Do UK/EU bookings now have to pay the 18% on the Free At Sea food/drinks promotions?

[clivep]

I know this was introduced a long time ago for US bookings but it had been thought that it was against EU law to charge it on UK/EU bookings.

 

I see the UK/EU terms & conditions for the promotion now state:

 

Guest is responsible for 18% gratuities & service charges on the retail value of the Ultimate Beverage Package and/or Soda Package prior to cruise.

Ultimate beverage package option includes 18% gratuity on the package

When booking through the Australia office, gratuities related to beverage and soda packages are included.

 

So that's as clear as mud then!!!

 

For the dining package...

 

Guest is responsible for 18% gratuities & service charges on the retail value of the Specialty Dining Package prior to cruise.

[sanger727]

Well, it's simple enough to figure out whether or not they are charging it by doing a mock booking and taking it to the final page where you put your info in. There will be a line item for special services charge or something like that (like how there's a line items for port fees and taxes) if you need to pay the 18% on the promotion. They always charge it upfront at booking, so it wouldn't be a surprise later.

 

Now, whether or not it's legal, have no idea.

[SteveH2508]

If you buy the package you pay the 18% extra.

 

If you get it as a 'free' promo, you do not pay the extra 18% (in the EU free means free)

[clivep]

If you buy the package you pay the 18% extra.

 

If you get it as a 'free' promo, you do not pay the extra 18% (in the EU free means free)

 

That's how it used to be but I'm quoting from the t'c & c's now showing for the "free" promotion!

[KeithJenner]

That's how it used to be but I'm quoting from the t'c & c's now showing for the "free" promotion!

 

 

 

The website was changed recently and a lot of the T&Cs seem to be generic and not country specific.

 

It has been as quoted for a while now and, if it was chargeable then I'm sure that someone would have reported that on here by now.

 

As stated above, a dummy booking should confirm it, but I'm almost certain that it isn't being charged. I haven't booked for a few months so can't say for sure from recent experience.

[MarkusToe]

Within DE, price is final, everytime..., no further additional cost allowed by law...

NCL adv. all incl. Cruising....therefore no add cost at all

[Eleteace]

I recently had the package free as per of the promotion and didn't have to pay the 18%, it was all included :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[clivep]

The website was changed recently and a lot of the T&Cs seem to be generic and not country specific.

 

It has been as quoted for a while now and, if it was chargeable then I'm sure that someone would have reported that on here by now.

 

As stated above, a dummy booking should confirm it, but I'm almost certain that it isn't being charged. I haven't booked for a few months so can't say for sure from recent experience.

 

The Ts&Cs now cover the promotion for both UK & EU (the US ones are different). It looks like they've copied the US info and made some but not all of the changes necessary hence the reference regarding the beverage gratuities to bookings made through the Australia office.

 

I've tried doing a dummy booking on the NCL site (all the way up to the payment page for a qualifying cruise date/cabin) but it doesn't even ask which promotions you want so no further information to be had regarding the gratuities on any of the promotion choices.

[SquishTheWhale]

The UK booking interface is so clunky- like clive says you can't even select which promos you want. They automatically allocated me the UBP and Internet (which I think they catagorise as having the highest value) and I had to ring and swap the internet for the UDP. I can confirm that I paid 18% on neither the UBP when booking or on the UDP when I switched to it.

 

They seem to have changed the UK site so it looks like the US one now (I prefered the old look) so they probably just copied over the promo T&Cs too and were too lazy to change them.

[holula]

I booked today (UK) and didn't pay 18% service charge on the UBP. With the exchange rate right now it's such a great deal.