The Not So Discretionary Discretionary Service Fees

[quote name='fergusonvt']I was told ahead of time by my NCL PCC. I can't believe I'm the only one who ever booked through him or that I was the only one he ever told about this. Besides that I always ask when booking anything "are there any other charges or fees that I should be aware of".[/QUOTE]

Our TA has always explained what the gratuity policy and amounts are for each cruise line that we have booked. We are big fans of paying it in advance as we consider it a cost of the cruise. We feel the same way about insurance.

I'm pretty sure all the cruise line PCCs and PVPs also explain the DSC. I think it is a bigger problem for those newbies or those who haven't cruised recently booking on their own online, who are not up to speed with all the current policies. Good reason to use a PCC or a TA, so that there are no surprises. Edited June 26, 2015 by DebJ14

[quote name='SPLowers']Were you able to have the service charge removed? We just booked our holiday cruise for next month. Our agency didn't tell us about this service charge. The wife noted it in the paperwork we were emailed after paying. This is the page that comes up in google and looks like we can have it removed. There are 4 of us and we did not budget so much for gratuities. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

If you did not budget so much for gratuities then perhaps you cannot afford a cruise vacation. The agency you booked with did not do a good job of pre-qualifying you. I know the agency where I book takes income, age and your interests into consideration when recommending a cruise. They are not going to put someone who is scrimping and saving for a 3 day cruise on Cunard or Crystal - probably will recommend Carnival to those folks. Nor will they put those in their twenties on HAL unless they specifically request it. Edited June 26, 2015 by DebJ14

[quote name='SPLowers']Sorry, found this page on google which is comparable to what I experienced. This is our first cruise as we normally go to Spain on our holiday. Based on what I'm reading now is this may turn out to be a very expensive holiday. My agency stated it was all inclusive except for the alcohol and premier dining.[/QUOTE]

Your issue then is with your agency. I would take it up with them. If you cannot afford to tip the staff that makes your cruise so great, this may not be the vacation for you. $13 per day for tips seems to be a small amount to me. How much were you thinking you would tip per day for the room, at least 3 meals and everything else that come with a cruise?

[quote name='SPLowers']Were you able to have the service charge removed? We just booked our holiday cruise for next month. Our agency didn't tell us about this service charge. The wife noted it in the paperwork we were emailed after paying. This is the page that comes up in google and looks like we can have it removed. There are 4 of us and we did not budget so much for gratuities. Thank you.[/QUOTE]Re-look at your onboard spending budget, I'm sure there are some things you can cut back on, so that you can keep the daily service charge in place.

Also, I would change travel agencies, if I were you.

[quote name='DebJ14']If you did not budget so much for gratuities then perhaps you cannot afford a cruise vacation. The agency you booked with did not do a good job of pre-qualifying you. I know the agency where I book takes income, age and your interests into consideration when recommending a cruise. They are not going to put someone who is scrimping and saving for a 3 day cruise on Cunard or Crystal - probably will recommend Carnival to those folks. Nor will they put those in their twenties on HAL unless they specifically request it.[/QUOTE]

Seriously?? The first time ANY AGENCY inquired, hinted at or made any reference to my income would be the first and last time I would be speaking with them.....much less booking with them! Edited June 26, 2015 by LadySpoilt

Go to guest services and get the daily tipping charges removed or reduced, it's easy to do.

If you go to Guest Service and have the DSC removed, please make sure that you advise your Room Steward and waiters on the first day that you have done this, so that they will know they won't be getting anything for servicing your needs.

[quote name='LadySpoilt']Seriously?? The first time ANY AGENCY inquired, hinted at or made any reference to my income would be the first and last time I would be speaking with them.....much less booking with them![/QUOTE]


Actually, the question should be as to how much one wishes to spend for a vacation. I do not make six figures but I vacation like I do. Divorced. No kids, etc. I like the suite life. And I manage my money to do so. But it is no one's business as to my take home pay and orher income. I agree with you.

My 2-cents:

I LOVE having the DSC, so I don't have to worry about figuring out all the people I have to tip. I would lose track with all of the various crew in the dining venues, running programs, and not only cleaning my room, but also continuously polishing the banisters, vacuuming the floors, painting the murals, etc. I appreciate the fact that every time I cruise with NCL, I see staff working to keep the ships clean and beautiful. The Sun was built in 2001, but she was my favorite ship, and it's thanks so all the crew that work so hard. I enjoy the fact that my tips get spread out for everyone.

I also LOVE pre-paying my service charge, simply because it's one less thing that I have to budget for when I'm on vacation. The DH and I keep a notebook where we write down all of our charges, and we have an amount that we allow ourselves to spend each cruise. Thanks to pre-paying, it's a lot easier to manage.

I still tip my room steward a little extra. I do this at the beginning, because I'm an adult dork who still loves the towel animals. I also tip my favorite bartenders, because I always find a couple impressive ones who will share their stories. I even had one that gave me riddles to solve at the bar. Man, I bought so many drinks there! It was a win for all, and I tipped him better than anyone in my history.

Finally, you can choose to remove the service charge. I know people are against that here, but you can. I wouldn't let people know if you do because of that, but it's your choice. NCL is still Freestyle, despite all of their recent changes. The choice is yours. And no matter how you look at, you'll probably still spend less with NCL than you would with Disney or RCL :)

[quote name='NLH Arizona']If you go to Guest Service and have the DSC removed, please make sure that you advise your Room Steward and waiters on the first day that you have done this, so that they will know they won't be getting anything for servicing your needs.[/QUOTE]

This made me laugh. Do you honestly think someone who is going to remove the DSC will go to their room steward and tell them? Please tell me you were being sarcastic.

This made me laugh. Do you honestly think someone who is going to remove the DSC will go to their room steward and tell them? Please tell me you were being sarcastic.

No I don't believe that someone who is going to removed the DSC, is going to tell any crew member because they are afraid of retribution, but possibly, just possibly, this comment will make someone who is thinking about doing it, think a little harder. Edited June 26, 2015 by NLH Arizona

No I don't believe that someone who is going to removed the DSC, is going to tell any crew member because they are afraid of retribution, but possibly, just possibly, this comment will make someone who is thinking about doing it, think a little harder.

 

And therein lies the rub. The removers tend to preen about how its permissible, or how its simply not how things are done where they're from, yet I've never seen one of them post that they inform their steward and/or guest services on day one of their intent to remove. That would seem to indicate that they're aware its frowned upon and, as such, their cowardice doesn't match their internet bravado.

And therein lies the rub. The removers tend to preen about how its permissible, or how its simply not how things are done where they're from, yet I've never seen one of them post that they inform their steward and/or guest services on day one of their intent to remove. That would seem to indicate that they're aware its frowned upon and, as such, their cowardice doesn't match their internet bravado.

 

That and they rarely say how much they tip in cash to the staff when they claim remove the DSC. Which to me, shows they don't want to paid for services that is clearly not free - those $13 per day tips goes a long way in paying room stewards, buffet, MDR, O'sheenan, bath towels, bedsheets, soon Margaretville on Escape. All those people in one day paid off with DSC compare to a DSC-remover claims of tipping those that serve them, which they probably didn't because there's at least 2 waiters serving a table in the MDR at dinnertime let alone any other time.

 

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That and they rarely say how much they tip in cash to the staff when they claim remove the DSC. Which to me, shows they don't want to paid for services that is clearly not free - those $13 per day tips goes a long way in paying room stewards, buffet, MDR, O'sheenan, bath towels, bedsheets, soon Margaretville on Escape. All those people in one day paid off with DSC compare to a DSC-remover claims of tipping those that serve them, which they probably didn't because there's at least 2 waiters serving a table in the MDR at dinnertime let alone any other time.

 

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I think there are some separate issues there. What you're talking about is people who remove the DSC and [claim to] pay individuals with cash. I don't necessarily agree with that (or buy that many of those who claim they do it actually do [or that, if they do, they give the same or more than the DSC]), but that's different from the instant case, where it appears the poster who resurrected this thread intends to remove the DSC and call it quits on account of simply not wanting to pay it.

I think there are some separate issues there. What you're talking about is people who remove the DSC and [claim to] pay individuals with cash. I don't necessarily agree with that (or buy that many of those who claim they do it actually do [or that, if they do, they give the same or more than the DSC]), but that's different from the instant case, where it appears the poster who resurrected this thread intends to remove the DSC and call it quits on account of simply not wanting to pay it.

In the case of the who resurrected the thread - they claim they didn't want to pay the DSC due to not knowing about that which was failure on thiers for not researching the line and on the TA for not telling them about it. Regarding the proponents of DSC-removing - previous posts from them claim that tip in cash, but I have never seen a dollar amount to help those that thinking if removing it especially when paying room steward is concern. Information that would help the resurrector in deciding if staying with NCL is worth it or not because the person is not going to get it from those that day pay it.

 

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And therein lies the rub. The removers tend to preen about how its permissible, or how its simply not how things are done where they're from, yet I've never seen one of them post that they inform their steward and/or guest services on day one of their intent to remove. That would seem to indicate that they're aware its frowned upon and, as such, their cowardice doesn't match their internet bravado.

I think NCL should enact a rule that if someone is going to reduce or remove the DSC for non-service issue, it has to be done the first day of the cruise, so that the crew will know and be looking for those cash tips.

I think NCL should enact a rule that if someone is going to reduce or remove the DSC for non-service issue, it has to be done the first day of the cruise, so that the crew will know and be looking for those cash tips.

 

Or the option to not serve that person(s), since they're not going to get paid. I think deserve that right when someone removes the DSC, so the staff is not wasting time and energy for nothing.

 

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We were just on Celebrity in Nov. and the DSC was in place and I believe RCI also has it.

 

Because we chose My-time dining on RCI last year, we were asked to prepay our DSC. We did so for our NCL cruise this summer, just to get it out of the way.

I appreciate all the responses. It appears this might be our one and only cruise.

 

It actually was not our intention to book a cruise as we normally go to Spain or the Canaries. Our agent knew our budget and recommended the cruise. We looked at the brochure but didn’t see anything about additional charges. She told us that it was all inclusive except for the alcohol and the premier dining. I did ring them up when we found out about it and she informed us we could have it taken off and provide our own gratuities. £230 for 7 days is extremely high for gratuities in Europe. We normally budget about £10 a day and usually don’t spend that.

This thread is number 1 result when googling NCL and Discretionary Service Charge!

We looked at the brochure but didn’t see anything about additional charges.

 

 

There is no NCL brochure that wouldn't mention service charges. If the brochure was your TA's, they are to blame.

 

Also, keep in mind that you are going to an American (well actually Bahamian, but still) ship - it doesn't matter where it sails what comes to their service charge policies. I too have to say that the research has been insufficient.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Demonyte

I appreciate all the responses. It appears this might be our one and only cruise.

 

It actually was not our intention to book a cruise as we normally go to Spain or the Canaries. Our agent knew our budget and recommended the cruise. We looked at the brochure but didn’t see anything about additional charges. She told us that it was all inclusive except for the alcohol and the premier dining. I did ring them up when we found out about it and she informed us we could have it taken off and provide our own gratuities. £230 for 7 days is extremely high for gratuities in Europe. We normally budget about £10 a day and usually don’t spend that.

If you would have looked at "extra information" and then "what's included" in the brochure, you would have seen that it clearly states the information with regard to the service charge.

 

Also, since your travel agent gave you misinformation, possibly you could go back to them and see if they will pay for your DSC or a portion of it.

Edited June 26, 2015 by NLH Arizona

£230 for 7 days is extremely high for gratuities in Europe. We normally budget about £10 a day and usually don’t spend that.

 

They aren't gratuities, they are the crew's pay. If you don't pay the Service Charge, they aren't getting paid.

Or the option to not serve that person(s), since they're not going to get paid. I think deserve that right when someone removes the DSC, so the staff is not wasting time and energy for nothing.

 

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Ridiculous proposition! In all likelihood any employee, on land or sea, who refused to serve someone because they were not receiving a tip would and should be subject to dismissal.

 

 

Rochelle

They aren't gratuities, they are the crew's pay. If you don't pay the Service Charge, they aren't getting paid.

 

This is not true