Prepaid Gratuity Not Available to Add to Booking

[mickeychicky]

Booked our first cruise since the announcement, actually I have it on a 3 day courtesy hold, but when booking, I wasn't taken to the page where you select to add prepaid gratuity to the cruise.....anyone know why?  And its' not showing on the breakdown of charges either on the invoice.  I think I've had this problem in the past when you take advantage of the "freebies" they include (not really) in your booking it skips the prepaid gratuity option.  ANYONE KNOW WHY? 

[shof515]

From what i noticed when booking lots of cruise's online using their website, this is normal. The gratuity is never shown on that page. To add the prepaid gratuity, you will need to go to your NCL account to add it

 

The prepaid gratuity is on the vacation summary page towards the middle that looks like this:. Check add prepaid service charges then press the button to add it to your cart and then complete the checkout process to add it your booking

Edited August 10, 2022 by shof515

[scooter6139]

I know a TA or PA can add those when making a booking so it's just part of your cruise fare.

[Raleigh Traveler]

When I have done mock bookings, I can choose a lot of things early on but not that. If you go all the way to paying, adding cc info and right up to before "Submit", then at that last page it is auto filled without much notice. It just shows up at the very end.

[cruiserbear55]

47 minutes ago, shof515 said:

From what i noticed when booking lots of cruise's online using their website, this is normal. The gratuity is never shown on that page. To add the prepaid gratuity, you will need to go to your NCL account to add it

 

The prepaid gratuity is on the vacation summary page towards the middle that looks like this:. Check add prepaid service charges then press the button to add it to your cart and then complete the checkout process to add it your booking

Was that $155.00 figure derived from a ten day cruise at $15.50 daily per person?  Just trying to figure the math. Anyway, rates are now up to $16.00 per day for studios, insides, ovs, and balconies: $18.00 per day for club balconies ( mini-suites), and $20.00 per day for suites and haven. Always book through CAS on the phone so don't know about adding gratuity payments online. But as shof515 stated above, it can be done.

[Turtles06]

11 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

I know a TA or PA can add those when making a booking so it's just part of your cruise fare.

 

More specifically, it's a separate line item on your invoice, like the service charges for the beverage and dining packages, and government taxes/port fees.   This is important, because these (unlike the actual cruise fare) are refunded to you if you cancel, including when you are at the 100% penalty phase.  (Which also means that if you have third party travel insurance, these are not items that you need to insure.)

[shof515]

9 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

Was that $155.00 figure derived from a ten day cruise at $15.50 daily per person?  Just trying to figure the math. Anyway, rates are now up to $16.00 per day for studios, insides, ovs, and balconies: $18.00 per day for club balconies ( mini-suites), and $20.00 per day for suites and haven. Always book through CAS on the phone so don't know about adding gratuity payments online. But as shof515 stated above, it can be done.

yes it is a 10 day cruise i have coming up

[Oceansaway17]

well if you have OBC and do not prebook tips, then OBC can apply dollars unless you buy a lot of things.

 

If at the time of booking, I was provided a nice OBC, I would not prepay any tips

[Turtles06]

25 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well if you have OBC and do not prebook tips, then OBC can apply dollars unless you buy a lot of things.

 

If at the time of booking, I was provided a nice OBC, I would not prepay any tips

To be clear, non-refundable OBC (what you might get from NCL) cannot be used to pay the DSC.  If you have refundable OBC (from a travel agent), that’s different. 

[seekatz]

Agree with above post, from my experience 2 types of OBC. Refundable can be used.

Yes you can pay when booking as we had a FCC due to a COVID cancelled cruise, just did it this week. We used a cruise consultant.

 

If you have on line trouble you can always call.

[Oceansaway17]

On 8/10/2022 at 6:21 PM, Turtles06 said:

To be clear, non-refundable OBC (what you might get from NCL) cannot be used to pay the DSC.  If you have refundable OBC (from a travel agent), that’s different. 

fascinating as my OBC for RCI can be used for any charges you make on the ship including tips if not prepaid

[MoCruiseFan]

On 8/10/2022 at 2:17 PM, mickeychicky said:

Booked our first cruise since the announcement, actually I have it on a 3 day courtesy hold, but when booking, I wasn't taken to the page where you select to add prepaid gratuity to the cruise.....anyone know why?  And its' not showing on the breakdown of charges either on the invoice.  I think I've had this problem in the past when you take advantage of the "freebies" they include (not really) in your booking it skips the prepaid gratuity option.  ANYONE KNOW WHY? 

 

There is no such thing as pre-paid gratuities.  I think you might mean the pre-paid DSC though.

[ggTexasGal]

5 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

fascinating as my OBC for RCI can be used for any charges you make on the ship including tips if not prepaid

To clarify NCL policy:

Daily Service Charge (DSC) may be paid for with OBC, only if the OBC is refundable (purchased by someone)!

OBC that NCL gives as a perk are NOT refundable!  Therefore, it may not be used for DSC. 

But it certainly has valuable for purchases made while onboard the ship (other than DSC).

[Oceansaway17]

4 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

To clarify NCL policy:

Daily Service Charge (DSC) may be paid for with OBC, only if the OBC is refundable (purchased by someone)!

OBC that NCL gives as a perk are NOT refundable!  Therefore, it may not be used for DSC. 

But it certainly has valuable for purchases made while onboard the ship (other than DSC).

just interesting on how NCL handles OBC.  

[PATRLR]

13 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

There is no such thing as pre-paid gratuities.  I think you might mean the pre-paid DSC though.

Then someone ought to tell NCL that next time they advertise including "free prepaid gratuities" in the FAS offers.  The DSC is a gratuity when it helps their marketing but a service charge any other time.  Typical BS from NCL.