Wine Package Discount

[USN59-79]

As a five star mariner we are entitled to a 50% discount on a wine package.  It is not clear how they calculate the additional 18% gratuity.  Is it added to the discounted price or the original price?  For example, if the package is $341., 18% is an additional $61.38.  But if I am charged $170.50 for the package, do they add on 18% of $341 or 18% of $170.50?  I have heard of it being done both ways.

Ray

[richwmn]

the gratuity is supposed to be calculated on the full price of the package, however, like other things, it may vary ship to ship

Edited August 19 by richwmn

[Dutchman48]

Have used the discount multiple times and the gratuity has always been on full price. I do the math on my cruises and then decide if I want to go with Have it All or the wine packages.

When HIA has both drinks and crew appreciation I go that way otherwise I buy a wine package. 

[wdw1972]

4 minutes ago, Dutchman48 said:

Have used the discount multiple times and the gratuity has always been on full price. I do the math on my cruises and then decide if I want to go with Have it All or the wine packages.

When HIA has both drinks and crew appreciation I go that way otherwise I buy a wine package. 

Same here - and also my wine package 18% gratuity has always been based on the full price.  I wouldn't expect to "stiff" the beverage staff by being charged 50% of the gratuity, and the packages are an excellent value for high star mariners!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[USN59-79]

Well, I would like to see it in writing on something from HAL other than "You get a 50% discount!".  Not sure who is getting "stiffed" when I am paying a 36% gratuity.  We pay a 9% sales tax here.  If a store reduces a price by 50% should I pay an 18% sales tax?

Ray

[sunviking90]

The gratuity goes to the servers who handle your wine doesn’t it? I haven’t purchased this so I’m not sure, but I would compare it to a gratuity in a restaurant if for some reason you’re given a discount on your meal. The correct thing is to tip on the cost if there wasn’t a discount, so I think that’s the logic here.

Mariners also get discounts on coffee drinks at Exporations, but I haven’t noticed if the gratuity is on the full cost or not. Does anyone know?

[JimDee363636]

@USN59-79: Your sales tax analogy is not a good one. Sales taxes are a cut-and-dried percentage of the actual selling price of a product, period. If a product is 50% off, the sales tax is 50% of what it otherwise would have been. But HAL is not just selling you a half-dozen wine bottles, the way a wine store would. It's also selling you everything that goes with the wine bottles---the labor required to bring the bottles to your table, to refill the glasses, to store the bottle if you don't finish it, etc.

@sunviking90 's analogy to restaurants is a better one. If I go to a restaurant with, say, a 50% off Happy Hour deal on appetizers (which Applebee's, for example, often does), I'll pay a sales tax on the discounted cost of the appetizers I order, but I would base my tip on the full (non-discounted) price of those appetizers. And I think most people would. The only difference between a restaurant and the HAL wine package is that tipping in the restaurant is a discretionary matter, whereas on HAL it's mandatory.

 

I'm four-star with HAL, so I get the 50% wine package discount. I think it's a great deal even though I pay the gratuity on the "full" price.

 

Jim

[mcrcruiser]

what discount would a 3 star mariner be entitled to  when buying a wine package?

[philliesphan]

31 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

what discount would a 3 star mariner be entitled to  when buying a wine package?

 

25%

[USN59-79]

Thanks for your replies.  The purpose of my question was to understand what I can expect to pay for a wine package as a 5-star Mariner as HAL is not transparent as to what they will charge.  The last time I bought one I ordered it before I boarded the ship and was charged full price even though they knew my mariner status.  I asked for, but was never refunded the difference.  I learned from CC that I need to order it once on board to get the mariner discount.

Ray