Some Questions from a New NCL Cruiser

[teacherman]

We have booked out first NCL cruise because it is doing an itinerary that we want.  I booked through my regular travel company, the big box store C-----.  NCL gave me "free" drinks package, "free" dining package, and other "free" perks (which I think everyone else also received).  Anyway, I accepted the price of the stateroom and as soon as I hit the button for booking, a box popped up and told me the cost of the cruise had just increased approximately $500.  Question - is this the charge for the gratuities on the drinks and dining packages?   Also, I read some people do not like being "nickel and dimed" on an NCL cruise.  Question - what other types of charges will I automatically incur on the cruise, besides the daily gratuity?  Question - If so many people have a drinks package, is it "difficult" to get a drink?  With people pre-paying so many gratuities, do bartenders and wait staff have little motivation to do their job?   Just wondering what I should expect, since it is my first NCL cruise.  Any information is welcome.

[pmatawan]

You can verify the price of the cruise if you do a mock booking on NCL.com, but it does sound like they are adding the gratuities for the drink and dining package. I don't think you will have any problem getting drinks whenever or where ever you want without waiting .

 

[KeithJenner]

Yes the extra charge will be gratuities on the dining/beverage package (although some people will happily argue for weeks about whether it is a gratuity or service charge or something else). The effect is the same anyway, you have to pay it.

 

There is also a daily service charge which is added to your bull ever day (or you can prepay it).

 

I’ve never had a problem getting a drink, regardless of the dining package existing.

 

Like millions of other people in various jobs, the staff are don’t need to be given extra cash to carry out their jobs. Some people choose to tip extra anyway.

Edited March 11, 2021 by KeithJenner

[HuliHuli]

1 hour ago, teacherman said:

I accepted the price of the stateroom and as soon as I hit the button for booking, a box popped up and told me the cost of the cruise had just increased approximately $500.  Question - is this the charge for the gratuities on the drinks and dining packages? 

Despite what another poster implied that this is the dining/beverage package gratuities, it may not be.  I know that the Big Box TA you referenced does not separately break down all the charges like the NCL site does.  I have observed price changes occur on both the NCL and C sites if I hovered over a booking page beyond 15 minutes.  If I logged out and then went back in 30 minutes later, miraculously the pricing was back where it started.  Rather than guess, from experience I suggest you call them on their reservation line; they are usually very prompt in picking up.  Ask them to resolve the change or reprice the cruise.  They'll be happy to do so.  You can then decide to keep your reservation or cancel, but with full information on the cruise cost.

[Rob_H]

1 hour ago, teacherman said:

 NCL gave me "free" drinks package, "free" dining package, and other "free" perks (which I think everyone else also received).  Anyway, I accepted the price of the stateroom and as soon as I hit the button for booking, a box popped up and told me the cost of the cruise had just increased approximately $500.  Question - is this the charge for the gratuities on the drinks and dining packages?   

 

Yes. The service charge on the "free" dining package isn't too bad, but on the drinks package it's a couple of hundred dollars per person (depends on cruise length). 

 

If you don't drink much (we don't) then it's possible to delete the drinks from your list of "free" offers (when booking), then you won't have that extra charge. 

 

You don't have to take all the "free" offers. Or any at all - the "sailaway" rate that excludes most offers is often a lot cheaper.  We always check the difference between the sailaway rate and the lowest standard rate, if both are available on a sailing.  Usually those "free" offers can add hundreds of dollars per person to the price, plus the service charges.  Note that on the sailaway rate you can't choose a specific cabin, just a category.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Rob_H
typo

[MeHeartCruising]

OP, I see that you have a future Royal Caribbean cruise booked.  If you’ve cruised Royal in the past and found the spending experience and options acceptable, then you will likely find NCL the same.  It’s pretty much the same pricing model for things.  There are lots of options to spend more money on board, but they are the same ones Royal has. The things that are required are the same on both lines. 
 

If you each like to drink more than 4 or 5 drinks per day, then keep the free drink promo because having to pay the gratuities on it works in your favor.     You don’t need to tip any more when you get drinks unless you want to.  If you drink 1 or 2 a day, I’d probably reject that portion of the promo and not have to pay the fixed gratuities rate on the package price.  Just pay gratuities on a per drink basis when you order them.   
 

I think you should keep the free meal promo and pay its gratuities up front. The NCL specialty restaurants are worth it. 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, teacherman said:

We have booked out first NCL cruise because it is doing an itinerary that we want.  I booked through my regular travel company, the big box store C-----.  NCL gave me "free" drinks package, "free" dining package, and other "free" perks (which I think everyone else also received).  Anyway, I accepted the price of the stateroom and as soon as I hit the button for booking, a box popped up and told me the cost of the cruise had just increased approximately $500.  Question - is this the charge for the gratuities on the drinks and dining packages?   Also, I read some people do not like being "nickel and dimed" on an NCL cruise.  Question - what other types of charges will I automatically incur on the cruise, besides the daily gratuity?  Question - If so many people have a drinks package, is it "difficult" to get a drink?  With people pre-paying so many gratuities, do bartenders and wait staff have little motivation to do their job?   Just wondering what I should expect, since it is my first NCL cruise.  Any information is welcome.

The Nickel and Dime crowd just like to hear themselves gripe about things. NCL is similar to most other cruise lines with options to spend money. We have done many cruises with only the daily service charge on our room bill at the end of the cruise. Zero extra charges. Complimentary restaurants are just fine for meals. All of the free entertainment is more than enough to fill our schedule each day. We don't need wine tasting or whisky tasting experiences. If you want to drop some cash, you can pay for top shelf drinks, casino, spa treatments, photos, beauty salon, special dinner shows on some of the big ships, specialty dining, bingo, deal-or-no-deal, arcade games, go kart rides, painting lessons. All totally unnecessary if you start with a drinks package. 

 

I have been buying bingo cards as far back as I can remember. I think that the first time we paid for specialty dining was exactly 30 years ago on a transatlantic Cunard cruise. We had never done that before, and it was to celebrate a birthday... we were only "old" then... now it is 30 years later. 

[graphicguy]

NCL is little different than the other cruise lines when it comes to service charges, tips, etc.  Call them what you will, it's merely semantics.  Instead of tipping for each individual drink, NCL packages it (pre-paid) for dining and drink packages.

 

Some swear they would rather tip for each person, for each dinner, each drink, each server, etc.  I question the logic (or the truthfulness) of that.   But, to each their own.

 

I've NEVER had any issue getting a drink anywhere there was a bar and/or waitstaff.  And, it always seemed there was a bar within a few minutes/steps of wherever I was.  LOL!

 

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by graphicguy

[bgTexasguy]

Regarding "Onboard expenses that you might not expect:
1) Port taxes on food and beverages at U.S. ports might be added to your account (when/where/% varies) so, just be aware that these might show on your account.  An example: when embarking in Miami, there are taxes charged on drinks while the ship is in port (and within certain mileage from port).  Generally, speaking the amount is about $1-$2 per drink.  At most US ports, NCL will tag these extra taxes onto your Onboard account.

 

If you want to take fitness classes, and some other events, there might be an additional fee ...check for those.