Tips Concerning Norwegian Cruise?

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

I have been on many NCL cruises and they have good ships, and food. Some people like their "freestyle" dinner dining and some do not. I am one of the "do nots" as I will explain.

About the only thing I do not like about NCL is their freestyle cruising. They do not assign you a dinner time, or table; you just go whenever you want and time after about 5:30 to 6:00 PM. That works fine for most people on days when you have a port stop because people are getting back to the ship at different times all afternoon and some do not want to eat dinner as soon as they return to the ship. But on "at sea" days when everyone is on board at 6:00 PM you get lines at the dining room door, people waiting for a table. In addition to waiting even when you ask for a table for 2 they ask if you will share. On our last NCL cruie the wait was so long for a table on some days that they were passing out buzzers for seatings. So you could end up sitting with stranger every day. Then because you don't get the same table every day, each day you have a different waiter. For persons like me who have cruised many times I prefer to have MY table and get to know MY waiters and he/she learns what I prefer at dinner.

Tipping, or gratuities, as pretty much been made automatic on NCL and all other cruise lines. Ten years ago the cruise lines gave you a gratuity guideline and expected you to tip along those guidelines but they did not try to enforce them with people who were, essentially cheap, and did not leave tips. So what they have all (cruise lines) done in recent years, including Norwegian, is make the tipping process automatic by adding it to your on-board tab. They do give you a form to sign agreeing to the amount to be added to the tab, but they do not let or expect you to NOT TIP just because you do not want to. However, if you have a problem with a waiter or service and bring it to their attention, they will adjust your bill.

The thing that I do not like about tipping on NCL ships is you pay a gratuity of $10 per day per person, but since you have different wait staff each day you never know if its getting to that person, or really who. You are not really tipping staff, you are just putting money in the kitty for all of the. But while I do not like that, I still pay the gratuity because that is a big part of the service peoples' salary/income.

What you will also find on NCL ships is a variety of alternative restaurants for dinner. They are good restaurants, like steak house, Italian, French, etc. But, they charge a "gratuity/service charge" of between $10 and $20 per person each visit. So that can add big bucks to your cruise tab if you use them. I never do; the main dining room is fine with me. You must reserve a dinner time in these alternative restaurants. I also found that you can also reserve a dinner time in the main dining rooms also. But on our last cruise on NCL last Nov we could only reserve two days at a time. So it became a hassle to remember to reserve for dinner.

Johan from Sweden

Tiping is basicily the same regardless of what cruise company you have. Normaly its a $10 per day fee for tip to different crewmen that is either pre paid or taken from your onboard account. Also except to pay a 15% fee on every or most of your onboard account notes. This is partical on things like drinks and beverages. Aside from that you tip for excellent service as usual. Johan.

rick d

Nothing to worry about. I am one who Likes Norwegian cruise ships. Freestyle dining just means you eat when you want & wear what you want. They have speciality resturants where you can dress up. If you like real Nature, Wildlife, Amazing Scenery, meeting people from all over the world etc..... then you will LOVE Alaska. Been there 23 times.
Enjoy.

James Heard

This is also a website called cruisecritic.com They have a lot of helpful info. You can also sign up for a free account while you are there and checkout the message boards in the roll call section and see who else is cruising with you on the day of your cruise. Your fellow cruise mates may be able to answer all your questions.

Joey L:look ma, no hands!

wear a viking hat

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