Pre-Pay Service Charges

First time cruising on Feb 28 on the Dawn ....

 

Easy question for someone.... other than for "budgeting" as NCL states in their definition, is there any pro or con of Pre-Pay Service Charges ? :rolleyes: :confused:

First time cruising on Feb 28 on the Dawn ....

 

Easy question for someone.... other than for "budgeting" as NCL states in their definition, is there any pro or con of Pre-Pay Service Charges ? :rolleyes: :confused:

I prepaid my DSC for my Gem cruise just because it was one less thing I had to think about. I have heard on the boards that the price has gone up, so now I am happy I did this.(B/C I already paid it, I get the old rate) Enjoy your cruise, the Dawn is a great ship :)

If I prepay them, can I still charge back on them after the cruise?

Time value of money says to defer payment as late as possible (i.e. on the cruise) unless there is a savings to avoid a cost increase.

Check the rate on your "Pre-Pay Service Charges" on your "Vacation Summary". If it is less than USD13.50 then you have it cheaper than you will be charged on-board.

 

Mike

Perfect thanks, makes sense.

 

On a similar questions what about the specialty restaurants, I just added up the 4 I probably would want to try, but purchasing the 4 x package only saves me $12 in total it appears ? :confused::rolleyes:

Check the rate on your "Pre-Pay Service Charges" on your "Vacation Summary". If it is less than USD13.50 then you have it cheaper than you will be charged on-board.

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike, yep found that and mine is the new rate of 13.50 so doesn't really appears to be any benefit.

We prepay. One less thing to have on your bill at end of cruise.

Prepaying makes the onboard account statements much easier to read as there are no "extra" rows every day for DSC.

 

And yes, you can adjust after the cruise even when you have prepaid.

On a similar questions what about the specialty restaurants, I just added up the 4 I probably would want to try, but purchasing the 4 x package only saves me $12 in total it appears ? :confused::rolleyes:

Yes, it depends on the exact restaurants you want to go to, but if Le Bistro, Cagney's and La Cucina have moved to à la carte pricing on your cruise, your savings can be much higher with the SDP. Anyway, even if it is only $12 savings, it is still worth getting the package, if you are OK with committing to 4 specialty meals in advance.

First time cruising on Feb 28 on the Dawn ....

 

Easy question for someone.... other than for "budgeting" as NCL states in their definition, is there any pro or con of Pre-Pay Service Charges ? :rolleyes: :confused:

 

We pre-pay ours for two reasons:

1. The payment is made with final payment so on a different billing cycle than our credit card at the end of the cruise.

 

2. Makes the final onboard bill easier to read because there aren't the daily service charges for each of us each day.

I pre-pay my DSC because I don't have to worry about it while I'm on my cruise....it is done!!

First time cruising on Feb 28 on the Dawn ....

 

Easy question for someone.... other than for "budgeting" as NCL states in their definition, is there any pro or con of Pre-Pay Service Charges ? :rolleyes: :confused:

 

It just means that it is paid.

 

Using a credit card for onboard expenses and charging it on the ship does mean that you can wait until the card bill comes a month later and pay the bill with deflated currency.

Now or later...same thing!

Thanks to everyone for your info....I agree I will pre pay when doing final payment then that part is done. Cleaner invoice at the end of the cruise, since this is my first cruise that in itself will probably help.

First time cruising on Feb 28 on the Dawn ....

 

Easy question for someone.... other than for "budgeting" as NCL states in their definition, is there any pro or con of Pre-Pay Service Charges ? :rolleyes: :confused:

 

If you paid for your cruise in CAD - there can be a HUGE benefit in the exchange rate offered. My service charge for my recently (yesterday!) booked cruises were calculated at 19% ($16.07 CAD/PP/day).

 

The same USD charge on my Canadian CC would be about $18.40 CAD/PP/day!

 

The same exchange rate is applied for all other charges (dining, beverages, excursions, OBC etc...).

 

But if you paid NCL in USD - that option doesn't apply. There is a LONG thread on the topic here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215730

Edited November 26, 2015 by RobTheGob
Added link to CAD thread.

If you paid for your cruise in CAD - there can be a HUGE benefit in the exchange rate offered. My service charge for my recently (yesterday!) booked cruises were calculated at 19% ($16.07 CAD/PP/day).

 

The same USD charge on my Canadian CC would be about $18.40 CAD/PP/day!

 

The same exchange rate is applied for all other charges (dining, beverages, excursions, OBC etc...).

 

But if you paid NCL in USD - that option doesn't apply. There is a LONG thread on the topic here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215730

 

Great info but I booked directly with NCL how would I pay in Canadian ? :confused:

Perfect thanks, makes sense.

 

On a similar questions what about the specialty restaurants, I just added up the 4 I probably would want to try, but purchasing the 4 x package only saves me $12 in total it appears ? :confused::rolleyes:

 

You will be double tipping if you pay the daily auto tip and the 18% on your specialty restaurant nights. I don't care to double tip so I use cash and remove the auto tip but you have the right to do it anyway you want, I'm just pointing this out.

Great info but I booked directly with NCL how would I pay in Canadian ? :confused:

 

 

You need to cancel and rebook in CAD with an agent in order to do so. Also the rate would be their current rate, so not necessarily as good as some of the mentioned rates.

We prepay. One less thing to have on your bill at end of cruise.

 

just curious- what is usually on the bill as we've prepaid everything like shows/specialty restaurants? have the UBP so no drink charges....

Great info but I booked directly with NCL how would I pay in Canadian ? :confused:

 

You need to either request that payment is in CAD with NCL or use a Canadian TA (what I did).

You will be double tipping if you pay the daily auto tip and the 18% on your specialty restaurant nights. I don't care to double tip so I use cash and remove the auto tip but you have the right to do it anyway you want, I'm just pointing this out.

 

The daily service charge and the gratuity on Specialty dining isn't related to each other - they both get paid separately. If you buy the Specialty dining on NCL.com - the 18% grat is added to the price shown (in my experience).

You will be double tipping if you pay the daily auto tip and the 18% on your specialty restaurant nights. I don't care to double tip so I use cash and remove the auto tip but you have the right to do it anyway you want, I'm just pointing this out.

 

Not double dipping since when NCL added the specialty service charge they said that those waiters are no longer part of the DSC but instead are part of the 18%.

You will be double tipping if you pay the daily auto tip and the 18% on your specialty restaurant nights. I don't care to double tip so I use cash and remove the auto tip but you have the right to do it anyway you want, I'm just pointing this out.

 

No.

You are very confused.

Not double dipping since when NCL added the specialty service charge they said that those waiters are no longer part of the DSC but instead are part of the 18%.

 

 

Yes double dipping as you already paid for dinner service in the double raised DSC and also have to pay for the service again if you go to a speciality restaurant.