NCL Tipping Question

[Love my butler]

Well the only way to change the cruise line behavior is everyone collectively needs to stop DSC and then the cruiselines will start adding it to the fare.

 

Tipping typically should be for people who directly provide you service and not any random person you come in contact with.

 

Oh the worst thing about tipping on ncl cruise ship is they fold the check to the part of additional gratuity ... thinking you are dumb enough to add more without noticing the 15% already tacked on!

 

DING DING DING! We have a winner.

[smeyer418]

LOL

 

 

There was an anti-tipping movement at the beginning of the 20th century amongst Americans who saw it as an aristocratic holdover contrary to the country's democratic ideals. Between 1909 and 1915 six states passed anti-tipping laws, all of which were repealed by the mid-1920's as unenforceable or potentially unconstitutional. Samuel Gompers, who founded the AFL, was one political figure notably outspoken against tipping as promoting detrimental class distinctions.

 

from this article

 

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/why-tipping-should-be-illegal-15603180

 

notice it was the big bad Unions that were in the lead on this.

 

what would replace it? probably a required minimum service charge...I truly hope you get what you ask for.

[luddite]

Well the only way to change the cruise line behavior is everyone collectively needs to stop DSC and then the cruiselines will start adding it to the fare. But that will not happen ... so we are kinda stuck.

 

That said I do see your point. When we book a hotel room we just pay for the hotel room ... all people are paid out of it. So why should a cruise line be any different? Seems to me they want to expand the tipping culture. I alone cant fight it and I don't wanna stiff the poor people making $50 a month.

 

Tipping typically should be for people who directly provide you service and not any random person you come in contact with.

 

Oh the worst thing about tipping on ncl cruise ship is they fold the check to the part of additional gratuity ... thinking you are dumb enough to add more without noticing the 15% already tacked on!

 

The DSC is not a tip. It IS their pay.

[Okmyx]

In the US at least when you book a hotel room the room cleaner who normally only does your room once a day and probably has twice the number of rooms that the stewards do on the ship is paid at least the non-tipped US minimum wage and overtime. If you are at a resort that includes some meals most(not all) have a resort fee or a service charge added(and its almost always more then $12 a day). The ones I use charge 15% at least on the entire charge...so its $50+ per day for the room and meals..and they don't tell you were it goes either. and BTW even when its just a room I tip the maids anyway.

 

see for example only

http://www.ranchodeloscaballeros.com/?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=PPC2P&DCSext.ppc_kw=rancho+de+los+caballeros&ppc_ac=Brand&ppc_ag=Brand+Broad&ppc_mt=Broad&platform=c

 

 

Resort fees are not tips, and the money does not go to the staff.

 

 

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[smeyer418]

Resort fees are not tips, and the money does not go to the staff.

 

 

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and neither is NCL's DSC.

[sjbdtz]

That said I do see your point. When we book a hotel room we just pay for the hotel room ... all people are paid out of it. So why should a cruise line be any different? Seems to me they want to expand the tipping culture. I alone cant fight it and I don't wanna stiff the poor people making $50 a month.

 

Tipping typically should be for people who directly provide you service and not any random person you come in contact with.

 

Oh the worst thing about tipping on ncl cruise ship is they fold the check to the part of additional gratuity ... thinking you are dumb enough to add more without noticing the 15% already tacked on!

 

a) when you go to a hotel room, it doesn't include your evening's entertainment, or all of your meals either. There are differences between hotels & cruise ships. The structure of staff compensation is one of them.

 

b) the DSC is provided so that passengers are not burdened with trying to determine equitable protocols for tipping / compensating the crew. There are algorithms based on role, seniority, rankings/reviews which apportion the 'pooled' money.

 

c) regardless of how a receipt is folded, the gratuities are always auto-included, and the fact that there is an option to provide additional gratuities is a convenience for the passenger. Is it also done in hopes that some might tip extra? Probably....if the crew are smart, and they seem to be.

 

 

 

 

.

[jackson bernard]

and neither is NCL's DSC.

 

Then where do they go?

 

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[smeyer418]

Then where do they go?

 

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you know the answer.

http://www.ncl.com/faq#service-charge

but please free to ask again.

[newmexicoNita]

I've never cruised with NCL and am a little confused with the freestyle part. I know with royal caribbean you can prepay tips that go to waiter, head waiter, ect. Since you don't have a set waiter how does the tipping work? Can you still prepay/how does tipping work with NCL? I'm going to be booking Getaway for November, thanks!

you can pre pay your gratuities just like on any line. The amount is split between everyone in the pool, just like RCI, Carnival or Princess.. If you do not want to pre pay, you can just keep the $12 a day on your account and it swill be applied according. Some people choose to tip a little extra for service above and beyond, like your cabin steward.

[jackson bernard]

you can pre pay your gratuities just like on any line. The amount is split between everyone in the pool, just like RCI, Carnival or Princess.. If you do not want to pre pay, you can just keep the $12 a day on your account and it swill be applied according. Some people choose to tip a little extra for service above and beyond, like your cabin steward.

 

Thank you. I appreciate your clarification.

Happy Sailing!

 

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[jackson bernard]

I saw a gentlemen on my last cruise take the whole service charge off .he was adamant about leaving his own tips to the individuals who gave him outstanding service ..... I don't know how he tipped people who did service behind the scenes....... Just a thought....

 

Why would someone tip the behind the scenes employees? I will not and will be removing the DSC and tipping as I go. Itvwill probably cost more in the long run, but at least I will know who I was tipping.

 

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[Fishbait17]

Why would someone tip the behind the scenes employees? I will not and will be removing the DSC and tipping as I go. Itvwill probably cost more in the long run, but at least I will know who I was tipping.

 

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This one is easy. When you eat at a restaurant, assuming you leave the server a tip (yeah, I know what they say about "assume"), the waiter does not get the whole of your tip. He, in turn, tips out part of your tip to his support staff (busboy, host or hostess, dishwashers, etc). In a hotel, you tip the maid service, who in turn tips out to their support staff (generally laundry service or other). This is the way the service industry works, like it or not. On an NCL ship, there is no provision for this when paid cash tips without the DSC, so basically these people are not being paid their proper wages unless they are turned in and pooled with DSC. Since a cruise is a hotel, several restaurants, etc all-in-one, the DSC simplifies the entire process.

 

Yes, yes, we ALL know you intend to remove the DSC, stiff the butler and concierge, ok. Just making the clarification for normal people who intend to leave the DSC in place.

 

Robin

Edited July 24, 2014 by Fishbait17

[rics321]

The DSC is not a tip. It IS their pay.

 

If DSC is not are tip but a pay ... then why are passengers allowed to adjust it as they please? You seriously need to look up the definition of tip and pay.

 

DSC is definitely a tip.

[luddite]

If DSC is not are tip but a pay ... then why are passengers allowed to adjust it as they please? You seriously need to look up the definition of tip and pay.

 

DSC is definitely a tip.

 

If you were correct, well.....we would be in agreement.

[rics321]

This one is easy. When you eat at a restaurant, assuming you leave the server a tip (yeah, I know what they say about "assume"), the waiter does not get the whole of your tip. He, in turn, tips out part of your tip to his support staff (busboy, host or hostess, dishwashers, etc). In a hotel, you tip the maid service, who in turn tips out to their support staff (generally laundry service or other). This is the way the service industry works, like it or not. On an NCL ship, there is no provision for this when paid cash tips without the DSC, so basically these people are not being paid their proper wages unless they are turned in and pooled with DSC. Since a cruise is a hotel, several restaurants, etc all-in-one, the DSC simplifies the entire process.

 

Yes, yes, we ALL know you intend to remove the DSC, stiff the butler and concierge, ok. Just making the clarification for normal people who intend to leave the DSC in place.

 

Robin

 

You clearly seem to be overtly emotional in your tipping habits. You act as if tips are the rights of the service people rather than privilege for which they should be grateful.

 

Can't we have a rational discussion? What some people here are suggesting is tipping such as DSC shouldn't be auto added and that they rather pay the room steward and the steward can distribute like in a hotel to support staff etc. if needed. Tips need to be given to the people who provide you service .... a mandatory tip makes the servers feel that its their right and they can provide substandard service and still feel entitled to it.

[rics321]

If you were correct, well.....we would be in agreement.

 

Ok Einstein here is a dozzie for you! If there are 1000 people on a ship on 1 sailing ... and a steward gets paid $1000 for that sailing. Next week there are 2000 people on the same sailing ... so next week the steward gets $2000 because more DSC is collected. Under what basis would salary change from week to week like that? The only reason for the change is because DSC is a tip.

[rics321]

Why would someone tip the behind the scenes employees? I will not and will be removing the DSC and tipping as I go. Itvwill probably cost more in the long run, but at least I will know who I was tipping.

 

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You definitely are starting to make more and more sense. A tip should be given to the person why provides you service directly and they may choose to divide it up however they please to support staff.

[pokerpro5]

The DSC is a tip meant to bring the employee pay up to certain guaranteed standards, without raising NCL's published fares.

 

It's a way to keep fares listed artificially low, while still attracting the staff required and paying them chicken scratch.

 

It's a way to shift the burden of paying the staff mostly onto the shoulders of the passengers (directly, rather than indirectly).

 

NCL knows that very few will adjust down the DSC, so they can easily guarantee a certain wage based upon historical data regarding the percentage of people removing the DSC.

 

It's kind of a dirty trick, but that's the way NCL does it, and honestly I don't care if they're charging me an $84 DSC or if the fare is listed as $84/pp higher. Breaks out the same for me.

 

At one point I was considering removing the DSC and just tipping those that directly served me, but I realized I would be screwing the "general" employees such as the ones who clean and paint the decks, wash the dishes, etc. Also, with the servers revolving between restaurants, it would be very hard to tip the right ones.

 

So I decided I wouldn't touch the DSC, and would just consider it an $84 increase in fare, on a trip where tips were considered included.

 

On Princess it was different, where you would get an itemized list of automated charges, and you could deduct from whichever departments you didn't use. You can't do that on NCL, so if you deduct from the DSC, you're screwing everyone. I don't want to screw everyone, so I leave it alone.

[pokerpro5]

With that said, I think it's totally fair to adjust the DSC down if you have more than 2 people in a stateroom.

 

This is because you're receiving a lot of duplicate service that was already covered by the previous tips. It is almost the identical effort, for example, to clean a room inhabited by 4 people as one inhabited by two. (Don't believe me? Call a maid service for your home, and they will price it based upon how many rooms or square feet, not how many inhabitants!)

 

Furthermore, while I am fine with paying my fair share for general ship employees, I feel I've already put in enough (and thus achieved what NCL was trying to guarantee) by paying two DSCs per room. That is, the ship needs to be cleaned and painted, but I've already made my "per stateroom" contribution to that.

 

I don't think I'd remove the entire DSC for the 3rd and 4th people (because they still require service, dishes, etc), but I would definitely adjust it down.

 

If I have two rooms, however, this doesn't apply, and I wouldn't touch it.

Edited July 25, 2014 by pokerpro5

[Fishbait17]

You clearly seem to be overtly emotional in your tipping habits. You act as if tips are the rights of the service people rather than privilege for which they should be grateful.

 

Can't we have a rational discussion? What some people here are suggesting is tipping such as DSC shouldn't be auto added and that they rather pay the room steward and the steward can distribute like in a hotel to support staff etc. if needed. Tips need to be given to the people who provide you service .... a mandatory tip makes the servers feel that its their right and they can provide substandard service and still feel entitled to it.

 

I apologize if I appear emotional about tipping. I am not. I am fine with people adjusting their DSC if they have a service issue, or they have received substandard service (as long as it is actually substandard and not just being cheap). What I don't understand is why some people decide before ever setting foot on a ship that they will remove the charge, because they don't feel they will get service deserving of it. I also do not understand why some people find it logical to control the income of everyone surrounding them, but I digress...

 

What I am clear about is that on NCL and most other cruise lines, there is no "tipping out" system in place for these workers. The dynamics are just far too complex to do so with "freestyle" or "anytime dining", whatever you wish to call it. There are hundreds of waiters, stewards, and backup staff, all of which work with different people in different locations each day. The DSC simplifies this process, by rewarding employees with both cash and incentives -based on customer satisfaction feedback, etc. in "olden times", there were far too many people skipping their dinner on the last night to avoid having to tip, just like now there are a few that have their DSC removed when they have received good service.

 

I'd be thrilled if the DSC was built into the cruise fare, eliminating tipping entirely. I'm sure it would end up costing me more, as the exceptional service I generally receive would likely lead me to tip extra, but that's beside the point. It would, however, make it difficult to make adjustments for poor service when it does happen. So for now, I'm happy with the system the way it is, except when it is abused by persons who try to justify their thriftiness under another pretense.

 

I made the mistake in another thread of asking you (tongue in cheek) if we could debate removing the DSC. I am done with this thread now as well.

 

Robin

Edited July 25, 2014 by Fishbait17

[rochelle_s]

You clearly seem to be overtly emotional in your tipping habits. You act as if tips are the rights of the service people rather than privilege for which they should be grateful.

 

Can't we have a rational discussion? What some people here are suggesting is tipping such as DSC shouldn't be auto added and that they rather pay the room steward and the steward can distribute like in a hotel to support staff etc. if needed. Tips need to be given to the people who provide you service .... a mandatory tip makes the servers feel that its their right and they can provide substandard service and still feel entitled to it.

 

Let's have that rational discussion.

 

NCL has a system in place for compensating their staff for the jobs they do. It must be working as it has been in place for many years now. It also can't be unreasonable as numerous other cruise line companies have adopted this method. The previous poster explains how the system and in particular the DSC works and you call her emotional. She was anything but as she was only explaining the facts. Perhaps it is your emotions that are over wrought.

 

The DSC is a right of the service people who receive it. This is how they are paid for the work they do. It is their wages.

 

But....yes their is always a but. In the case of tipping or leaving something extra emotions do in fact play a major part. When I am happy with my service I will tip. The happier I am the bigger the bucks. If I am disappointed, unhappy or upset with the service I receive than I can guarantee you this is likely to be well reflected in the tip I leave or lack thereof.

 

And just for the record when gratuities are offered to a service person they never have to be to be grateful for it, as you suggested. They certainly can be appreciative but they shouldn't have to feel like you are bestowing them with some great favour. When a gratuity is given it should be you who is grateful for the service you have received.

 

 

Rochelle

Edited July 25, 2014 by rochelle_s

[rics321]

I'd be thrilled if the DSC was built into the cruise fare, eliminating tipping entirely.

 

Agreed!

[sjbdtz]

Ok Einstein here is a dozzie for you! If there are 1000 people on a ship on 1 sailing ... and a steward gets paid $1000 for that sailing. Next week there are 2000 people on the same sailing ... so next week the steward gets $2000 because more DSC is collected. Under what basis would salary change from week to week like that? The only reason for the change is because DSC is a tip.

 

 

The doozy you have proposed isn't that challenging.

 

 

If the standard (full ship) income expectation of this steward is $ 2,000 (btw...it's nowhere near that), then the week where it's only $1,000 is a week they have to struggle through due to a 1/2 full ship.

 

It's a variable compensation scheme, not dissimilar to a salesperson who receives both a Base (fixed) and Commission (variable) compensation scheme.

 

 

Beyond that, I'm not sure what point you were hoping to make.

 

 

 

.

[rics321]

And just for the record when gratuities are offered to a service person they never have to be to be grateful for it, as you suggested. They certainly can be appreciative but they shouldn't have to feel like you are bestowing them with some great favour. When a gratuity is given it should be you who is grateful for the service you have received.

 

 

Rochelle

 

Of course I am grateful for the service received. That is why I am tipping. You read too much into words and get twisted into a pretzel!

[Okmyx]

I have no qualms paying $12 per day per person as a tip. I'm glad NCL is making it easy for me to provide this tip. I also tip about $5 per day to the room attendant and I've tipped a little extra to the specialty restaurants for those that made it a more enjoyable experience. Based as a percentage of my total cruise fare, I think it's very reasonable. For perspective, I'm a 20% tipper at restaurants (unless I receive subpar assistance) and so have no issues with tipping on a cruise. If anything, I'd probably increase the tip and I very much appreciate good service and by and large NCL did provide good to excellent service on my last cruise. The question of cruise staff salary is separate. In the end, I agree with others who said that it doesn't matter how they get paid as long as they get paid and if the cruise industry is able to sell more cabins by artificially showing a lower rate by excluding tips then so be it. To the customer, this is no different than airlines not including bag costs (assuming you check a bag) or resorts that charge a daily resort fee, etc.

 

 

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