NCL supposedly includes 2 out of 4 choices of freebies...

[ClevelandCruisin]

Does it matter if you pay before or after?

 

This reminds me of a couple that was shocked by having to pay tips at the end of a cruise. Swore up and down to the desk lady that this wasn't included on the site they booked through.

 

Nothing is free...plus ports charge taxes NCL has to pay for those drinks you have before leaving!!

 

You do get up to $15 drink on the UBP!! Enjoy!

[azgkrudi]

And you know this how?

 

By the little "rolling eyes" emogee you placed at the end of your sentence. I took that to mean that you were being sarcastic, rolling your eyes.

[sfaaa]

If you didn't read the terms of the deal before you bought, blame yourself and not NCL.

[txagfan]

These posts kill me. The reason for this is very simple, some options have a higher real cost to the line and they charge this service charge to make up the difference. If you don't want a perk pick a guarantee fare and move on. It is working for them clearly or they wouldn't continue offering it.

 

 

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[azgkrudi]

I knew I'd get a bunch of pushback which is why I rarely post here. I just thought it was a little misleading - they advertise FREE this and FREE that, so you go through the process of choosing your cabin, selecting your "freebies" -- then you get to the booking screen and see that extra couple hundred dollars tacked on.

[azgkrudi]

If you didn't read the terms of the deal before you bought, blame yourself and not NCL.

 

Never said that I booked it, or "bought" it, as you say. I haven't.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

You'd be surprised at how many people just look at the final price and say "Oh, OK!" Particularly the elderly. And I'm not rolling my eyes like you did. :-(

 

Hey I resemble that remark.:rolleyes:

 

I rolled my eyes and wasn't trying to sneak it by you. You are too young and on the ball for that anyway.

 

Bill

[sfaaa]

Never said that I booked it, or "bought" it, as you say. I haven't.

 

Then there is no problem and clearly no victim here. Not sure why you feel the need to start this thread and accuse NCL of wrongdoing.

[SeaShark]

By the little "rolling eyes" emogee you placed at the end of your sentence. I took that to mean that you were being sarcastic, rolling your eyes.

No. My question had nothing to do with the emoji (correct spelling). I am wondering where you get your information on the number of confused people, and how you know that many of them are elderly.

[SquishTheWhale]

I knew I'd get a bunch of pushback which is why I rarely post here. I just thought it was a little misleading - they advertise FREE this and FREE that, so you go through the process of choosing your cabin, selecting your "freebies" -- then you get to the booking screen and see that extra couple hundred dollars tacked on.

 

The reason you are getting pushback is that this is about the 8000th topic complaining about this. You wouldn't know this if you don't visit CC often, but just to save yourself the aggro do that forum search next time! I'm sure there's people that also agree with you, but everyone is just a bit bored of the topic. That's why you're getting the snarky responses.

 

On the other hand, if you normally buy the package anyway then you are getting a nice discount this time! But I understand that it is the 'free' wording you are annoyed about. In the UK we are not charged these fees as 'free' legally has to mean 'free'. However we pay higher cruise rates. They'll get you one way or another.

[pieshops]

I knew I'd get a bunch of pushback which is why I rarely post here. I just thought it was a little misleading - they advertise FREE this and FREE that, so you go through the process of choosing your cabin, selecting your "freebies" -- then you get to the booking screen and see that extra couple hundred dollars tacked on.

 

Same as winning a free car, or free vacation, you are always responsible for taxes and grats or getting a buy one get one free dinner at a restaurant, you tip on the full value of the 2 meals not the one.

[wdsted]

I suggest that OP really show NCL how unfair these mandatory service fees are by boycotting them and paying hundreds for booze and upgraded dining. Me, I'd rather we prepay the fee and hold on to our money.

 

 

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[denatravels]

I knew I'd get a bunch of pushback which is why I rarely post here. I just thought it was a little misleading - they advertise FREE this and FREE that, so you go through the process of choosing your cabin, selecting your "freebies" -- then you get to the booking screen and see that extra couple hundred dollars tacked on.

 

 

People suggesting that you read the terms is not push-back. I don't disagree that it's misleading to call it "free" (just as I think traveling on big NCL ships are the LEAST freestyle cruise I've done)-- but the terms and conditions are right there.

 

 

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[ready2cruzagain]

I look at it this way, to me, the UBP IS free, the gratuities are not free. I have no problem paying the gratuities.

 

This past Nov we went on the Epic for 2 weeks and then on the Carnival Sunshine. Each of the Epic cruises were $100pp cheaper than our Carnival cruise.

 

On the Epic we had the UBP and yes we had to pay the gratuities, so for less than $200 on each Epic cruise we could drink alcoholic drinks that were less than $15 each, any time we wanted to.

 

On the Carnival Sunshine, the drink package was $50pp per day plus gratuities so it was around $120 a day for both of us to get the drink package (both have to buy it). That would have been $840 for the 7 day cruise for both of us. Needless to say we did not get it.

 

Even though getting ready to hit Diamond on Carnival, I do not see us booking a cruise on their line any time in the future. People say that you pay for NCL drink package in their cost of the cruise mark up over other lines. That was and is not the case on the cruises I have looked at.

[ilovetotravel1977]

When we booked our first NCL cruise (EPIC) back in 2014, we booked an inside cabin.

 

Then NCL came out with the UBP promotion! I think it was the first time. And it was truly free! We ended up paying $599/pp ($CDN!) for a balcony and got the UBP free. No 18%.

 

That was back before they inflated the cruise fares to the point that at least part, if not all, of the UBP is included in your fare.

 

Those were the days....

[zqvol]

Is it really the gratuity? And so then we wouldn't have to add extra onto each tab we get? If so, that makes more sense to me.

 

It is the gratuity/service charge. You are not required nor expected to leave any additional gratuity on board the ship. Beverages consumed on embarkation day, until the ship is at sea may be charged the standard sales tax that is charged for drinks in that city, but that is all. You don't need to pay anything more for drinks or you specialty dining package.

[mark290]

Seems pretty plain to me...

 

"Guest is responsible for 18% gratuities on the retail value of the Ultimate Beverage Package ($14.22 USD per person, per day) and/or Soda Package ($1.35 USD per person, per day) prior to cruise, except when booking The Haven or a Suite."

 

Then you don't speak no plain english no good.

 

"if you read the terms and of conditions, it says it in plain English that the fees is for gratuities

Drinks Package:"

[Moby0215]

I knew I'd get a bunch of pushback which is why I rarely post here. I just thought it was a little misleading - they advertise FREE this and FREE that, so you go through the process of choosing your cabin, selecting your "freebies" -- then you get to the booking screen and see that extra couple hundred dollars tacked on.

 

 

 

What you are not realizing is that there are two distinct items. The package itself and the gratuities. The package is free. The gratuities are not. Think of it like this. If you have a coupon for a free meal at a restaurant, when the bill comes it will say $0. But you would still leave a tip correct?

 

 

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[rjrpar]

Well, most folks would not notice it...so I'm sure they "sneak it by" many.

 

 

How did you ever come to that conclusion. You must be a politician

 

 

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[uneamie]

The ONLY issue of have with the FREE Unlimited Beverage Package is that "both" people have to take it per cabin. :( I wanted to pick that one for myself but my husband is not a drinker. I was not interested in paying 18% gratuity for drinks he will not be drinking. I wanted to to get him the soda package instead but they would not let us split the offer. Now you tell me that there are not a lot other people who have only one person in the cabin that drinks alcohol. I cannot come up with a good reason why they can't split this offer or at least allow only one person to get it.

[Moby0215]

The ONLY issue of have with the FREE Unlimited Beverage Package is that "both" people have to take it per cabin. :( I wanted to pick that one for myself but my husband is not a drinker. I was not interested in paying 18% gratuity for drinks he will not be drinking. I wanted to to get him the soda package instead but they would not let us split the offer. Now you tell me that there are not a lot other people who have only one person in the cabin that drinks alcohol. I cannot come up with a good reason why they can't split this offer or at least allow only one person to get it.

 

 

 

Because then there would be a lot of people scamming the system.

 

 

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[NMLady]

Is it really the gratuity? And so then we wouldn't have to add extra onto each tab we get? If so, that makes more sense to me.

 

Yes, that Service Charge IS the 18% gratuity so there will not be anything added onto each tab.

[tonit964]

The ONLY issue of have with the FREE Unlimited Beverage Package is that "both" people have to take it per cabin. :( I wanted to pick that one for myself but my husband is not a drinker. I was not interested in paying 18% gratuity for drinks he will not be drinking. I wanted to to get him the soda package instead but they would not let us split the offer. Now you tell me that there are not a lot other people who have only one person in the cabin that drinks alcohol. I cannot come up with a good reason why they can't split this offer or at least allow only one person to get it.

 

That's our situation. DH doesn't drink so we are paying the gratuity for him to drink unlimited soda, since they don't include water and specialty coffee.

 

The way I look at it is, it's costing us about $198 for me to have unlimited drinks the entire week of the cruise.

That's a bargain, I'll take it!:D

[clskinsfan]

I would rather pay $223 total for DH and myself to drink then $652 ($79 x7 + 18%) per person on a 7 day cruise as it would be if we paid for the UBP out of pocket. So, yeah, it is not really totally free, but it is a great savings (> $1000). Maybe you should look at it that way. I don't drink much alcohol, but I can guarantee you that DH will certainly drink more than the $223 that the UBP perk will cost us.

 

Amen. This is my first NCL cruise coming up. The "free" UBP was a huge selling point for us. By the way you have the option of only taking ONE of the offers. Which we did. We only chose the UBP because we will eat in the MDR's every night for FREE. If we decide to do a specialty rest one night we will pay out of pocket. The gratuities for the two of us for the UBP for the week is $199. I can guarantee you that at current drink prices we would have spent that by the second or third day of the cruise ON ANY CRUISE LINE . So it was an outstanding value for us.

 

I also want to add. That there was a comment earlier about the cabin prices being inflated. I am cruising on Allure of the seas in April for the second time. The cost of an interior (boardwalk) balcony room on Allure is MORE than I am paying for a deck 9 aft balcony on Escape in October.

Edited February 12, 2017 by clskinsfan

[Eblocker460]

We were EXTREMELY disappointed in this "Free Service " offer with an ocean view room. After booking, and upon arrival on the Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship last week, we were informed that our room did not qualify for the promotion. No one at the quest services counter would help resolve the issue. We called the company office in Florida and still were told "not qualified."

This was a deceptive promotion and we will NEVER cruise Norwegian again! We'll stay with Carnival where we've consistently had good service for our past 3 cruises. Beware of being suckered by Norwegian Cruise Lines folks!

 

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