Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
Get ready for higher daily fees when sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line.
Effective April 1, the company is hiking the service charge it tacks onto final bills by 3.6% to $14.50 per person, per day for passengers staying in most cabins on most ships. Passengers in suites on most ships will pay $17.50 per person, per day — a 3% rise.
Service charges for most cabins on Norwegian's two all-inclusive vessels, Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, will rise by more than 5% to $19.99 per person, per day. Passengers in suites on the two ships will pay $22.99 per day — a 4.6% rise.
With the increase, a family of four in a standard cabin on most ships will pay more than $400 in service charges on a typical seven-night cruise.
The hike comes in the wake of recent increases in service charges (also called gratuity charges) at Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. Both lines also now add a $14.50 per person, per day charge to passenger bills for most cabins. Among other major lines, Carnival and Princess levy $12.95 and $13.50, respectively, on most cabins.
RELATED: Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean hike gratuity charges | USA TODAY's Guide to cruise ship gratuity charges
Like other major lines, Norwegian has been pushing up service charge levels at a rapid rate in recent years. With the coming increase, the line's standard cabin service charge will have jumped by nearly 21% from $12 since February 2015. That's more than three times the rate of inflation in the USA over the same period. The U.S. Department of Labor has recorded a 6.1% rise in inflation, as measured by its Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), since February 2015.
Norwegian says passengers who book an upcoming cruise prior to April 1 and pre-pay the service charge can lock in the current rates.
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