Free Gratuities Question

[MikeBTN]

Previously had UBP & SDP. Price of the cabin hasn't changed, but we'd prefer UBP & free gratuities and were able to get the promos switched around with no problem. Log on to my vacation summary and see this:

 

"Prepaid Service Charges for All Cat except for Haven and Suites"

 

We are planning on trying to upsell to The Haven when the time comes. Should we switch back to SDP? Would rather have SDP and pay gratuities than find out we're losing our free gratuities AND don't have the SDP should we be able to upsell.

 

Thoughts?

[hawkeyetlse]

I remember reading reports from some people who had free gratuities at the lower level and then upsold to the Haven, that NCL increased their perk and gave them free gratuities at the higher suite level. Which was nice for them.

 

But at the very least, if you upsell, you will keep your perk of $13.50/day for guests 1 and 2 towards gratuities, and you will only have to pay the difference ($2 per person per day).

[MikeBTN]

If its just paying the difference its not a huge deal. Just didn't want to completely lose it, should we be lucky enough to upsell. If we're not, we're still happy with what we have!

[disneygirl10]

I remember reading reports from some people who had free gratuities at the lower level and then upsold to the Haven, that NCL increased their perk and gave them free gratuities at the higher suite level. Which was nice for them.

 

But at the very least, if you upsell, you will keep your perk of $13.50/day for guests 1 and 2 towards gratuities, and you will only have to pay the difference ($2 per person per day).

 

I wasn't informed about this on the phone yesterday, still deciding if I'm going to upgrade from my current balcony to an aft penthouse suite (non Haven). Should I expect that I will be charged the extra $2per day pp?

Edited August 18, 2016 by disneygirl10

[hawkeyetlse]

Should I expect that I will be charged the extra $2per day pp?

If you are in contact with NCL about this, then you should ask them, not me! If you're upgrading to a suite (i.e. rebooking), you should get a whole new set of perks. But I don't know what your situation is. The OP was talking about upselling after final payment. Edited August 18, 2016 by hawkeyetlse

[bravestwj]

Because I had prepaid my gratuities I was not required to pay the higher suite rates when we did our upsell a few weeks ago.

[Casino Comp Chick]

Because I had prepaid my gratuities I was not required to pay the higher suite rates when we did our upsell a few weeks ago.

 

Same here, I have upsold a few times and was never charged anything extra since I prepaid them.

[hulksmash]

Was this under the new promo? We booked a 2 bedroom suite recently and it says that grats are included for the first 2 guests.

[luckyinpa]

Previously had UBP & SDP. Price of the cabin hasn't changed, but we'd prefer UBP & free gratuities and were able to get the promos switched around with no problem. Log on to my vacation summary and see this:

 

"Prepaid Service Charges for All Cat except for Haven and Suites"

 

We are planning on trying to upsell to The Haven when the time comes. Should we switch back to SDP? Would rather have SDP and pay gratuities than find out we're losing our free gratuities AND don't have the SDP should we be able to upsell.

 

Thoughts?

 

if i'm reading correctly (wouldnt be the 1st time i made a mistake), you said you preferred UBP and free grats and you were able to get the promos switched to them. meaning you save approx 200 bucks 'today' with the grats.

 

assuming what i wrote above is right, i dont get why you would want to switch to a lesser perk today, being the SDP.

 

when you upsell you have the perks you first booked with. at this point u have the UBP and gratuties and while i cannot be certain you wouldnt have to pay 2 bucks a day extra, it still seems like a much better deal to have free grats vs any SDP if you do upsell

 

if on the other hand i'm mistaken and you still have UbP and SDP, then upselling to haven will not get you free grats.

[Delmol]

Do you need it?

 

Just go to the service desk on the last day and ask them to remove your gratuities :)

[fshagan]

Do you need it?

 

Just go to the service desk on the last day and ask them to remove your gratuities :)

 

This no longer works in the same way (at least for US passengers). You must pay the DSC. They will give you a form you can submit for a refund after the cruise. Sometime later you will receive the refund from NCL. The time between submitting the form and getting the refunds has ranged from a few weeks to a few months.

[Delmol]

This no longer works in the same way (at least for US passengers). You must pay the DSC. They will give you a form you can submit for a refund after the cruise. Sometime later you will receive the refund from NCL. The time between submitting the form and getting the refunds has ranged from a few weeks to a few months.

 

Ah I see, might be slightly different for you folks across the pond (UK passenger here).

 

Seems a tad underhand, but I'm not that familiar with what US law does/doesn't allow - it wouldn't be over here!

[fshagan]

Ah I see, might be slightly different for you folks across the pond (UK passenger here).

 

Seems a tad underhand, but I'm not that familiar with what US law does/doesn't allow - it wouldn't be over here!

 

I have heard that UK passengers get the bill adjusted at the service desk and don't have to mail in the form, but I don't know that for a fact. I have heard there are other differences in regards to the 18% gratuity on "free" perks, where in the States we have to pay it but in the UK you don't ("free" evidently means "free" in the culture that gave us freedom).

[Delmol]

This no longer works in the same way (at least for US passengers). You must pay the DSC. They will give you a form you can submit for a refund after the cruise. Sometime later you will receive the refund from NCL. The time between submitting the form and getting the refunds has ranged from a few weeks to a few months.

 

I have heard that UK passengers get the bill adjusted at the service desk and don't have to mail in the form, but I don't know that for a fact. I have heard there are other differences in regards to the 18% gratuity on "free" perks, where in the States we have to pay it but in the UK you don't ("free" evidently means "free" in the culture that gave us freedom).

 

After just coming back from a recent cruise I can confirm that they'll try to get you to fill out a form stating that you pay the gratuities bill and you will be refunded upto 3-4 weeks later.

 

However if you refuse and demand that it be removed then and there, then they will.

[fshagan]

After just coming back from a recent cruise I can confirm that they'll try to get you to fill out a form stating that you pay the gratuities bill and you will be refunded upto 3-4 weeks later.

 

However if you refuse and demand that it be removed then and there' date=' then they will.[/quote']

 

Yes, if you are from the UK you can demand and they will adjust the bill at the desk (if you booked through a UK travel agency). If you are from the US or Canada they will not because the governing law doesn't require them to do so.