What is Prepaid Service Charges ?

[abhisheks77]

Hi,

While booking NCL Joy for Alaska, it gives me an option to "Add Prepaid Service Charges" and that $15.00 USD per person per day.
Are these compulsory charges to be added, either at the time of booking or on-board ? Or this is optional like tips or gratuity ?

Thanks

[Diver2014]

Those are the gratuity charges.  You can pay them upfront and not have a large bill at the end of your cruise or you can have them added onto your room charges.  They say they are optional but not really.....I'd never dream of stiffing the crew.

[abhisheks77]

So....I have option to not pay at now at the time of booking. In that case, will they send that bill to my room in end of sailing or I will have option to tip them individually (depending on their service), instead ?

[Diver2014]

The service charges are automatically added to your daily room charges if you don't pay them in advance.  You do not have the option to tip individually since they are shared among the crew.  You can still give an individual crew member an additional cash tip if you like. 

[JamieLogical]

5 minutes ago, abhisheks77 said:

So....I have option to not pay at now at the time of booking. In that case, will they send that bill to my room in end of sailing or I will have option to tip them individually (depending on their service), instead ?

 

They will be billed to whatever payment method you have set up for your on board spending on the last day of your sailing.

[abhisheks77]

Understood. So it is mandatory. Thanks

[Diver2014]

Yes, it is 'mandatory'......but can be adjusted on board if you are really dissatisfied with the service.  Just remember, you are punishing the entire service crew, not just one person, if you have it adjusted downward.

[abhisheks77]

I hope, I will not need to do that. I know, how hard they work.

[luv2kroooz]

12 minutes ago, abhisheks77 said:

Understood. So it is mandatory. Thanks

It is not mandatory. Should you experience a service issue during your cruise that can not be resolved to your satisfaction, you may adjust the charges on the last day of your cruise by visiting guest services.

[Diver2014]

10 minutes ago, blcruising said:

It is not mandatory. Should you experience a service issue during your cruise that can not be resolved to your satisfaction, you may adjust the charges on the last day of your cruise by visiting guest services.

 

 

The charges are automatically added to your shipboard account (if not prepaid) which makes them 'mandatory' and yes, you can have them adjusted but down to zero?   That would have to be a pretty intense service issue. I think the word 'mandatory' is being stretched a bit for this conversation.  A charge automatically added to your shipboard account I think would be considered mandatory (but adjustable), don't you?

[luv2kroooz]

6 minutes ago, Diver2014 said:

 

 

The charges are automatically added to your shipboard account (if not prepaid) which makes them 'mandatory' and yes, you can have them adjusted but down to zero?   That would have to be a pretty intense service issue. I think the word 'mandatory' is being stretched a bit for this conversation.  A charge automatically added to your shipboard account I think would be considered mandatory (but adjustable), don't you?

All I know is that they can be adjusted up or down based on service or lack thereof. Not interested in debating semantics or the merits of making adjustments to the DSC

Edited May 17, 2019 by blcruising

[graphicguy]

BTW...these charges aren’t the sole province of NCL.  All the cruise lines I’ve sailed charge them.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, abhisheks77 said:

Understood. So it is mandatory. Thanks

You must pay the charges. AFTER the cruise, you may request and adjustment by filing a complaint. You can not do this onboard. 

[luv2kroooz]

33 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You must pay the charges. AFTER the cruise, you may request and adjustment by filing a complaint. You can not do this onboard. 

This was not the case a year or two ago on the Getaway nor the case more recently on Dawn. The adjustment was made on the last day of the cruise and was netted against the final balance on your account. There is a form that allows you to specify the issue that was not resolved to your satisfaction. On our cruises, guest services had the form onboard. Maybe it varies by ship.

Edited May 17, 2019 by blcruising

[Birdie And Sue]

3 hours ago, abhisheks77 said:

Hi,

While booking NCL Joy for Alaska, it gives me an option to "Add Prepaid Service Charges" and that $15.00 USD per person per day.
Are these compulsory charges to be added, either at the time of booking or on-board ? Or this is optional like tips or gratuity ?

Thanks

 

 

It is EXACTLY what you asked about.  There is a fixed rate Daily Service Charge and you have elected to pay it ahead of time rather than have it added to your on board account on a daily basis.  Some people mistakingly refer to this as a gratuity.

 

[Birdie And Sue]

3 hours ago, abhisheks77 said:

So....I have option to not pay at now at the time of booking. In that case, will they send that bill to my room in end of sailing or I will have option to tip them individually (depending on their service), instead ?

 

You can tip anyone you want any time you want in any amount you want, but that has nothing to do with the DSC.

[Greenpea2]

The only real advantage to paying it in advance is that if there is an increase, you are locked in to the lower price.  This has happened to me twice. There was a increase not too long ago, so you should be fine waiting until you are billed onboard. 

[Birdie And Sue]

We almost always pay the DSC ahead of time.  The more we pay upfront the lower our final bill is on board.  To us that is an advantage.

[abhisheks77]

2 minutes ago, Birdie And Sue said:

We almost always pay the DSC ahead of time.  The more we pay upfront the lower our final bill is on board.  To us that is an advantage.

Thats what I did too. 

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

The only real advantage to paying it in advance is that if there is an increase, you are locked in to the lower price.  This has happened to me twice. There was a increase not too long ago, so you should be fine waiting until you are billed onboard. 

You don’t need to have already paid the charge in advance (or agreed to) in order to get fixed into the lower price.

 

With every DSC increase that NCL have implemented (at least in about the last 10 years) you have been able to keep the lower rate by paying prepaying the DSC before sailing, even after the increase has been announced.

 

Agreeing to prepay the DSC at the time of booking has never been required to avoid future increases.

 

Of course, things can always change, but this one has been consistent so far.

[luv2kroooz]

10 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

 

It is EXACTLY what you asked about.  There is a fixed rate Daily Service Charge and you have elected to pay it ahead of time rather than have it added to your on board account on a daily basis.  Some people mistakingly refer to this as a gratuity.

 

Are you referring to NCL?

 

Norwegian Cruise Line is making a nominal adjustment to its daily service charges, effective April 1, 2019. Norwegian's discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to the onboard staff dedicated to delivering superior guest service throughout the cruise.  

Edited May 18, 2019 by blcruising

[Casino Comp Chick]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You must pay the charges. AFTER the cruise, you may request and adjustment by filing a complaint. You can not do this onboard. 

 

That is not correct, I travelled with a group including my friends  grandson and one morning mid-cruise his grandmother showed me a printout of his account and she asked me to explain the credit on his account. I said it looked like he removed the gratuities. He wakes up and we questioned him. He goes on to tell us that this couple he met the night before was telling everyone in the bar that they were not mandatory so they ALL went down (about 15-16 people) and had them removed.......well......she marched his (fill in the blank) back downstairs and them reinstated after ripping him a new one. 

They can be removed at any time and the after cruise thing is a thing of the past....you get off that ship before removing them....you are SOL.

Edited May 18, 2019 by Casino Comp Chick

[Greenpea2]

3 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

You don’t need to have already paid the charge in advance (or agreed to) in order to get fixed into the lower price.

 

With every DSC increase that NCL have implemented (at least in about the last 10 years) you have been able to keep the lower rate by paying prepaying the DSC before sailing, even after the increase has been announced.

 

Agreeing to prepay the DSC at the time of booking has never been required to avoid future increases.

 

Of course, things can always change, but this one has been consistent so far.

Prepaying means before you are onboard. So yes, that's what I said and I meant. That's how you lock it in.

[newmexicoNita]

16 hours ago, abhisheks77 said:

So....I have option to not pay at now at the time of booking. In that case, will they send that bill to my room in end of sailing or I will have option to tip them individually (depending on their service), instead ?

They will add the charges to you account daily but you do have the option of paying individuals and not pay the $15 per person daily. The problem with the option is this: There are so many people, behind the scenes that share in the service charge pool and you are taking away their share. Think about it. BTW all cruise lines or all mass marketed ones now use the service charge policy. It is really unfair to do the tipping on your own, but it is still an option. 

[KeithJenner]

24 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

Prepaying means before you are onboard. So yes, that's what I said and I meant. That's how you lock it in.

To clarify, because I think you missed my point.

 

You stated that by prepaying the service charge you are protected if there is an increase.

 

My point is that you don't have to prepay the service charge when booking in order to be protected from the increase. You can wait until one is announced and then prepay it afterwards at the old rate. Historically, agreeing to prepay the service charge has not given you any added advantage over the people who hadn't done so by the time of the announcement.