Gratuities

[JohnHall1965]

Has anyone ever heard of Norwegian offering to pay gratuities on an ubp as a perk , not a Travel Agent but Norwegian themselves ? Thanks in advance for any and all replies !

 

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[casofilia]

Yes we have gratuities paid on cruises from Honolulu to Sydney and Sydney to Tokyo late in 2017/early in 2018

[JohnHall1965]

So Norwegian Cruise Line paid the ultimate Beverage package gratuities ? Or are you talking your room gratuities ?

 

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[KeithJenner]

The daily charge is sometimes included as a free at sea option.

[esm54687]

So Norwegian Cruise Line paid the ultimate Beverage package gratuities ? Or are you talking your room gratuities ?

 

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I know NCL UK bookings do not charge the 18% on UBP / SDP....... haven't seen a US booking have the 18% waived.

[KeithJenner]

Sorry, I misread the original post and for some reason thought you were talking about the DSC.

 

I assume that you are talking about the gratuities on the UBP which is given as a perk, rather than if you purchase it. As far as I am aware, the gratuities have always been payable on a purchased UBP.

 

When NCL started offering the UBP as a booking perk they didn't charge anybody the gratuities on it.

 

That ended a while ago for people from some countries (principally the US) in non suites.

 

Nowadays, there are still times when the gratuities aren't paid on the promo UBP. As stated above, it isn't paid in the UK and some other countries.

 

In addition, I believe that it also isn't charged if you are in a suite.

[txagfan]

That will never happen. Part of the marketing/gimmick on that perk is to make it seem free even though a marginal charge is paid. Same with SDP. You'll never see them acknowledge in that sort of way there is a charge. Also, it would throw off the excursion and internet options with no equivalent bump on those.

 

Don't worry so much about an $80 charge to drink for free.

 

 

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[gingersvp]

If you're booked in the Haven the UDP gratuities are included.

[JohnHall1965]

Ok thanks for the replies , I had a discussion with someone who swore they had the drink gratuities given to them as a perk in a standard 8a Balcony . I called NCL and asked and they told me that they NEVER offered the UBP gratuities as a perk . I was just trying to find the skinny .

 

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[KeithJenner]

I called NCL and asked and they told me that they NEVER offered the UBP gratuities as a perk .

 

 

 

The golden rule of phoning NCL. Whatever they say, the opposite is most likely to be true. :)

[hawkeyetlse]

You would have to ask that person under what circumstances they received this perk. Maybe they booked back when everyone got the serive charge included with the UBP perk (early 2015), maybe they didn't book through NCL US, maybe they sucessfully negotiated a special perk just for their booking. Or maybe they were on the Sky.

 

Whatever the story was, the only sure way for you to get out of the service charge now (on a non-suite booking) is by booking through NCL UK or Australia or some other international office.

[BirdTravels]

That will never happen. Part of the marketing/gimmick on that perk is to make it seem free even though a marginal charge is paid. Same with SDP. You'll never see them acknowledge in that sort of way there is a charge. Also, it would throw off the excursion and internet options with no equivalent bump on those. Don't worry so much about an $80 charge to drink for free.

 

Probably more that they ran into US tax problems with their ability to "write off" the gratuities as a business expense. The gratuities probably have always been there and NCL was writing off the entire amount as a marketing expense. Then found that it was an unallowable so they now charge it back to the buyer.

[asubaru]

Gratuities were included w/UBP when NCL first started offering it as a free promo, so it could be true.

 

Ok thanks for the replies , I had a discussion with someone who swore they had the drink gratuities given to them as a perk in a standard 8a Balcony . I called NCL and asked and they told me that they NEVER offered the UBP gratuities as a perk . I was just trying to find the skinny .

 

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[spidybabe]

Gratuities were included w/UBP when NCL first started offering it as a free promo, so it could be true. <br />

 

The first time NCL had the UBP promo, it was TOTALLY free, no 18%. We are still kicking ourselves that we only booked one cruise that way!!

When you called NCL, they were incorrect

Safe sailing

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

When you called NCL, they were incorrect

They are often incorrect, but it really depends exactly what the question was and exactly what the answer was. Technically, the 18% service charge has never been a "perk" offered as part of any promotion. First of all, because in early 2015 the service charge was only 15% ;)

 

And second, because when it is included with the promotional UBP (under the various circumstances already mentioned in this thread), it is part of the beverage package perk. It's not a separate perk, as in "You purchase the UBP for $79 per person per day and we'll cover the 18% service charge for you". But who knows, the next version of Free At Sea may say that…

[sanger727]

They could be correct. As someone said, when the UBP perk was first introduced there was no gratuity on it. Also I believe group bookings don't have a gratuity on the UBP perk. I'm assuming they aren't from the U.K.? Because U.K. Customers don't pay it either.

 

But I don't think that has ever been offered as a perk

 

 

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[Delta Dear]

We had the gratuity perk last month on the Epic. It was one of the five offers we could choose. We don't drink enough to want that package so we did the gratuity and specialized dining as our two choices.

 

 

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[sanger727]

We had the gratuity perk last month on the Epic. It was one of the five offers we could choose. We don't drink enough to want that package so we did the gratuity and specialized dining as our two choices.

 

 

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That's not what OP is asking about. The DSC was offered as a perk in the past. They are asking about the $14 pp pd service charge on the UBP package.

 

 

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