Free Prepaid Service Charges

[swafly5909]

One of our incentives on our cruise this fall was "free prepaid services charges" for two people in our cabin. It sounds like that's gratuities. So...how does that work?? Does this incentive end up meaning no tips for the crew members? Or does NCL pay their tips? Or does it simply mean the gratuities are not automatically added to our bill and we get to make the decision about what to tip - making this incentive not really a discount? I want to make sure we're not swindling anyone of hard-earned tips. 

[DavidOrawan]

Travel agent said was for the $20 pp per day for 1st 2 guests in a room. So 7 day cruise $280 not sure if room credit or they just pay NCL directly?

[BirdTravels]

30 minutes ago, swafly5909 said:

One of our incentives on our cruise this fall was "free prepaid services charges" for two people in our cabin. It sounds like that's gratuities. So...how does that work?? Does this incentive end up meaning no tips for the crew members? Or does NCL pay their tips? Or does it simply mean the gratuities are not automatically added to our bill and we get to make the decision about what to tip - making this incentive not really a discount? I want to make sure we're not swindling anyone of hard-earned tips. 

Everyone pays the Daily Service Charge. If your TA is paying it for you, great. Everyone has the option of providing additional gratuities to the crew members if you want. We tip our room steward, bartenders and waiters in cash. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by BirdTravels

[ready2cruzagain]

Our TA is paying our gratuities for us on our NCL cruises, 21 days at $40 a day is a big chunk and why we booked with them.  We have booked with them in the past due to incentives but this on is the best so far. 

 

It sounds like you booked through the same online TA. We were told that they pay the gratuities for us to NCL. You can tip extra if you want but it is not required and no one is getting cheated if that is what you are worried about.

[Smitheroo]

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Our TA is paying our gratuities for us on our NCL cruises, 21 days at $40 a day is a big chunk and why we booked with them.  We have booked with them in the past due to incentives but this on is the best so far. 

 

It sounds like you booked through the same online TA. We were told that they pay the gratuities for us to NCL. You can tip extra if you want but it is not required and no one is getting cheated if that is what you are worried about.

Are you allowed (by Cruise Critic) to name the online TA?  I was looking at one and realized at the end there was no opportunity to use my Cruise First certificate. Which made me realize that allowing you to do so must be one of their perks that changes because I have seen the online websites advertise them.  And also, the one I was looking at did pay gratuities but when you read the fine print it was only for balcony and above (or maybe not even balcony, cant remember) So in the end the fare was the same as the NCL website.

[tgloersen]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Everyone pays the Daily Service Charge. If your TA is paying it for you, great. Everyone has the option of providing additional gratuities to the crew members if you want. We tip our room steward, bartenders and waiters in cash. 

What Bird does not mention is that you can set the DSC to whatever you want.  Thats why its called "Discretionary".  If you feel that $15 /day/person is enough you can set it to that.  Or $20, or $25.  If you think the service was horrible you can leave nothing.  You are in charge of how much you tip.  Just go to guest services and tell them how you want to tip it's as easy as that.

[dcipjr]

7 minutes ago, tgloersen said:

What Bird does not mention is that you can set the DSC to whatever you want.  Thats why its called "Discretionary".  If you feel that $15 /day/person is enough you can set it to that.  Or $20, or $25.  If you think the service was horrible you can leave nothing.  You are in charge of how much you tip.  Just go to guest services and tell them how you want to tip it's as easy as that.

 

At the risk of causing another inflammatory tipping thread, NCL has eliminated most of the "discretionary" wording from their site: see this link.

 

Now it's just the "onboard service charge". A few pages still say "discretionary" but many don't.

 

It can definitely be adjusted upwards or downwards, or eliminated—but NCL's expectation is that you'll be paying $20/day.

Edited August 23, 2023 by dcipjr

[Liljo22]

10 hours ago, swafly5909 said:

One of our incentives on our cruise this fall was "free prepaid services charges" for two people in our cabin. It sounds like that's gratuities. So...how does that work?? Does this incentive end up meaning no tips for the crew members? Or does NCL pay their tips? Or does it simply mean the gratuities are not automatically added to our bill and we get to make the decision about what to tip - making this incentive not really a discount? I want to make sure we're not swindling anyone of hard-earned tips. 

 It sounds like this was a perk given to you by your travel agent as incentive to go with them and not a perk that NCL provided.  If so, the TA is just paying the DSC from their commission.  Its up to you if you feel you need to tip crew members anything additional but to them it looks like you prepaid the DSC already. 

[FLAHAM]

In addition, you can also stiff land-based waiters, hotel maids, etc.

[swafly5909]

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Our TA is paying our gratuities for us on our NCL cruises, 21 days at $40 a day is a big chunk and why we booked with them.  We have booked with them in the past due to incentives but this on is the best so far. 

 

It sounds like you booked through the same online TA. We were told that they pay the gratuities for us to NCL. You can tip extra if you want but it is not required and no one is getting cheated if that is what you are worried about.

Yes, thank you. This is what I was concerned about. I understand what gratuities are and that we ultimately get to decide the % or whether to tip extra.
 

I just wanted to make sure that NCL or the TA is actually paying the original service charge amount - I don’t want our “free prepaid” to mean “unpaid” crew member tips.

 

Especially knowing many of those prepaid tips go to crew members behind the scenes who we will likely not see - not just our cabin steward or table servers we could also tip in person. 

[swafly5909]

7 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

In addition, you can also stiff land-based waiters, hotel maids, etc.

This is exactly the reason for my original question - to make sure that our “free prepaid” does NOT mean “unpaid” tips. I was checking if and who was covering that expense on our behalf in efforts to be sure no one was getting stiffed. 

[Liljo22]

2 minutes ago, swafly5909 said:

This is exactly the reason for my original question - to make sure that our “free prepaid” does NOT mean “unpaid” tips. I was checking if and who was covering that expense on our behalf in efforts to be sure no one was getting stiffed. 

This was more directed at the poster that said you can remove the DSC if you want to.  Whether you should remove the DSC is a huge argument on every cruise line board. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Liljo22

[tgloersen]

19 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

 

At the risk of causing another inflammatory tipping thread, NCL has eliminated most of the "discretionary" wording from their site: see this link.

 

Now it's just the "onboard service charge". A few pages still say "discretionary" but many don't.

 

It can definitely be adjusted upwards or downwards, or eliminated—but NCL's expectation is that you'll be paying $20/day.

 

[dcipjr]

2 minutes ago, tgloersen said:

 

 

Hah, I just noticed that on my confirmation.

 

Gotta love how NCL is so consistent. No wonder there's never any debate on tipping!

[tgloersen]

7 minutes ago, Liljo22 said:

This was more directed at the poster that said you can remove the DSC if you want to.  Whether you should remove the DSC is a huge argument on every cruise line board. 

The question was about the choices one has about setting the DSC to whatever you want. I'm just laying out the options as per the question.  How one decides to tip is there own prerogative and not my business.

[RocketMan275]

41 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

Are you allowed (by Cruise Critic) to name the online TA?  I was looking at one and realized at the end there was no opportunity to use my Cruise First certificate. Which made me realize that allowing you to do so must be one of their perks that changes because I have seen the online websites advertise them.  And also, the one I was looking at did pay gratuities but when you read the fine print it was only for balcony and above (or maybe not even balcony, cant remember) So in the end the fare was the same as the NCL website.

Naming of Travel Agents is not allowed.

My TA is paying the DSC on my next cruise.

She applied two cruise next certificates on that cruise.

She applied two cruise first certificates on the cruise after than.

In addition to the above, plus all the perks offered by the cruise line, my TA is discounting those cruise by 8%.  So, in the end, the fare is significantly lower than the NCL website.

[Liljo22]

2 minutes ago, tgloersen said:

The question was about the choices one has about setting the DSC to whatever you want. I'm just laying out the options as per the question.  How one decides to tip is there own prerogative and not my business.

The question was if the free prepaid gratuities that their TA is providing is actually being paid or are the DSC just not being paid.  

[tgloersen]

1 minute ago, Liljo22 said:

The question was if the free prepaid gratuities that their TA is providing is actually being paid or are the DSC just not being paid.  

Of course it is.

[schmoopie17]

Just be careful if the price of your cruise goes down and you contact the TA to get the reduced price.

 

This just happened to us...called for the reduced price and they ended up removing the prepaid gratuities...WITHOUT TELLING US.

 

Why they wouldn't tell us until after the fact is beyond me. Had we known, we would have forfeited the $120 price reduction to keep the $400 in prepaid gratuities. 

 

We spent several days going back and forth with the TA to get the gratuities added back, since it was their error for not informing us beforehand. Needless to say, that is the last time we use that TA.

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by schmoopie17

[swafly5909]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

Just be careful if the price of your cruise goes down and you contact the TA to get the reduced price.

 

This just happened to us...called for the reduced price and they ended up removing the prepaid gratuities...WITHOUT TELLING US.

 

Why they wouldn't tell us until after the fact is beyond me. Had we known, we would have forfeited the $120 price reduction to keep the $400 in prepaid gratuities. 

 

We spent several days going back and forth with the TA to try to get the gratuities added back, since it was their error for not informing us beforehand. Needless to say, that is the last time we use that TA.

 

Ugh, thanks for the heads up. 
 

It wasn’t clear to me when we booked WHO was offering the prepaid incentive - if it was the cruise line or the TA. Sounds like it’s most commonly the TA. 
 

Our cruise did go down in price some, but the cruise line changed policies and doesn’t give you the lower rate - they gave us future credit for the difference instead. Bummer, but I def see how that’s a better deal for them. Maybe we’ll get a chance to use it…? 

[schmoopie17]

3 minutes ago, swafly5909 said:

It wasn’t clear to me when we booked WHO was offering the prepaid incentive - if it was the cruise line or the TA. Sounds like it’s most commonly the TA. 

Prepaid gratuities are an inducement from the TA to use their service. I may be wrong (I have been known to be wrong once or twice in my life) but I don't recall NCL ever offering prepaid gratuities.

[Smitheroo]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

Naming of Travel Agents is not allowed.

My TA is paying the DSC on my next cruise.

She applied two cruise next certificates on that cruise.

She applied two cruise first certificates on the cruise after than.

In addition to the above, plus all the perks offered by the cruise line, my TA is discounting those cruise by 8%.  So, in the end, the fare is significantly lower than the NCL website.

I figured naming travel agents would not be allowed. I will look around.  I also didnt speak to anyone, that could possibly make a difference. But I do know paid gratuities did not apply to inside cabins. I know I didnt misunderstand. Not sure about the other perks. Thanks

[seemoreroyals]

34 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Prepaid gratuities are an inducement from the TA to use their service. I may be wrong (I have been known to be wrong once or twice in my life) but I don't recall NCL ever offering prepaid gratuities.

 

It's been a while but NCL has offered prepaid gratuities before.  We book all of our cruises through CAS as my wife gets a free one from them every year being a Caesars 7 star.  Getting free gratuities is a great promotion however you can get it.  You can rest assured you are not stiffing your room steward, waiter, or bartender by allowing somebody else to pay your $20 per person per day prepaid gratuity.  

 

To original poster, I would not feel the need to tip additionally at every meal or every time I went to the bar to get my wife and I a drink.  But it you have an encounter that you feel the steward, waiter, or bartender, or any other NCL staff member went above and beyond to make your cruise exceed your expectations then a little extra tip may be in order.  It's not expected but I am sure it will be appreciated.  

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by seemoreroyals

[Coffeeluvr05]

4 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Naming of Travel Agents is not allowed.

My TA is paying the DSC on my next cruise.

She applied two cruise next certificates on that cruise.

She applied two cruise first certificates on the cruise after than.

In addition to the above, plus all the perks offered by the cruise line, my TA is discounting those cruise by 8%.  So, in the end, the fare is significantly lower than the NCL website.

Without naming names, is this an online based TA that is well known?  Just wondering if I should try switching my booking to the TA that I use that is of the same group that I might be thinking of.  That is a very good deal.

[RocketMan275]

13 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

Without naming names, is this an online based TA that is well known?  Just wondering if I should try switching my booking to the TA that I use that is of the same group that I might be thinking of.  That is a very good deal.

I use a small owner operated travel agency, just herself and one other woman.  Many CC posters use and speak well of her services.  

 

It's one of my biggest complaints about CC is the prohibition on discussing specific travel agents.  CC claims this is too prevent these forums from being clogged by TA seeking business.  I would point out that CC allows some TA to advertise on their home page.  None of who discount.