NCL DSC or Grat's now cannot be changed aboard.

Interesting new policy over at Norwegian:

Norwegian Cruise Line passengers will no longer be able to remove or change the daily service charge (DSC) added to shipboard accounts while still onboard.

 

The charge serves as gratuities for onboard staff including room stewards, waiters and behind-the-scenes support crew. If passengers were unsatisfied with their experience, they could choose to remove the DSC at any point during their voyage. Now, the DSC can only be adjusted by contacting guest relations once they have have returned from their cruise.

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=6529

So if it is a cruise charge, not a gratuity, and it cannot be removed, only refunded by shoreside then surely it should be included in the cruise fare as it is not optional anymore?

Charge or Gratuity? Which one do you think it is, and should it be included in the fare?

ex techie

seeing as how it's from NCL, I'm not surprised they're the one line we reduced to zero and DID not tip in cash.

It's a charge, not a gratuity. A gratuity is optional based on the experience/service you receive.

HOWEVER, I hate tips. I'd rather the workers be paid, without me having to tip.

seeing as how it's from NCL, I'm not surprised they're the one line we reduced to zero and DID not tip in cash.

 

It's a charge, not a gratuity. A gratuity is optional based on the experience/service you receive.

 

HOWEVER, I hate tips. I'd rather the workers be paid, without me having to tip.

I agree Gardeneroflove.

Just so you know, I edited my OP to add 'and should it be included in the fare?' but that was after your post, so you replied before being that.

ex techie

If it cannot be changed on board, it is a charge not a gratuity.

If it is a charge, it should be a mandatory "paid in advance" item, whether it is incorporated in to the "cruise fare" line or a separate line item that is part of the booking charge.

You could have "cruise fare," "government fees and taxes," and "service charge." However they word it, they need to make it clear that this is a non-optional, cannot be reduced item. That's different than a gratuity.

If it cannot be changed on board' date=' it is a charge not a gratuity.

If it is a charge, it should be a mandatory "paid in advance" item, whether it is incorporated in to the "cruise fare" line or a separate line item that is part of the booking charge.

 

You could have "cruise fare," "government fees and taxes," and "service charge." However they word it, they need to make it clear that this is a non-optional, cannot be reduced item. That's different than a gratuity.[/quote']

 

 

To note: it's still completely optional. The policy it still in place intact. All that changed was the procedure. As per anecdotes, the guest services desk was getting flooded with reduction requests and that's why they have "on-shored" the process.

 

Now, this coming October will be our first NCL cruise and we have already "braced" for a completely different experience than DCL. Knowing us, since we don't drink and like spend a lot of time with the kids while on a cruise, we will have a blast anyway, but, I will be sure to write down any big differences and post them when I return.

To note: it's still completely optional. The policy it still in place intact. All that changed was the procedure. As per anecdotes, the guest services desk was getting flooded with reduction requests and that's why they have "on-shored" the process.

 

Now, this coming October will be our first NCL cruise and we have already "braced" for a completely different experience than DCL. Knowing us, since we don't drink and like spend a lot of time with the kids while on a cruise, we will have a blast anyway, but, I will be sure to write down any big differences and post them when I return.

Hope you also don't eat pizza or order room service...

Hope you also don't eat pizza or order room service...

to be fair pizza at the Cabanas or Flo's is .... rather subpar :(

No matter what way you look at it , I agree it is now a charge, It is very inconvenient to have to wait until you home to adjust it. A problem if they suddenly have some issue with changing it after your not there directly.

AKK

To note: it's still completely optional. The policy it still in place intact. All that changed was the procedure. As per anecdotes, the guest services desk was getting flooded with reduction requests and that's why they have "on-shored" the process.

 

Now, this coming October will be our first NCL cruise and we have already "braced" for a completely different experience than DCL. Knowing us, since we don't drink and like spend a lot of time with the kids while on a cruise, we will have a blast anyway, but, I will be sure to write down any big differences and post them when I return.

I liked NCL a lot. I sailed on the Epic last December and had tons of fun. Service was actually great and way better than on the Wonder the following week.

The difference between NCL and sailing on Disney gratuities wise is that on Disney they go to a specific person. On NCL they are split between the crew anyway because of Freestyle dining. If you had one poor waiter and reduce the tip to zero, everyone else also suffers even if they were great.

Too many new policies for my taste (on NCL). Charge for room service, charge for pizza, taking food away from any "food eating area" is forbidden, etc. No, I don't take food to my room on any cruise line....at least not often. But it bothers me to be told that I can't do it if I wish.

Forget the joke of calling it a "tip." If the money is pooled and is charged with no way of changing the charge while on board it is a "service charge." Just be up front and bill it in advance. Make a separate line on the invoice and don't mess with the joke of making it seem optional.

Too many new policies for my taste (on NCL). Charge for room service' date=' charge for pizza, taking food away from any "food eating area" is forbidden, etc. No, I don't take food to my room on any cruise line....at least not often. But it bothers me to be told that I can't do it if I wish.

 

Forget the joke of calling it a "tip." If the money is pooled and is charged with no way of changing the charge while on board it is a "service charge." Just be up front and bill it in advance. Make a separate line on the invoice and don't mess with the joke of making it seem optional.[/quote']

 

 

 

Don't forget the fireworks are gone, the A La Carte prices starting in January, which will raise prices quite a bit unless you only eat a very small appetizer and the DreamWorks characters are being cut on the ships that had them.

 

AKK

Now, this coming October will be our first NCL cruise and we have already "braced" for a completely different experience than DCL.

You'll find NCL different, but not completely different. We've sailed NCL two or three times, they have a fine product. We'd sail NCL again.

BTW, I was on a Disney cruise in May (with adult son, his wife and their 3 year old). Four day Disney cruise cost the same as the eight day June cruise on NCL.

 

BTW, I was on a Disney cruise in May (with adult son, his wife and their 3 year old). Four day Disney cruise cost the same as the eight day June cruise on NCL.

These statements always amaze me because while I've found other lines to be somewhat less costly than DCL, they were nowhere near half the cost. May is usually high season/high cost on DCL, although we've gotten one great deal on a May cruise.

Yes, I know that I shop for value on cruises, whether DCL or other lines. But I'm seeing more like a 25% cost difference over other lines....and more "extras" on the other lines (although DCL is doing a good job of catching up.)

It is NOT a gratuity/tip, It is a charge and should be included in the price of the cruise just as fees and govt. charges are.

. Charge for room service' date=' charge for pizza, taking food away from any "food eating area" is forbidden, etc.[/quote']

 

They backtracked on taking food out of eatieries, btw. It is now permitted as is in other cruise lines. The backlash was too much for their PR comfort :)

These statements always amaze me because while I've found other lines to be somewhat less costly than DCL' date=' they were nowhere near half the cost.[/quote']

 

I'm paying, after "tips", soda package and 3-day speciality dining and other goodies, a bit over $3K (2CH/2AD) May 15th/22 '16 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary. The cheapest balcony I could find in the Fantasy (cat 7A) on those same dates cost ~ $6.8K + tips. While not every sailing is 100% price difference, the vast majority of the ones I found were at least 50% upcharge.

These statements always amaze me because while I've found other lines to be somewhat less costly than DCL' date=' they were nowhere near half the cost. May is usually high season/high cost on DCL, although we've gotten one great deal on a May cruise.

 

 

 

Yes, I know that I shop for value on cruises, whether DCL or other lines. But I'm seeing more like a 25% cost difference over other lines....and more "extras" on the other lines (although DCL is doing a good job of catching up.)[/quote']

 

 

We are sailing Freedom of the Seas in January 2017. Less than $1600 for two for an eight night cruise. That's the same price as four nights on the Dream are. It's not quite half the cost of the Fantasy but it's a HUGE savings. I don't think there are many extras that DCL includes that other lines don't other than soda. Other lines have more options, some of which have charges.

Don't forget the fireworks are gone' date=' the A La Carte prices starting in January, which will raise prices quite a bit unless you only eat a very small appetizer and the DreamWorks characters are being cut on the ships that had them.

 

 

 

AKK[/quote']

 

 

DreamWorks is on Royal. Nickelodeon is being taking away from NCL.

I did a random sampling of cabins across NCL, RCCL and Disney on a few different dates (picked one cruise closets to a random Sunday each month for 1st half of 16). Looks like the average is about 38% higher. Different categories varied (I stuck with inside, balcony and deluxe balcony and tried to match them up). Max variance was 64%, min was 12%. Disney was cheaper on one inside cabin on one cruise by 5%

Cabin location and other factors could influence the result to some extent but either way, its apparent Disney does command a premium price as compared to others.

I used a 7 day cruise on each, Fantasy Western Carib on Disney, Freedom Western Carib on RCCL, 7 day western carib on Norwegian Star - I would have used the Getaway as I think it is closer to the Fantasy but did not want to introduce a potential new ship premium to the mix

I did not calculate tips into the mix, I did use quoted prices so port charges are included and may vary from line to line.

Edited to add: Also, I used the cruise line's websites for pricing.. Trying to account for sales from outside vendors was way beyond the scope of time I had while listening to a keynote speech.

I agree Gardeneroflove.

Just so you know, I edited my OP to add 'and should it be included in the fare?' but that was after your post, so you replied before being that.

 

ex techie

Yes, I'd rather service be included in the fare. i believe I've posted before about we had to adjust our tips to zero on our first cruise as dh and I (young 21, on honeymoon which was a gift) didn't have the funds and didn't know about the 10pp tip that was expected. I do believe we were able, by adjusting our spending, to tip cash to a few members of our service team.

I DO take food to my room, often and will more. I use room service (I tip for it). Last night on our last cruise dh didn't make it to dinner, he slept through, poor guy was beat from taking care of kid all week (that's only maybe the 2nd or 3rd dinner he's missed). I brought his dinner, from MDR, to him. I'd hate to not have the option!

We travel with kids, It's a given one of us may not be able to finish dinner. On Disney, he left with kid, I brought him dessert, did it make or break the cruise? no, but don't take away that option.

Regarding room service. I want to order room service, I COUNT on it as part of my cruise. If they take away too many options, then why cruise? I might as well do landbased if I have to get my own food. I cruise to be waited on.

To note: it's still completely optional. The policy it still in place intact. All that changed was the procedure. As per anecdotes, the guest services desk was getting flooded with reduction requests and that's why they have "on-shored" the process.

Price differences between lines aside, as NCL is an American owned and operated company, with ships mostly sailing out of US ports, one has to wonder why their GS desk was being flooded with reduction requests on the last day of the cruise to such an amount that they could not cope?

And IF you now have to negotiate with shoreside call centers to get your tip amount adjusted?

Is it just a case of calling up and saying I would like my tips back please? OK, Sir/Madam, there you go, we will refund your credit card.

Or will you have to prove poor service in order to receive a refund. Will you be required to report poor service on the cruise or be denied a refund for not doing so afterwards?

Will the new policy make it easier for people to remove the tips after the cruise without the guilt of having to speak to another crew member face to face? ($336 refund after the cruise for a family of 4 on a 7 night).

The Guest is on the back foot as the cruise line already has their money, and now they have to retrieve it and the procedure should be interesting to find out when the policy comes into effect.

They should just increase the cruise fare by the gratuity amount for those positions, and say tipping the Stateroom Host, MDR Servers is optional to allow anyone to add if they feel they want to IMO.

ex techie

Too many new policies for my taste (on NCL). Charge for room service' date=' charge for pizza, taking food away from any "food eating area" is forbidden, etc. No, I don't take food to my room on any cruise line....at least not often. But it bothers me to be told that I can't do it if I wish.

 

Forget the joke of calling it a "tip." If the money is pooled and is charged with no way of changing the charge while on board it is a "service charge." Just be up front and bill it in advance. Make a separate line on the invoice and don't mess with the joke of making it seem optional.[/quote']

 

I just want to clarify some of NCL's new policies for those who may be contemplating sailing with them. As longtime DCL cruisers, we decided to try NCL last month and were nervous about what to expect (especially after reading so much about their recent changes). Turned out we had a great cruise! We sailed on their newest ship for 7 nights for less than the 3 night we were looking at on the Dream (departing the same weekend).

 

Anyway, to elaborate on the NCL changes listed in Moki'sMommy's post above...

 

There is a 7.95 fee for room service (limited continental breakfast is free though).

 

Free pizza was available all day at the buffet (which was open waaayyy longer then DCL's buffet). There was a pizza delivery service where you could order a pizza and have it delivered to you anywhere you wanted it. I *think* the fee was 5.00.

 

From what I had read, a few months ago NCL did try to prohibit people from taking food "to go" but after many passenger complaints they reversed that policy. On our cruise last month we could take food to go.

 

I did find it frustrating that I couldn't really find out who the service charge was going to. I left it in place so no one got stiffed and we also gave a little extra to certain people that I thought deserved it but who knows if they got to keep it for themselves or not.

I did find it frustrating that I couldn't really find out who the service charge was going to. I left it in place so no one got stiffed and we also gave a little extra to certain people that I thought deserved it but who knows if they got to keep it for themselves or not.

I've actually given this some thoughts throughout my deliberations (before I paid our fare in full). I think the crux of the issue is that, due to Freestyle service, NCL has no way to pin your gratuities to any one server/assitant/maitre D since there is no rotation and no way of knowing what you'll be eating any given night. So the only reasonable solution, from their perspective and the employees' perspective is to pool the gratuity money.

They've taken the step of calling it a "service charge." They should take the next step and incorporate it into the amount paid when the cruise is booked.

They've taken the step of calling it a "service charge." They should take the next step and incorporate it into the amount paid when the cruise is booked.

Call it whatever you want, all lines have a daily service charge....some call it discretionary some just a fee. I have sailed several cruise lines and found the services to be comparable, the amenities however different, each line caters to different clientele, elite, party, weekend, low budget, child friendly etc.

Our first cruise was the Disney Magic and at that time you tipped your service personnel at the end of the cruise. This was assigned dining and were amazed at how many passengers stayed away from the dining room on the last night to avoid tipping. I think that because of this that the cruise lines have gone to the automatic gratuities/daily service charge.

I agree that this is a "floating resort fee" and should a line item on the bill that should cover all service fees with a "no additional tipping required, but appreciated" statement.

How the cruise lines pay their employees is between the contractor and the employee. That being said for many crew members gratuity income is not taxed in their country so paying them in a gratuity manner over an income base helps them keep their dollars. There are many threads on every forum that discuss this to pieces. It does matter to me that I am paying fairly and not cheating the crew and do not remove the daily service charges. If I have a concern on board I address it at the time. If the problem is pervasive then most likely won't be sailing on that ship again. I find it amusing that an NCL issue though is brought up on a Disney forum, that being said, when NCL raised their DSC fees the other lines followed and raised their DSC to the same or within a dollar or so of NCL rates. Cruising is a competitive business and as long as the cabins are selling out, then the market will be the driving force as to how much cruisers are willing to pay for the experience.