Free pre-paid gratuties

[Oddsbet1029]

I see several cruise travel agents advertising free pre-paid gratuities for select Norwegian cruises. Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate? I fear I will get on the cruise and they will want the gratuities. 

[RocketMan275]

22 minutes ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

I see several cruise travel agents advertising free pre-paid gratuities for select Norwegian cruises. Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate? I fear I will get on the cruise and they will want the gratuities. 

My TA paid the gratuities on my February cruise.  No issues.  This is fairly common.  My TA also discounted the price of the cruise by around 8%

[ready2cruzagain]

We can't mention TA's on this site but yes, I use a TA that is a big corporation and yes they pay our gratuities when we sail on NCL.  Never once had a problem and with them. 3 cruises and they were paid everytime. 

[Oddsbet1029]

In this case the TA is not paying them directly, instead indicating they are an included perk provided by the cruise line.

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

In this case the TA is not paying them directly, instead indicating they are an included perk provided by the cruise line.

If that's the case, your invoice from the cruise line should include a code that the gratuities are paid.

[BirdTravels]

44 minutes ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

I see several cruise travel agents advertising free pre-paid gratuities for select Norwegian cruises. Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate? I fear I will get on the cruise and they will want the gratuities. 

Yes. That is a legitimate offer. Big travel agents get perks that they pass along to their clients. When you make your reservation, you will see the paid gratuities on your list of amenities/purchased items. We have an upcoming cruise and see the pre-paid grats on our reservation. 

[ready2cruzagain]

24 minutes ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

In this case the TA is not paying them directly, instead indicating they are an included perk provided by the cruise line.

Mine shows up on our invoice we received from our TA

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

I see several cruise travel agents advertising free pre-paid gratuities for select Norwegian cruises. Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate? I fear I will get on the cruise and they will want the gratuities. 

There are no prepaid gratuities,  They are referring to the Daily Service Charge (DSC) and yes it is usually a legit offer (as long as it si frm a legit TA).  If you take that offfer, NCL will not charge you the DSC on your cruise.

[Oddsbet1029]

They are charging me for the beverage and dining service charge. They claim that the gratuities are included as a perk from the cruise line. 

[Biffire]

We signed up for a November Cruise, with free DSC, I asked our TA and she said it was a promotion from NCL. Not sure how it affects the cruise line employees. First time we have ever had this option, it does appear on our invoice from the TA.

[roddy good boy]

4 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

My TA paid the gratuities on my February cruise.  No issues.  This is fairly common.  My TA also discounted the price of the cruise by around 8%

Did this offer also come with OBC?

[itsnotjustme]

4 hours ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate?

We have done this through our travel agent multiple times with no problem.

 

Our travel agent also gives frequent flyer miles, with as many as 7 miles per dollar of base fare depending on cabin type and if you use a credit card co-branded with the airline.  This has ranged from 20,000 up to 80,000 miles for us - a nice perk. 

[mcmomny]

7 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

We have done this through our travel agent multiple times with no problem.

 

Our travel agent also gives frequent flyer miles, with as many as 7 miles per dollar of base fare depending on cabin type and if you use a credit card co-branded with the airline.  This has ranged from 20,000 up to 80,000 miles for us - a nice perk. 

 

Same for us, just booked a Sept cruise and got the pre paid gratuities, on board credit, all the free at sea perks, my double airline miles, Latitude points and was able to apply 3 cruise next certificates to the sailing!

 

Have used the same company several times with no problems!

[Oddsbet1029]

Thank you all for the quick replies.

[MSUjohn]

ok, i got this from as a perk for delta cruises (or the company that delta cruises is a front of). however, on NCL's website it still gives me the option to prepay them.

 

[ready2cruzagain]

6 hours ago, MSUjohn said:

ok, i got this from as a perk for delta cruises (or the company that delta cruises is a front of). however, on NCL's website it still gives me the option to prepay them.

 

Yes that option does still show up even though they are paid. Our TA did not pay ours until about 4 days before the cruise.

[RocketMan275]

10 hours ago, roddy good boy said:

Did this offer also come with OBC?

My TA gives you the option of a discount or an equivalent amount of OBC.  I always choose the discount.

[PATRLR]

13 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

There are no prepaid gratuities

Please stop saying this.  It serves only to confuse people, especially in situations like this one where OP is asking if an offer might be legitimate.  

Regardless of your thoughts on this topic, there are most definitely Travel Agents who advertise PrePaid Gratuities or similar terms that are not "Daily Service Charge" or whatever formal term NCL is using today.  

[PATRLR]

16 hours ago, Oddsbet1029 said:

I see several cruise travel agents advertising free pre-paid gratuities for select Norwegian cruises. Has anyone taken advantage of this? Is this offer legitimate? I fear I will get on the cruise and they will want the gratuities. 

@Oddsbet1029 As others have stated, these are legitimate offers.  That being said, mistakes happen.  We did have one case where the prepaid gratuities message didn't make it to the ship and they tried to charge us on board.  I had printed copies of my invoices and receipts clearly showing gratuities included.  I showed those to the customer care folks on board and the issue was quickly resolved.

[roddy good boy]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

My TA gives you the option of a discount or an equivalent amount of OBC.  I always choose the discount.

Thank you. It’s a few months before final payment. My TA gave some OBC and discounted the cruise about 8%, but it doesn’t equal the gratuities credit. I think I’ll go back and see what can be done.

 

[RocketMan275]

5 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

Thank you. It’s a few months before final payment. My TA gave some OBC and discounted the cruise about 8%, but it doesn’t equal the gratuities credit. I think I’ll go back and see what can be done.

 

My TA doesn't always extend the gratuities credit.   To me, the 8% is the important thing because I only book Haven cabins.

[roddy good boy]

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

My TA doesn't always extend the gratuities credit.   To me, the 8% is the important thing because I only book Haven cabins.

This is also a haven cabin, so maybe that is the best I can expect. I reached out to the TA already and will see what she responds. It’s an expensive sailing (9 days med).

[L1211]

Just had prepaid DSC on my Bliss cruise a week ago.  It kept showing up in my items to pre-purchase so I was skeptical pre-cruise and expected to have it on my bill.  It did show on my printed items purchased page for each cabin.  A nice treat for sure! 

[ready2cruzagain]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

Please stop saying this.  It serves only to confuse people, especially in situations like this one where OP is asking if an offer might be legitimate.  

Regardless of your thoughts on this topic, there are most definitely Travel Agents who advertise PrePaid Gratuities or similar terms that are not "Daily Service Charge" or whatever formal term NCL is using today.  

I agree and mine even shows up on my paperwork as "Prepaid Gratuities" and it is the "DSC" that NCL charges.

 

Just because NCL changed the name does not mean all the agencies did.

[schmoopie17]

We have used a TA that offers free pre-paid gratuities...and yes, the offer is legit.

 

However, this TA only offers them on Balcony and above, and that is not explicitly stated in the general sales pitch (only in the fine print buried within). 

 

Not sure if other TAs use the same approach, just something to be aware of (or, of which to be aware...for you grammarians out there).