USA

Posts: 3,174

 

Norwegian Dawn New England 9/9/16 metrics

Total Passengers: 1644

Non-US Passengers: 637

Passengers Under 21: 16

Average Age: 65.4

 

Older crowd. Better dressed than Caribbean passengers. No coat required unless you feel you need one. Lots of polo shirts at dinner. Some suits.

 

Dawn can take 2340 passengers .

 

 

 

.

Edited September 25, 2016 by biker@sea

[biker@sea]

I did check, having empty beds has nothing to do with the profitability. At current price points NCL is making money and not loosing enough customers to change their price point.

 

You, however, didn't address the over all theme of my post. That being you/us the passengers are choosing to pay more than we have to.

 

I booked on the Escape for next year, I could have gone for $1500 ($599 p/p inside guarantee) I didn't. On your next NCL cruise are you going to be staying in an inside guarantee? Are you not going to consume paid beverages, meals, and shows?

 

If you answered yes, how is that NCL's fault? It isn't it's yours. You are making the choice and in doing so you are rewarding NCL's behavior and encouraging them to continue. If you want them to stop, then start booking the cheapest inside guarantee and don't participate in any upcharged items.

 

Nickel and diming would be if NCL advertised a cabin price, then forced you to buy a drink, dining, and entertainment package. If you didn't purchase these additional things, they wouldn't sell you a cruise. This isn't happening. What is happening is people are blaming NCL for their own lack of ability to control their own spending.

 

I do book Inside GTY's last minute and buy no packages. :p

[NLH Arizona]

To Quote

 

BirdTravels

Blue Ribbon Cruiser

 

Join Date: Apr 2015

Location: USA

Posts: 3,174

 

Norwegian Dawn New England 9/9/16 metrics

Total Passengers: 1644

Non-US Passengers: 637

Passengers Under 21: 16

Average Age: 65.4

 

Older crowd. Better dressed than Caribbean passengers. No coat required unless you feel you need one. Lots of polo shirts at dinner. Some suits.

 

Dawn can take 2340 passengers .

 

 

 

.

I don't think I questioned the number of passengers on the cruise that was reported, what I question is the break even point. Do you know how many passengers the Dawn must carry to start making money? Do you know out of the 1,644 if they spent more or less than a normal cruise? A lot of things have to be taken into consideration in order to make the assumption that a ship is not hitting that sweet spot that they need to make a profit. Would a cruise line love it if all their ships sailed full, but in reality they know exactly how many passengers they need and it is a different figure then how many they want. If someone knows these figures, it would be very interesting.

 

I'm on the Dawn in December and I would love for the ship to be less then full, but I never seem to get those cruises.

Edited September 25, 2016 by NLH Arizona