Free Promos are Not Free

[Newleno]

So we are 10 points away from platinum members, we are supposed to get two "free specialty" meals as platinum. We have to pay tips to get those meals?

[NLH Arizona]

So we are 10 points away from platinum members, we are supposed to get two "free specialty" meals as platinum. We have to pay tips to get those meals?

No you don't, but if you want to leave a tip you can.

[KeithJenner]

Things must have recently change, because in December on my cruise you get a check at the end of the meal at the Teppanyaki restaurant whether you have the SDP or not in case you want to leave a tip for the server and/or chef and to sign. The bill should have been $36, plus possibly a drink, hopefully Guest Services adjust your bill. I'm assuming you tipped in cash since you didn't get a check.

 

 

 

The post you quoted stated that they added a tip, so they must have had the check for Teppenyaki. I assume they mean that they didn’t see their cruise account (which would have been available on their in room TV as well as iconcierge and at guest services if they had asked. I’ve never stayed anywhere where they send you copies of the bill during the week unless you ask (at least not for many years).

 

 

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[Donna_In_India]

Things must have recently change, because in December on my cruise you get a check at the end of the meal at the Teppanyaki restaurant whether you have the SDP or not in case you want to leave a tip for the server and/or chef and to sign. The bill should have been $36, plus possibly a drink, hopefully Guest Services adjust your bill. I'm assuming you tipped in cash since you didn't get a check.

 

The "check" at the end only reflected the $29.95 or whatever it was. I added in a tip for the waiter and chef but did not see the already added tip(20%) or the tax. The bill before my added tips was over 39. Guest services did not adjust my bill.

[Donna_In_India]

The post you quoted stated that they added a tip, so they must have had the check for Teppenyaki. I assume they mean that they didn’t see their cruise account (which would have been available on their in room TV as well as iconcierge and at guest services if they had asked. I’ve never stayed anywhere where they send you copies of the bill during the week unless you ask (at least not for many years).

 

 

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They gave me a full breakout of the bill the next day at guest services - NOT the one I signed.

[Donna_In_India]

So we are 10 points away from platinum members, we are supposed to get two "free specialty" meals as platinum. We have to pay tips to get those meals?

 

The number of courses you get with platinum are less than the number you get with the Free Promos. My aunts were platinum and they did not have the same options we did in Cagney's or La Cucina. I believe in Cagney's we had 4, they had 3 and in La Cucina we had 5 and they had 3.

[Mikel1733]

Bottom line there is no free lunch. But I have compared cruises with similar itinerary's and NCL still provides a good value with the included promo's even though you have to pay tips. I'm not married to any cruise line, so you just need to compare trips with the options you want.

[adam_s_allen]

The "check" at the end only reflected the $29.95 or whatever it was. I added in a tip for the waiter and chef but did not see the already added tip(20%) or the tax. The bill before my added tips was over 39. Guest services did not adjust my bill.

 

I didn’t think there was tax on anything while in international waters.

[Donna_In_India]

I didn’t think there was tax on anything while in international waters.

 

I'm pretty sure it was $3 give or take..... I'll see if I can find the receipt they gave me at guest services. (It was an Alaskan cruise.)

[BirdTravels]

Things must have recently change, because in December on my cruise you get a check at the end of the meal at the Teppanyaki restaurant whether you have the SDP or not in case you want to leave a tip for the server and/or chef and to sign. The bill should have been $36, plus possibly a drink, hopefully Guest Services adjust your bill. I'm assuming you tipped in cash since you didn't get a check.

Obviously the poster had to sign for the room charge. And admits that they signed for dinner. And, now complains about what they paid. Guest services will pull the signed receipt and show it to you.

[BirdTravels]

I'm pretty sure it was $3 give or take..... I'll see if I can find the receipt they gave me at guest services. (It was an Alaskan cruise.)

There is no tax on food.

[broberts]

Obviously the poster had to sign for the room charge. And admits that they signed for dinner. And, now complains about what they paid. Guest services will pull the signed receipt and show it to you.

 

I believe the OP was clear on the fact that the receipt signed did not show all the charges made. Seems to me that this is a very valid complaint.

 

Personally I would have probably insisted on removing the charges not included on the signed receipt. Even though I would have happily signed a receipt showing all the charges.

[Donna_In_India]

Obviously the poster had to sign for the room charge. And admits that they signed for dinner. And, now complains about what they paid. Guest services will pull the signed receipt and show it to you.

 

I don't know what you mean sign for the room charge. Guest services did NOT show me MY receipt. They printed one up that had the charge, 20% service charge, and tax without my signature and called someone to explain it to me. I complained because the price for what was received was ridiculous.

[KeithJenner]

I don't know what you mean sign for the room charge. Guest services did NOT show me MY receipt. They printed one up that had the charge, 20% service charge, and tax without my signature and called someone to explain it to me. I complained because the price for what was received was ridiculous.

 

The problem is that I don't think any of us can really understand what happened in your case. What you describe is very strange, and it seems to me that either something went wrong with the systems, or you are misremembering.

 

You state that you got a bill to sign after the meal which had a space for tips for the server and cook. I know that form, and I can't imagine how it could have had that bit without also having the full charges listed including any auto gratuity. They are usually on that bill.

 

Therefore, I really can't imagine what happened in order for you to have part of that bill, but not the amounts.

 

I'm not disputing what you are saying, but we can only speculate as to what the cause was.

 

Also, as has been stated above, there should be no tax on that bill. Again, we can only speculate as to why you were (or think you were) charged it.

[Donna_In_India]

The problem is that I don't think any of us can really understand what happened in your case. What you describe is very strange, and it seems to me that either something went wrong with the systems, or you are misremembering.

 

You state that you got a bill to sign after the meal which had a space for tips for the server and cook. I know that form, and I can't imagine how it could have had that bit without also having the full charges listed including any auto gratuity. They are usually on that bill.

 

Therefore, I really can't imagine what happened in order for you to have part of that bill, but not the amounts.

 

I'm not disputing what you are saying, but we can only speculate as to what the cause was.

 

Also, as has been stated above, there should be no tax on that bill. Again, we can only speculate as to why you were (or think you were) charged it.

 

 

Just looked at my stateroom bill. The charge was $41.96 plus an additional separate $5.00 (tip for chef). The $41.96 included an additional $3 tip for waiter. That $8 was on top of their automatic charges ($38.96) which were - price of meal, 20% gratuity, and what is the additional few dollars if not tax? So how is the $38.96 broken up?

 

Again - the total for 3 of us was $62.96 (2 promos). My complaint was the ridiculous charge for the 1 vegetarian meal - and I was really comparing the same situation on RCI. In the end the food at Teppanyaki was really good. I'll just make sure to check my bills more closely in the future.

[Newleno]

The problem is that I don't think any of us can really understand what happened in your case. What you describe is very strange, and it seems to me that either something went wrong with the systems, or you are misremembering.

 

You state that you got a bill to sign after the meal which had a space for tips for the server and cook. I know that form, and I can't imagine how it could have had that bit without also having the full charges listed including any auto gratuity. They are usually on that bill.

 

Therefore, I really can't imagine what happened in order for you to have part of that bill, but not the amounts.

 

I'm not disputing what you are saying, but we can only speculate as to what the cause was.

 

Also, as has been stated above, there should be no tax on that bill. Again, we can only speculate as to why you were (or think you were) charged it.

 

No, We understand completely what happened, NCL pulled the olde nickel and dime routine, the bait and switch. Power to the passengers!!

[spanishguy1970]

No, We understand completely what happened, NCL pulled the olde nickel and dime routine, the bait and switch. Power to the passengers!!

 

 

yes, they did. Is been my experience with NCL cheerleaders that they read threads always not understanding what the OP is trying to say. They either use the excuse of " what the OP is saying is very strange, or something about the OP problem seems fishy, never to understand where they are coming from but always to defend NCL and their policies..:confused: anyways, when you have to pay the service charge the free promo is not free, period, the end. They would do a better job if they included the service charge within the promo, maybe just maybe people would think is actually free..LOL:evilsmile::rolleyes:

[KeithJenner]

No, We understand completely what happened, NCL pulled the olde nickel and dime routine, the bait and switch. Power to the passengers!!

 

If you do understand completely what happened then maybe you could explain to the other poster.

 

 

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Edited September 3, 2018 by KeithJenner

[KeithJenner]

yes, they did. Is been my experience with NCL cheerleaders that they read threads always not understanding what the OP is trying to say. They either use the excuse of " what the OP is saying is very strange, or something about the OP problem seems fishy, never to understand where they are coming from but always to defend NCL and their policies..:confused: anyways, when you have to pay the service charge the free promo is not free, period, the end. They would do a better job if they included the service charge within the promo, maybe just maybe people would think is actually free..LOL:evilsmile::rolleyes:

 

I assume that I am the "cheerleader".

 

I am not commenting in any way, either positively or negatively, about NCL's policies here. I am not suggesting that there is something "fishy" about what the other poster said.

 

All I am saying, and sorry if it is a bit complicated for you, is that with the information that we have been given, we are unable to say exactly what happened. It looks odd, but we don't know what caused it. If that is "cheerleading" then I'll have to add that word to the list of things that I don't understand.

 

Even after we have been given more information, I still don't know what makes up the charge. I assume from your post that you think you do know, so rather than starting name calling, perhaps your time would have been better spent explaining to them how their final charge was made up.

[mailbroad]

I still don't understand how people are shocked by this. When you go to a restaurant with a gift card or a coupon for a free meal, do you not tip your waitstaff?

 

Exactly!

[Jana60]

Exactly!

 

 

If you purchase dinner on board at a specialty restaurant and you were not included in a specialty dining package then you would have a gratuity in addition to the dinner charges. But if your dinner is part of a Specialty dining package then you would’ve paid the gratuity at the time of purchase of the package. It’s possible that the dining staff made an error and it would have been good to question it at the time of service.

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

My complaint was the ridiculous charge for the 1 vegetarian meal - and I was really comparing the same situation on RCI.

Wondering, what did you think the meal was worth?Did you ever find the receipt they gave you, which would have everything on it with what it was? BTW, I think people are asking, because since most of us have never heard of this happening before, we really want to know what the deal was, so that we can make sure it doesn't happen to us. Edited September 3, 2018 by NLH Arizona

[Shidah]

Just looked at my stateroom bill. The charge was $41.96 plus an additional separate $5.00 (tip for chef). The $41.96 included an additional $3 tip for waiter. That $8 was on top of their automatic charges ($38.96) which were - price of meal, 20% gratuity, and what is the additional few dollars if not tax? So how is the $38.96 broken up?

 

Again - the total for 3 of us was $62.96 (2 promos). My complaint was the ridiculous charge for the 1 vegetarian meal - and I was really comparing the same situation on RCI. In the end the food at Teppanyaki was really good. I'll just make sure to check my bills more closely in the future.

 

Still confused. Your gratuity is paid prior to getting onboard when using the SDP. It is part of the auto gratuity paid on the package, whether purchased or a perk. Do they offer a kids meal and your child preferred something different? Is it worth buying the dining package for your daughter next time? We have always had everyone on the SPD, purchased it for anyone above the first 2 in the room, and our bills at Teppanaki have always been 0, just whatever additional tip we left for the waiter or chef.

[NLH Arizona]

and then the real kicker they always leave a section for you to tip extra on top of the specialty tipping! And in Teppanyaki ask you to tip the chef as well ... wowee- anyone else need a tip?

 

 

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They don't ask you to tip, there is a line for extra tips if you want to give them and if you don't, then don't.

[Newleno]

If you do understand completely what happened then maybe you could explain to the other poster.

 

 

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I just did