Newbie Jumping ship-General NCL questions

[Grumpy'sGurl]

Hey! I was only able to convince Hubby to try Cruising by doing DCL. We are now jumping ship and going to give NCL's Escape a try. I have a few questions, hoping you all will be able to help. I have booked a balcony cabin (cat BF) T/A says it has a sofa bed and Pullman bed along with the "queen" or main bed...is that true? I can't seem to find it online. Also she says the automatic gratuities are included in the beverage package. Just want to be sure. I booked aft on deck 10 - sounds like a good location? Will hubby be pleased if he's comparing to DCL (which I am sure he will, although with all the beer, I am sure he'll be happy) Thanks for all your insight! Cheers:cool:

[hawkeyetlse]

Also she says the automatic gratuities are included in the beverage package. Just want to be sure.

You have to ask your TA again to be sure' date=' or look at the invoice they gave you. Most people have to pay the gratuities, they are [i']not[/i] included. (You pay them in one lump sum before the cruise starts, not drink by drink on board.) But maybe your TA is paying them for you as an additional perk.

[cb at sea]

Look at your specific cabin number on the deck plans....there is a 'legend" that shows what types of beds are in each cabin.

 

If it's just the 2 of you, the other beds won't be in evidence.....they will remain stowed away!

[Grumpy'sGurl]

Thanks for your reply. I understand that we will pre-pay our Gratutities for the duration of the cruise . My question is about the 18% charge that applies to drinks that are purchased. My T/A seems to think we won't end up with a bunch of little service charges that are automatically applied everytime hubby gets a beer, since we have the UBP. Can anyone confirm? TIA!

[LrgPizza]

Thanks for your reply. I understand that we will pre-pay our Gratutities for the duration of the cruise . My question is about the 18% charge that applies to drinks that are purchased. My T/A seems to think we won't end up with a bunch of little service charges that are automatically applied everytime hubby gets a beer' date=' since we have the UBP. Can anyone confirm? TIA![/quote']

 

Correct. You will not have to pay every time you get a drink. Regardless of whether or not you receive the beverage package as a promo or if you buy it, the gratuities on the drinks are paid prior to cruising.

[Arscar]

Before you or your husband order a premium beer, be sure it is covered by UBP. Dos Equis was NOT covered on our last Celebrity cruise

[LrgPizza]

Before you or your husband order a premium beer, be sure it is covered by UBP. Dos Equis was NOT covered on our last Celebrity cruise

This isn't Celebrity. On NCL, all drinks $15 and under are covered in full. A beer like Dos Equis, which is hardly premium, runs about $5.50. Why tell the OP to worry about something that happened on Celebrity?

 

Here are the terms of NCL's UBP, since clearly you aren't familiar either:

 

https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package

Edited June 30, 2016 by LrgPizza

[Into Cruising]

I just had a group of people on the Escape in BE balconies. As was said before, they are listed as being able to hold 2 or 3 or 4 people. Usually the third is the sofa bed, and the fourth is a pull down from the ceiling as needed.

 

If there are only two in the room, the sofabed may or may not be a sofa bed, but only a sofa.

 

as previously said it is best to check the legend on the deck plans to see the capacity of the room.

 

The main bed is more or less a queen. Having only two in a room for 3 or 4 will make absolutely no difference, as you still have the sofa and the other Pullman is out of sight.

[boatseller]

1. Well, the TA is probably correct. Balcony staterooms can be either 3 or 4 occupancy. 2 on the queen size bed, 1 on the sofabed and optionally 1 in the pullman, which is in the ceiling.

2. Yes, gratuities are included with the UBP. You do not need to tip individually unless you want to recognize exceptional service.

3. 10 Aft, sure. Unless it's Aft Facing, there really isn't much difference in any balcony. At least none that would matter to me. Just be wary of deck 15 as it has a reputation for being dark and noisy.

4. NCL and DCL are very different experiences and I appreciate each for those differences.

 

If your husband is a beer drinker, you will not get him out of the District Brew House, sorry, just begin the coping now :). They do a Cruise Leaderboard for different beers tried but you have to sign up on Embarkation Day.

 

Finally, the UBP per drink credit is $15 so there are several upcharge cocktails and beers, but you only pay the difference. Yes, that means $4 Chimey.

Edited June 30, 2016 by boatseller@hotmail.com

[Arscar]

"Clearly" I was just offering advise. Why the hostility?

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Thanks for your reply. I understand that we will pre-pay our Gratutities for the duration of the cruise . My question is about the 18% charge that applies to drinks that are purchased. My T/A seems to think we won't end up with a bunch of little service charges that are automatically applied everytime hubby gets a beer' date=' since we have the UBP. Can anyone confirm? TIA![/quote']

 

You have your regular tips for your waitstaff, cabin steward, and the behind the scenes people, and you have your gratuities of about $99 pp which are included in your invoice and you pay for when you pay off your cruise.

 

Unless of course your TA is paying them for you as stated above.

 

Bill

[nigelrcampbell@sky.com]

Just rude

[Viva_la_Vida]

Even with the package, you may end up with some little extra charges per drink while you're in home port. These are due to taxes. They were listed on our last bill as the bar name and amounted to anything from $.97 to $1.90 per drink.

 

We were sailing out of NYC so I don't know how this is at other ports, but I thought I would mention it. Other cruise lines in our experience didn't do this, so I'm not sure what you're used to with DCL.