Tip / Service charge Costa Fortuna

[CocktailPrincess]

Since booking I have read on forums/reviews that costa charge a service charge of 11EUR a day per person.

 

Is this true?

If this is the case for my cruise the service charge would cost almost as much as the cruise! we booked a re positional cruise 15 nights for £250pp the service charge would be  165EUR pp

 

i have tried looking on the website and it doesn't mention Fortuna, does this mean i am in the clear?

 

thanks in advance

[At7Seas]

Yes, as the most cruise lines Costa charges a service fee as well on markets where this is allowed. This is indeed 11 € per adult and night currently on all ships. It is during booking process shown next to the price of the cruise with the wording “Mandatory service fees are not included in the price: Adults €11/night.” The sheet you put here shows by date when the fee changed to 11 € per ship with the end of the winter season 2021/22. In fact the Fortuna rejoined service after that date. Not all today bookable ships are in the list, while the Luminosa left the fleet in the meanwhile. I think Costa really should renew the table from time to time. Your deal is far below usual pricing, obviously Costa needed to fill some remaining cabins, however this has no influence on additional costs. BTW, if you don’t have an all-inclusive booking drinks with a very few exceptions are not included.

[Yukiie]

4 hours ago, At7Seas said:

It is during booking process shown next to the price of the cruise with the wording “Mandatory service fees are not included in the price: Adults €11/night.”

EU regulations make them post the service fees up front before booking which I really appreciate. Other cruise lines make it more challenging to see the real total cost which is the cruise fare + mandatory service fee (tips) + port and fuel charge. If the cruise misses a port for any reason you will be refunded a portion of the port charges but the other costs are fixed.

 

All 3 combined is your base cost of the cruise. Any specialty dining, alcoholic drinks and such is extra.

 

If you wish to avoid service fees I know Virgin rolls it into the cruise fare but that makes the cruise fare higher. I personally don't mind the separate charge especially when they are upfront about it.

[At7Seas]

10 minutes ago, Yukiie said:

EU regulations make them post the service fees up front before booking which I really appreciate.

 

Apropos EU: here all taxes must be included in the fare. Austria and Germany require that even the service charge is included in the fare. Mentioning up front the amount is not up front enough according to their judges. That’s why I wrote about the service charge “where allowed”. Prices look higher, but aren’t necessarily. Only that the UK, where CocktailPrincess is from, is no longer part of the EU, so local laws are applicable.

[CocktailPrincess]

Yes I've sailed with Costa before and know drinks aren't included. Was prepared to consider a drinks package or pay as I go.

 

It's my fault really with the tip, I was in a rush to book this amazing price and obviously didn't see the notice.

 

I think it would be better to just charge it in the price if it's not optional why save it to later.

 

I guess I must have paid it 3 years ago on my last costa cruise.

[CocktailPrincess]

19 minutes ago, At7Seas said:

 

Apropos EU: here all taxes must be included in the fare. Austria and Germany require that even the service charge is included in the fare. Mentioning up front the amount is not up front enough according to their judges. That’s why I wrote about the service charge “where allowed”. Prices look higher, but aren’t necessarily. Only that the UK, where CocktailPrincess is from, is no longer part of the EU, so local laws are applicable.

Ah that's probably why I don't remember it from last time as i booked when we were in the EU

[Oggiabordo]

Well congratulations on achieving such an incredible rate for your cruise! These kinds of deals are few and far between these days. 
 

Costa have never, to my knowledge included the service charge in UK pricing. I believe you can now choose to pre pay it, but imagine most choose to leave it and pay later onboard. As others have noted, for bookings made in some other markets, gratuities are included in the fare, and so the fare is usually higher, to reflect this. 

Service  charge / gratuities on Costa are amongst the lowest in the cruise industry, and are mandatory. As a comparison , Royal caribbean charge US$16 per person per day, and Norwegian US$20 per person per day. I have generally found the service on Costa to be outstanding, and way above expectations, relative to the rates charged. As a result I often tip additionally above the mandatory gratuities. 
 

I hope you have a fantastic cruise! I must admit to being rather jealous !
 

 

 

 

 

[CocktailPrincess]

23 minutes ago, Oggiabordo said:

Well congratulations on achieving such an incredible rate for your cruise! These kinds of deals are few and far between these days. 
 

Costa have never, to my knowledge included the service charge in UK pricing. I believe you can now choose to pre pay it, but imagine most choose to leave it and pay later onboard. As others have noted, for bookings made in some other markets, gratuities are included in the fare, and so the fare is usually higher, to reflect this. 

Service  charge / gratuities on Costa are amongst the lowest in the cruise industry, and are mandatory. As a comparison , Royal caribbean charge US$16 per person per day, and Norwegian US$20 per person per day. I have generally found the service on Costa to be outstanding, and way above expectations, relative to the rates charged. As a result I often tip additionally above the mandatory gratuities. 
 

I hope you have a fantastic cruise! I must admit to being rather jealous !
 

 

 

 

 

I totally agree, we had a fab time before. I do think it's a fair amount , I just hadn't budgeted for it, and as my deal was so low it was a bit of a shock .

[the wandering two]

The daily service charge is fairly noticeable on the website, great deal regardless. I’ve looked at these sailings many times & quite often the initial enthusiasm is tempered by the lack of a decent price for a single flight home. 
I have noticed lately that many sailings next year have no mention of service charges, see my screenshot examples. 
Maybe a new law having to include such fees? 

[Rio1978]

23 hours ago, CocktailPrincess said:

Ah that's probably why I don't remember it from last time as i booked when we were in the EU

It's always been a payment per day when on the ship. I am from UK and always had to pay at the end of the cruise

[At7Seas]

I shop around within the EU for the best price or conditions. Years ago I held a booking in the UK and the service charge was added to the price. My Costa cruises booked on the Dutch market and the rest of Europe market (without dedicated country websites) were as UK bookings, service charge was added to the board account. I definitely know that the service charge is included in Germany and Austria since many years, as far as I am aware it is the same in Switzerland, but I never tried it out. Only thing all these bookings had in common: taxes were included, not as Yukiie mentioned for the US market. I am not aware Costa would have ever included the service charge as promotion, while I got the one or other beverage package this way.

[gerryuk]

If you think you are not getting good service you cannot go to reception and ask them to remove the daily charge, as it is part of the contract. 

[the wandering two]

As you can see from the screenshot the Toscana sailing for next December has the service charge as zero, there are many others too. 

[At7Seas]

8 hours ago, the wandering two said:

As you can see from the screenshot the Toscana sailing for next December has the service charge as zero, there are many others too. 

 

Well, not mentioned does not mean not due. The UK strives away from EU regulations and the main legal source of customer protection for me - as I am living within - is the EU legislation. And Costa definitely uses changes to promote their cruises. Did they announce expressively “from date x no service charge added to your bill”? If you really want to know you should ask your customer service whether there is no service charge due.
 
Costa‘s website for the UK show only one version of terms and conditions, valid since December 12th, 2021. Currently no change is announced or has been introduced recently. This document includes one clear understandable sentence:
 
"The service charge is not included in the Rates and is debited each day in the same way as occurs for other expenses incurred." https://www.costacruises.co.uk/general-conditions/contract.html
 
There are several specifications including the one and only exception - for children younger than 4 years old. BTW in this source the Fortuna is mentioned as well.

 

[BVILady]

I have just booked a cruise with a different cruise line and being aware of service-charges/gratuities I was looking for the daily charge. Even putting it in the search column on top of the page it didn't show up. Started to wonder whether it was actually included. To make sure I went through "Things you should know" and found it buried on something like page 40. On the cruise fare only the port-fees were mentioned as due in addition. The adding service charge is such nonsense and due to the tipping policies in the US, just include it in the total of the fare. But then they would need to have to add all the other things, VAT or in the US sales-tax. Why make it easy on the consumer. Took a taxi the other day from JFK into the city and recommended service-charges start with 15 %, then 20 % and 25 % - ridiculous.