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Free At Sea Gratuities

tonyfall1

By tonyfall1,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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tonyfall1

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Hello,

I just booked my first cruise on NCL for February. I purchased the Free At Sea Package. I see there is a few hundred dollar charge for gratuities which I was aware of. As I'm looking at my account it says you can prepay a service charge of $20 dollars a day per person per room.  It says this service charge of $280 will be automatically added to your onboard account. Is the service charge different than the gratuities in the Free At Sea and I would need to pay that also?

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BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

Posted
Posted
On 9/21/2023 at 3:39 PM, tonyfall1 said:

Hello,

I just booked my first cruise on NCL for February. I purchased the Free At Sea Package. I see there is a few hundred dollar charge for gratuities which I was aware of. As I'm looking at my account it says you can prepay a service charge of $20 dollars a day per person per room.  It says this service charge of $280 will be automatically added to your onboard account. Is the service charge different than the gratuities in the Free At Sea and I would need to pay that also?

What is the onboard service charge?

 

Why is there a service charge?
The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.

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destar Holiday Sharing Rare

destar

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5 hours ago, tonyfall1 said:

Is there any advantage to prepaying these service charges, it seems like a lot of people pre-pay them and I am not sure why?

The advantage is that at the end of the cruise you have a very small or nothing on onboard account to pay. Whatever additional food/drinks you treat yourself to, can be taken care by OBC. So you disembark and walk out of the cruise terminal much happier.

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phillygwm

phillygwm

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As others have stated, prepaying saves you a charge at the end of the cruise and protects you in case DSC were to increase after you prepaid.

 

Personally, I like to spread out my charges from the time I book until I sail so I don't get a big final payment or an unpleasant charge at the end of the cruise.  Just my preference; others have equally valid reasons not to prepay, the biggest being if you had refundable OBC which can be used toward onboard DSC.

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ICutTheCheese

ICutTheCheese

Posted
Posted
On 9/21/2023 at 3:39 PM, tonyfall1 said:

Hello,

I just booked my first cruise on NCL for February. I purchased the Free At Sea Package. I see there is a few hundred dollar charge for gratuities which I was aware of. As I'm looking at my account it says you can prepay a service charge of $20 dollars a day per person per room.  It says this service charge of $280 will be automatically added to your onboard account. Is the service charge different than the gratuities in the Free At Sea and I would need to pay that also?

The FAS gratuity is inded a gratuty/tip.  The DSC is NOT a gratuity.  It is discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge.  Tips are discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-about-gratuities.  Many people confuse the two.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

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24 minutes ago, ICutTheCheese said:

The FAS gratuity is inded a gratuty/tip.  The DSC is NOT a gratuity.  It is discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge.  Tips are discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-about-gratuities.  Many people confuse the two.

A distinction without a difference.

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Ellaleah

Ellaleah

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Posted
6 hours ago, ICutTheCheese said:

The FAS gratuity is inded a gratuty/tip.  The DSC is NOT a gratuity.  It is discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge.  Tips are discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-about-gratuities.  Many people confuse the two.

I can’t imagine how you are making a distinction here.  It is your daily gratuity.  Please tell me how that is not so.  Fortunately, our TA paid it.

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BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, ICutTheCheese said:

The FAS gratuity is inded a gratuty/tip.  The DSC is NOT a gratuity.  It is discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge.  Tips are discussed at https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-about-gratuities.  Many people confuse the two.

The DSC is a gratuity. Similar to a gratuity at a restaurant in the States. 

Edited by BirdTravels
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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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You don’t actually have to have prepaid in order to protect yourself from price increases.

 

Every time NCL have increased the DSC they have given the option for people with cruises booked to prepay up to a certain point in the future in order to get the old rate, so you still have the option of getting that old rate if you want.

 

Of course that could change in the future, but it has been that way for years.

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UKstages

UKstages

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in other words, you don’t have to prepay because NCL will give you a short window in which they will give you an opportunity to prepay?
 

you’re still ultimately prepaying! 

 

i mean, i get it… you’re not tying up money in advance and only prepaying once a DSC increase is announced, but  - to me - it’s a distinction without much of a difference.

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KeithJenner "Live from...." Rare

KeithJenner

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1 hour ago, UKstages said:

in other words, you don’t have to prepay because NCL will give you a short window in which they will give you an opportunity to prepay?
 

you’re still ultimately prepaying! 

 

i mean, i get it… you’re not tying up money in advance and only prepaying once a DSC increase is announced, but  - to me - it’s a distinction without much of a difference.

Yes, I know it isn’t a big difference. I personally always prepay when booking anyway.

 

All I am saying (and it isn’t a big point) is that you don’t need to commit to prepaying when booking in order to avoid potential increases. I don’t think that was clear from the other posts.

 

No big deal though. I just thought that people having the full information is better than just having half. Whatever.

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quilter49

quilter49

Posted
Posted

I need clarification.

So, if I book an NCL cruise with Free at Sea promotion, I should expect to pay:

$20 a day for drink tips

$20 a day for room steward

$20 a day for specialty dining 

That is $60 a day and only 2 meals in specialty restaurants for the week? Is this correct? 

 

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MCMC100

MCMC100

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, quilter49 said:

I need clarification.

So, if I book an NCL cruise with Free at Sea promotion, I should expect to pay:

$20 a day for drink tips

$20 a day for room steward

$20 a day for specialty dining 

That is $60 a day and only 2 meals in specialty restaurants for the week? Is this correct? 

 

Incorrect. You pay the $20 DSC even if you book sail away cabin or decline dining/drink package (technically you can refuse to pay the DSC, but c’mon, who does that?).
 

The specialty dining gratuity is paid on the price of the package. It depends on the FAS package you receive at your cabin level/trip length. On a 9 day cruise in a balcony your FAS speciality dining would be about $19 p/p for a 2 meal dining package for guests 1 and 2. It is not a daily charge. It’s a great value. Leaving a 20% tip on two meals in a specialty restaurant would substantially exceed the FAS gratuity amount. The FAS dining to me is a no brainer. Two meals for $19 pp.  You can’t beat that. 
 

If you drink alcohol you’re losing money on about two drinks without the FAS gratuity.  Two beers at $8 plus automatic 20% gratuity is $19.20.  If you drink liquor or wine your two drinks are beyond the $21.80 per day FAS gratuity charge. (The FAS policy requires all or none guests in cabin to take package. If you drink alcohol but other in cabin doesn’t, you need to drink 2 additional beverages per person per day day to break even).  If you don’t drink alcohol or only have a glass of wine occasionally at dinner you can decline the drink package when booking and save the gratuity cost. Pay for drinks individually. 
 

Do a mock booking for any cruise you’re interested in. The FAS gratuities show in the amount due. The DSC is not reflected because you can pay it at the end of the cruise or anytime prior to departure. 

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WorkingForOBC

WorkingForOBC

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, quilter49 said:

I need clarification.

So, if I book an NCL cruise with Free at Sea promotion, I should expect to pay:

$20 a day for drink tips

$20 a day for room steward

$20 a day for specialty dining 

That is $60 a day and only 2 meals in specialty restaurants for the week? Is this correct? 

 

No. The specialty dining is not a daily charge. You are only charged 20% gratuity for each meal based on the package price. It is a one time fee.

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Ken the cruiser "Live from...." Rare

Ken the cruiser

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We really like the perks you get with the new Free At Sea Plus promotion. But then we like eating at the specialty restaurants, always upgrade to unlimited internet, my DW drinks at least 2 bottles of water a day as well as purchases a lot of hot chocolate from Starbucks while I enjoy my beer, wine and Baileys, and we book NCL excursions. All of which fits perfectly with the FAS Plus package.

 
IMG_3158.thumb.jpeg.2fb7fac7a87d1ed9fac2babe826e71c1.jpeg

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BirdTravels "Live from...." Rare

BirdTravels

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9 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

Wow.  I can't believe you are finally admitting it.

I always say that. At home in our town in the good 'ole USA, minimum wage is $15/hour. If you are a restaurant worker who get tips, your employer can pay as little as $5/hour. The expectation is that the first $10 per hour of gratuities goes to getting you up to minimum wage. Which is hard at a local diner where people leave nothing or lose change on the table after nursing a cup of coffee for hours. 

 

Similar to crew who make gratuities, they have a contract value, but are paid by the cruise line less than the contract value... and the first $x of the "gratuity" gets them to their minimum contract value. 

 

Most crew work 7-days a week for about 70 hours total, mostly on split shifts. Long days, every day, hard work. 

 

The DSC also go to crew enrichment and rewards. Free beer at the crew parties, a few new bicycles to ride around ports, etc

Edited by BirdTravels
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