open bar gratuities for minors issue

[Caribbean Drifters]

Hi friends,

 

I did some searching, and expected to find this issue beat to death, but there is either a glitch happening or there is some erroneous information being spread. Either way I need some guidance. I found a great deal with this current sailing and was ready to book my family of 4 in a Concierge Family Inside cabin. This level of cabin already comes with a few of the perks, but will let me add the Open Bar and Speciality Dining perk for free. it has been said in previous threads as well as in my experience with NCL that these perks apply to the first two passengers in the cabin. BUT when i looked at the breakdown of charges not only were My wife and I charged the gratuities, but my minor children (passengers 3&4) were also charged $99 gratuities each. I thought maybe once I got to the page where I input their ages surely it would drop off, but it hasn't. Has anyone else experienced this? any help would be great. I just don't want to pay an extra $200 in gratuities for the perk.

[Liljo22]

The new promo gives all guests 21+ in the cabin the drink package.  Since NCL doesn’t ask for ages until booking, they list the gratuities on everyone.  Once you book, the pricing will be adjusted for the minors. 

[Caribbean Drifters]

They do ask before booking. I got all the way to where i was entering my CC number, well after they promoted for names and ages of the passengers.

[HalfHand]

Even getting stuck having to pay it, that's a great price for 4 people. Well done.

[Caribbean Drifters]

Great price for sure, but there policy states that minors will not be charged. DW and I will drink a bit, but not $400 in gratuities worth. $100 each in gratuities; sure.

[JamieLogical]

I would recommend calling to book, if you can't do it through the site with the correct charges. Don't miss out on a good deal if a call will get it resolved.

[Caribbean Drifters]

15 minutes ago, HalfHand said:

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Caribbean Drifters

[waterjock]

If the children are above a certain age they will be charged the full price for the specialty dinner package.I believe the dinner package with gratuities is $99 dollars for third and fourth person. But your final bill seams to be zero for your children so they have adjusted it correctly.

Edited January 7, 2020 by waterjock

[Caribbean Drifters]

Just now, waterjock said:

If the children are above a certain age they will be charged the full price for the specialty dinner package.I believe the dinner package with gratuities is $99 dollars for third and fourth person

Children are 7 and 5, and are not charged gratuities for specialty dining as you can see by the pictures i posted in the original post.

 

[Caribbean Drifters]

21 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

The new promo gives all guests 21+ in the cabin the drink package.  Since NCL doesn’t ask for ages until booking, they list the gratuities on everyone.  Once you book, the pricing will be adjusted for the minors. 

as you can see the very next page is asking for birth dates. It's pretty naive to think after i enter my CC number that $200 would just drop off the bill.

[smplybcause]

Until you tell NCL otherwise, it assumes all guests are 21+. You still have to confirm once you input all that info - it won't be charging you as soon as you finish the 4th guest's info. Add in the kids ages and see if it recalculates. If it doesn't call to book. 

[Caribbean Drifters]

8 minutes ago, waterjock said:

If the children are above a certain age they will be charged the full price for the specialty dinner package.I believe the dinner package with gratuities is $99 dollars for third and fourth person. But your final bill seams to be zero for your children so they have adjusted it correctly.

If you look at the picture i posted they break out the charges for gratuities. Specialty dining gratuities is $15.80 for the first two people, the 3&4th passengers do not receive this perk, the $99 isn't from adding the perk to my children, it is a mistake.

 

[Caribbean Drifters]

3 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

Until you tell NCL otherwise, it assumes all guests are 21+. You still have to confirm once you input all that info - it won't be charging you as soon as you finish the 4th guest's info. Add in the kids ages and see if it recalculates. If it doesn't call to book. 

As stated in the Original post, i had already done all that, nothing recalculated, and have already confirmed everything the is to confirm and all I have left to do is pull the trigger. I have had things like this in the past with HCL, and in my experience the people answering the phones do not know how to help you or fix the problem unless you know the answers, they just say thats how it is supposed to be. Thats why i am seeking out if some one has seen and dealt with this problem before. if tis is something NCL has been over charging in the past and people just haven't noticed, this thread will serve to for people to make sure they aren't getting nickled and dimes. I mean $200 isn't chump change.

[Shidah]

Others have posted this same issue, it is assuming your kids are over 21.  As others have mentioned, call in to NCL to book.  Or book playing the deposit, then call to get it corrected prior to paying in full.

[smplybcause]

7 minutes ago, Caribbean Drifters said:

As stated in the Original post, i had already done all that, nothing recalculated, and have already confirmed everything the is to confirm and all I have left to do is pull the trigger. I have had things like this in the past with HCL, and in my experience the people answering the phones do not know how to help you or fix the problem unless you know the answers, they just say thats how it is supposed to be. Thats why i am seeking out if some one has seen and dealt with this problem before. if tis is something NCL has been over charging in the past and people just haven't noticed, this thread will serve to for people to make sure they aren't getting nickled and dimes. I mean $200 isn't chump change.

 

Well then your screenshots and accompanying screenshots aren't making sense. Call NCL and book it over the phone. It's not supposed to be there as no one under 21 can get the PBP. This isn't anything someone on cruise critic can fix. 

[Caribbean Drifters]

8 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

Well then your screenshots and accompanying screenshots aren't making sense. Call NCL and book it over the phone. It's not supposed to be there as no one under 21 can get the PBP. This isn't anything someone on cruise critic can fix. 

The fact that the screen shots don't make sense is the exact problem, no one ever assumed that anyone here could correct a mistake, but it's hard to believe that I'm the first one that had caught this error; as stated I was looking for someone who has experienced this and what they did to resolve it. I've had plenty of interaction what should just be easily resolved by calling NCL, that were not resolved. All I am trying to do is put out a thread to reach someone who has actually experienced this and gotten it resolved. thank you for you time.

[Liljo22]

I did a mock booking just now.  After I entered in the guest info, a pop up came up saying that some in our room are eligible for a lower rate.  It then adjusted the rate to take off the gratuities for my kids. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Liljo22

[smplybcause]

8 minutes ago, Caribbean Drifters said:

The fact that the screen shots don't make sense is the exact problem, no one ever assumed that anyone here could correct a mistake, but it's hard to believe that I'm the first one that had caught this error; as stated I was looking for someone who has experienced this and what they did to resolve it. I've had plenty of interaction what should just be easily resolved by calling NCL, that were not resolved. All I am trying to do is put out a thread to reach someone who has actually experienced this and gotten it resolved. thank you for you time.

 

You call NCL and tell them the website is charging promo beverage package to guests under 21.

 

BTW it was you showing the price breakdown and then showing an empty guest info page after it. Showing that doesn't look like you've entered ages to see if that fixed it. 

[Caribbean Drifters]

16 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

I did a mock booking just now.  After I entered in the guest info, a pop up came up saying that some in our room are eligible for a lower rate.  It then adjusted the rate to take off the gratuities for my kids. 

AWESOME!!! I wonder why this hasn't happened to me. I'll back out and try again.

[Caribbean Drifters]

16 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

You call NCL and tell them the website is charging promo beverage package to guests under 21.

 

BTW it was you showing the price breakdown and then showing an empty guest info page after it. Showing that doesn't look like you've entered ages to see if that fixed it. 

I had already input all the details assuming that would do the trick. I cleared my kids personal info, and took a screenshot as a response to show Liljo22 that NCL in fact does make you confirm age before booking.

[Liljo22]

40 minutes ago, Caribbean Drifters said:

AWESOME!!! I wonder why this hasn't happened to me. I'll back out and try again.

Did it work?  This would be before final confirmation.  I hit continue on guest 4 and this popped up.  The next page is where you select travel insurance.

[Caribbean Drifters]

nope, still didn't work. I got passed denying travel insurance. I'll trying a different sailing. thanks for helping me trouble shoot.

[Two Wheels Only]

It's possible that the system works for 7 day but not for 5 days.

Obviously, it should work for both but.....

[maplevale]

Tagging on to this - where can I see what the gratuities are for each item? 

[dbrown84]

I believe it should be charging your kids for the soda package, which is much less than the drink package.