Gratuties added to booking

[elapel01]

I am new to NCL website, trying to book a 10 night cruise or at least see what the cost will be.  When I picked drinks and specialty dining as my 2 perks (I really would like them to offer free grats) I noticed a $580 charge for DH and myself.  Then I changed perks to drinks and wifi and the grat cost went down to $520 I think.  I thought grats were roughly $15 a day per person which would make it $300 for 2 people on a 10 night cruise???  Can someone explain why the grats are so high?  I am used to Celebrity ($14.50 or $15 a day per person, max of $300 for a 10 night cruise).  At first I was thinking NCL is a lot less expensive than Celebrity but I am wondering now if that might not be the case if over $500 is being added to the total.  

[GUT2407]

Yep free doesn’t mean free to NCL they then add massive grats.

[CruiserCindy]

Grats are now 15 dollars per day per person.What you are seeing are the  daily service charge(DSC) they are charging on your free perks.I think it is 20 percent of what the daily charge would be on your drink package,if you were to purchase it. and also on your meal package.This is a separate charge from your Grat(TIPS).Hope this helps

[Budget Queen]

The  grats  you are seeing and being charged for with your booking- are for the PERKS,  only.    You will also be charged the daily service fee of $14.99/day/person,  when you are on board.    

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, elapel01 said:

I am new to NCL website, trying to book a 10 night cruise or at least see what the cost will be.  When I picked drinks and specialty dining as my 2 perks (I really would like them to offer free grats) I noticed a $580 charge for DH and myself.  Then I changed perks to drinks and wifi and the grat cost went down to $520 I think.  I thought grats were roughly $15 a day per person which would make it $300 for 2 people on a 10 night cruise???  Can someone explain why the grats are so high?  I am used to Celebrity ($14.50 or $15 a day per person, max of $300 for a 10 night cruise).  At first I was thinking NCL is a lot less expensive than Celebrity but I am wondering now if that might not be the case if over $500 is being added to the total.  

You are paying for port fees and taxes. And the gratuities on the packages you have selected. 

 

The gratuities on the Premium Beverage Package is $19.80 per day per person (roughly the cost of a couple of drinks)

 

The gratuities on the Specialty Dining Package is $18.80 per person total. 

 

$396.00 + $37.60 = $433.80 is what you owe for the packages you selected. Both a great deal. 

[dexddd]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You are paying for port fees and taxes. And the gratuities on the packages you have selected. 

 

The gratuities on the Premium Beverage Package is $19.80 per day per person (roughly the cost of a couple of drinks)

 

The gratuities on the Specialty Dining Package is $18.80 per person total. 

 

$396.00 + $37.60 = $433.80 is what you owe for the packages you selected. Both a great deal. 

Not.

[newmexicoNita]

the additional charges are for the drink package and my understanding is most lines are adding gratuities for drinks if there is a free perk involved. This is what you are paying for; the tips on unlimited drinks plus the tips on the specialty dinners. The $14.95 per day DSC will be added to you charges when you actually are on board and are separate. 

[Greenpea2]

They are a good deal. They just aren't free. $19.80 per day for drinks is a damn sight better than if you paid per drink.Unless you only drink 2 drinks per day. The problem is they make them sound FREE and they are not.

 

[sanger727]

7 minutes ago, newmexicoNita said:

the additional charges are for the drink package and my understanding is most lines are adding gratuities for drinks if there is a free perk involved. This is what you are paying for; the tips on unlimited drinks plus the tips on the specialty dinners. The $14.95 per day DSC will be added to you charges when you actually are on board and are separate. 

 

Not sure about ‘most lines’. The only lines I’ve cruised that offered the drink package as an inclusion are NCL and celebrity. And celebrity doesn’t charge gratuities if you choose the drink package as your ‘freebie’. I do think NCLs drink package gratuities are getting a little ridiculous.

[Outerdog]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

$396.00 + $37.60 = $433.80 is what you owe for the packages you selected. Both a great deal. 

 

But not quite free. NCL's marketing is deceptive. Which is why this forum sees posts just like OP's over and over and over and over again.

 

Shortly, an NCL cheerleader will post something about tipping after having dined at a local restaurant with a "free meal" coupon and compare that to NCL's "free" perks. It's ridiculous.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Outerdog

[dexddd]

9 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

But not quite free. NCL's marketing is deceptive. Which is why this forum sees posts just like OP's over and over and over and over again.

 

Shortly, an NCL cheerleader will post something about tipping after having dined at a local restaurant with a "free meal" coupon and compare that to NCL's "free" perks. It's ridiculous.

Or compare a Platinum meal to buying groceries at Walmart.

[Turtles06]

46 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

Not sure about ‘most lines’. The only lines I’ve cruised that offered the drink package as an inclusion are NCL and celebrity. And celebrity doesn’t charge gratuities if you choose the drink package as your ‘freebie’. I do think NCLs drink package gratuities are getting a little ridiculous.

 

HAL also does not add gratuities to its beverage packages when they are part of a promo.

 

What’s particularly troublesome about what NCL is doing is that it just invents the cost of the beverage package (and raises it) — to a point that I doubt anyone would buy it — then gives it away “free” for what is becoming a hefty “gratuity.” 

[elapel01]

Thanks for all the replies!  Definitely not a “good deal” paying service charges  on perks that are suppose to be free.  Celebrity definitely does not do this.  While I know they are more expensive and when they started giving free perks I realized that you are going to be paying for them somehow but I would rather it be hidden.  So now the difference between NCL cruise and Celebrity is around $900 cheaper with NCL not the $1500-$1600 I had originally thought.  $900 probably isn’t enough for me to go to a new cruise line and a ship with a lot more passengers.  I can’t believe NCL would think it’s a good idea to charge s/c on something that’s supposed to be free!

 

Thanks again for all your replies.  

[PTC DAWG]

I don't know why folks just don't look at the final price, what you get for said price, and make the comparison from that.  It's not that hard.  

[Outerdog]

37 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I don't know why folks just don't look at the final price, what you get for said price, and make the comparison from that.  It's not that hard.  

 

It's not that simple, either. NCL is famous for moving the goal posts -- that is, what is included at time of booking and final payment may no longer be included once onboard. Or it may no longer be available. Or it may be subject to a new fee. Or a restriction. 

 

Like the recent BS moving target of the drink package where "top shelf" (not really top shelf) booze was included then it wasn't then it was again and jeez, who the hell knows now, the price changed, the menu changed, but not on this ship, only that ship, but not until the sailing three weeks from tomorrow...15% today, 18% tomorrow, 20% the next week.  

 

And the beat goes on with NCL...on and on and on...

 

NCL - Feel Fee!

[spanishguy1970]

We just prepaid our gratuities $435 at 14.50 per person.  We have a 19 day cruise coming up  in October and we will probably  prepay that too to avoid the 50cent price hike. I find is getting more expensive to cruise, in fact for next year we are looking at Hawaii, 18 day vacation there will be cheaper than taking a cruise, but that would be at the military hotel in Honolulu.

[KevInPitt]

1 hour ago, elapel01 said:

Thanks for all the replies!  Definitely not a “good deal” paying service charges  on perks that are suppose to be free.  Celebrity definitely does not do this.  While I know they are more expensive and when they started giving free perks I realized that you are going to be paying for them somehow but I would rather it be hidden.  So now the difference between NCL cruise and Celebrity is around $900 cheaper with NCL not the $1500-$1600 I had originally thought.  $900 probably isn’t enough for me to go to a new cruise line and a ship with a lot more passengers.  I can’t believe NCL would think it’s a good idea to charge s/c on something that’s supposed to be free!

 

Thanks again for all your replies.  

 

I, for one, am glad it’s not.  

 

NCL apparently thinks its a great idea because they’ve been doing it for years and have no problem filling their ships.

 

If you find the practice unsavory, you should stick with Celebrity where the cost (package and service charges) is indeed hidden in their fare.  Simply track prices with and without promos and you’ll see. Ignorance is bliss and you seem to enjoy the familiarity of the Celebrity product so leaping to another line you already think is sneaky and deceptive will taint any experience you have on board.

[Pwrmaster7]

2 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I don't know why folks just don't look at the final price, what you get for said price, and make the comparison from that.  It's not that hard.  

This = exactly correct.  Who cares how you get to the number...what is the best number for what you want and go from there.

[broberts]

3 minutes ago, Pwrmaster7 said:

This = exactly correct.  Who cares how you get to the number...what is the best number for what you want and go from there.

 

True enough. However, determining the "final" price is rarely easy and figuring out exactly what is included even tougher. I suspect this is by design, no cruise line wants an easy detailed comparison with any other.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Pwrmaster7 said:

This = exactly correct.  Who cares how you get to the number...what is the best number for what you want and go from there.

 

For some, a $2,500 cruise with no service charges is better than a $2,000 cruise plus $400 in service charges. I don't understand why but some people feel that way. 

 

3 hours ago, elapel01 said:

Celebrity definitely does not do this.  While I know they are more expensive and when they started giving free perks I realized that you are going to be paying for them somehow but I would rather it be hidden.

 

In this case, the OP knows that they are paying for the "free" things on Celebrity but since it is hidden, it feels better. I don't understand why some people feel that way.

 

3 hours ago, elapel01 said:

I can’t believe NCL would think it’s a good idea to charge s/c on something that’s supposed to be free!

 

...as opposed to another cruise-line that charges for something that is supposed to be free without showing it? I don't understand why some people feel that way. 

[Greenpea2]

24 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

For some, a $2,500 cruise with no service charges is better than a $2,000 cruise plus $400 in service charges. I don't understand why but some people feel that way. 

 

 

In this case, the OP knows that they are paying for the "free" things on Celebrity but since it is hidden, it feels better. I don't understand why some people feel that way.

 

 

...as opposed to another cruise-line that charges for something that is supposed to be free without showing it? I don't understand why some people feel that way. 

🙂 🙂 

[Lolou127]

Reading this post with interest, we’re in the U.K. and booked our first NCL cruise last weekend before the offer changed, ive just checked and I’ve got all the included offers listed and an item that says service charge on beverage package, this is listed separately to the included gratuities that was part of the offer

 

does this mean I’ll just have to pay gratuities on the specialty dining package? Or are there other gratuities I’ve not taken into account?

[Outerdog]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

In this case, the OP knows that they are paying for the "free" things on Celebrity but since it is hidden, it feels better. I don't understand why some people feel that way.

 

NCL is the one telling everyone to Feel Free! After all the fees and exclusions are presented, how could it possibly come as a surprise to anyone that some people who book NCL cruises don't, exactly, feel so free?

[kodesthemoose]

6 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

I don't know why folks just don't look at the final price, what you get for said price, and make the comparison from that.  It's not that hard.  

 

In fairness to the OP,  that's exactly what s/he is doing.  With the added service charges for drinks/specialty dining, the difference is only a savings of $900 compared to the other cruise s/he is pricing out. 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

NCL is the one telling everyone to Feel Free! After all the fees and exclusions are presented, how could it possibly come as a surprise to anyone that some people who book NCL cruises don't, exactly, feel so free?

 

It's the same way that when people buy and eat Skittles, they shouldn't be surprised when they don't actually "taste the rainbow".