A small tip for safely tipping extra on NCL ships

[david5272]

You guys read that wrong. 1.00$ is an EXTRA tip, for only one person, on top of the automatic 18%. Total makes it around 21% or 22%. Not sure what's the custom in the U.S., but here in Canada, that's pretty generous!

 

a one dollar tip...... LMAO

[edawn]

Considering so many of the crew are from the Philippines, a dollar probably means more to them than to US citizens.

 

 

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[Cruiser Bruiser]

On my last cruise, I had an unpleasant situation at a specialty restaurant. I had the SDP, with prepaid tips, but I decided to add an extra tip to the bill, having received great service. So I clearly wrote "1.00$" on the extra tip line. My account then showed a 10.00$ charge at that restaurant. I went to customer service to mention the mistake and all they could do was "leave a note for the specialty restaurant". It never got corrected. I don't like to waste time on these unpleasant things during a cruise, so I let it go, just making sure I never extra-tip that specific waitress again.

 

I'm not sure if this is a common scheme from the restaurant staff or if this is just an honest mistake, but I learned from that and I started writing my extra tips with words and letters, just to make sure I don't open up the opportunity for the same situation ever again. Now I clearly write "One dollar" on the extra tip line, with lines before and after, just like I would on a check.

 

So my tip for safely tipping extra is just this : Write everything in words, not in numbers. This will greatly reduce the opportunity for a hard-to-correct unpleasant mistake to show up on your account.

 

Thanks for your well-intentioned suggestion. It's always frustrating when minor things happen that prove to be very difficult to fix. I was charged for a bottle of wine that I never consumed on a HAL cruise last year, but that simple issue was never resolved and I'm still annoyed.

 

You already tipped 18 percent for your meal. I add a buck or two, as well, knowing that it is in addition to the amount already tipped. Tipping $10 for a meal that cost $25 on top of the 18% would equal a 58% tip, which seems a bit high to me. According to NCL, there was no need to tip any further:

 

Guests should not feel obliged to offer a gratuity for good service. However, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile", and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities entirely at the discretion of our guests who wish to acknowledge particular staff members for exceptional or outstanding service. In other words, there is genuinely no need to tip but you should feel free to do so if you have a desire to acknowledge particular individuals.

 

Given the above, any additional amount is a gesture of good will. And all those dollars add up over a week. Unfortunately the NCL boards are becoming increasingly hostile, and folks increasingly feel the need to write whatever they think without considering the appropriateness of doing so. Thanks again for the tip.

[ColeThornton]

It's a buck more than what a lot of people leave above the built in gratuity.

[mpk218]

Thanks for your well-intentioned suggestion. It's always frustrating when minor things happen that prove to be very difficult to fix. I was charged for a bottle of wine that I never consumed on a HAL cruise last year, but that simple issue was never resolved and I'm still annoyed.

 

You already tipped 18 percent for your meal. I add a buck or two, as well, knowing that it is in addition to the amount already tipped. Tipping $10 for a meal that cost $25 on top of the 18% would equal a 58% tip, which seems a bit high to me. According to NCL, there was no need to tip any further:

 

 

 

Given the above, any additional amount is a gesture of good will. And all those dollars add up over a week. Unfortunately the NCL boards are becoming increasingly hostile, and folks increasingly feel the need to write whatever they think without considering the appropriateness of doing so. Thanks again for the tip.

 

 

I agree, with one exception . These boards have been hostile for more years

than I can recall. The only thing that changes is the cast ;)

[david5272]

You already tipped 18 percent for your meal. I add a buck or two, as well, knowing that it is in addition to the amount already tipped. Tipping $10 for a meal that cost $25 on top of the 18% would equal a 58% tip, which seems a bit high to me. According to NCL, there was no need to tip any further:

 

 

 

Tipping $10 that we did for 4 nights to the same waitress was well worth the additional tipping ($40). She was awesome, the first night we had her..and continued. I will add in the fact, that she was a Filipina and my wife is a Filipina as well.

[mjkacmom]

It's a buck more than what a lot of people leave above the built in gratuity.

 

I think that some people agree that it's better not to tip extra than tip $1, and that the crew member probably made a mistake thinking the tip was $10.

[ColinIllinois]

I think that some people agree that it's better not to tip extra than tip $1, and that the crew member probably made a mistake thinking the tip was $10.

 

 

That's some weird logic. I'm pretty sure the crew will take all the money they can get, even if it's a mere dollar. As other people said those bucks add up over time and also the workers are used to tipping customs from other cultures.

[mom2tcdx2]

I understand the point of thinking the $1 makes it 22-23% however I wouldn't necessarily bother with that amount. I have given $1 as an extra tip on a drink, but that is something I rarely do.

 

I don't think I have ever been inclined to offer any additional tip for dining service on NCL. (Though we may have tipped $5 for Teppanyaki once). The 18% suggested is already high enough, and I don't get the same staff twice to really build up any sense of needing to tip higher. I will also given a couple bucks if we happen to order room service.

[watchdiva]

We leave our extra tips in cash.....DH carries singles (for drinks) and fives (for dinners).

 

 

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[sanger727]

I understand the op's point of view of rounding up the tip from 18% to 20%, in fact I generally do that when paying for drinks (so like drink would be $10, auto tip would be listed at $1.60, so I'd add .40 to make it a $2 tip). The difference to me is that with the current sdp/auto tip structure. I don't think you would have those amount literally on the receipt? I think that the sdp tip goes into paying the crew a higher salary as opposed to your server literally gets paid different amounts every day based on how many tables they serve and how much you order. Therefore, the only real 'tip' is the $1 you left; not $9 divided up from the sdp tip u paid plus $1, creating a tip of $10.

 

I'm in agreement with the statement that $1 is an insulting tip and worse than leaving nothing in that situation. I don't think any tip is required on top of the auto grat, but if the service was so wonderful that I wanted to tip additional I'd probably go with $5-$10.

 

No idea if it was a mistake or theft, have trouble seeing how 1.00 could be misinterpreted to 10. But agree they should have been able to produce the receipt and fix it on board.

[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

I'm thinking it's a completely honest mistake. They probably didn't think that someone would leave $1. Or that you meant to do ten dollars but there was a language barrier.

 

As a small. FYI. The dollar sign goes before the number. A percentage sign goes after the number.

 

 

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[All-ready2cruise]

Actually Im Canadian and we usually leave 20% as most Canadians ;-)

 

Agree!

 

Just as an aside, in some areas of Canada, leaving any additional tip is considered a bonus, however in my area, a very popular tourist area, a $1 tip is thought to be an insult just as it is in the US. As far as the OP goes, I'm positive it was in no way meant as an insult but as an additional tip. Sure, it wasn't much but many Canadians feel it's the thought that counts. In this case perhaps none would have been better but that's not the fault of the OP so much as it is a difference in culture.

 

I see this as an error on the part of the waitress who assumed the OP meant to leave $10 not $1.

[casofilia]

Being from New Zealand I hate tipping in any form so having paid 18% already am very unwilling to pay any more.

That said I accept that tipping is expected when ashore in North America and so "When in Rome ...". But do not expect 20% or even 18%. I would tip, at most, what we have built in to our stated costs (our GST which is 15%).

We are used to WYSIWYP; what you see is what you pay.

 

Mike

[mjkacmom]

That's some weird logic. I'm pretty sure the crew will take all the money they can get, even if it's a mere dollar. As other people said those bucks add up over time and also the workers are used to tipping customs from other cultures.

 

May be weird to you, but apparently many CC members feel as I do. Tipping a server $1 would be like tossing the bartender a quarter. Sure, technically it's something, but I don't think he'd be thrilled.

[destiny217]

When going over my cruise charges at home, I have noticed a few times that whoever does billing overlooked the additional tip.

 

And on our last trip my husband went to the spa and added a tip to the bill without noticing the tip was automatically added~~very clear on the bill. When I showed it to him, he said, "I think she did mention something like that. I must have been so relaxed, I was not paying total attention."

 

Lesson learned for him.

[DMH15]

I always leave extra tips in cash. That's super easy.

 

 

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[rochelle_s]

A lot of people posting in this thread seem to be caught up in whether or not the OP tipping an extra dollar was appropriate or not. Frankly that is not the point.

 

The point is the amount that was charged to their account was not the amount they had signed for. They went to guest services and brought it to their attention and they did not fix the error. That is WRONG.

 

Had the OP left a $10 tip and their account was charged $100 would everyone be more understanding of the issue?

 

I do think that in all likelihood it was an honest mistake and regardless if anyone thinks a $1 extra tip is appropriate or not, once an accounting error is brought to the attention of guest services it is their responsibility to fix the problem. They did not do this.

 

From personal experience there has been far too much of this happening on NCL lately and they need to correct this problem.

 

 

Rochelle

[electro]

I'm thinking it's a completely honest mistake. They probably didn't think that someone would leave $1. Or that you meant to do ten dollars but there was a language barrier.

 

As a small. FYI. The dollar sign goes before the number. A percentage sign goes after the number.

 

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In Quebec, (French) The $ goes after the number.

 

Lois

[Cruiser Who Knows Nothing]

In Quebec, (French) The $ goes after the number.

 

 

 

Lois

 

 

Granted, but we are dealing in USD.

 

 

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[Samstress]

Actually Im Canadian and we usually leave 20% as most Canadians ;-)

 

Another Canuck who tips 20-25%. We Canadians are so polite...most of us tip even if the service isn't good:)

[electro]

Granted, but we are dealing in USD.

 

 

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So??

The OP is from Quebec and she writes dollar amounts with the $ after the number.

Because the currency is USD doesn't make the way she writes it wrong.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

So??

The OP is from Quebec and she writes dollar amounts with the $ after the number.

Because the currency is USD doesn't make the way she writes it wrong.

 

Um...yes, it does. Not that it's the point of this thread at all, but if you're correctly writing an amount in USD, you put the $ before the amount.

[hawkeyetlse]

I see this as an error on the part of the waitress who assumed the OP meant to leave $10 not $1.

It's not necessarily the waitress. I don't know how they do things in every restaurant on every ship, but it could be one person who goes through all the tickets at the end of the night, enters the final amount, and files the tickets away wherever. But it's still someone on staff at the restaurant, so in cases where an error is made in the staff's favor, there is always the suspicion that it was deliberate. And normally I would agree with ColinIllinois and say that this is unlikely, it's too easy to get caught. But seeing the way that this was handled in the OP's case, it sounds like it's actually very easy not to get caught…

 

For the OP: It's not too late to bring this to NCL's attention. Fill out the form here to contact Guest Relations. I know you don't want to waste a whole lot of time on this, but it annoyed you enough to post this thread, and it won't take any more effort than that to submit your case. Include a link to this thread so they know it's not just between you and them, lots of people are watching.

[DirtyDawg]

So??

The OP is from Quebec and she writes dollar amounts with the $ after the number.

Because the currency is USD doesn't make the way she writes it wrong.

 

Well at least the poster is living up to his/her CC screen name.:D

Edited October 5, 2016 by DirtyDawg