Bill Settlement Question

[OV8]

Ran off the ship with my bill at first chance & now I am starting to recon it.

 

I had a $100 refundable credit from my travel agent delivered as gift to my account and

$85 non-cash out OBC from NCL.

 

What can the $100 apply to & what can the $85 apply to if we had these charges:

1) $189 cabin steward tip.

2) On board gift shop items

3) Specialty restaurants service fees ($13.50 pp per restaurant)

4) Emergency ship doctor's visit

5) Alchohol/Speciality drinks

6) NCL port de-embarkation poncho (they called it a house keeping item)

Edited August 1, 2016 by OV8

[KeithJenner]

The OBC from NCL should cover everything except what you call the cabin steward tip (based on the amount I assume you are talking about the DSC). I'm a little unsure what you mean by the speciality restaurants service fees, but I can't think of anything it could be that isn't payable from all OBC.

 

If the TA OBC was refundable then it can be used against anything. The only problem is the order that the OBC is used. I've heard differing stories, but there is the possibility that it could have been used first against items like the drinks and gifts and then the NCL OBC ran out of things to be applied against.

 

Without knowing how much you drank and what the ships doctors visit cost, we can't say for sure, but it would surprise me if all OBC wasn't used.

[cb at sea]

You can't specify what to use your OBC on...If you have $200 OBC, the 1st $200 you spend is covered.....it's merely a credit against any charges.

[OV8]

You can't specify what to use your OBC on...If you have $200 OBC, the 1st $200 you spend is covered.....it's merely a credit against any charges.

 

OBC cannot be lined up against cabin tips - true?

Therefore, it's everything exclusive of cabin tips.

 

But what about the $13.50 Service fees in the Specialty restaurants (we got the 3 free special dining upgrade)? Is that in the same category as cabin tip & the OBC can't be applied to that?

[OV8]

The OBC from NCL should cover everything except what you call the cabin steward tip (based on the amount I assume you are talking about the DSC). I'm a little unsure what you mean by the speciality restaurants service fees, but I can't think of anything it could be that isn't payable from all OBC.

DSC? what does this stand for?

 

If the TA OBC was refundable then it can be used against anything. The only problem is the order that the OBC is used. I've heard differing stories, but there is the possibility that it could have been used first against items like the drinks and gifts and then the NCL OBC ran out of things to be applied against.

 

Without knowing how much you drank and what the ships doctors visit cost, we can't say for sure, but it would surprise me if all OBC wasn't used.

 

Oh, the OBC was definitely all used.

I was just trying to line up what went with what charge.

The bill just has a debit & credit column & then a final balance at the bottom.

[bonvoyagie]

NCL awarded OBC can not be used for the DSC - maybe what you called Room Steward tips - on your bill it shows up as a daily charge of $13.50/person/day

 

Purchased OBC - the kind from your travel agent can be used for anything - including the OBC.

 

How NCL applies the OBC is what is usually up for debate. On my last cruise in 2012 they applied the NCL OBC first and the TA OBC second. I prepaid the DSC so that was never an issue. We were in a suite so we put the tips for the butler and concierge on our account along with our bar tab and some gift shop items - and yes we did not have to worry about any leftovers :D

[The Merrill]

What is the $13.50 speciality restaurant fee for exactly? Is that the gratuity?

 

Just wondering ...

 

Cheryl

[luckyinpa]

so can you wait until end of the trip to pay DSC? for some reason i thought you had to pay before sailing.

 

if not then why prepay except in case of a rate hike?

[NMLady]

so can you wait until end of the trip to pay DSC? for some reason i thought you had to pay before sailing.

 

if not then why prepay except in case of a rate hike?

 

Yes, the DSC can be charged to your shipboard account and charged that way.

That is what most people do. We prepay ours for two reasons. One is to make the final bill easier to check. Since the DSC is charged daily and we take long cruises that saves two lines a day for 14-33 days. We don't have UBP so drinks also take up lines, as do casino tournaments on our ta sea days.

The other reason we prepay is to have that charge on a different billing period than the cruise bill.

[OV8]

What is the $13.50 speciality restaurant fee for exactly? Is that the gratuity?

 

Just wondering ...

 

Cheryl

Dug a little deeper in my question about the Service Charges aka Gratuities & it basically is 18% of the Dining Package 'Free at Sea' perk's cost.

 

I'm still not sure how the math came out to $13.50 pp for my 3 meal Specialty Dining Package perk.

I don't have the bill in front of me here at work. But it should be $69 x 18% = $12.42 pp not $13.50 pp.

 

As stated before, your perks aren't always free with NCL.

Being new to NCL this cruise, I am now more aware for future reference of all the fine print.

[OV8]

.

That is what most people do. We prepay ours for two reasons. One is to make the final bill easier to check. Since the DSC is charged daily and we take long cruises that saves two lines a day for 14-33 days. We don't have UBP so drinks also take up lines, as do casino tournaments on our ta sea days.

The other reason we prepay is to have that charge on a different billing period than the cruise bill.

 

Great advice.

Wish I had seen this before I took the cruise. LOL!

[KeithJenner]

Dug a little deeper in my question about the Service Charges aka Gratuities & it basically is 18% of the Dining Package 'Free at Sea' perk's cost.

 

 

 

I'm still not sure how the math came out to $13.50 pp for my 3 meal Specialty Dining Package perk.

 

I don't have the bill in front of me here at work. But it should be $69 x 18% = $12.42 pp not $13.50 pp.

 

 

 

As stated before, your perks aren't always free with NCL.

 

Being new to NCL this cruise, I am now more aware for future reference of all the fine print.

 

 

 

But the gratuity on the free at sea perks are paid along with your cruise fare, not on your onboard account.

 

At least that is what has always been stated. Your experience would suggest otherwise, so I suspect it may actually be something else.

[The Merrill]

That is why I originally asked. We paid for the gratuity upfront so that we will not be billed 18% when we use this particular perk. We also paid for the UBP again for the same reason. Did you not pay upfront for these fees?

 

Just wondering .. still!

 

Cheryl

[OV8]

But the gratuity on the free at sea perks are paid along with your cruise fare, not on your onboard account.

 

At least that is what has always been stated. Your experience would suggest otherwise, so I suspect it may actually be something else.

 

Hmmm...

I just checked my final payment confirmation from my travel agent & it does have the $12.42 charges as included in the final cruise payment.

 

Thanks for that reminder!

 

I'll have to check again on my final statement when I get home to see what these charges are & itemize them.

[OV8]

But the gratuity on the free at sea perks are paid along with your cruise fare, not on your onboard account.

 

At least that is what has always been stated. Your experience would suggest otherwise, so I suspect it may actually be something else.

 

Would you happen to know if the OBC (non refundable) can be used for the drink purchases - which includes an automatic 18% tip - on the ship or in the specialty restaurants?

 

I know that OBC can't be used for tips but what if the drink bill includes the tip in it?

[KeithJenner]

Would you happen to know if the OBC (non refundable) can be used for the drink purchases - which includes an automatic 18% tip - on the ship or in the specialty restaurants?

 

 

 

I know that OBC can't be used for tips but what if the drink bill includes the tip in it?

 

 

 

Yes, you can use any OBC for drinks purchases plus the 18% auto tip (and anything you may want to leave on top of that).

[OV8]

Yes, you can use any OBC for drinks purchases plus the 18% auto tip (and anything you may want to leave on top of that).

 

Thanks KeithJenner & everyone else for chiming in on this thread.

 

I sat down & reconciled everything on my bill on a spreadhseet.

Categorized them & even tried to align the various credit types with the charges.

 

At the end of the day, & having been in the Banking industry far too long - I over thought it.

 

In sum:

The 2 debit & credit columns just net themselves out to ending bottom line balance.

 

Even when associating charges to the OBC by refundable & non refundable, it still just basically nets the 2 columns.

 

Simple & elegant.

NCL does it right here.

 

Thanks again all!