Tips

[LysH]

What does everyone do about tipping on your cruise?  We have been charged a pre-gratuity charge for our "free drink package", approximatley $465 Canadian Dollars and a pre-gratuity tip(service charge)  for housekeeping etc., which is $567.  Is this the norm?

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Have a seat...you just hit the hottest topic on Cruise Critic. It will be a wild ride.

 

Sounds like you are on NCL, correct? NCL experts will need to explain how that cruise line works. 

[SbbquilterUT]

You have paid any expected tips with these charged prior to cruising - no need to tip anyone else unless you feel like you got exceptional service.  For many people they like having paid for everything before they set sail so no surprises.

[LysH]

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Have a seat...you just hit the hottest topic on Cruise Critic. It will be a wild ride.

 

Sounds like you are on NCL, correct? NCL experts will need to explain how that cruise line works. 

You are right!  I've known about the pre-gratuity for a long time but have always tipped here and there.  "Free Drink Package" doesn't feel so free anymore:)))

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, LysH said:

You are right!  I've known about the pre-gratuity for a long time but have always tipped here and there.  "Free Drink Package" doesn't feel so free anymore:)))

I think the tip charge for the beverage plan is unique to NCL. We have not sailed NCL.

[NotADopey1]

If we have exceptional service from a bar server, wait person or housekeeper we will tip an extra $10 during the cruise and at the end, if the good service continues.  No need to tip extra though as you’ve already prepaid the amount that in prior years were up to the passenger to decide.  Some prior cruisers did not even pay a suggested minimum, forcing the cruise lines to implement a prepaid system.  

[leaveitallbehind]

58 minutes ago, LysH said:

 "Free Drink Package" doesn't feel so free anymore:)))

It never was.  It was always buried into the fare structure. 

 

Gratuities, whether pre-paid, automatically charged daily, or presented individually at the end of the cruise is the way of life with cruising.  NCL seems to have their own (and, by your numbers, pricey) way of doing it. 

 

As example our most recent cruise was a 9-night NYE with RCCL and our daily housekeeping / dining gratuities for two was $36 US, which would be about $48.50 Canadian. This totaled $324 US for the 9 nights, which would be about $437 Canadian.

 

As you have prepaid everything you have no further on board gratuity obligation.

Edited February 18 by leaveitallbehind

[mjkacmom]

The gratuities for the drink package are about $21 per day, cocktails/wine run about $14 a drink. If you drink more than $21 a day of alcohol, mocktails, soda it’s worth it. If not, you can easily remove it.

[JJK2008]

1 hour ago, LysH said:

What does everyone do about tipping on your cruise?  We have been charged a pre-gratuity charge for our "free drink package", approximatley $465 Canadian Dollars and a pre-gratuity tip(service charge)  for housekeeping etc., which is $567.  Is this the norm?

 

 

There are threads here on CC that address the tipping subject extensively. I'd suggest you read through all of them as there are a number of different opinions and reasons. Once informed, let your conscious be your guide. 

[K32682]

The benefit of pre-paid gratuities is that you never have to wonder whether or how much to tip. You still have the option to tip over and above as you wish whether to reward good service you've received or to provide an incentive for better service going forward. 

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

 

Have a seat...you just hit the hottest topic on Cruise Critic. It will be a wild ride.

 

 Just wait til a Brit or an Aussie gets on this thread.😂

But not me, I can't find my tin hat 🥴

 

JB 🙂

[SoloAlaska]

People will still tip, others will not. It’s up to you. Huge debate on here but do what feels right to you. 

[sanger727]

The only cruise line I’m aware of that charges gratuity on the ‘free’ drink package is NCL. So no, that’s not the norm. But it’s not optional. Feel confident that your tips are prepaid. Everyone charges a daily gratuity. Again, no tip above and beyond that is expected.

[navybankerteacher]

11 hours ago, LysH said:

You are right!  I've known about the pre-gratuity for a long time but have always tipped here and there.  "Free Drink Package" doesn't feel so free anymore:)))

It never was “free” - but the expression still does seem to attract the unthinking.

[ldubs]

17 hours ago, sanger727 said:

The only cruise line I’m aware of that charges gratuity on the ‘free’ drink package is NCL. So no, that’s not the norm. But it’s not optional. Feel confident that your tips are prepaid. Everyone charges a daily gratuity. Again, no tip above and beyond that is expected.

 

Just to understand, NCL adds a mandatory gratuity to their drink package?  It cannot be removed or modified?  That isn't really a gratuity.  It sounds more like those notorious mandatory resort fees.   

[SoloAlaska]

5 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Just to understand, NCL adds a mandatory gratuity to their drink package?  It cannot be removed or modified?  That isn't really a gratuity.  It sounds more like those notorious mandatory resort fees.   

More and more places now have mandatory gratuities. A lot of restaurants if youre more than 8 it’s mandatory 18-20%. It’s still a gratuity however.

[mjkacmom]

29 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Just to understand, NCL adds a mandatory gratuity to their drink package?  It cannot be removed or modified?  That isn't really a gratuity.  It sounds more like those notorious mandatory resort fees.   

The actual package is free, the gratuity is 20% of the actual cost of the package (around $21 a day). If you choose not to have the package, you won’t be charged the gratuities, but you will need to pay for every drink, plus 20% gratuity on each drink. No, can’t be removed.

[ldubs]

26 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

More and more places now have mandatory gratuities. A lot of restaurants if youre more than 8 it’s mandatory 18-20%. It’s still a gratuity however.

 

No it isn't.  They can call it what they want but once it is no longer voluntary, it is no longer a gratuity.  

 

BTW, in my area the mandatory service charge is usually added for 6 or more.   

[Philob]

44 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

No it isn't.  They can call it what they want but once it is no longer voluntary, it is no longer a gratuity.  

 

BTW, in my area the mandatory service charge is usually added for 6 or more.   

Don't forget in certain Bay Area cities there's the employee health insurance surcharge, soda tax, take out container surcharge, and lest we forget the auto glass surcharge 😉

[leaveitallbehind]

19 hours ago, sanger727 said:

The only cruise line I’m aware of that charges gratuity on the ‘free’ drink package is NCL. So no, that’s not the norm.

First of all, as pointed out by myself and others (and as you indicate by 'free'), the NCL beverage packages are not free and have their cost buried in the base fare.  It's just effective marketing language.

 

To your other point, as one example, here is information as stated on (and copied from) the RCCL website:

 

For most sailings, beverage package gratuities of 18% are added at final checkout and not included in the initial cost. 

 

So NCL is not alone in this practice. 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The actual package is free, the gratuity is 20% of the actual cost of the package (around $21 a day). If you choose not to have the package, you won’t be charged the gratuities, but you will need to pay for every drink, plus 20% gratuity on each drink. No, can’t be removed.

The actual package really is not free- it is built into the fare charged - your thinking it is free is comparable to believing that General Motors gives you free wheels when you buy a Chevrolet; but to make the fare for that  booking look good they do not include the unavoidable additional charge which they blatantly mis-identify as a “tip”

[rodndonna]

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Just to understand, NCL adds a mandatory gratuity to their drink package?  It cannot be removed or modified?  That isn't really a gratuity.  It sounds more like those notorious mandatory resort fees.   

 

If you take the "free" drink package included in the "Free at Sea" cruise fare, you would have to pay gratuities which are added to your booking fare. You can remove the drinks package at booking and the gratuities are removed. 

 

I don't think any cruise line allows you to remove or alter gratuities on drinks or drink packages (but they are typically included in a "drink" package). 

 

[MacMadame]

 

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

No it isn't.  They can call it what they want but once it is no longer voluntary, it is no longer a gratuity.

It's a service charge. Technically. Does NCL not call it that?

[leaveitallbehind]

3 minutes ago, MacMadame said:

 

It's a service charge. Technically. Does NCL not call it that?

Yes, it is a service charge - that is the language they use.  My guess is that makes it mandatory and avoids non-payment of these amounts if the were called gratuities.  

 

Maybe this is the way of the cruise industry....

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, Philob said:

Don't forget in certain Bay Area cities there's the employee health insurance surcharge, soda tax, take out container surcharge, and lest we forget the auto glass surcharge 😉

 

I've heard that restaurants choose to show the health insurance load as a separate amount to keep menu prices down and so customers are actually aware they are paying for the benefit.  I think we could fill a couple of pages with all the legally mandated surcharges from lumber to CRV.  It seems the big difference here is legally required vs NCL just wanting to add a separate surcharge to their "included" package.  

 

 

Edited February 19 by ldubs