$280.00 administration fees?

[timberframe!!!]

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

[cliffd64]

6 minutes ago, timberframe!!! said:

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

 

With whom did you book?  NCL directly or some third party?

 

[pieshops]

1 hour ago, timberframe!!! said:

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

this has nothing to do with NCL, this charge is through whoever you won from or whoever it is booked through

[LaCal]

CAS which is the NCL Casino Dept charges a $20 pp per day Admin fee even on Free cruises 

 

[cliffd64]

OK.  I don't know anything about "My Vegas Casino Game".  But they have to purchase the so-called "Free Cruise" from NCL to offer it as a prize.  Most companies will not fully fund a cruise to give it away as a prize, but rather will purchase the cheapest possible offering from the cruise line as a prize you can win...  You win the prize and assume its a done deal, when in reality, the game has only purchased the basic fare and not the other fees.  This is not NCL's problem, but the casino game company.  They could have purchased a better deal, but they are in the business of making money, not losing it.

[cdnsteelman]

If you book directly through NCL CAS you are charged a $20 per person per night admin fee plus port fees and taxes. My CAS "free" stateroom on an upcoming Epic 10-nighter for just myself (solo) cost me almost exactly $400 in admin fees and taxes. I then spent a further $400 to upgrade to a balcony.

 

Now I have no idea what happens for "elite" CAS members but I have seen similar threads in the past where admin fees plus port fees and taxes have always been charged. Someone who gambles more than me or has been given their award through a land-based casino may have further insight.

[Warm Breezes]

Can I ask how long it took from the time you redeemed your points for the cruise until you received the e-mail on how to book the cruise?  We snagged our cruise on Saturday and are still waiting for the e-mail letting us know how to book it.

[buzzard05]

44 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

Can I ask how long it took from the time you redeemed your points for the cruise until you received the e-mail on how to book the cruise?  We snagged our cruise on Saturday and are still waiting for the e-mail letting us know how to book it.

 

 I am so glad to hear you ask this question.  I got mine last week (midweek) and still have not heard back.  I asked their support and they said they would be in contact to book...but nothing so far.

[timberframe!!!]

We got tired of waiting for the so called email. We called and booked it with the NCL casino dept. That is who is in control of the free my vegas cruises. Their number is (887)785-8259. Be prepared that the free cruise is not so free. They hit you up per person for a fee of 101.50 p.p.gratuities, 140.00 p.p. administration fees, 181.00 p.p. tax/port fees. Then if you want to use the "free at sea" offer it is 13.80 p.p. for the dinner upgrade or $277.00 for two people (must have both in cabin purchase) for the free drink pkg.   When we won the my vegas free cruise on Carnival, there were not any administration fees. 

[PTC DAWG]

Sounds like a bargain to me.  

[Warm Breezes]

8 minutes ago, timberframe!!! said:

We got tired of waiting for the so called email. We called and booked it with the NCL casino dept. That is who is in control of the free my vegas cruises. Their number is (887)785-8259. Be prepared that the free cruise is not so free. They hit you up per person for a fee of 101.50 p.p.gratuities, 140.00 p.p. administration fees, 181.00 p.p. tax/port fees. Then if you want to use the "free at sea" offer it is 13.80 p.p. for the dinner upgrade or $277.00 for two people (must have both in cabin purchase) for the free drink pkg.   When we won the my vegas free cruise on Carnival, there were not any administration fees. 

I expected everything but the Admn fee when I grabbed it.  Still a great deal.  Thanks for passing on the phone number.  I will try calling it.

[Warm Breezes]

4 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

I expected everything but the Admn fee when I grabbed it.  Still a great deal.  Thanks for passing on the phone number.  I will try calling it.

 

Hmmm.  Getting an out of service message when I try the number you posted.

[buzzard05]

17 minutes ago, timberframe!!! said:

We got tired of waiting for the so called email. We called and booked it with the NCL casino dept. That is who is in control of the free my vegas cruises. Their number is (887)785-8259. Be prepared that the free cruise is not so free. They hit you up per person for a fee of 101.50 p.p.gratuities, 140.00 p.p. administration fees, 181.00 p.p. tax/port fees. Then if you want to use the "free at sea" offer it is 13.80 p.p. for the dinner upgrade or $277.00 for two people (must have both in cabin purchase) for the free drink pkg.   When we won the my vegas free cruise on Carnival, there were not any administration fees. 

 

When you called, did you just reference the redemption code you got when you redeemed your award?

 

Thanks for all the info by the way....that is really helpful.

[Warm Breezes]

8 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

 

Hmmm.  Getting an out of service message when I try the number you posted.

I figured it out.  The number is 888-785-8259.  Thanks.

[Warm Breezes]

22 minutes ago, buzzard05 said:

 

When you called, did you just reference the redemption code you got when you redeemed your award?

 

Thanks for all the info by the way....that is really helpful.

I just called them and booked my room.  They did ask for my redemption code but she couldn't my number in her system.  She looked up my Latitudes number and found the code associated with me and it was a completely different number than what was on the e-mail they sent me even though it was for the same cruise.  She was able to use the number in the system and get me all booked.

[ja2nowak]

32 minutes ago, timberframe!!! said:

We got tired of waiting for the so called email. We called and booked it with the NCL casino dept. That is who is in control of the free my vegas cruises. Their number is (887)785-8259. Be prepared that the free cruise is not so free. They hit you up per person for a fee of 101.50 p.p.gratuities, 140.00 p.p. administration fees, 181.00 p.p. tax/port fees. Then if you want to use the "free at sea" offer it is 13.80 p.p. for the dinner upgrade or $277.00 for two people (must have both in cabin purchase) for the free drink pkg.   When we won the my vegas free cruise on Carnival, there were not any administration fees. 

So, $14.50 per day daily service charge per person, $140 per person administration fee (which I agree is BS and as I understand it didn't come about until a couple of years ago), and Tax/Port fees are normal even if you get "free" cruises through competitors. You also could have chosen to opt out of both the dinner and drinks packages and only had drinks in the casino since on day 1 in your cabin there will be a card waiting for you. I think. There is for me usually. $50 per port shore excursion credit and WIFI credits don't come with those charges either but the upgraded dining is worth the small charge imo.

Basically, for NCL CAS at least, the charges you list are normal. I think the only one that really annoys me is the Administration Fee since I spend more than my fair share in the casino it seems greedy. But if you rise in the tiers for CAS you get onboard credit to help make up for some of the admin charge at least.

[jules528]

FYI, the administrative fee is waived for Elite-level CAS players. But apply for other CAS sailings. You can apply credit you have with NCL to the administrative fee (not to taxes/port fees), we did on our recent CAS cruise.

Edited October 30, 2018 by jules528

[shof515]

1 hour ago, timberframe!!! said:

Then if you want to use the "free at sea" offer it is 13.80 p.p. for the dinner upgrade or $277.00 for two people (must have both in cabin purchase) for the free drink pkg.  

 

those free at see prices is normal. if you book directly with NCL or a travel agent, you still have to pay those fees as part of the package

[BalconyGal]

I'm sorry they weren't more upfront with the fine print that is very frustrating.  As others have said those fees seem normal.  Enjoy your cruise. 

[Nola26]

8 hours ago, timberframe!!! said:

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

This is standard for NCL. I pay $140pp for all of my bookings using a land based casino offer. I will spend Christmas week in the Caribbean and pay under $300pp. I get $100 OBC and $50 per port shore excursions credit as NCL allows me to be eligible for their current promotions. To me this is a fantastic deal. You have to decide whether the fee is worth it for you.

 

[cdnsteelman]

Because I follow these threads here on a regular basis I wasn't surprised by any of the fees for my "free" stateroom but I will say it is confusing and a bit frustrating to navigate the first time around (especially if one isn't a Cruise Critic user), especially as the cost of your "free" stateroom can add up.

 

I'm only second tier (Pearl I think they call it), which I achieved by amassing ~8,500 points on my last sailing and so I get mail-out offers from time to time for "free" staterooms on very specific sailings. In fact my upcoming 10 day on the Epic is the first time one of these sailings (typically undersold cruises) worked for my schedule. If I was willing to take an inside cabin (again I'm solo this sailing) I would have cruised 10 days for ~$400 plus the standard $14.50 per person daily service charge. So totally not free but I easily spend ~$55 / day at home on my couch 😉

 

The really nice thing is there's no single supplement payable via CAS so for another $400 I'm in a BA (mid-ship balcony). I elected to take the 250 minutes of internet as my free at sea perq (the free at sea program is administered on your pre-upgrade cabin class - so inside for me - meaning only one free at sea choice). I would have spent essentially $200 on the auto gratuities for the drinks package plus another ~$100 on a wifi package (I need to stay in touch with my consulting practice a couple of times a day or I can't travel). So with free drinks while playing in the casino plus a couple of dining options through my Platinum Plus status on NCL I figure I can have 2 or 3 drinks a day outside the casino and still be ahead of the game, which is lots as I'm not a big drinker... especially when I'm trying to get a read on that 6-10 off bluff you're trying to sell me 😉 That said, obviously everyone's situations are different and what's value for one is not for others. For me, a 10-day sailing in a balcony for ~$95 / day with lots of drinks and some specialty dining included is a very inexpensive (albeit NOT FREE vacation). It would have been over $3,200 for me to book this cruise outside of the CAS benefit.

 

Sorry if all of this is TMI but I always appreciate it when someone gives real-life examples in these threads so when one searches the forums for specific answers there's something practical to find.

 

Break those aces!

 

Jeff

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, timberframe!!! said:

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

It is the standard fee charged by NCL Casinos at Sea for all casino bookings.  CAS lowered their admin fees about a year ago. So the $20 pp per night is less than it use to be. 

 

Agreed that some other lines lines don’t charge a admin fee. 

[DiscoCV]

My biggest beef is that My Vegas only tells you about the taxes and port fees... that part is fine. But there is no mention of the Admin fees, so in fact, the cruise is far from free. I did a quick calculation and it would be about half price.

Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal, but it's advertised as free when it shouldn't. The other cruise lines do not charge these fees.

[Sotermarler]

Are you all referring to the NCL cruise that costs 600K gold coins on MyVegas? How on earth did you get so many coins?  I have been playing for 2 or 3 years and still only  have 100K!

[Warm Breezes]

14 minutes ago, DiscoCV said:

My biggest beef is that My Vegas only tells you about the taxes and port fees... that part is fine. But there is no mention of the Admin fees, so in fact, the cruise is far from free. I did a quick calculation and it would be about half price.

Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal, but it's advertised as free when it shouldn't. The other cruise lines do not charge these fees.

This is what I found when I booked mine today on NCL Gem out of NY.  If I were to book the same cruise cabin on-line it would cost me $1938.56.  This includes the gratuity on the SDP pkg and Travel Insurance (which we always purchase and have used in the past).  My total cost booking through this promotion including SDP pkg and Travel Insurance was $760.56.  A savings of $1178.  Cheapest 7 day cruise I have ever booked.  I do agree with your beef on myVegas.  There was no where in the documentation anything about Admn Fees.  Only Port Fees and Taxes.  That is deceptive on their part.