seemoreroyals

I saw it again the other day while at a casino. There was a family , not on the casino floor, but on their way to dinner. I guess times are changing.

I did see several families on our Prima cruise this past December all dressed in matching pajamas parading around the ship. I think that is a new thing people are starting to do on cruises. Got to admit they looked comfortable.

How about a new rule. No religion, no politics, and no more discussions on tipping.

@tmal2 see what you started? Are you still around to reap the benefits? Since you are the OP I am curious what your plans are going to be for tipping the cabin steward and others.

See post #100 for further clarification.

Everybody tips. The cabin steward, free diner staff etal get their tips from the DSC. It is up to NCL to distribute accordingly. The bar staff and the specialty dinner staff get their tips from the 20% that is added on . It adds up to about $700 in tips for a cabin for two on a seven day cruise. Seems like more than enough to me. Just in the last few years the DSC has been raised from $12 to $20 per person per cabin. The only way to avoid tips is to go to guest services and have them removed.

Probably more frugal and thrifty than you but was not meant as insult. Sorry you took it that way. To each his or her own. It is a personal choice how you want to spend your money. The DSC when transformed from giving individual envelopes on the last day to cabin stewards, waiters and others years ago was a genius move on NCL's part. Now they are collecting on average about $700 in tips up front for a cabin for two on a seven day cruise. That assuming that cabin gets the drink package and the SDP. Nothing else is required or expected in tipping. I have never went down to customer service and had the DSC (cabin steward et al tips) removed and probably never will. But it takes something above and beyond to get me to tip extra which I do occasionally. Let's leave it at that.

Good for you. In the words of the philosopher Sheryl Crow "If it makes you happy it can't be that bad." For a 7 day cruise for two people you are already paying close to $700 in tips assuming you have drink and specialty dinner package so another $20 not going to break you. To me that $20 you chose to throw away up front would be best left in pocket to be divvied out to someone else along the way that provides something exceptional in regards to service during your cruise. Otherwise keep the $20 and buy yourself a trinklet at one of the ports you visit.

You could have accomplished the same thing without the $20. We do the same thing without forking over the $20 and still maintain friendly interactions with cabin stewards when we see them. If we need ice or coffee or extra towels for the room we call his extension and they are there waiting for us when we get back to the room. All of these services are part of what you are tipping for in the basic DSC. I do not see any logical reason to tip extra. None of it is over and above what you would expect in the normal course of your cruise.

We always get great service on a cruise and we seldom if ever tip over and above the tips we pay comprised of the dsc , 20% drink tips and 20% sdp tips. But we are nice and respectful to the crew and never make unreasonable demands. dsc - aka $20 per person per day tips

They are paid as part of the DSC. Unless they really go out of their way and do something memorable they get zero extra from me. Unlike 20 or 30 years ago when they were like ninjas and seemed to clean your cabin every time you were away more than 10 minutes, now you get one cabin cleaning per day. If you want ice buckets filled or coffee maker and coffee you have to ask for it. You pretty much have to ask for everything. Level of service from cabin stewards not what it used to be. It is now not any better than an average hotel room on land. Keep that in mind as you will undoubtedly get many suggestions to tip extra. It is not expected or required to tip more. Be nice to your cabin stewards and try not to be a PITA and I think they will appreciate that more than anything.

You did not hurt my feelings. I guess it should be considered a compliment to call me or anyone else on here a know it all? The subject of tipping has been rehashed here tirelessly on end. All you have to do is scroll back no more than 10 pages you will find endless discussion on tipping and people's differing opinion on what DSC is or is not etc. etc. etc.

Sometimes I wonder if they take the time to go to NCL's website and see for themselves. Or call someone that works for NCL. The problem with coming here is if you ask 10 different people what NCL's tipping policy is, you will get 10 different answers. Who knows who is right and who is wrong. The OP has cruised before and has a pretty good idea what a tip is. I do not need or did I ask for a lesson on keyboard etiquette from you. So you do you and I will do me.

Has this thread been closed yet? If not give me a minute. I need to go dig out my old football pads and helmet. I will be right back.

The vibe is a lot more than a lounger and a hot tub for a week. It is an oasis of peace and calm. We were recently on the Prima first part of December. Our sailing had 3700 on a ship designed the hold about 3000. I was told close to 1000 of the passengers were under 16. Not surprised as teens and kids were scrambling everywhere throughout the ship. The Observation Lounge was packed. The main pool area was packed. The outside infinity pool areas on deck 8 were packed. During the day I would say we averaged about 3-4 hours in the vibe beach club. It was really nice to have a place to escape the masses in an otherwise overcrowded sailing. There is a reason it has skyrocketed. People like the vibe and are willing to pay for it.

We booked our upcoming Dec cruise on Escape in first part of January. Was told by CAS that vibe would not be available to book until some time end of Summer. Next day while viewing our reservation on NCL website I noticed vibe passes were already for sale. Not wanting to take a chance I took care of booking the vibe then and there. Moral of the story is if you want to get vibe passes make sure you book as far ahead as possible. It was the same way when we booked our vibe passes on Prima last year.

It's worth every penny. Maybe you should do a poll. Preface it to say "must have purchased and used the vibe before". There are many detractors of the vibe that routinely trash the vibe that have never used it and a few that are upset that the price has gone up. I think you will find that the vast majority that have purchased the vibe are glad they did. That is why the demand is high and the price continues to go up.

Have we learned any thing new? Has anyone changed their opinion? I didn't think so. Onward towards page 11.

Anyone up for another round of beat the dead horse?

The question I am asking and that has not been answered yet is can cruisers in Europe sailing with two other passengers in the same cabin not be required to purchase the drink package? OP is saying that was the case on their cruise and I have no reason to doubt that. I have no idea why other parts of the world require all three in a cabin to purchase drink package but it is not required on European cruises or cruisers whatever the case might be. What ever it is I am sure NCL, the food and beverage department, and all of the decision makers whose opinions far outrank what you or I think are on top of it. To OP enjoy your cruise. Let your friends buy you a drink.

Maybe they do.

What about the couple where one drinks alcohol and the other one doesn't? Is NCL cheating that couple by making them both buy the drink package? It goes both ways. In the grander scheme of things NCL has it all baked into the numbers.

OP states that all even though the other two passengers in cabin purchased drink package that they were not required to purchase drink package. They purchased soda package. Others have reported that everyone in cabin has to purchase drink package on cruises in other parts of the world. I know that NCL prices cruises differently for Europeans than they do for other parts of the world. I am suggesting than there is at least a possibility that this sharing that everyone seems to be so upset about is already baked into the pricing. And that we should not be so quick to judge the OP. If NCL is being taken advantage of as badly by current policy for Europeans as some suggest then they need to change policy and require everyone in cabin purchase drink package.

Sounds like cruisers of NCL in Europe have a different set of rules than we have. Maybe we should not be so quick to judge what OP does in regards to their use of the drink package.

Assuming this being the case again I say go for it. By not requiring the 3rd passenger to purchase the drink package, NCL condones the third passenger to get free drinks from the other two cabin mates. If they didn't they would require 3rd passenger to purchase drink package. This is an issue that NCL has allowed for and until they change it again I say go for it.