Check your credit card statements

[claudiamcf]

Just returned from the Pride of America and was charged $11.50 mini bar charges. We asked the steward to remove the items the first day and he said to just put them on the top shelf. I'm not sure if the steward or butler is responsible for the charges but I do know that we had very poor service from our butler and tipped accordingly and ended up with extra charges. Think there is a link? Customer service did remove the charges. I guess in the future, I'll ask for an itemization of what should be in there and have the room steward verify it before I leave the ship.

[CanadianTwosome]

It's always a good idea to check your charges. Mistakes happen and computers glitch. I don't think there's any connection between the lack of tip and the charges, since by the time you tipped the charges would have already been there. I think it's much more likely that the person who DIDN'T tell you to remove the items yourself thought something had been used that wasn't. I'm sorry to hear that your butler gave poor service, our friends on the Star thought theirs was amazing.

 

In addition to checking your bill carefully, I think it is also a good idea that if you want the items removed, have them REMOVED. Even if your steward tells you to just 'set them on a shelf', tell them that you need the shelf space (we did!) and you would prefer to have them all removed by THEM. I had read on the boards about others who were mistakenly charged because items were moved rather than 'removed', so I insisted that they be taken - by our steward - completely out of our cabin.

[grumpycajun]

This brings up another thing you need to be careful of. When we got into our stateroom on the Sun last year I checked the minibar, mostly to see what the selection looked like, and I discovered that someone, I have to assume the previous occupant(s), had cracked opened a good many of the bottles, poured some out, re-capped the bottles and then put them back on the shelf behind the other bottles. Pretty cheesy if you ask me. I immediately alerted the steward, wh made sure I wasn't charged for them.

 

Someone must have really needed a drink.

[CanadianTwosome]

That's hilarious! I wonder if they sent the charge to the previous occupants...

 

I also have to wonder if there were perhaps kids in the cabin ahead of you... I used to work in a video store and we had a customer return a copy of 'Friday the 13th part something' and they told us to play it where they had it cued. It was one of the funniest things I ever saw - someone had dubbed over the audio track with new dialogue - Jason saying, 'I'll get you, even though I can only shuffle along and can't run...' and the girl saying, 'No you won't, even though I'm too stupid to stay quiet and I fall down every few steps...' It was a really funny commentary on the silliness of the movie concept... and yet still destruction of the video. We learned that the previous renter had very sophisticated equipment... and kids who knew how to use it. They weren't happy with the charge!! :p

[salty dingo]

Someone must have really needed a drink.

 

Sounds like the work of a teenager.

[10XCRUISE]

claudiamcf

 

Just curious...When did you notice this charge? Was it on the statement left at your cabin the night before debark or on you credit card bill after you got home?

 

Just got home from the Sun and when we took posession of the cabin we found some snacks & liquor missing. We advised the steward and he replaced the booze but not the snacks. End of the week on our statement there was no charge for anything.

[greywillow]

"The butler did it." Right.:rolleyes:

[deliza]

When we were on the Dawn recently, the list of what should have been in the mini bar didn't match what was in there at all. I tried to have it removed, which it wasn't, so I kept an eye on my account. There was never a charge, but I guess I'd better check my statement when it comes to make sure nothing got added after the fact.

[zqvol]

Just returned from the Pride of America and was charged $11.50 mini bar charges. We asked the steward to remove the items the first day and he said to just put them on the top shelf. I'm not sure if the steward or butler is responsible for the charges but I do know that we had very poor service from our butler and tipped accordingly and ended up with extra charges. Think there is a link? Customer service did remove the charges. I guess in the future, I'll ask for an itemization of what should be in there and have the room steward verify it before I leave the ship.

 

Did you discover this on your statement (cabin bill) before you left the ship or on your CC statement when the bill came?

 

Not sure that it really matters which one because you should always check both, but thought I would ask.

 

Thanks

[claudiamcf]

We got a printout delivered to the room on disembarkation morning. My credit card bill was higher than that printout. We had been checking the charges daily because we had issues with OBC not being correct. We reported that on Sunday but it wasn't resolved until Thursday. The minibar charges were added on disembarkation day after we got the printout.

[JenDalessan]

We had the same thing happen on our Spirit cruise. We were charged for a few things that we did not actually purchase. We tried to resolve it with NCL and never got anywhere. In the end we were forced to suck it up and just pay the bill. There are not enough hours in the day to waste a lot of time on a charge that is less than $20. It does leave a sour taste in your mouth though.

[deepnite10]

on the first day onboard the steward and i took an inventory of the total

number of bottle s and can s in the cooler then box d them up till the

end of the cruise..

 

a few time s during the cruise it a good idea to check your onboard charges to catch anything that might turn into a not too fun surprise :p

 

i found just one mistake..they they did nt add and additional gratuity to

the bill..from that moment on i made it a habit to carry few singles whenever we went bar hopping:o

[Down-Unders]

Just returned from the Pride of America and was charged $11.50 mini bar charges. We asked the steward to remove the items the first day and he said to just put them on the top shelf. I'm not sure if the steward or butler is responsible for the charges but I do know that we had very poor service from our butler and tipped accordingly and ended up with extra charges. Think there is a link? Customer service did remove the charges. I guess in the future, I'll ask for an itemization of what should be in there and have the room steward verify it before I leave the ship.

 

We are all human and mistakes happen. Just wondering did you ask for your butler to be replaced or were you happy to become the victim ?

[CanadianTwosome]

"The butler did it." Right.:rolleyes:

 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA :p

 

Thanks!

[Basman]

This happened to us on the Pride of Aloha last November. I know it’s a good idea to check your final bill but it’s not that easy to do. I believe this is a recurring problem on NCL and they aren’t doing anything about it because they are making money off of it, sorta like a departing gouge. It left a very bitter taste in my mouth and until then I was considering taking at least one NCL cruise to see if it was better than NCLA, forget that.

Like some of the comments, we went to the Credit Desk to get a bill to look over the last night of the cruise. At that point everything was correct. We bought a couple of things and the next morning I was looking for our Final statement and none was to be found. I looked all over the ship and no one had them on or under their doors. Didn’t really think anything about it after all last nights was correct.

We were getting ready to depart after breakfast when we stopped by the room for one last check, still no statement. As we were walking down the hall, I noticed someone putting them on the doors. I decided to go back to our room to get it, not really to check it but rather to collect our personal information, so I just stuck it in my bag without looking at it.

I needed to make a quick stop by the pursers desk before departing, while in that line, I noticed a $188 minibar charge on our statement that was not there the night before. I immediately sent my wife into the Credit Desk line that had formed with people disputing similar charges on their statements. At that point the line was about 30’ long. It took over an hour to get to the desk where someone could help us. Talking with people in the line, about 70% were disputing minibar charges of various amounts. Ours was the largest, most of the others were 10-30 dollars.

The good news is that if your have a garden variety bogus minibar charge, the person at the desk can automatically reverse it after asking you a series of moronic questions. Come to find out, ours was so high because we were charged for one of everything, 1 coke, 1 diet coke, 1 sprite, etc as well as 1 bottle of expensive wine and champagne none of which was ever in our room to start with. During my conversation with the gentleman at the desk, he expressed three times that he didn’t know if he would be able to reverse the charge because it was so large. I asked him how many times does someone just drink one of everything, dumb look #7 was his expression. I told him that if he could not reverse the charge, to get me the person who could and his response was to not talk to him like that.

Eventually he found Jesus and common sense prevailed. He told me that they always have this problem with the minibars and that the management does not really care to fix it.

A couple of other things, there were several people in line that had booked excursions and were faced with skipping the tour and solve the problem or accept the bogus charge. Like I said, the line moves very slowly and it got much longer during the time I was there. Because they don’t deliver the final statements until people are actually leaving the ship, I am certain a lot of people don’t even know they were gouged. I am sure that once you are off the ship it is almost impossible to correct even if you discover it.

I know things like this happen on other cruise lines too, mine being Royal Caribbean. Like I said, it left a very bitter taste in my mouth for the cruise line and doubt I’ll ever sail NCL again mainly over this incident. For those of you traveling on NCL, check your final bill, the one they deliver to you whenever they deliver it. And should you find anything be prepared to wait a long time, approximately 2 minutes / foot of line.

Bob

BOHICA - Bend Over Here It Comes Again

[Guest Anorak33]

 

In addition to checking your bill carefully, I think it is also a good idea that if you want the items removed, have them REMOVED. Even if your steward tells you to just 'set them on a shelf', tell them that you need the shelf space (we did!) and you would prefer to have them all removed by THEM. I had read on the boards about others who were mistakenly charged because items were moved rather than 'removed', so I insisted that they be taken - by our steward - completely out of our cabin.

 

Recently while on Gem my elderly Mother who unfortunately has a memory loss problem had a cabin to herself.

 

I asked the steward to remove the minibar items and stupidly assumed he had done it.

 

At the end of the cruise I doscovered the steward had merely moved them form the fridge to a shelf above.

 

I had told Ma not to use any items from the refirgerator as they were expensive and chargeable - she actually managed to remember and abide by that - but had taken items from the shelf above and was not aware they would be charged for.

 

So I concur - get those items removed from the cabin altogether, especially if the person occupying the cabin is on your onboard account.

[claudiamcf]

down-unders

 

I never considered myself a victim. I just felt his inability to do the job he was assigned did not warrant a tip.

[mpk218]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA :p

 

Thanks!

 

With a candle stick holder in the library.....:D

[mpk218]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA :p

 

Thanks!

 

Dupe...........