Free Gratuities?

[curious_st]

Does NCL ever offer free gratuities as one of their amenity options?

[hawkeyetlse]

Yes, they offered it a couple of times last year. It's worth more than all of the other perks (other than UBP), so they prefer to offer you $50 shorex credit and Internet minutes. But keep watching the promo page, free gratuities may come back.

[df5250]

Yes, we have it for our POA cruise in May. It was available to us in Feb and March. Agree with Hawkeyetlse to watch the promo page for changes!

[roger001]

There have been promotion packages for the unlimited dining and drinks, both offering the 18% included. Lately, the 18% is not included. I also have one booked that included the daily service charge. This was booked quite a few months ago. So, you don't ever know what is going to be offered next.

[Wavesprite]

Yes, we booked in August, in a suite (non haven) and got free UBP (no extra 18%), SDP, service charges included for first two passengers, 250 internet minutes and 3rd passenger free for our February 14 night cruise.

 

 

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[Tantsee]

Does NCL ever offer free gratuities as one of their amenity options?

 

 

I was wondering the same thing. I could have sworn that gratuities was one of the amenities included in our Haven booking. However, I wasn't thinking about it one way or the other and prepaid the gratuities when I completed the online check-in. Later, I thought about it and checked my Vacation Summary. "Prepaid Gratuities" is listed under Amenities. I called NCL twice and was told by different agents that it is listed in the Amenities only because I prepaid, not because it was included. They said that prepaid gratuities was not one of the items offered. She did say that we have the shore excursion credit, even though that is not listed. I don't know how to prove whether or not the gratuities were included, since none of the amenities are shown on my original booking receipt. I guess I will just always wonder.

[drvalo]

I was wondering the same thing. I could have sworn that gratuities was one of the amenities included in our Haven booking. However, I wasn't thinking about it one way or the other and prepaid the gratuities when I completed the online check-in. Later, I thought about it and checked my Vacation Summary. "Prepaid Gratuities" is listed under Amenities. I called NCL twice and was told by different agents that it is listed in the Amenities only because I prepaid, not because it was included. They said that prepaid gratuities was not one of the items offered. She did say that we have the shore excursion credit, even though that is not listed. I don't know how to prove whether or not the gratuities were included, since none of the amenities are shown on my original booking receipt. I guess I will just always wonder.

 

Ask NCL to send you an amenities confirmation email. It takes about a second and will tell you what you have, although it may not indicate whether or not something was a promo or you prepaid it.

[hawkeyetlse]

I guess I will just always wonder.

If you tell us your booking date, we can probably dig up the promotional terms in effect at that time. If you had free gratuities the system would not normally let you pay them again, so unless there was a glitch (which no one else has reported here, as far as I know), I think you may be misremembering the details of your promo. What were your other perks?

 

Also, if you have your initial booking confirmation from NCL, you should be able to see the promo codes that were applied before you pre-paid your gratuities or any later add-ons.

[rlindydiane]

However don't forget that any free beverage and/or dining packages have their own gratuities and unfortunately they are not free. They sld show on your invoice it's usually 15% or there about.

[watchdiva]

We have UBP, UDP, DSC booked when all tips were included (no additional % charge). Booked 3 cruises with these promos...

Edited January 10, 2016 by watchdiva

[EyeSeaEwe]

Ask NCL to send you an amenities confirmation email. It takes about a second and will tell you what you have, although it may not indicate whether or not something was a promo or you prepaid it.

 

If it was a promo the price on the confirmation will be $0.

[Wavesprite]

So for us, with the free prepaid gratuities, if I tried to pay them online it would say "not available at this time" and it is listed on my amenities email.

 

 

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[hawkeyetlse]

So for us, with the free prepaid gratuities, if I tried to pay them online it would say "not available at this time" and it is listed on my amenities email.

Unfortunately, their system is buggy and even people who don't already have their gratuities covered occasionally get the "not available" message when they try to pre-pay.