Service Charges on NCL

[yankees111]

You don't have to understand it. It was our decision not yours. also the fact that YOU consider it to be cheap is 100% irrelevant and was not used at all in making our decision. We did what we thougt and still think was appropriate. You are free to do the same.

 

 

Fair enough. You think it was appropriate to adjust the amount down for no other reason then the fact you had 4 people in a room. That may be how you feel but it still does not make it right. Hope you put the 28 dollars you saved to good use lol

 

 

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[luddite]

Hello. I recently went on a weekend cruise with the DW on the Breakaway in January. Since it was 2 nights/ 2 people, the $48 service charge was not the end of the world. However, I never saw the cabin steward nor did he/she attempt to introduce himself. Is this how NCL operates?

 

I am now going on the Breakaway again in June for a 7 nighter with 4 people. So now I'm looking at $336 for turndown service? Why $12 per person when Disney suggests $4/person per day? Is the NCL service fee going to other employees as well?

 

Has anyone actually adjusted their service fee lower on an NCL cruise?

 

It is a service charge.

You got service.

You will get service on your next trip.

You are expected to pay it.

It is an unadvertised cost of the trip.

Not paying it is unconscieanable.

Enjoy your trip and remember to pay your bills.

[luddite]

Was not made to feel bad about it at all.

 

 

Well, frankly, you should have been made to feel bad about it.

[SissasMomE]

Always the same people with the same responses :rolleyes:

[Love my butler]

Sorry but I do not understand why you adjusted the amount down just because you had four people in a room. Didn't the room steward have to make up additional beds each day? You can justify the reason for yourself any way you like but you come off as just being cheap.

 

Let me help you out. Look up the term 'economies of scale'. Four people in a room is not 4 times the work.

[UhOhChango]

That may very well be true, however, when you post what you posted it kinda opens to door to "why did you lower it".

 

Harriet

 

 

Because we chose to.

[UhOhChango]

Seeing that you posted it it sure does allow myself and others to express their opinion.

 

No one ever said you could not have your opinion or express it.

[UhOhChango]

Fair enough. You think it was appropriate to adjust the amount down for no other reason then the fact you had 4 people in a room. That may be how you feel but it still does not make it right. Hope you put the 28 dollars you saved to good use lol

 

 

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There is no right or wrong. Your opinion about the matter does not mean you are right either.

[Cruising4]

Four people in a cabin would require at least two beds. Potentially four.

 

How is that not more work? What about the servers in the dining room?

 

Wish NCL would just add the DSC to the price of the cruise and label it "service charges not necessary"

 

I can't even begin to imagine what the crew really thinks of some guests.

[MCAT48]

I think the problem is people forget or do not understand that the 12 per day goes to others that you may not see during a cruise it's not just the person who cleans the room twice a day, gives you towels, takes out your garbage, fills your ice, makes towel animals, cleans your dirty toilette, cleans gunk out of the sinks.....it also goes to waiters in the dinning rooms who carry all the trays to your table, bussers who clean the tables, and so many others all while always smiling to make the guests happy and yet people feel it's okay to stiff them by removing the dsc, because they dont think they deserve it.

[GuitarGuyFH]

Wow some of you poeple REALLY need to lightenup and lose the attitudes of being superior to others. Someone in the thread simply asked if anyone here had ever reduced the DSF (WHICH IS 100% ALLOWED BY NCL'S OWN DESCRIPTIONS) and another person replied that they had. That perosn reduced it by a whole whopping $2 a day and some of you damn near crucified him/her. What the fee is for, who it goes to, and anything else is beside the point. The fact is that by very definition it is discretionary and anyone can adjust it at any time if they see fit and without having to give a reason. Some of the comments I have seen here are way past rude and obnoxious. Just because you choose to tip (yeah I know it is not a tip) or leave a different amount as a fee, does not make you any better than anyone else. Get over yourselves and your "I've been here on cruise critic a lot longer than you with a lot more posts so I am better" attitudes. Don't even bother replying to me because I am not going to come back into this thread at all. I will leave all of you rude and nasty power trip ego people to high five each other because you are so holy and mighty. The post about having a block user feature is spot on.

[Shacky316]

Then just include in the fare and just pay your staff more. Why make it feel like I need to pay extra to get served. I will tip extra if deserved.

 

I know I tip others on other ships separately, so my question was simply if the $12 was for only the cabin steward or all services.

 

I will go with the idea that they mail it in during a weekend cruise. But if I get less than decent service I will adjust. (No need for you regulars to pile on again.)

Edited April 4, 2014 by Shacky316

[MCAT48]

Dsc is pooled and split.

 

If you want take it off at the end.

 

The end.

Edited April 4, 2014 by MCAT48

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Then just include in the fare and just pay your staff more. Why make it feel like I need to pay extra to get served. I will tip extra if deserved.

I know I tip others on other ships separately, so my question was simply if the $12 was for only the cabin steward or all services.

 

I will go with the idea that they mail it in during a weekend cruise. But if I get less than decent service I will adjust. (No need for you regulars to pile on again.)

 

Do you feel the same way when you cruise Disney?

 

Bill

[NH Cruisers]

Let me help you out. Look up the term 'economies of scale'. Four people in a room is not 4 times the work.

I agree this is right. I personally would still pay the full DSC. But the attendent does not have to clean two whole bathrooms, two whole cabins. They make 2 extra beds and a few extra minutes to pick up extra towels. it is probably 50% more work. It is not a huge amount to clean a room for one as it is for Four. I do it all the time at home when the kids come to visit.

[Crusin6]

You are confusing the 12 and 4

 

The 12 on Ncl is for steward. Waiter. Other crew

 

The 4 you speak of on Disney is just what they suggest for the steward. Do your research and you will find they suggest other amounts for wAiter and assistants as well

 

12 a day is reasonable across the board for cruises. If you can't afford it either don't cruise or be inconsiderate and remove it

[smeyer418]

You don't have to understand it. It was our decision not yours. also the fact that YOU consider it to be cheap is 100% irrelevant and was not used at all in making our decision. We did what we thougt and still think was appropriate. You are free to do the same.

wow been drinking the milk of human kindness haven't you.

read this.

 

as I said I hate tipping/service charge threads mostly because there is so much misinformation(in some cases deliberately so by people who have an ax to grind or a particular view of the world).

 

The service people on most of the tipping cruise lines are paid a base salary of something around $100 per MONTH plus on board room and board and some on board medical care) here is a thread from someone who works/ed in the dining room that talks about this.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1107696

 

They do take home more because they get a draw against the tips and the tips themselves.

 

This method of paying the traditional tipped crew goes back to at least the early 1900's and was continued by Samuel Cunard who was born in Canada and emigrated to England.

 

In fact in the 1910-30 there was a movement in the US to do away with tipping-which obviously failed.

 

Because of the fare structure now the remuneration for the traditionally tipped crew is NOT included in the fare. Generally those cruise lines that do include it charge more than the difference between the cost of tipping non tipping(Azamara announced a 25% increase and included the "basic" tipping and some other items-none of which when added together could justify a 25% increase-but I don't know if the full increase has held this is an example I realize that your cruise line may not be Azamara or Seaborn or other of the luxury lines where in general you pay a premium to get the base tip included-do you really think that people no longer tip on these lines?).

 

Whether it’s in the fare or the expected tip, its you are paying it anyway. I really don't see why you may want to pay more to have it included in the fare.

 

On most cruise lines when you remove the auto -tip all or most of the cash tip is put back into the pool anyway so in fact you make it more difficult for those who you want to reward. The best way to reward these people is to either write a note to their supervisors explaining how they went over and above or giving them a little extra(at your discretion of course).

The auto tip takes care of what the employees were required to do anyway(called tipping out). The rooms stewards traditionally tipped out the laundry room supply room staff and asst head housekeeper(the name for this varies among cruise lines); and the waiters tipped out the bus boys, dishwashers, line cooks and asst head waiter/maitre d(also varies by cruise line).

Do the employees just pocket the cash? mostly no. If the auto-tip is removed and they don't turn it in(BTW I have been told by some staff they sometimes convert extra tips left by some which they don't have to turn in at all to pay for the cheapos/stiffers because they ARE marked down when people keep taking the auto-tip off and leave nothing or less than the suggested amount-rightfully or wrongfully its held against them). The employees live in close quarters 3-4 in a room and they don't want large amounts of cash lying around either. The employees know pretty quickly who are the slackers and pocketers and since the supervisor is one of the people being stiffed by the employees they get a. fired b. non renewed or c the worst assignments....and also have been known to be visited by their own countries of origin mafia on board.

Ships are clearly a different culture with somewhat different rules. The tipping culture is a tradition on board. I know some people dis like being told when in Rome....but you aren't in Kansas either.

If you don't like the auto-tip you are of course free to chose another cruise line that includes it but if you like the cruise line’s product and the service you really SHOULD follow the tradition.

 

There is also not one iota of evidence that the entire auto tip doesn't make it to the traditionally tipped and tipped out crew. The cruise lines even absorb the credit card charge although that is subject to change. Cruise employees sue cruise lines all the time and there is NOT one report of any crew member that the entire amount doesn't eventually get to them and not one reported lawsuit...yet(I monitor a number of cruise lawyers reports who would report any such lawsuit).

I also don’t believe that in most cases that tipping has anything to do with the service you-or even how much the employees get paid. It’s a function more of training, supervision and the individual’s employees work ethic more than anything else…as in a good McDonald’s.

 

BTW NCL reports about 90-95% compliance rates. If the rate drops down the home office wants to know why and that is why your steward and your assigned (unless you are on MTD or NCL where its anytime –there is no assigned dining room staff to question) will be questioned if the amounts are removed.

 

 

 

How do I know this for a fact. It’s a long story but I had made a friend of one of the heads of one of the cruise lines.

Now them is the facts. If you would like to discuss the facts please do but just like you may complain when someone on formal night wears shorts, traditions should be obeyed.

 

The fact that you have the power to remove it is like driving 90 in a school school. You have the power to drive that fast but it doesn't make it right. Its up to your own personal view of ethics and fair play sort of like when you give a cashier a 10 dollar bill and they gave you change for 20...

[sjbdtz]

You don't have to understand it. It was our decision not yours. also the fact that YOU consider it to be cheap is 100% irrelevant and was not used at all in making our decision. We did what we thougt and still think was appropriate. You are free to do the same.

 

I wonder if the families of the people you stiffed thought it was the right thing for you to have done?

 

I further wonder, if you ride the bus, and there's not much traffic on a particular day - do you ask the driver for part of your fare back - because the work was easier?

 

 

 

Actually it was $28, and using that absurd amount of exclamation points was, well, childish. You are free to adjust your fees as you see fit. What we chose or choose to do is of no concern to you.

 

 

If only that were true.

 

You see, because these service charges represent the majority of the crew's basic income (even LMB has agreed to this), then reducing the charges means people have less take-home pay.

 

When they have less take-home pay, they're more inclined to seek employment which pays better, elsewhere.

 

When they leave for higher pay elsewhere, it erodes the talent-pool on NCL.

 

Since we cruise mostly NCL, a reduced talent-pool impacts the quallity of our vacation.

 

So your actions DO become a concern to me. This logic is why I participate in most of the DSC threads - it's not because I enjoy the argument - it's out of pure self-interest.

 

There's a model in place to ensure staff are reasonably compensated. Some cruisers think they know better (or they're trying to save money), in either case the outcome impacts every other cruiser in the future.

 

And before you ask whether $28 is enough to make someone quit their job, just remember that $28 was enough to make someone take time out of a VACATION, and fill out forms at guest services, and have to explain themselves to a customer service rep. So, it would seem... $28 is important.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

[Va. Plumber]

O Joy O Rapture! the weekly tipping thread.

 

It may have been already said here, but the main reason for the DSC is due to the fact that all those people who proclaim they want to tip individually for service as a whole didn't.

 

In the dark of night they probably thought "if I short a couple of dollars here and a couple there, no one will ever know once I seal the envelope."

[disfan13]

[quote=

I can't even begin to imagine what the crew really thinks of some guests.

I just spit my coffee. You can only imagine!!! LMAO!!!! OMG still laughing!!!

[mjkacmom]

You don't have to understand it. It was our decision not yours. also the fact that YOU consider it to be cheap is 100% irrelevant and was not used at all in making our decision. We did what we thougt and still think was appropriate. You are free to do the same.

 

But it was being cheap - I don't know any other way to look at it. If I take my family of 7 out to dinner, would it be cheap of me to stiff the server, because I spent a lot of money on dinner? Sure, technically, I don't have to tip, but knowing that servers make most of their salaries from tips, it would be wrong of me to leave nothing. When I go out to eat, I know that part of the cost of dinner is the tip.

[triptolemus]

But it was being cheap - I don't know any other way to look at it.

 

Have you tried simply not looking at it at all?

[Barb Nahoumi]

On one of our cruises where we had four in an inside cabin we chose to reduce our fee to $10 a day for the 3rd and 4th person. This brought out total to $44 a day for the cabin rather than $48. Seemed to us like a fair amount. We did not totally eliminate it for those two knowing that more than just the cabin stewards get the money. It should be noted, as is the case with a lot of people, we did individually tip for service during the cruise as well. They did ask us why we wnated to reduce it and I just told them there were four of us in the cabin and tipped along the way. Was not made to feel bad about it at all.

 

Four in the cabin creates even more work for your steward to do. More work for le$$.

[mjkacmom]

Have you tried simply not looking at it at all?

 

Nope, can't just unsee something. I'm sure that small amount of money means WAY more to the staff than the vacationer.

[Cruising4]

Adjusting the amount due to poor service is one thing, adjusting cause you think one person did not have a deserving job is something else.

 

What if ncl charged different dsc rates based on cabin capacity? Talk about nickel and diming... Works both ways!

 

 

 

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