Why am I being charged for Free at Sea Gratuities

[Petoonya]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:22 PM, MikeBTN said:

 

Error- sorry!

Edited January 9, 2020 by Petoonya

[Petoonya]

On 3/4/2019 at 9:22 PM, MikeBTN said:

 

Sorry-duplicate.

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Petoonya

[JezzaC]

The fun part is I have booked from European NCL (NOT UK) office and for us they don't charge the gratuities for "free" drinks package. 🙂 When I booked from US they were charged. So there are differences between market areas.

Edited January 9, 2020 by JezzaC

[tonyasnews]

I’m trying to figure out why guest 3 is being charged for the gratuities when only guest 1 and 2 receive the drink package and specialty dining? On my booking guest 1 and 2 are being charged $154 and guest 3 is being charged $138. 

[KeithJenner]

37 minutes ago, tonyasnews said:

I’m trying to figure out why guest 3 is being charged for the gratuities when only guest 1 and 2 receive the drink package and specialty dining? On my booking guest 1 and 2 are being charged $154 and guest 3 is being charged $138. 

It looks like guest 3 is getting the drinks package. I can't see what the current free at sea offer is elsewhere, but I think that at times the drinks package if given to all guests in the US for example. Perhaps that was the case when you booked.

 

Based on the amounts you quote I would guess that this is the case here. Guests 1 and 2 are being charged more as they also get the meals.

 

Does your confirmation state only guests 1-2 have the drinks?

[Oakman58]

The drink package applies to guests 1-8 under the current promotional terms and conditions so yes, guest 3 has the drink package.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/4/2019 at 7:15 PM, Outerdog said:

Welcome to the new definition of free.

 

 

As in you pay $0 for the free package.  The fat you got the package free does not alter the fact that teh barkeep deserves a tip.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/4/2019 at 7:29 PM, Heather1972 said:

Tips on free things = $$ for NCL

 

 

$$$ for the employee's tips actually.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/4/2019 at 8:34 PM, Outerdog said:

 

Give me a break. 

 

Once upon a time, most of these perks were free as in free. There was no extra cost associated with them beyond what was probably built into the fare.  Now there is extra cost associated. 

 

A $300 NCL tax does not a free perk make.

Good thing that thert is not a tax involved then, huh?

[MoCruiseFan]

On 3/5/2019 at 12:09 AM, Tapi said:

This is so bogus. I was also left scratching my head when I priced out an NCL cruise with “free” perks. 

 

Other cruise lines don’t charge an added gratuity on an included package. Last November, we sailed on MSC and our Aurea Suite came with an unlimited drink package. No added gratuities for the package. That’s my idea of “free” and not what NCL does.

Then by all means do not accept the FAS offers.  Problem solved, next!

[Tapi]

18 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

Then by all means do not accept the FAS offers.  Problem solved, next!

I did better than that. I booked a cruise with another cruise line that offered a better deal than NCL. Problem solved! Next! 😀

[MoCruiseFan]

"Why am I being charged for Free at Sea Gratuities"...

Because you agreed to it when you took the FAS offers.

[DAVLIB007]

On 3/4/2019 at 7:34 PM, Outerdog said:

 

Give me a break. 

 

Once upon a time, most of these perks were free as in free. There was no extra cost associated with them beyond what was probably built into the fare.  Now there is extra cost associated. 

 

A $300 NCL tax does not a free perk make.

well the hard working crew need to get gratuities  

[DAVLIB007]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:57 AM, mianmike said:

 

Yes there is a "free" version on MSC.  I booked a Bella cabin on the Seaside and received the "drinks on us" package and wifi.  No gratuities.   Hopefully MSC stays honest and doesn't adopt the NCL version of "free."  

seems free but it is built into the price

[MoCruiseFan]

TANSTAAFL

[mianmike]

9 hours ago, DAVLIB007 said:

seems free but it is built into the price

Yes, it was built into the price, but it did almost feel free because the overall cost of the cruise was way less expensive than NCL when comparing apples to apples.  

[KeithJenner]

Are you all aware that you are responding to posts from two years ago?

[Tapi]

On 10/25/2021 at 6:56 PM, DAVLIB007 said:

seems free but it is built into the price

Have you seen MSC’s price structure? Their prices are so low sometimes that a drink package would be more expensive than the actual cruise rate. For our last MSC cruise, our cruise fare was $94 for a balcony on a 3 night cruise. 

[willetstravel]

So if you pay for the free at sea gratuities then do you still have to do the prepaid gratuities or are you covered?

[KeithJenner]

5 minutes ago, willetstravel said:

So if you pay for the free at sea gratuities then do you still have to do the prepaid gratuities or are you covered?

I assume you are referring to the service charge added to your account each day (or payable up front). If so then no, that is a totally separate thing and is still payable.

[phissy]

1 hour ago, willetstravel said:

So if you pay for the free at sea gratuities then do you still have to do the prepaid gratuities or are you covered?

Free at Sea is broken down into 4 sections.

Drinks, Speciality Dining, Excursions and WiFi.

When we book, we only keep Dining, Excursions and WiFi. 
Additional Gratuities is about$46 for this. 

Daily Service Charge is different. 
Charged  daily / per person/ amount depends on type of cabin.

This goes to all staff , above and below deck.

 

[phissy]

On 10/25/2021 at 12:54 PM, MoCruiseFan said:

"Why am I being charged for Free at Sea Gratuities"...

Because you agreed to it when you took the FAS offers.

You can select which one of the offers you want to keep and pay those gratuities.

We ask to have drinks removed and only pay gratuities on Specialty Dining.

[farjar]

Phissy, Do you book directly with an NCL reservation specialist or a travel agent?  When I've looked at booking online it seems to give you only the options of taking everything or refusing everything. We don't drink and I would love to be able to do what you suggested.

[kylenyc]

43 minutes ago, farjar said:

Phissy, Do you book directly with an NCL reservation specialist or a travel agent?  When I've looked at booking online it seems to give you only the options of taking everything or refusing everything. We don't drink and I would love to be able to do what you suggested.

 

Free at Sea

$50 Shore Excursion Credit and Wifi - You can't decline these when you book the cruise because there is no additional charge associated with these amenities.

 

Drink and Dining packages you can declined either one or both. This can be done at the time you book the cruise either on NCL.com or with a travel agent.

 

For the drinks package, you are charged a gratuity (tip) of $19.80 per person per day. It is distributed among the bar staff.

 

For the dining package, you are charged a gratuity (tip) of $7.90 per person per meal. It is distributed among the specialty dining staff.

 

Daily Service Charge

Regardless of how you configure the Free at Sea, you still have to pay a discretionary Daily Service Charge of $15.50 per person per day which is a different concept. This is a "service charge" and not a "gratuity/tip". Its distributed among various staff including cabin steward, housekeeping, non-specialty restaurant staff, etc.

 

In all cases, you are not obligated to tip additional. There much heated debate on whether or not to tip, the amount to tip, etc. Search this forum or just wait 😛

 

FWIW. Me personally, I tip the cabin steward a few dollars a day for exceptional service. I do not tip bar staff.  I typically have 3 drinks a day which equates to  nearly $7 tip per drink ... more than generous given how much I drink.  I tip the specialty restaurant staff extra for exceptional service. A $7.90 (20%) tip equates to a $40 meal. I think the specialty meals are worth more so I usually tip extra.

Edited November 5, 2021 by kylenyc

[ged1967]

Being in the U.K. free is free (we don’t get charged gratuities on freebies) 

 

However I’m assuming you live in the U.S  therefore you’ll be able to take advantage of any price reductions (via refunds or upgrades) which we in the U.K. cannot do.  
 

it’s all swings & roundabouts. I do a mock booking every now & then for my currently booked cruise and no matter what the promotion is it has never been lower than the price I paid plus I got an extra incentive, OBC.