New to NCL

[MikeNKim]

Hi,    I have just booked a cruise with NCL.   

 

Can anyone one tell me if there are any extra fees or anything like that over and above the cruise fare?   

 

i remember hearing once upon a time that NCL added mandatory fees just can’t remember the details

 

Thank you

kim

[Rsavtechcruise]

Are there mandatory extra fees technically yes and no

 

some fees are or can be paid at time of booking so there may or may not be considered extra example would be DSC ( Daily service charges / daily gratuities) which can be paid at time of booking prior to sailing or onboard 

 

for the the most part that is really the only extra fee that is an option at tone of booking after that nothing else is really mandatory so technically if you prepaid that you could technically get onboard and not spend another me. If you didn’t take an excursion didn’t drink or dine specialty unless you had the perk and didn’t use casino or buy anything onboard 

[MikeNKim]

Thank you.    Is this in place of the tips or are they over and above.    Do you know what that fee is?

 

i tried the website and I am sure it is there I am just not seeing it.   😥

[GA Dave]

5 minutes ago, MikeNKim said:

Thank you.    Is this in place of the tips or are they over and above.    Do you know what that fee is?

 

i tried the website and I am sure it is there I am just not seeing it.   😥

See attached.

Edited October 29, 2019 by GA Dave

[LrgPizza]

You have prior experience cruising, and NCL works the same as the other cruise lines.

[stephenecs]

1 minute ago, LrgPizza said:

You have prior experience cruising, and NCL works the same as the other cruise lines.

Yes. Except Ncl cruises are much better at the nickle and dime game. It was a real turn off for us. 

[MikeNKim]

Thank you all!!!

 

no actually it isn’t like the others.   I have cruised Disney, Carnival and RCCL and none of them have a daily service fee.   Tips yes but not a daily service fee.   

 

I just booked and did the prepay option.    Excursions will be pricey on this cruise so the more I can prepay the better

 

 

thanks again everyone.  

 

[tallnthensome]

3 minutes ago, MikeNKim said:

Thank you all!!!

 

no actually it isn’t like the others.   I have cruised Disney, Carnival and RCCL and none of them have a daily service fee.   Tips yes but not a daily service fee.   

 

I just booked and did the prepay option.    Excursions will be pricey on this cruise so the more I can prepay the better

 

 

thanks again everyone.  

 

Most people here have sailed other lines like Carnival and Royal. The DSC is the same as tips or gratuities that you would prepay on Carnival . They are the same thing regardless of the wording. 

[beerman2]

3 hours ago, stephenecs said:

Yes. Except Ncl cruises are much better at the nickle and dime game. It was a real turn off for us. 

Only if you let them. Most cruise lines now have added fees, depending on the experience an individual wants.

 

You can still cruise without paying extra on NCL, you book a Sailaway rate and you get a cabin and all included food venues, free shows.

 

 

[FitchburgWIFamily]

6 hours ago, MikeNKim said:

I have cruised Disney, Carnival and RCCL and none of them have a daily service fee.   Tips yes but not a daily service fee.   

 

Royal:

The automatic service gratuity is $14.50 USD per person, per day for guests in Junior Suites and below, or $17.50 USD per person, per day for guests in Grand Suites and above, applied to each guest’s SeaPass account on a daily basis. The gratuity applies to individual guests of all ages and stateroom categories.

 

Note:  Royal also leaves tip envelops in your room to tip steward or waitstaff in addition to the daily charge.

 

Carnival:

 

• Standard Staterooms: $13.99 USD per person, per day
• Suite Staterooms: $15.99 USD per person, per day

Disney:

 

If you wish to pay the suggested gratuity (which if you total it is $13.50 a day per guest) amounts listed on this page for your party, based on the length of your cruise, you have 2 easy options:

• Pay the suggested gratuity in advance by contacting Disney Cruise Line or your travel agent no later than 3 days before your cruise begins
• Pay by automatically having the suggested gratuity added to your onboard account prior to the end of your cruise

As to things beyond the tip/gratuity/service fee/or whatever you want to call it:

 

I never sailed on Disney, so I can't comment on them.  But the other three are very very similar in what is and is not included in your cruise fare.  There are many free activities (trivia, movies, music, dance parties) and some for fee activities (bingo, Martini tasting, UPaint classes).   There are free dining venues and additional charge dining venues.  I actually thing NCL has more variety in their free dining venues, but that is a matter of opinion.   There are free beverages (coffee, juice, water) and beverages you pay for (soda, wine, alcohol).   There are stores on all ships that overcharge for some items and do weird table sales for inexpensive items.  You can pay for photos, you can pay for spa treatments, you can pay for video games.  Or,  you can opt not to.

 

I have never had a hidden fee show up on an NCL cruise, and don't see that they are any different from the other mass market lines.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise,

 

 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, stephenecs said:

Yes. Except Ncl cruises are much better at the nickle and dime game. It was a real turn off for us. 

Not really. There are similar fee-for-service on other cruise lines. NCL is not better or worse. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, beerman2 said:

You can still cruise without paying extra on NCL, you book a Sailaway rate and you get a cabin and all included food venues, free shows.

You don't have to book a sailaway rate. Just don't pick any perks with additional charges and you can chose your room vs. ending up with the rooms that no one else was willing to pay money for. 

[Jana60]

7 hours ago, stephenecs said:

Yes. Except Ncl cruises are much better at the nickle and dime game. It was a real turn off for us. 

it’s been a little while since I’ve been on a different Cruise Line so forgive me for asking but in what way does Norwegian nickel and dime more than other cruise lines?

[Jana60]

7 hours ago, MikeNKim said:

Thank you all!!!

 

no actually it isn’t like the others.   I have cruised Disney, Carnival and RCCL and none of them have a daily service fee.   Tips yes but not a daily service fee.   

 

I just booked and did the prepay option.    Excursions will be pricey on this cruise so the more I can prepay the better

 

 

thanks again everyone.  

 

That’s not true. I have been on princess cruise line, Royal Caribbean cruise line, and carnival cruise line and all of them had daily service fees. They may have called them Tips But it was exactly the same system in that the cruise line deducts a given amount of money per cruise day for service/tips.  It has been a very long time since any cruise line gave customers the option of putting their tips in an envelope or not paying tips at all. I do think that Norwegian has been increasing their required gratuities very rapidly and also charges a much larger amount for their beverage packages. In fact I cannot imagine the average person actually purchasing a beverage package. Luckily most people receive the beverage package free other than the required gratuity.  The gratuity on the drinks package is 18% of the usual price of the drink package.  For my next cruise the gratuities on the drink package were $99 for the five day cruise. While that seems steep I’m confident that I can get my $99 worth of cocktails in during the five day cruise!

[beerman2]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

You don't have to book a sailaway rate. Just don't pick any perks with additional charges and you can chose your room vs. ending up with the rooms that no one else was willing to pay money for. 

Isn't that very similar? 

Sailaway you get what NCL gives you.

Choose your room ( that no one else wants)

 

Splitting hairs!

[Zippeedee]

On 10/29/2019 at 8:35 PM, beerman2 said:

Isn't that very similar? 

Sailaway you get what NCL gives you.

Choose your room ( that no one else wants)

 

Splitting hairs!

I don’t understand. I have pretty specific cabin needs so will never book a sail away rate. I get what I want, not the leftovers under the theater or over an engine room.

[4774Papa]

If you pick the beverage package, you are hit with an enormous gratuity fee of 20% on an overrated value of $99 per day per person.

[BirdTravels]

19 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

If you pick the beverage package, you are hit with an enormous gratuity fee of 20% on an overrated value of $99 per day per person.

It is actually very reasonable compared to paying for drinks. NOT enormous. Your break even point is less than 2 drinks per day.  
 

Yes, you can go on a cruise and drink watered down ice tea for a week. Or pay a very reasonable gratuity and drink as much as you want. 

[4774Papa]

6 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

It is actually very reasonable compared to paying for drinks. NOT enormous. Your break even point is less than 2 drinks per day.  
 

Yes, you can go on a cruise and drink watered down ice tea for a week. Or pay a very reasonable gratuity and drink as much as you want. 

It is not a reasonable plan.  JUST the 20% gratuity amounts to $277 for two persons for a week cruise.  Double that ($554) for a two week cruise.   Prior to any drink package promos, we routinely did 14 day cruises on NCL, purchased a wine package for about $300 and our total alcohol bill would always be less than $500.  NOW, if I take the beverage package, JUST the gratuity costs more than I would spend on alcohol.  We don't drink umbrella drinks and almost never prior to late afternoon.

 

On our last NCL cruise (Dawn- New England and Canada), for a 7 day cruise, I declined the beverage package, brought 5 bottles of wine that were better wine than on the beverage package.  The total cost of the wine and corkage fees was considerably less than JUST the gratuity.

 

Also, you fail to take into account how much the bottom line price has gone up with the addition of promos like the beverage packages.

[beerman2]

22 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

It is not a reasonable plan.  JUST the 20% gratuity amounts to $277 for two persons for a week cruise.  Double that ($554) for a two week cruise.   Prior to any drink package promos, we routinely did 14 day cruises on NCL, purchased a wine package for about $300 and our total alcohol bill would always be less than $500.  NOW, if I take the beverage package, JUST the gratuity costs more than I would spend on alcohol.  We don't drink umbrella drinks and almost never prior to late afternoon.

 

On our last NCL cruise (Dawn- New England and Canada), for a 7 day cruise, I declined the beverage package, brought 5 bottles of wine that were better wine than on the beverage package.  The total cost of the wine and corkage fees was considerably less than JUST the gratuity.

 

Also, you fail to take into account how much the bottom line price has gone up with the addition of promos like the beverage packages.

It's abundantly clear you like your wine and specific brands also. So no for you it's not worth it. However I'm pretty sure you are in the minority. 

 

For those that like hard liquor's it's a great deal. Pax are on vacation and step outside the box, I.e. Mimosas or Bailey's and Coffee, Bloody Mary's and Screwdrivers for breakfast.

 

Even if a person doesn't start until afternoon having 4 or 5 coctails in a day is easily doable and puts one ahead of the game.

 

I've purchased a drink package on Carnival  for an 8 day cruise. Was that worth paying about $500.00 more for the cruise for 1 extra day?  To most NO, to me YES, for the cost of the package I came out ahead.

[Liljo22]

On 10/29/2019 at 6:11 PM, Jana60 said:

it’s been a little while since I’ve been on a different Cruise Line so forgive me for asking but in what way does Norwegian nickel and dime more than other cruise lines?

It doesn't.  All the major lines(CCL, RCL, PCL, NCL) have optional items for a fee.  Disney is the only one that really does not but  you are paying double what you would pay on those other lines so I guess people don't consider it nickel & diming.  

[beerman2]

10 hours ago, Zippeedee said:

I don’t understand. I have pretty specific cabin needs so will never book a sail away rate. I get what I want, not the leftovers under the theater or over an engine room.

What it began with was "nickel and dime". 

You can book Sailaway ( no perks) and get Luck of draw.

You can choose your cabin ( don't choose perks) 

 

Neither will you pay the fees 1 poster was referring to as "nickel and dime".

 

i always choose cabin ( yes location is important) however some like to gamble they might get upgraded with Sailaway ( No thanks)

[graphicguy]

I think people get confused by nomenclature.  Different cruise lines call it different things, but all charge an “extra charge” for service, tips, etc.  They’re the same thing, regardless of cruise line.

 

If you don’t drink a lot, do not take the drink package.  It really is that simple.  

 

If you like your alcoholic drinks, the NCL drink package offers you a way to get your drinks pretty inexpensively by only paying the tips on the drink packager they offer as a perk.

[Jana60]

12 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

It doesn't.  All the major lines(CCL, RCL, PCL, NCL) have optional items for a fee.  Disney is the only one that really does not but  you are paying double what you would pay on those other lines so I guess people don't consider it nickel & diming.  

I don’t even consider whether something is included with the price of the cruise or whether I must have it added later but rather I look at the overall cost. I’ve been cruising long enough that I pretty much know what I am going to require to feel like I’ve had a nice cruise vacation. If I’m lucky enough to get a good deal on those requirements I consider it a win win even if I had to call and add a given service. My next cruise is a prime example. I had to future cruise certificates on file at NCL.  Since they are half price the cost of that $500 was only $250. I found a great sale in which I was able to book two 5 day cruises for only $977 with adult beverage package and $50 in onboard credit included.  Are used my two future cruise certificates which lowered my expense to $477 but of course I had to spend $250 on those certificates so The total cost for this 10 day cruise was only $727.   Somehow I think I’m the one that is nickel and diming them rather than vice a versa!

[4774Papa]

20 hours ago, beerman2 said:

What it began with was "nickel and dime". 

You can book Sailaway ( no perks) and get Luck of draw.

You can choose your cabin ( don't choose perks) 

 

Neither will you pay the fees 1 poster was referring to as "nickel and dime".

 

i always choose cabin ( yes location is important) however some like to gamble they might get upgraded with Sailaway ( No thanks)

Sailaway is rarely an option.   I have never been able to book it on any cruises that I am interested in.  I book early.  Therefore, I have booked Royal Caribbean, which has a great bottom line, without promos that I don't want.