rudy63ca

I can appreciate everyone's opinion no matter what it is, these forums are becoming more and more like an insult program, when someone new asks a question there seem to be hordes of people willing to bash and criticize anyone for being curious. The point of the matter, for me, is the cruise companies are reeling us in with false information and misleading information until you dig into finding it. I do read the websites and I do cost comparisons and I do tip for services when received, I do not agree with tipping before I get on board or service charges to offset wages. I do agree with paying for an experience and an opportunity to travel but PREFER an all included price UP FRONT. Why hide it or advertise free balcony or free drinks only to find it is an extra charge based on a different level of fee structure. If you go to a restaurant that offers free dessert only to find out it was for a specific menu item that you didn't know about until you finished your meal, is that the fine print in the advertisement? We were never informed by our travel agent about any services charges when we booked our cruise. we found out about it by NCL in an email stating if we didn't prepay by Jan we would be automatically charged an increase in the charges while n board or billed upon our return. When I called NCL they stated they were mandatory and had to be paid. Again (get it or not) why not just include it in the booking price if that's what we "have to" pay.

Are these service charges mandatory? Can you opt out of them. I’ve been getting mixed information and find these misleading when trying to find a booking.