Help me understand these charges?! Please....

[flychick737]

Forgive me if this question is abnormal, I am cruising with NCL for the first time.  Other lines pricing has been more straight forward to me.   

I have just booked a cruise and used the 'the free at sea' promo.  On my bill there was the usual Guest Fare, Port Tax/Govt fees, then Bev Srv Charge &  Din Srv Charge.   These Bev Charge and Din are obviously for the promo service fees.  Is this also including the gratuities for the Dinner and Beverage Package??  (if drink cost is under the $15 limit)

Also I was told that gratuities are $15/pppd for my room category.  When I go into the reservation on NCL site is shows a whopping $733 for service fees!??  This is more than the cruise cost......

I called NCL and the agent said she has no idea what these fees are, but my account is paid in full and the only thing owing on the ship should be the $15/pppd for the gratuities.

Has anyone ever seen strange things like this?? 

 

 

[SeaShark]

While Drink Packages and Dining Packages are free with the promo, you still have to pay the gratuity charge on each of these. This is calculated at 20% of the cost to purchase the package outright.

 

The $15 per person/per day charge is NOT a gratuity (as these are not required on NCL) this is the Daily Service Charge.

[flychick737]

@seashark - thanks for your response!

So just to clarify, we will not be charged anything further on drinks ordered unless we go over the $15/per limit?  The service charge is on the entire package, not per drink?  So that is pre-paid.

Yes - sorry wrong terminology on the service charge - but $15 sounds correct per person, per day....not the $733 that I saw in online in the booking!  I am hoping when I look back tomorrow it will all be gone!!
 

[Joken35]

The $733 may reflect the  gratitudes for two on the drink package and specialty dinners.On our cruise which leave Monday  13 nights ..the gratuities  are $616 for two passengers .

[flychick737]

Defiantly doesn't add up....ours is only a 5 night, 2 people.  They already added the service charges of 

Bev Srv Charge 265.10 &   Din Srv Charge 42.30

[julig22]

I just booked a Tahiti-Hawaii cruise and the daily service charges if I wanted to prepay were $461 - at $15/day, it should be $210 for a solo.  As I understand it, if you are in Hawaii, there is an additional 4.17% GET assessment, but even if that was applied to the entire cost (cruise is only in Hawaii for 4 days and the flight is into Tahiti), it would not be $251.  So I'm not going to prepay - I'll just see what's going on when I get onboard.  Since the GET assessment, as I understand it, would also apply to excursions in Hawaii, they can't possibly know what it would be anyway.

[droundtheworld]

The only other thing you would have to pay is tax if you order a drink while in US and certain country ports.  The government needs to get their cuts.

[flychick737]

Thanks everyone - I will hope it gets cleared up online - and/or when their office opens tomorrow!  

 

[ray98]

Post exactly what your invoice says, it should be in a line item format.

 

The service fee on the beverage and dining packages is the gratuities.....same concept just different marketing speak.  Since that is paid on the cost of the program you will not pay anything per drink or per meal.

[flychick737]

Guest Fare 532.86 (this is the total for 2 PAX)

Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees 457.16

Bev Srv Charge 265.10 

Din Srv Charge 42.30 

Gross Total 1,297.42 

PAYMENTS AMOUNT (CAD)

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

FINAL PAYMENT due on 29-Nov-2019 11:51 pm Eastern Time 1,297.42

I paid the total amount.   When I log into the NCL site - My Vacation Summary  on here is shows still owing $403 (but I assume this part is just not updated - it says it may take up to 24hrs?) but then under summary it has this:

• Free at Sea Offer Gratuities:
  C307.40
• Total:
  C1,243.86
• Amount Due:
  C479.30

Edited November 30, 2019 by flychick737
edit

[ray98]

That looks reasonable....my bet is you are right and the website has not credited the payments.

[All-ready2cruise]

7 minutes ago, flychick737 said:

Guest Fare 532.86 (this is the total for 2 PAX)

Gov Tax/Port Exp/Fees 457.16

Bev Srv Charge 265.10 

Din Srv Charge 42.30 

Gross Total 1,297.42 

PAYMENTS AMOUNT (CAD)

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

FINAL PAYMENT due on 29-Nov-2019 11:51 pm Eastern Time 1,297.42

I paid the total amount.   When I log into the NCL site - My Vacation Summary  on here is shows still owing $403 (but I assume this part is just not updated - it says it may take up to 24hrs?) but then under summary it has this:

• Free at Sea Offer Gratuities:
  C307.40
• Total:
  C1,243.86
• Amount Due:
  C479.30

These charges are correct.  You didn't mention that your currency before.  I checked the exchange rate and these prices are accurate.  

book 

I'm Canadian as well but use a US CC and a US bank account. 

 

265CAD = 199USD

42 cad = 32

Edited November 30, 2019 by All-ready2cruise
add info

[flychick737]

2 minutes ago, ray98 said:

That looks reasonable....my bet is you are right and the website has not credited the payments.

I sure hope so!!

[flychick737]

1 minute ago, All-ready2cruise said:

These charges are correct.  You didn't mention that your currency before.  I checked the exchange rate and these prices are accurate.  

book 

I'm Canadian as well but use a US CC and a US bank account. 

My quote and payments are all in CDN currency, so there should be no further differences after I paid the total.  This is what my question is....what are all of these strange fees and extra charges.  

Offer at Sea Gratuities, but then Bev and Din Service Charges? 

[Liljo22]

10 minutes ago, flychick737 said:

My quote and payments are all in CDN currency, so there should be no further differences after I paid the total.  This is what my question is....what are all of these strange fees and extra charges.  

Offer at Sea Gratuities, but then Bev and Din Service Charges? 

The free at sea gratuities amount is just the total of the Bev and dining together.

[All-ready2cruise]

Yeah, that looks a bit weird but I think you could be right about the timing.  Looks like you paid it around mn so could take the better part of the day... especially since it's a weekend. 

Good luck, hope all works out ok.  You may need to call back to confirm the payments. I've had to do that a few times and it all works out in the end. 

[flychick737]

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

The free at sea gratuities amount is just the total of the Bev and dining together.

 Thanks for solving that one for me!!  All of these changing amounts have my head spinning!!