Costa did allow removal of service charge

[drsel]

Costa daily service charge of 10 euros or 13.50 dollars (in East Asia and the Americas), when automatically added onto your cruise bill, are mandatory and cannot be removed under any circumstances whatsoever.

Only those nationalities which have it included in their Cruise fare upfront are not charged daily service charges on their Cruise bill.

But for most nationalities, the daily service charges are added onto your Cruise bill.

kindly note that
Daily service charges cannot be removed--
1. Even if you eat only in the buffet and do not use the waiter service in the main dining room.
2. Even if you ask your room steward not to clean your room for the entire Cruise.
3. even if you leave your Cruise midway, you have to play service charges for the entire Cruise because it is the salary of the the crew

[ducklite]

On 5/11/2010 at 9:12 AM, Cygneagile said:

 

The Costa Luminosa is using the EURO as the dollar on the ship.

Being a Canadian this may amount to about 15 to 16 dollars a day.

That will make it 171.00 CND for the 11 night cruise. I do believe

that this is just over the top.

 

If this is going to be automatic they, for goodness sake, should include it in the cost of the cruise period. As with your cruise and flight all services and taxes are added on and you get the full cost.

 

To charge it every day on your account is ridicules. I tip when a tip is due and give gladly. These people work extremely hard and deserve it.

Julie

#firstworldproblems  

[drsel]

don't worry I checked with the entertainment team cabin steward and waiter and they confirmed that they DO get their share of tips in full from Costa.
It's the main part of their salary

[drsel]

I also like the fact that at the time of booking it is always mentioned if the service charges are included or not and how much it will be.
usually 10 euros per person per day on Cruises around Europe and the middle East and Africa.

[Lunenburg]

10 hours ago, drsel said:

don't worry I checked with the entertainment team cabin steward and waiter and they confirmed that they DO get their share of tips in full from Costa.
It's the main part of their salary

We talked to some of the bar staff on our cruise and they were quite satisfied with their income. They said they got paid in USD and because of the strong dollar, it gave them a good amount in their own currencies.

[drsel]

We talked to some of the bar staff on our cruise and they were quite satisfied with their income. They said they got paid in USD and because of the strong dollar, it gave them a good amount in their own currencies.

Yes the bartenders earn 10 times or 1000% more than what they would earn for the exact same job in their own country

[drsel]

Some Bartenders on an average earn US $4000 per month and even touch US $8,000 per month on the booze Cruises.

This is after including all their gratuities and service charges

 

 

[drsel]

Norwegian becomes cheaper than Costa!
Norwegian Jade now is the cheapest cruise available at 33 dollars a day from Singapore to Dubai on Feb 27th
Be careful about paying much more than 33 dollars a day

[Bertie Doe]

5 hours ago, drsel said:

Norwegian becomes cheaper than Costa!
Norwegian Jade now is the cheapest cruise available at 33 dollars a day from Singapore to Dubai on Feb 27th
Be careful about paying much more than 33 dollars a day

Shock horror, I almost fell out of bed when I saw those prices. It's only 2 weeks away which means flights are expensive. Even when factoring in fares from London at $1160 per person, that's 55 dollars per person per day. Still at $33 plus $55 pppd, that's still pretty good. I wonder if you'd get all the visas in time? Regards Paul

[G.M.T.]

12 minutes ago, MrSilversurf said:

Shock horror, I almost fell out of bed when I saw those prices. It's only 2 weeks away which means flights are expensive. Even when factoring in fares from London at $1160 per person, that's 55 dollars per person per day. Still at $33 plus $55 pppd, that's still pretty good. I wonder if you'd get all the visas in time? Regards Paul

$1160? Is that first class.🥂

 

I find prices for London - Singapore, Dubai - London, per person:

British Aiways €467 (Both legs non-stop)

Emirates €448 (stop in Dubai on first leg)

 

Still great prices, but with the coronavirus no thanks (probably need €1500 for face masks).

[Bertie Doe]

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

$1160? Is that first class.🥂

 

I find prices for London - Singapore, Dubai - London, per person:

British Aiways €467 (Both legs non-stop)

Emirates €448 (stop in Dubai on first leg)

 

Still great prices, but with the coronavirus no thanks (probably need €1500 for face masks).

Talking of Costa Service Charges (LOL) No I got that price from Search Engine 'Skyscanner' £528 outbound and £345 inbound, which is about $1160 in total. I could get a £311 outbound but it lands too late for the sail.

BA Direct prices are higher than Skyscanner. Which search engine did you use and what was the Singapore landing time?

[G.M.T.]

26 minutes ago, MrSilversurf said:

Talking of Costa Service Charges (LOL) No I got that price from Search Engine 'Skyscanner' £528 outbound and £345 inbound, which is about $1160 in total. I could get a £311 outbound but it lands too late for the sail.

BA Direct prices are higher than Skyscanner. Which search engine did you use and what was the Singapore landing time?

I used swoodoo, landing a day earlier so a hotel would be required.

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

I used swoodoo, landing a day earlier so a hotel would be required.

 

Ah, thanks for that. I'll save swoodoo to favs. That'll come in handy for future trips with Costa's Cruise only option. Interestingly, our trip in C Fascinosa in Nov/Dec 2019, included flights provided by the online TA for the same price as Costa Direct cruise only. I guess the commission that cruise lines pay the agents, must be quite large?

[drsel]

2 minutes ago, MrSilversurf said:

 

Ah, thanks for that. I'll save swoodoo to favs. That'll come in handy for future trips with Costa's Cruise only option. Interestingly, our trip in C Fascinosa in Nov/Dec 2019, included flights provided by the online TA for the same price as Costa Direct cruise only. I guess the commission that cruise lines pay the agents, must be quite large?

Commission is max 10--12%. It certainly can't cover the cost of flights, unless U booked the MOST EXPENSIVE suite.

How much did U pay per person & how many nights was your cruise?

[Bertie Doe]

5 hours ago, drsel said:

Commission is max 10--12%. It certainly can't cover the cost of flights, unless U booked the MOST EXPENSIVE suite.

How much did U pay per person & how many nights was your cruise?

No it was a standard balcony. Relocation cruises are good value. This was 17 nights from Marseille to Rio De Janeiro, via Barcelona and three Canary islands. The total cost for 2 inc flights was £3182. The TA was Cruisenation and they booked us outbound thru' Easyjet and return to Gatwick thru' Norwegianair. Ship was the Costa Fascinosa. Food and waiter service in the MDR was excellent. The figure of 3182 excluded the Service Charge, which was fair and reasonable.

Edited February 13, 2020 by MrSilversurf
typo

[drsel]

Even MSC Bellisima is available @$36 per night (incl ALL port fees & taxes) for a Dubai round trip in Feb 2020

[Bertie Doe]

14 hours ago, drsel said:

Even MSC Bellisima is available @$36 per night (incl ALL port fees & taxes) for a Dubai round trip in Feb 2020

 

That's a good price. I guess that's per person per day for an inside cabin, excluding gratuities ?

 

For those looking for a Costa last minute bargain. I mentioned we did the translocation cruise on the Fascinosa 3  months ago. The return trans trip to the Med starts on 13th April from Santos and arrives Barcelona 1st May. The daily cost works out at £23 or €28 Plus gratuities.

 

https://www.costacruises.co.uk/cruises/SSZ18001/FS18210413.html

 

Anyone interested would have to factor in flights. Incidentally, I tried your Swoodoo and the default was Zurich airport only. Can we blame this on BREXIT 😆

Edited February 14, 2020 by MrSilversurf
link broke

[Lunenburg]

2 hours ago, MrSilversurf said:

 

 

 

Anyone interested would have to factor in flights. Incidentally, I tried your Swoodoo and the default was Zurich airport only. Can we blame this on BREXIT 😆

I think I would fly to Rio and board there. Many more options than Santos which is pretty small. Heathrow to Rio under £300. with TAP or a little more with Latam - both are good.

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, Lunenburg said:

I think I would fly to Rio and board there. Many more options than Santos which is pretty small. Heathrow to Rio under £300. with TAP or a little more with Latam - both are good.

 

Yes you're right, skip Santos and embark at Rio on the 14th. I found a good price on Kayak at £183 pp using Norwegian direct from Gatwick and Barcelona to Gatwick with Easyjet at £28 pp. Perhaps in a couple of years time, we may do this this relocation trip.