Prepaid gratuities

[opalinem]

It's also convenient not to pay everything at the same time. I usually book excursions at the same time as cruise and it's quite a bit of money all put together. My bank account appreciates a little breather before paying the rest (on board extras + gratuities). I dare hope that the staff wouldn't hold it against me :eek: How cynical that would be! But so far they haven't, lucky me ;)

[CactusFlower527]

Oh well... I save up for 18 months for my cruise and I just take the grand total of everything I know about up front and average it over 18 months and so by the time I cruise, everything but the souvenirs/touristy-stuff is paid for ... :D I don't want to risk my bank account not having enough money in it to take care of the post-cruise costs. Then I am paying credit card interest (making my trip cost even more). :eek: Some folks have a lot of money aka resources to pay this money after the fact. I have peace of mind knowing that 80-85% of my trip is paid for by the time I jump on the ship :) all I have to worry about are the pre-cruise hotel, rental cars and odds & ends. "everyone is different"

[Sparkygirl]

I prepaid the DSC for my just completed cruise...I found it so much easier -I always knew how much $ I had in account...(OBC)...I will certainly do it again for my next cruise..

.PS--As the possibility was discussed in another thread..I did use $ from my account to voucher the "tips" for our Butler and Concierge..no porblem..

 

How does vouchering work? I'm considering this with our OBC at the end of the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[jaja]

How does vouchering work? I'm considering this with our OBC at the end of the cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

 

Went to front desk..day before end of cruise..asked to use some OBC to "tip" for concierge and butler..they wrote out paper receipts (on one of those pads that makes a duplicate..gave me one and I saw them take other to back room...It appeared on my "bill" next day...THis was on the GEM...

[mitsugirly]

We have always prepaid our DSC as well, along with adding OBC to our account for anything we will be charging during our cruise. I just like having things out of the way and paid for. To me, it doesn't matter if you pay for it now or pay for it later...paying is paying and it earns me points on my card no matter when I do it. :p (BTW, I usually estimate within $10 of my final bill every time...I have gotten really good at this estimation thing). :D

[Powriv]

With my upcoming cruise I am prepaying the DSC. Money is a little tighter this time around so whatever I can prepay I will

[Irishwhiskey]

Regardless of how it gets paid NCL does not list it as a gratuity onboard ship.Your billing statement reads service charge.The daily program that you receive in your cabin every night calls it a voluntary service charge.We still do most of our tipping at the end of the cruise as we always have.But now we have to disinfect our hands before and after we tip them!

[dcollette]

Like many others here, I prepay our DSC so that it is one less thing to worry about. Like another poster said, I plan these out at least a year in advance, so I prepay the soda package (for the teens), the dsc, the excursions we know we want to do, that kind of thing. This way, when it comes time to go on vacation, we only have to worry about bringing spending money and additional tip money for those who deserve it. Go ahead and laugh at me, but we take the train into NY, so I even buy those tickets ahead of time. (used to be able to buy them 6 months ahead, now it is about 60 days--thanks metro north) I like knowing things are taken care of. My account is usually not a large bill at all (since I don't really drink, maybe a handful of adult beverages over the week) so it makes it less painful at the end.

 

For me, it makes planning easier. I don't look at it as paying for services I haven't received, as the charge gets put on their regardless. When we encounter exceptional service, we tip additional accordingly (via cash) so we do bring "extra" with us for that. It's similar to when you go to a restaurant and you have a large party, they generally auto gratuity the 15-18% but you can always add extra. For those that choose to wait, no big deal, it's personal choice if you ask me.

[kcwingwalker]

Like many others here, I prepay our DSC so that it is one less thing to worry about. Like another poster said, I plan these out at least a year in advance, so I prepay the soda package (for the teens), the dsc, the excursions we know we want to do, that kind of thing. This way, when it comes time to go on vacation, we only have to worry about bringing spending money and additional tip money for those who deserve it. Go ahead and laugh at me, but we take the train into NY, so I even buy those tickets ahead of time. (used to be able to buy them 6 months ahead, now it is about 60 days--thanks metro north) I like knowing things are taken care of. My account is usually not a large bill at all (since I don't really drink, maybe a handful of adult beverages over the week) so it makes it less painful at the end.

 

For me, it makes planning easier. I don't look at it as paying for services I haven't received, as the charge gets put on their regardless. When we encounter exceptional service, we tip additional accordingly (via cash) so we do bring "extra" with us for that. It's similar to when you go to a restaurant and you have a large party, they generally auto gratuity the 15-18% but you can always add extra. For those that choose to wait, no big deal, it's personal choice if you ask me.

 

Like!

 

:)

[jdvmd]

We don't prepay our gratuities.

[SuiteCruisin14]

We always pre-pay the service charges, usually in the weeks before the cruise. I hate seeing the charges every day on the bill, it is confusing to read the rest of the charges. We also pre-pay any restaurants we plan to eat at.

Having said that, we still brings small bills to tip for extra and/or special requests or service.

This cruise is the first week in January so you can bet I am pre-paying anything I can before than.

 

Lynda

[tiggerfan616]

Like many others here, I prepay our DSC so that it is one less thing to worry about. Like another poster said, I plan these out at least a year in advance, so I prepay the soda package (for the teens), the dsc, the excursions we know we want to do, that kind of thing. This way, when it comes time to go on vacation, we only have to worry about bringing spending money and additional tip money for those who deserve it.

For me, it makes planning easier. I don't look at it as paying for services I haven't received, as the charge gets put on their regardless. When we encounter exceptional service, we tip additional accordingly (via cash) so we do bring "extra" with us for that. It's similar to when you go to a restaurant and you have a large party, they generally auto gratuity the 15-18% but you can always add extra. For those that choose to wait, no big deal, it's personal choice if you ask me.

 

I'm the same way DSC and Soda cards are pre-paid. Anything else that can be prepaid is also. Airline tickets, hotel, transfers etc. I put alittle money away each week for extra spending money and now that I've quit smoking I'm taking my old cigarette money and putting that away. Our next cruise I will be treating myself to a spa day, something I have never done

[Gazza316]

Can you pre-pay these through the website of do you need to ring NCL?

[Demonyte]

Can you pre-pay these through the website of do you need to ring NCL?

 

It depends. If booked through US office directly (via .com website or by calling) one should be able to pay them through MyNCL but if booked through a TA, the payment needs to go through them or possibly it can be done also by calling NCL directly (I've always done it through TA if booked through one).

 

Don't know how it is with reservations made with UK office (or UK TA).

[loopy]

My Thanksgiving cruise will be the first time I have prepaid. I don't use credit cards so I will only be using a debit card. This is nice since i don't have to worry about paying for a cruise 6 months later.

 

We have everything paid from the flights, hotel, grats, dinners in specialty restaurants and excursions. I even plan to buy a bar set up to help cut cost with drinking on board.

 

This is my bf's first cruise and I'm afraid the on board bill at the end will give him a heart attack...lol. He is good with money so he knows in reality what it is costing but I think seeing it all at once might not be good.

 

When I prepaid everything it sent me new e-docs and it showed paid on there.

 

I guess in the end it is your personal choice. There isn't a right or wrong way.

[Waterloomarc]

I add them right before final payment and pay it off all at once. I view the DSC/tips/grats whatever you want to call it as part of the fare so I treat it as such. I like that it's out of the way and I don't have to mess with it anymore, other than tips for room service.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Ok I'm convinced to prepay and in addition to that I have been buying myself shipboard credits and casino credits. By the time my cruise comes 3/40/14 I should have at least $300 credits for myself

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[johnsak123]

I dont pay in advance

Why should someone have my money in advance.

[thatjoeguy]

We don't prepay. I'd much prefer the money gathering interest in my account for another few months rather than in NCL's account.