M&MCruisin

If you order a pop at say a restaurant or at the pool for $1.25, is there an automatic tip of 15% added each time?

Yes, tip automatic each time unless you have the soda card...they just wack it to you at one time :rolleyes: at least for me! LOL! I totally got screwed here. Oh well, I was too excited about being on the ship to really push the issue and I didnt want to ruin my cruise by getting completely pissed off at the finance guy or the bar tender.

Incidentally, at the Atrium Bar midship deck 7, they'll give you the can for that price.

As far as soda cards (not a la carte which I think you are referring to) This is the one bar on the Pearl that I got the drinks from the most and they refused to give me a can here too. They actually told me to drink a bit from the glass while standing there and they would fill it back up before I walk away. LOL! Its funny huh? The mini bar in the buffett area, I asked for one because there were NO seats available in the buffett area and I explained that I needed to go back to my room with my food and didnt want to come back down for a refill and he said no can...I already gave you a bigger glass, which by the way with ice equals about 1/2 can! LOL! You have to laugh...they are told to do this, its not the bartenders fault, they are just following NCL rules.

Maybe you were charged for three cards????

$5.75

x9

51.75

x3

$155.25

Thats an interesting thought....hold on....I just ran to get my receipt, since I am home now...

It says Soda...2x77.75. I inquired when they gave it to me and he said, no...that is the price, not the $51.95 I was expecting, so that is why near the end of the week, I inquired with the finance person and it didnt do any good. There isnt anything about a tip on the reciept, but when I when to talk to the finance person, that is when she showed me something he printed that had the tip on it. We did not get any cups with it. My other family members, went to different stations and were also charged this amount.

Also...on the Pearl, most of the bars took a Canned drink and poured it into a glass and REFUSED to give me a whole can. I tried at several locations and they kept saying...no...I gave you a bigger glass. No big deal, I just had to get up and get a refill. You can get the sodas at the restaurants if you show your cruise card with the coke sticker on it.

Rootbeer...Im pretty sure my husband got that some. Not all the stations have complete sodas to choose from, but Im pretty sure he got some during the week on the soda card.

So if some of you did infact get $5.75 per day, then I should at least get credit there. (although its not worth the trouble to call and the finance man on board blew me off) I dont agree with the autogratuity for soda cards, but at the very least they could have charged me the $5.75 per day like advertised. Like, I mentioned...be cautious as they charged me differently. I was in port, but I also bought a spa package in port and they did not charge me autogratuity for that.

Should have paid for 9 days:

$ 5.75

x 9

$51.75

I paid approximately for 9 days:

$ 7.50

x 9

$67.50

+10.15 gratuity

$77.65

If I recall correctly, our bill for 2 was around $155. I can get over the autogratuity as I do get them to bring me drinks by the pool sometimes, but the incorrect pricing is inappropriate. I know I sound really angry, but I am not. We had a fantastic cruise and I was happy to drink my soda in great volume! I just want others to be aware that the price is not what is advertised and that is a big issue with me. We pay ENOUGH for cruises, right????

Oh...an forgive my typo in my original post....AUTHOgratuity! LOL!:D

I'm not sure if it works the same way anymore or not but it used to be you didn't pay the auto-gratuity (extra 15%) if you pre-purchased in advance from the ncl website. They have always included the extra 15% when purchasing on the ship.

that must be an NCL thing, because I didnt pay autogratuity on the Princess ship and it should be disclosed by the cruise line. That being said, I wouldnt have even thought to purchase online as it states a price, which I expected to pay. Not to mention the difference in price before gratuity. It was still more per day than they disclosed. Im not arguing with you, I think your idea is good, just think the cruise line should disclose the extra fee and post the correct price. But thanks for the suggestion... for my next NCL cruise...I will purchase online. I guess I send it to myself as a gift?

:eek: OK...I know its a topic discussed over and over, BUT...there is something that you should know before buying.

1. Soda cards are NOT $5.75 per day as their webside says.

2. They charge AUTHOGRATUITY in addition to the fee.

From the NCL website:

Unlimited Fountain Soda

Includes: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Tonic Water, Soda Water

The entire cruise must be purchased. Non-Refundable.

Prepaid @ $5.75 per day per person x Cruise days

From the Cruiser: (me)

Ok math majors...lets do the math $5.75 times a 9 day cruise is $51.75, which is what I expected to pay, however, it was $60 some odd dollars plus autogratuity added in for a total of approximately $78 per person for the 9 day cruise. I cant remember the exact numbers as i am at work and all my luggage and junk is in the middle of my living room floor since I just got back late last night.

Now, for me, it was no big deal as I drink diet soda like water and I would have paid MUCH more doing it ala cart, plus I like the convenience of just flashing my card. Now my dh, on the other hand, did not get anywhere near his use of the card, but we did it for convenience only. I believe this is the highest soda card of all cruise lines...does anyone know that for sure????

Now, when I went to the financial desk regarding the discrepency...he looked at me as thought I was talking foreign to him and I got tired of discussing the difference in the soda card and didnt think it was worth the fight, so I gave up. Just thought I would bring you all in the loop so you arent surprised like I was.