NCL Tipping Question

[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.

 

 

Not reading into anything. These are your exact words.

 

 

Rochelle

[rics321]

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.

 

 

 

.

 

Someone here was claiming DSC is salary ... I was explaining to her that its a tip. That's all!

 

BTW its not commission ... commission is earned on a sale, the cruise staff does no sales ... DSC is a tip!

[rochelle_s]

Someone here was claiming DSC is salary ... I was explaining to her that its a tip. That's all!

 

BTW its not commission ... commission is earned on a sale, the cruise staff does no sales ... DSC is a tip!

 

Who exactly said the DSC is a salary??? The only person's post I can find that references the DSC and the word 'salary' is yours.

 

 

Rochelle

[cruisin07family]

Someone here was claiming DSC is salary ... I was explaining to her that its a tip. That's all!

 

BTW its not commission ... commission is earned on a sale, the cruise staff does no sales ... DSC is a tip!

 

DSC stands for Daily Service Charge. It's a service that you are paying for. If you deduct your DSC, I think the room steward should deduct your cabin from his/her rounds.

[rics321]

DSC stands for Daily Service Charge. It's a service that you are paying for. If you deduct your DSC, I think the room steward should deduct your cabin from his/her rounds.

 

I am per se not against the DSC .... just was clarifying what it is ... its not salary its a tip ... that's all I am saying.

[rics321]

Who exactly said the DSC is a salary??? The only person's post I can find that references the DSC and the word 'salary' is yours.

 

 

Rochelle

 

luddite above said its salary/pay and not a tip ... I was clarifying.

 

DSC is one thing I actually agree with you about. I think it should be made mandatory and should show up in the cruise fare so staff get a living wage and staff are not stiffed in a bad economy.

Edited July 25, 2014 by rics321

[rochelle_s]

luddite above said its salary/pay and not a tip ... I was clarifying.

 

DSC is one thing I actually agree with you about. I think it should be made mandatory and should show up in the cruise fare so staff get a living wage and staff are not stiffed in a bad economy.

 

Luddite said pay;

 

Pay: give (someone) money that is due for work done, goods received, or a debt incurred.

 

Your word was salary;

 

Salary: a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or biweekly basis but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee, especially a professional or white-collar worker

 

A very clear difference between the two.

 

 

Only you mentioned salary. It was never luddite's words at all so she does not need any explaining.

 

 

Now as much as I think it would clear up a great deal of confusion if the DSC was incorporated into the base fare. Mainstream cruise lines obviously do not want to do this for whatever reasons. So we work with the system in place. We go on our cruises. We use the services. We pay our bill at the end or we pre-pay before leaving home. The choice is yours. Simple. You want to leave a little extra ...feel free. You don't..so be it.

 

If the crew have issues with the cruiseline about their compensation through the DSC then it is for them to work it out with their employer. It's not for our decision here on CC.

 

 

Rochelle

[luddite]

The DSC is a tip

 

------------------------

No, it isn't

---------------------------

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

---------------------------------

Customers pay ALL of the bills.

 

 

---------------------

 

 

The crew is happy with the system.

[luddite]

Someone here was claiming DSC is salary ... I was explaining to her that its a tip. That's all!

 

BTW its not commission ... commission is earned on a sale, the cruise staff does no sales ... DSC is a tip!

 

You are ..... mistaken. More than once.

[Fokis]

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....

 

My first cruise is in three weeks and this is what I plan on doing. I'm getting really tired of how tipping works these days. When you order a pizza online, there is an option to tip before you even get the pizza. When you go pickup your food at a restaurant for takeout, there is an option to tip. When you order a coffee, you are sort of expected to tip.

 

Whatever happened to tipping based on service? Giving the option to tip or in this case, essentially forcing the tip on you defeats the whole purpose of a tip. You tip based on service. If service provided wasn't up to the standards you were expecting, why tip? I almost ALWAYS tip. But, there have been a few times I don't because I don't think they deserved it.

 

If I like a bartender on the Pearl in three weeks, I'll tip him more. If I get one that isn't attentive and doesn't care about me sitting there, I give him nothing. That's the way it should be. This forced 160 dollar tip whatever thing makes no sense. I'll tip those who deserve it. And again, I tip pretty much everyone but the amounts differ based on service. /end rant.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Fokis

[Fokis]

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.

 

 

"A tip pool cannot be allocated to employers, or to employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips. These non-eligible employees include dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors.[49]"

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf

 

I guess the key word here is "customarily and regularly receive tips". Can NCL define janitors and floor cleaners as someone who customarily and regularly receives tips?

 

I'm sure they because of loopholes but...you are enabling their dirty practice by letting them hit you with that charge. If we stopped allowing that and tipped based on service, anyone not receiving tips would not get a reasonable wage thus they would leave the cruise ship. NCL would be forced to raise wages to keep workers.

 

I'm not going to let NCL change the definition of gratuity. They need to change their nasty tactics. Kevin Sheehan (CEO of NCL) makes 1.55 million a year as of 2013 with a 5% increase each year. The company can afford to do business right with their employees. But consumers enabling them is why they continue to do it.

 

Just saying.. I respect your thoughts on it though.

[rics321]

My first cruise is in three weeks and this is what I plan on doing. I'm getting really tired of how tipping works these days. When you order a pizza online, there is an option to tip before you even get the pizza. When you go pickup your food at a restaurant for takeout, there is an option to tip. When you order a coffee, you are sort of expected to tip.

 

Whatever happened to tipping based on service? Giving the option to tip or in this case, essentially forcing the tip on you defeats the whole purpose of a tip. You tip based on service. If service provided wasn't up to the standards you were expecting, why tip? I almost ALWAYS tip. But, there have been a few times I don't because I don't think they deserved it.

 

If I like a bartender on the Pearl in three weeks, I'll tip him more. If I get one that isn't attentive and doesn't care about me sitting there, I give him nothing. That's the way it should be. This forced 160 dollar tip whatever thing makes no sense. I'll tip those who deserve it. And again, I tip pretty much everyone but the amounts differ based on service. /end rant.

 

 

If you feel like that you are free to take off the daily service charge off your bill by visiting the front desk and tipping individually. Keep in mind while tipping individually not to over tip.

[rics321]

"A tip pool cannot be allocated to employers, or to employees who do not customarily and regularly receive tips. These non-eligible employees include dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors.[49]"

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs15.pdf

 

I guess the key word here is "customarily and regularly receive tips". Can NCL define janitors and floor cleaners as someone who customarily and regularly receives tips?

 

I'm sure they because of loopholes but...you are enabling their dirty practice by letting them hit you with that charge. If we stopped allowing that and tipped based on service, anyone not receiving tips would not get a reasonable wage thus they would leave the cruise ship. NCL would be forced to raise wages to keep workers.

 

I'm not going to let NCL change the definition of gratuity. They need to change their nasty tactics. Kevin Sheehan (CEO of NCL) makes 1.55 million a year as of 2013 with a 5% increase each year. The company can afford to do business right with their employees. But consumers enabling them is why they continue to do it.

 

Just saying.. I respect your thoughts on it though.

 

They are based in Nassau, Bahamas ... to skirt US laws. But that was cute that you pointed US law! Nothing on this cruise ships follow US law.

[Fokis]

They are based in Nassau, Bahamas ... to skirt US laws. But that was cute that you pointed US law! Nothing on this cruise ships follow US law.

 

Ah, loopholes.

 

I don't know about nothing though. Alcohol age limit is 21 on the ship. Bahamas is 18. They should be consistent and make it 18 ;-)

Edited July 25, 2014 by Fokis

[Love my butler]

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.

 

Give up. This is the only guy who refuses to accept the discretionary service charge is the tip or gratuity. Just about everyone else in the world knows it is the tip.

[sjbdtz]

Give up. This is the only guy who refuses to accept the discretionary service charge is the tip or gratuity. Just about everyone else in the world knows it is the tip.

 

He's not the only guy. There are at least 4 or 5 of us on this thread alone, and only 3 of you arguing the other side.

 

The DSC is NOT a tip. The DSC however eliminates the need to tip.

 

How is that? The DSC is a core component of the base income of the crew. Tipping is a bonus they may get from time-to-time, from a very satisfied customer.

 

 

See how those things are different?

 

 

 

DSC = compensation for "doing their job"

tip = surplus compensation for doing their job extra-well.

 

 

 

Otherwise, NCL runs a no-tipping-required scheme, since they pay their crew an adequate compensation to begin with, by means of the DSC which is collected separately from the cruise fare.

 

 

This really isn't rocket science, or billion-dollar management consulting.

 

 

.

Edited July 25, 2014 by sjbdtz

[Love my butler]

He's not the only guy. There are at least 4 or 5 of us on this thread alone, and only 3 of you arguing the other side.

 

The DSC is NOT a tip. The DSC however eliminates the need to tip.

 

How is that? The DSC is a core component of the base income of the crew. Tipping is a bonus they may get from time-to-time, from a very satisfied customer.

 

 

See how those things are different?

 

 

 

DSC = compensation for "doing their job"

tip = surplus compensation for doing their job extra-well.

 

 

 

Otherwise, NCL runs a no-tipping-required scheme, since they pay their crew an adequate compensation to begin with, by means of the DSC which is collected separately from the cruise fare.

 

 

This really isn't rocket science, or billion-dollar management consulting.

 

 

.

 

Oh yeah, him too.

[sparks1093]

We can argue all we want about semantics but the fact remains that the service charge is how the traditionally tipped and tipped out staff earn their living, whether any of us like that or not.

[cruzsnooze]

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....

He let NCL take of their employees. Who cares what other people do. I always leave my daily auto tip intact and never add to it since NCL already figured out what's expected. NCL took all the guess work out of this issue and I like it this way. Edited July 25, 2014 by cruzsnooze

[jackson bernard]

We can argue all we want about semantics but the fact remains that the service charge is how the traditionally tipped and tipped out staff earn their living, whether any of us like that or not.

 

And who else would anyone expect to fund the "fleetwide crew welfare fund"?

 

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[sparks1093]

And who else would anyone expect to fund the "fleetwide crew welfare fund"?

 

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Still benefits the deserving crew, so I'm good with it.

[jackson bernard]

Still benefits the deserving crew, so I'm good with it.

 

Yeah, right. Ill bet the employees would rather spend their tips the way they want, not let someone in Miami decide whats best for the crew fleetwide.

 

For me, I will be adjusting the dsc to zero, and tipping as I go along.

 

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[vinnytman]

All this talk about the DSC got me thinking...

 

I worked at an ad agency about 7 years ago. Their business model was that they pay ALL of their employees 50% of what other similar companies in town were paying, but every quarter there's bonuses -- that COULD equal the other 50% or more of their salaries based on how well the company did. Everyone killed themselves working 18 hour days.

 

They would state it could be as high as 150% of people's salaries but I never saw it that high.

 

This wasn't sales positions either. It was everyone from designers, developers, project managers, execs, to the CEO.

 

Suffice it to say, not only did people barely get by (they were always waiting for their next bonus), but people's bonuses were at their managers discretion, so a lot of people got messed over.

 

I think the DSC is similar -- except the people working on the ship are getting paid much less, but they don't have day to day expenses either.

 

I'm actually in the crowd that would be more then willing to pay higher costs of cruising then to see the workers get messed over for a descent wage. Because when management gas a say in how much is dispersed between workers, it's not just how hard some worked its politics too.

 

 

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[jackson bernard]

All this talk about the DSC got me thinking...

 

I worked at an ad agency about 7 years ago. Their business model was that they pay ALL of their employees 50% of what other similar companies in town were paying, but every quarter there's bonuses -- that COULD equal the other 50% or more of their salaries based on how well the company did. Everyone killed themselves working 18 hour days.

 

They would state it could be as high as 150% of people's salaries but I never saw it that high.

 

This wasn't sales positions either. It was everyone from designers, developers, project managers, execs, to the CEO.

 

Suffice it to say, not only did people barely get by (they were always waiting for their next bonus), but people's bonuses were at their managers discretion, so a lot of people got messed over.

 

I think the DSC is similar -- except the people working on the ship are getting paid much less, but they don't have day to day expenses either.

 

I'm actually in the crowd that would be more then willing to pay higher costs of cruising then to see the workers get messed over for a descent wage. Because when management gas a say in how much is dispersed between workers, it's not just how hard some worked its politics too.

 

 

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Well said. Just what is this welfare fund? Where does your dsc go?

 

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[SeaShark]

Well said. Just what is this welfare fund? Where does your dsc go?

 

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That is an odd question to ask considering that NCL explains where it "goes" in the FAQ section of their website...

 

Thats one mystery that doesn't need solving Scooby. :rolleyes: