Two questions - Free at Sea Speciality and Internet usage

[RBrowny]

As we have free at sea and a speciality restaurant booked that's free for one trip per guest, do we have to pay anything at all for this? We've prepaid gratuities, but is all our drinks included as well - given we have a drinks package?

 

I have another question regarding the internet, we have 150 free minutes. Is there a way you can use ten minutes one day, 20 the next day until it runs out or is it all in one? Assuming you can use basic features on your phone.

 

Thank you

[shof515]

23 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

I have another question regarding the internet, we have 150 free minutes. Is there a way you can use ten minutes one day, 20 the next day until it runs out or is it all in one? Assuming you can use basic features on your phone.

 

Thank you

yes you can. to access the internet you will need to log out and log on . i have done something similar, make sure you are LOGGED out when not using internet otherwise you will use all your mintues

[RBrowny]

13 minutes ago, shof515 said:

yes you can. to access the internet you will need to log out and log on . i have done something similar, make sure you are LOGGED out when not using internet otherwise you will use all your mintues

Oh perfect, no idea how the process works, but I assume onboard there will be ways of accessing it

[phillygwm]

1 minute ago, RBrowny said:

Oh perfect, no idea how the process works, but I assume onboard there will be ways of accessing it

You'll have your personal device, which you can use, or there are PC's at the Internet Cafe.  There's a logon process and a logoff process.  It's clearer to on the PC's but important that you do it on either device.

 

42 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

As we have free at sea and a speciality restaurant booked that's free for one trip per guest, do we have to pay anything at all for this? We've prepaid gratuities, but is all our drinks included as well - given we have a drinks package?

If you enroll in the drinks package, each person will be charged $19.80/day for gratuities.  Likewise, there's a (small) charge for the grats in the specialty restaurant.  IMO, both still represent a good value, unless you don't drink at all.  If you have even two drinks per day you pretty much breakeven.

[hallux]

40 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

As we have free at sea and a speciality restaurant booked that's free for one trip per guest, do we have to pay anything at all for this? We've prepaid gratuities, but is all our drinks included as well - given we have a drinks package?

LOTS of discussion here on how this all works (it comes up weekly at least).  The short - make the reservation, show up, order, eat, leave.  There are SOME items at some a-la-carte venues that are extra-cost, and those are specifically called out on the menu. The only limitation is that you can only get one entree.

 

Drinks - the base free-at-sea package only allows drinks up to $15, any cost for the drink beyond that is chargeable, in addition to gratuity for that portion of the drink.

 

I suggest you familiarize yourself with the T&C's of the promotions, that's where everything is detailed - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

[hallux]

1 minute ago, phillygwm said:

If you enroll in the drinks package, each person will be charged $19.80/day for gratuities.  Likewise, there's a (small) charge for the grats in the specialty restaurant.

Be mindful that the OP appears to be from the UK - I seem to recall that gratuities may be included as part of the fare there, not called out as a separate line-item.

[RBrowny]

5 minutes ago, hallux said:

Be mindful that the OP appears to be from the UK - I seem to recall that gratuities may be included as part of the fare there, not called out as a separate line-item.

Yeah, I am from UK and have pre-paid all my gratuities so there shouldn't be an upcharge should there? Even with the speciality dining?

8 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

You'll have your personal device, which you can use, or there are PC's at the Internet Cafe.  There's a logon process and a logoff process.  It's clearer to on the PC's but important that you do it on either device.

 

If you enroll in the drinks package, each person will be charged $19.80/day for gratuities.  Likewise, there's a (small) charge for the grats in the specialty restaurant.  IMO, both still represent a good value, unless you don't drink at all.  If you have even two drinks per day you pretty much breakeven.

I think it will just be on my personal device, don't think I will use the PC at all. So there's a way to sign up on my device, and then every time I want to use it I log in, then log out again?

As mentioned, it might be covered in my gratuities, but not entirely sure.

7 minutes ago, hallux said:

LOTS of discussion here on how this all works (it comes up weekly at least).  The short - make the reservation, show up, order, eat, leave.  There are SOME items at some a-la-carte venues that are extra-cost, and those are specifically called out on the menu. The only limitation is that you can only get one entree.

 

Drinks - the base free-at-sea package only allows drinks up to $15, any cost for the drink beyond that is chargeable, in addition to gratuity for that portion of the drink.

 

I suggest you familiarize yourself with the T&C's of the promotions, that's where everything is detailed - https://www.ncl.com/about/terms-and-conditions/promotions

Ah perfect, as long as there's no sort of hidden charges, then I don't mind. I'll check the link, thank you

[phillygwm]

8 minutes ago, hallux said:

Be mindful that the OP appears to be from the UK - I seem to recall that gratuities may be included as part of the fare there, not called out as a separate line-item.

Yep, I overlooked that.

[phillygwm]

1 minute ago, RBrowny said:

I think it will just be on my personal device, don't think I will use the PC at all. So there's a way to sign up on my device, and then every time I want to use it I log in, then log out again?

When you go online there's a website you sign into with your name and DOB, if I recall.  You'll see a clock with your remaining time and a logout button.  As others have stated, if you don't do that last piece, the clock continues to run and exhausts your time.  

[hallux]

2 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

Yeah, I am from UK and have pre-paid all my gratuities so there shouldn't be an upcharge should there? Even with the speciality dining?

There's a difference between pre-paid gratuities and the free-at-sea package gratuities.  In your case I think laws in the UK require that the FAS grats be included in the cruise fare and not a separate line-item as we have here in the US.  The pre-paid grats you speak of are the daily DSC (Discretionary Service Charge) that can be billed to the room each day and paid when your account closes at the end of the cruise OR pre-paid as you've done.

[RBrowny]

5 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

When you go online there's a website you sign into with your name and DOB, if I recall.  You'll see a clock with your remaining time and a logout button.  As others have stated, if you don't do that last piece, the clock continues to run and exhausts your time.  

Do you only have access to the internet, or can you go on to different apps on a device?

[hallux]

Just now, RBrowny said:

Do you only have access to the internet, or can you go on to different apps on a device?

You sign in to open the internet to that device.  Use whatever apps you want, except those that stream videos.

[shof515]

Just now, RBrowny said:

Do you only have access to the internet, or can you go on to different apps on a device?

once you are LOGGED IN using that sign in page , then you can use any different apps you want on your device.

 

Very importantly, when you are done make sure you go back to the page in the browser to LOGGED OUT to stop the clock from running

[KeithJenner]

21 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

Yeah, I am from UK and have pre-paid all my gratuities so there shouldn't be an upcharge should there? Even with the speciality dining?

 

When you booked and selected free at sea you will have been charged an amount (probably £149 each, but it depends on the cruise length) which is effectively what we pay instead of the gratuities on the beverage and dining package.

 

If means that some UK customers can boast about how we get a better deal as we don’t pay the gratuities, whilst totally missing that we often pay more and the offers aren’t as flexible. 🙂

[RBrowny]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

You sign in to open the internet to that device.  Use whatever apps you want, except those that stream videos.

 

2 minutes ago, shof515 said:

once you are LOGGED IN using that sign in page , then you can use any different apps you want on your device.

 

Very importantly, when you are done make sure you go back to the page in the browser to LOGGED OUT to stop the clock from running

Brilliant, that sounds fairly straight forward. Just need to remember to stop the minutes 😆

[RBrowny]

13 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

When you booked and selected free at sea you will have been charged an amount (probably £149 each, but it depends on the cruise length) which is effectively what we pay instead of the gratuities on the beverage and dining package.

 

If means that some UK customers can boast about how we get a better deal as we don’t pay the gratuities, whilst totally missing that we often pay more and the offers aren’t as flexible. 🙂

Yeah I think it was around that much, I was just wondering because we've already paid. Would we pay any extra as we are in a speciality restaurant? 

[hallux]

3 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

Would we pay any extra as we are in a speciality restaurant?

When using your dining credit - no, except in the case where the item you want to order carries an up-charge.

[RBrowny]

Just now, hallux said:

When using your dining credit - no, except in the case where the item you want to order carries an up-charge.

Got you! Thank you. 

 

I think that's all my questions answered, thank you everyone. Really appreciate it!