Norwegian Cruise Line to Raise Gratuities

Is this gratuity mandatory? Or am I allowed to opt out of it at the start of the cruise and tip on my own?

Is this gratuity mandatory? Or am I allowed to opt out of it at the start of the cruise and tip on my own?

No, you get a form at guest services to fill out and mail in.

Gheeze !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again? Yeah I just got the e-mail. I wish my paycheck would go up.

No, you get a form at guest services to fill out and mail in.

 

No to which question - haha.

 

Ah I see, this is the "Service Charge" and is mandatory.

No to which question - haha.

 

Ah I see, this is the "Service Charge" and is mandatory.

 

 

Read about the Service Charge in the NCL FAQ's on the web site.

I think or hope there could be an anonymous board for crew members to use to see what actually happens to these SC increases. The sceptic in me says the crew doesn't see a penny of it.

Gheeze !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again? Yeah I just got the e-mail. I wish my paycheck would go up.

 

Am I understanding the email from NCL correctly that if I am booked before Mar 31 , I booked April 2016 for Alaska Sept 25/17 , that as long as I pay for the SC by Sept 23rd I will still get the $13.50 a day rate?

 

TIA

Dear Zxx Hxxxxxxxxx,

 

Norwegian Cruise Line is making a nominal adjustment to its daily service charges, effective April 1, 2017. Norwegian's discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to key onboard staff who provide superior guest service during the cruise, including their room steward, restaurant servers and behind-the-scenes support staff.

 

The new rates for all ships, except Norwegian Sky are:

$13.99 per person per day for any category up to a mini-suite stateroom

$16.99 per person per day for any suite or Haven category

 

Any guest that has made a booking by March 31, 2017 will have the option of prepaying their service charges at the current rate if done prior to sail date. Guests with existing cruise reservations who have already pre-paid their service charges at the current rate are not affected.

 

Service charges can be prepaid on My NCL or by contacting our Reservations Department at 800-327-7030.

 

Sincerely,

Norwegian Cruise Line®

 

 

Please do not reply to this email.

For additional questions or concerns, please contact our Reservations Department at 800-327-7030 for further assistance.

Am I understanding the email from NCL correctly that if I am booked before Mar 31 , I booked April 2016 for Alaska Sept 25/17 , that as long as I pay for the SC by Sept 23rd I will still get the $13.50 a day rate?

 

TIA

 

That is how it worked last time, and the wording of the email quoted above suggests it will be the same this time too.

Check out the latest Norwegian Cruise Line news from Cruise Critic:

 

Norwegian Cruise Line to Raise Gratuities

 

You may want to remove the link to the deleted thread in your news story. :)

It is $18.99 and $21.99 for those of us on the Sky. Guess I will be paying early.

Posted to their FB page: I am a fan of the NCL Sky and their all inclusive cruises. I am not a fan so much now! 2nd "service charge" increase in past 2 year. 50+% increase from $12 per day per passenger to $18.99 per person per day. 4 day cruise for 2 peeps was $96 and is now $151.92. We have always generously tipped your bartenders for every drink (and we drink a lot), but feel as if you have raised your "service charge" to force your customers that normally do not tip bartenders to tip. I feel bad for your bartenders because we would normally tip the bartenders at least $20 per day, but not now, since you are forcing us to pay in the form of a higher "service charge". However, since this is a "discretionary daily service charge", I will probably say screw the rest of your employees and get my "discretionary daily service charge" removed the last night, and tip my bartenders very well!

Posted to their FB page: I am a fan of the NCL Sky and their all inclusive cruises. I am not a fan so much now! 2nd "service charge" increase in past 2 year. 50+% increase from $12 per day per passenger to $18.99 per person per day. 4 day cruise for 2 peeps was $96 and is now $151.92. We have always generously tipped your bartenders for every drink (and we drink a lot), but feel as if you have raised your "service charge" to force your customers that normally do not tip bartenders to tip. I feel bad for your bartenders because we would normally tip the bartenders at least $20 per day, but not now, since you are forcing us to pay in the form of a higher "service charge". However, since this is a "discretionary daily service charge", I will probably say screw the rest of your employees and get my "discretionary daily service charge" removed the last night, and tip my bartenders very well!

 

It is not that easy. Better read the rules on reducing tips/gratuities/service charge.

If I prepay before March 2017 I will get the current rate and then I can give cash to the well-deserving crew members and they won't have to report it? I like to tip well. I figure that if I can afford a cruise, I am better off than most of the world's population.

You may want to remove the link to the deleted thread in your news story. :)

or restore an important and informative thread .

Haven't had anything about it in Aus, still showing $13.50 here.

I got the email this evening. We booked our cruise through expedia. Can I call Ncl directly to prepay old rate or do I have to go through expedia customer service?

I got the email this evening. We booked our cruise through expedia. Can I call Ncl directly to prepay old rate or do I have to go through expedia customer service?

if you do it online, you will have to pay for it

 

if you call up your TA, they just add it to your final amount due.

You do realize its only .49 a day increase (unless you're on the Sky or a suite or above). Hardly worth worrying about~ For 2 ppl in a mini suite or lower only, an additional $6.86 for a 7 day cruise. :D

You do realize its only .49 a day increase (unless you're on the Sky or a suite or above). Hardly worth worrying about~ For 2 ppl in a mini suite or lower only, an additional $6.86 for a 7 day cruise. :D

 

 

I keep seeing people suggest it's a smaller amount like what you quoted above and I think maybe I'm missing something so I'll do the math to see if I'm looking at it incorrectly:

 

4 people X $13.99 PER PERSON PER DAY X 7 day cruise= $391.72

 

VERSUS NEW INCREASE OF

 

4 people X $16.99 PER PERSON PER DAY X 7 day cruise= $475.72

 

That's an $84 difference for a family of four. While $84 won't break the bank it is still a larger increase than .49 per day that you calculated above. Also, at an extra $500 per cruise, that completely changes the rate they quote when you book. That needs to be communicated at booking. When I took my first two cruises I was a student who got one as a gift and saved for the second. A potential $500 increase at that time would've been the difference of cruise or no cruise. I'm sure this isn't their last price increase so eventually it seems they'll make lots of people rethink the number of cruise vacations they take if they keep increasing.

 

Hopefully I'm wrong in my tallies above (#FingersCrossed) but can you explain your calculations and how you got $0.49?

 

BTW, I've seen several other posters on the threads agree with your tally. I'm not being combative or cantankerous, just curious. [emoji5]

 

Thanks

 

 

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It went from 13.50 to 13.99 for rooms below suite. Suite and haven rooms went from 15.50 up to 16.99

It is not that easy. Better read the rules on reducing tips/gratuities/service charge.

I have only done it once before and it was an RCL cruise where the dining room reservation system was a joke. I wanted to just remove the Maitre D "tip?" but was told I had to cancel ALL discretionary service charges. I hated to screw everyone else, but there was no way any of my money was going to that idiot. I did leave my Room Steward a cash tip, and located my favorite bartenders and tipped them very well. Cost me the same, but the deserving peeps got the money that they worked hard for, and the Maitre D $00.00. Sorry for the behind the scenes peeps that may have got left out, but that was the flaw in RCL's process of changing your discretionary service charge.

I have no problem paying this. I often will tip extra for particularly good service.

I keep seeing people suggest it's a smaller amount like what you quoted above and I think maybe I'm missing something so I'll do the math to see if I'm looking at it incorrectly:

 

4 people X $13.99 PER PERSON PER DAY X 7 day cruise= $391.72

 

VERSUS NEW INCREASE OF

 

4 people X $16.99 PER PERSON PER DAY X 7 day cruise= $475.72

 

That's an $84 difference for a family of four. While $84 won't break the bank it is still a larger increase than .49 per day that you calculated above. Also, at an extra $500 per cruise, that completely changes the rate they quote when you book. That needs to be communicated at booking. When I took my first two cruises I was a student who got one as a gift and saved for the second. A potential $500 increase at that time would've been the difference of cruise or no cruise. I'm sure this isn't their last price increase so eventually it seems they'll make lots of people rethink the number of cruise vacations they take if they keep increasing.

 

Hopefully I'm wrong in my tallies above (#FingersCrossed) but can you explain your calculations and how you got $0.49?

 

BTW, I've seen several other posters on the threads agree with your tally. I'm not being combative or cantankerous, just curious. [emoji5]

 

Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

You have it mixed up. For mini-suite and below (other than Norwegian Sky) it is going from $13.50 per person per day, to $13.99 per person per day. Suites/Haven already was higher than that and is going to $16.99 per person per day. People sailing on Norwegian Sky are going to pay a much higher rate, however, than they were previously. Here is the very first part of the CC article linked to in the first post:

 

(1:48 p.m. EDT) -- For the first time since 2015, Norwegian Cruise Line is raising its gratuities, effective April 1.

Fees for standard cabins and mini-suites will jump from $13.50 to $13.99 per passenger, per day, while cruisers in suites will be charged $16.99 per person, per day, up from $15.50. That amounts to a respective per-person increase of $3.43 or $10.43 per seven-night sailing.

The increases will apply to all vessels, with the exception of beverage-inclusive Norwegian Sky. On that ship, cruisers in standard cabins and mini-suites will now pay $18.99 per person, per day, while those in suites will pay $21.99 per person, per day.