Rare tonyfall1 Posted September 21, 2023 #1 Share Posted September 21, 2023 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preemiemd Posted September 21, 2023 #2 Share Posted September 21, 2023 The Free at Sea gratuities are for the specialty dining and drinks package. The service charge is the more traditional on board gratuity for cabin stewards etc. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelling2Some Posted September 21, 2023 #3 Share Posted September 21, 2023 Yes, they are separate charges. The FAS gratuities are for the bartenders and specialty restaurant waitstaff. The $20 p.p. per day covers your room steward and the "behind the scenes" folks that provide service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare tonyfall1 Posted September 23, 2023 Author #4 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfclam2003 Posted September 23, 2023 #5 Share Posted September 23, 2023 11 minutes 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? We like to pay them at final payment so when we get on board everything is paid for and no bill at the end. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKstages Posted September 23, 2023 #6 Share Posted September 23, 2023 prepaying is just a personal preference, but it does “protect” you in the case of an increase in the service charge. you’ll pay the old fee and won’t be subject to the higher service charge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted September 23, 2023 #7 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Just one small note. You cannot use nonrefundable OBC once onboard to pay for the daily service charge gratuities. We recently found this out when we were going to use the nonrefundable OBC our TA was giving us for booking with them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted September 23, 2023 #8 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare destar Posted September 23, 2023 #9 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillygwm Posted September 23, 2023 #10 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICutTheCheese Posted September 23, 2023 #11 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketMan275 Posted September 23, 2023 #12 Share Posted September 23, 2023 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. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellaleah Posted September 24, 2023 #13 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted September 24, 2023 #14 Share Posted September 24, 2023 (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 September 24, 2023 by BirdTravels 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted September 24, 2023 #15 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKstages Posted September 24, 2023 #16 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted September 24, 2023 #17 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare tonyfall1 Posted September 24, 2023 Author #18 Share Posted September 24, 2023 And if I don't prepay it just gets added to my bill and paid at the end of the cruise automatically. I assume I don't have to make a special trip to the customer service desk to settle the bill at the end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seemoreroyals Posted September 24, 2023 #19 Share Posted September 24, 2023 8 hours ago, BirdTravels said: The DSC is a gratuity. Similar to a gratuity at a restaurant in the States. Wow. I can't believe you are finally admitting it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KeithJenner Posted September 24, 2023 #20 Share Posted September 24, 2023 51 minutes ago, tonyfall1 said: And if I don't prepay it just gets added to my bill and paid at the end of the cruise automatically. I assume I don't have to make a special trip to the customer service desk to settle the bill at the end? Correct 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilter49 Posted September 24, 2023 #21 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCMC100 Posted September 24, 2023 #22 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorkingForOBC Posted September 24, 2023 #23 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted September 24, 2023 #24 Share Posted September 24, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted September 24, 2023 #25 Share Posted September 24, 2023 (edited) 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 September 24, 2023 by BirdTravels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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