Watch your bar tab on NCL

[doctoranna]

Just got off the Pearl and had a great time, but we were double-charged THREE times for drinks we ordered.  We noticed on Wednesday that there was a credit on our account, so looked back to see why and found the duplicate charge from Sunday.  Then Wednesday night we were double charged again in a different bar, so had to get that one reversed, and Thursday night, the last night of the cruise, after we were in bed watching TV, found another duplicate charge, so had to go down to the desk at midnight to get it reversed.  Since we were already in our jammies, we just put on the bathrobes that NCL provides and went down there.  I knew we should not wait til morning when the account would be closed.  All the bogus charges were reversed, but it was a major annoyance.  Keep track of your bar tab and watch for duplicate charges.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Maybe it's because I'm an accountant,  but I always check the shipboard account (not just the bar tab) daily. Mistakes happen, plus I always have a mental budget on how much to spend on a cruise.

[phillygwm]

7 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Maybe it's because I'm an accountant,  but I always check the shipboard account (not just the bar tab) daily. Mistakes happen, plus I always have a mental budget on how much to spend on a cruise.

That's happened to friends.  They added a tip of >$100.  It was easy to see the error because the tip corresponded with their room number.  This was under the old system when you had to sign for every drink.  But I'm a banker so I'm always checking my tab.  And I usually get Premium Plus so it's a non-issue anyway 🙂

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by phillygwm

[mantadiver]

Just about every cruise we get charged for drinks that are included in our drink package. It's a pain but I watch the bill daily.

[saltsandknit]

Check daily. I get the premium plus drink package and sometimes I get charged for Starbucks. The person at guest services said there were only 26 passengers that had the plus drink package on my last cruise and sometimes it gets missed. It's not a big deal for me but you do need to be aware. I have been double charged for dining items before as well.

 

[hallux]

On my cruise in March I somehow accrued a charge at The Local on embarkation day, during sail-away when I was on deck.

[Dcoy]

1 hour ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Maybe it's because I'm an accountant,  but I always check the shipboard account (not just the bar tab) daily. Mistakes happen, plus I always have a mental budget on how much to spend on a cruise.

That makes two of us. I even have a spreadsheet on my iPad. 

[Sailing12Away]

Guess it depends on your package and where you're drinking. Just got off the Joy the other day and at the Haven bar they weren't even taking our cards from us after day 1. We always have the drink package though, so outside of milkshakes from American Diner and a handful of $1-2 upcharges or tax while at port, we have never seen extraneous bar charges.

[IrieBajan54]

Just got off the Joy and I checked my bill daily. One day I noticed a charge for $29.50 from the Spa. I didn't know they provide such cheap services. Spa services are of no interest to me, period. So, I went to front desk and told them it was an errant charge that need to be removed. The clerk got the Spa manager on the phone and asked me if it might have been a port day charge. I explained again, that not only did I not visit the Spa but I also don't know where it is located on the ship. By the next morning, the charge was removed. 

[UKstages]

i had a cagney's charge of $6.00 that appeared on my statement for the joy last week. i went to guest services to have it removed and they told me it must have been taxes on drinks that were consumed near port. i said i only had one drink and the taxes wouldn't be $6.00 on the one drink and - besides - i dined at 9 pm and sailaway was at 4 pm... we were nowhere near port. i also showed them my receipt for $0 (and contained no $6.00 charge). they had to send a message to the cagney's team to get the charge removed, but it did take a day and a half until a credit was applied to my bill.

[bookbabe]

Happens everywhere, that’s why it’s important to check regularly.  Good reminder for people, OP.

 

At least it wasn’t the $98,000 specialty dining bill that one couple on RCL got…

https://youtu.be/ZkwqNCZWqfE

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, UKstages said:

i had a cagney's charge of $6.00 that appeared on my statement for the joy last week. i went to guest services to have it removed and they told me it must have been taxes on drinks that were consumed near port. i said i only had one drink and the taxes wouldn't be $6.00 on the one drink and - besides - i dined at 9 pm and sailaway was at 4 pm... we were nowhere near port. i also showed them my receipt for $0 (and contained no $6.00 charge). they had to send a message to the cagney's team to get the charge removed, but it did take a day and a half until a credit was applied to my bill.

IIRC, crab cakes are a $5 upcharge plus gratuity.  Did anybody order crab cakes?

[doctoranna]

16 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Happens everywhere, that’s why it’s important to check regularly.  Good reminder for people, OP.

 

We've had maybe one or two accidental overcharges in the previous 18 cruises we have taken.  We've never had THREE in one 7-day cruise. That was totally unexpected, but I'm glad they caught the first one and reversed it themselves, alerting us to watch more closely.

Edited September 18, 2022 by doctoranna

[Always Cruising]

17 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

IIRC, crab cakes are a $5 upcharge plus gratuity.  Did anybody order crab cakes?

That would make sense - $5.00 plus 20% gratuity.  But it also could have been a mistake.

[UKstages]

23 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

IIRC, crab cakes are a $5 upcharge plus gratuity.  Did anybody order crab cakes?

 

5 hours ago, Always Cruising said:

That would make sense - $5.00 plus 20% gratuity.  But it also could have been a mistake.

 

no, it makes no sense at all, as i clearly stated above:

 

"i also showed them my receipt for $0 (and contained no $6.00 charge)."

 

it was indeed a mistake and they reversed the charge. however, it is possible that they may have upcharged me for somebody else's crab cake after the fact, as, again, there was no $6 charge on the bill. the bill was for zero dollars.

[destar]

Can you check your daily expenditures on the NCL app?

[doctoranna]

41 minutes ago, destar said:

Can you check your daily expenditures on the NCL app?

Yes.  It's under "Your account", I think.  Only one person in the cabin can check the account in the app if you are linked together, but either occupant can go to the desk and get a printout anytime.

[LGinPA]

On 9/17/2022 at 3:20 PM, UKstages said:

..... they told me it must have been taxes on drinks that were consumed near port. i said i only had one drink...... - besides - i dined at 9 pm and sailaway was at 4 pm... we were nowhere near port.......

 

I have a question to UKstages or anyone else who knows, about the section I quoted above. I'm a new cruiser and don't understand a lot.

 

What does having a drink near the port have to do with charges? And does it make a difference if you have the regular drink package? Thanks! 

Edited September 19, 2022 by LGinPA
Typo

[UKstages]

22 minutes ago, LGinPA said:

What does having a drink near the port have to do with charges? And does it make a difference if you have the regular drink package? Thanks! 

 

local laws require taxes to be charged on food and drink "purchases" while in and near many ports, until you are in international waters. it can be an hour or 90 minutes after sail away until taxes are no longer charged... it can be much longer in some ports, such as new orleans, from which it takes longer to sail out into international waters.

 

taxes are charged on the retail price of the drink, even if you have a drink package. you're not charged for the drink, just the tax on the drink. 

[LGinPA]

10 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

local laws require taxes to be charged on food and drink "purchases" while in and near many ports, until you are in international waters. it can be an hour or 90 minutes after sail away until taxes are no longer charged... it can be much longer in some ports, such as new orleans, from which it takes longer to sail out into international waters.

 

taxes are charged on the retail price of the drink, even if you have a drink package. you're not charged for the drink, just the tax on the drink. 

 

Thank you.

Does this tax on food & drinks at/near ports apply to European ports also, or only US ports?

[UKstages]

it applies worldwide, as far as i know, including europe.

 

it depends entirely on the laws of the local jurisdiction... some demand that taxes be collected; some do not.

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, LGinPA said:

 

Thank you.

Does this tax on food & drinks at/near ports apply to European ports also, or only US ports?

It varies by port. We are only rarely charged in Europe (not once yet this year in Greece, Turkey, Holland, Ireland and UK).

[LGinPA]

14 hours ago, UKstages said:

it applies worldwide, as far as i know, including europe.

 

it depends entirely on the laws of the local jurisdiction... some demand that taxes be collected; some do not.

 

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

It varies by port. We are only rarely charged in Europe (not once yet this year in Greece, Turkey, Holland, Ireland and UK).

 

Thank you. 

 

I would think that if we're at port and we eat in a complimentary dining room and gets drinks within the limit of our drink plan, since we won't be purchasing anything, I can't see why we'd be taxed.  But I can understand that if we made an actual purchase that taxes may need to be paid to the port/county/jurisdiction we're in. 

[MERTDJ]

I just did an on-line chat with NCL & was told that in-port sales tax doesn't apply to drinks if you have the drinks plan.  Makes sense as the "purchase" did not occur in port.  

[cruiseny4life]

13 minutes ago, MERTDJ said:

I just did an on-line chat with NCL & was told that in-port sales tax doesn't apply to drinks if you have the drinks plan.  Makes sense as the "purchase" did not occur in port.  

Interesting. In April I had the Free at Sea drinks package. I was charged tax on the drinks I ordered. Yay NY getting their cut! 🙂 

 

The charges with the Haven Restaurant are taxes we paid on the included beverage package drinks. 

 

If you're new to NCL - don't trust NCL...ever.