sjbdtz

8 hours ago, romalley99 said:

 

Ok, just confirmed it's still Manny onboard, and Tony will be joining August 14th.

 

He copied Richard Janicki? Sadly, Richard passed away last month unexpectedly. Very sad.  

Oh no, I hadn't heard.  Thanks for letting me know 

26 minutes ago, romalley99 said:

 

Tony is onboard right now? I thought it was Manny (Emmanuouil)...? 

I’d written to Klaus, who replied copying Richard J., and Tony who wrote back welcoming us.  May have changed, but I think it’s TW. 

On 7/4/2022 at 10:44 PM, casofilia said:

@annmarz

 

Who were the officers please?   Thanks

Tony Winkler is the General Manager (Hotel Director)

There’s a gay group going too, who have done many TA’s together.  The other social media site has a more active group than here… we’re booked on this, but wavering because of some other plans…

13 hours ago, mianmike said:

New mega ships are being built every year.  The cruise industry is exploding.  Competition for experienced talented crew members is increasing.  Retention of quality employees should be paramount.  I would argue it would be a dumb management decision to essentially say to the crew: "Here are your targets.  If you meet said targets you will be rewarded via a monetary incentive package.*  UNLESS * Despite meeting and exceeding all your targets, if, through the whim of fickle cruisers,  DSC is reduced, you will not be rewarded for your hard work and meeting your incentive targets."   In other words, one high profile, low performing employee could cost you a lot of money and there's nothing you can do about it!  Very demoralizing.  

 

Doesn't seem like a company that treats its employees in such an callous manner will survive long in a competitive hiring market.  

I hear what you're saying...but if you figure a DSC of $13 pp/pd x occupancy of 2500 people x 18 ships x 360 days (allowing 5 for PR/turnaround / breakdowns, etc.) then you have an annual revenue potential of  $210,600,000   That's $210 million in revenue.

Which may / may not happen, if people decide to pay/not pay the DSC.  

I would posit that there is a need for 1500 crew per ship, and another 1500 next year for the new ship, etc.    There are FAR more unemployed people in the world, than there are vacancies aboard the ships.

It would be easy enough to have to top-up the high performers to keep them satisfied, than to risk losing $200 million of predictable revenue per year. 

11 hours ago, Wedgie23 said:

I apologize for the double post. I am not able to find a way that I can quote multiple people or different pages of the thread and reply to them in one post. 

I believe you're incorrect about this. When you add the specialty dining perk it adds a $31.60 fee (for 2 people) that is called 'Free at Sea offer gratuities'. Gratuities are tips. 

 

This is the same verbiage as the fee that gets added when adding in the drink package as a perk. When you get the drink package and the dining package perks they are listed under the same 'Free at sea offer gratuities' section of the bill. 

 

That wording makes it clear to me that fee is a tip for the waitstaff at the specialty dining restaurants. Whether it goes directly to the specific server or gets split up among all servers like people have mentioned the drink package gratuity does I'd have no idea. 

Two things:

1. To multi-quote, click the  + sign beside the word Quote.   You'll see the pending multi-quotes in the bottom right of the screen.

2. My apologies.  On this point you may be correct,  though it's also possible that the people SELLING the packages are getting those gratuities.    I was thinking of the Cover Charge era, before the dining package materialized. 

Stephen

On 6/18/2019 at 5:11 AM, Wedgie23 said:

Then the regular gratuity $210 per week for 2 people. I understand this doesn’t cover the room steward who I always tip separately.

IT DOES.

 

 Premium restaurants are tipped separately

NO THEY AREN'T.   YOU PAY A PREMIUM (COVER CHARGE) FOR THE FOOD, AMBIANCE, and HIGHER STAFF PER PASSENGER SERVICE LEVEL (not in tips - but helping the cruise line justify their room & board, etc.)

 

 Am I incorrect about who the tips go to? 

YES, BUT NOT FOR LONG.

On 6/18/2019 at 5:11 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

On 6/18/2019 at 5:11 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

I know you can remove the daily gratuity but I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ however I’m wondering if it would be better to just cary cash and tip every server appropriately and well.

NO.

 

On 6/18/2019 at 5:49 AM, KateQ22003 said:

Please note that the daily gratuity you mention is not a gratuity but a service charge. It doesn't go 100% to the staff; it supports their salaries and "incentive programs".

THIS IS TRUE, BUT TO THOSE NOT ON A BONUS/COMMISSION/Variable Compensation PLAN IT CAN BE MISLEADING.   Part of the DSC is apportioned according to the staff's responsibility and ranking/ratings from both guests & supervisors.  A portion subsidizes crew welfare (parties, events, etc.) and part of it funds incentives (commissions, SPIFFs, etc.)

On 6/18/2019 at 6:49 AM, Wedgie23 said:

Sorry I don't understand. I believed 'gratuity' and 'service charge' to be synonyms. The charge doesn't go directly to the staff working during your cruise? I am confused on exactly which ones and can't find clarity on the NCL website but I did believe it went directly to some members of the staff.

The DSC and the gratuities ensure that the people working on your cruise are compensated to a level at which they have agreed to perform their services.   Whether the charge is mandatory, a guideline, or an auto-gratuity is not the key...it's that either the crew are underpaid & leave, or the cruiseline over-charges & loses customers....or there's a happy medium where the crew are well-compensated, and the line operates profitably... and the way that mix is accomplished is through a variety of income levers.

On 6/18/2019 at 11:00 AM, Wedgie23 said:

... resort service fee, I'd assume it would have been paid for as part of the original booking like with all other resorts/higher end hotels I've stayed at.

MOST HIGHER END HOTELS CHARGE THEIR RESORT FEE AT TIME OF CHECKOUT. 

 

In your apple analogy, I expect to go to the store buy an apple for the price advertised pay the tax and leave. Not see the apples price, have a handling fee attached to it when I get to the register, taxed on a dozen apples instead of the amount I'm going to eat and then have a gratuity charge hit my card a week later. If that was to transpire I don't think anyone would be out of line to ask where it's all going. For cell phones, there are many added fees and taxes but you can pull it out and read each one, my company puts an explanation under each but all are ones you can easily google for an answer and an amount if you so choose. 

When you buy an apple, you pay for the whole apple, even if you take one bite & throw the rest away.   You pay for the privilege of consumption, not the actual consumption itself.  Same with the pricing / gratutities / service charges.   They entitle you to the services emanating from the charges, whether you consume them or not.   Just because the ship sails to Nassau, doesn't mean you must visit Nassau.  

On 6/18/2019 at 11:00 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

As for the added gratuities for the UDP I'm even more confused. I'd much rather have thought the barstaff was getting gigantic tips from me than half what I paid for tips going to the ? fund. If we assume 1/2 passengers have the UDP and 1/2 of those drink similarly to myself for a big ship with 4K you're looking at $70,000 every week customers are charged being told it's being given to staff when it isn't because they didn't drink enough for the staff to get it all. 

Yes, you're definitely confused.   The PDP gratuities are split between the bar staff (and bar wait-staff).   You might only see the same person once, and the "gigantic" tip they got from you might be averaged-out by the next person who didn't tip at all...and if the 3rd doesn't tip at all either then they're in the hole.  Having a steady, projectable income is worth a lot. 

On 6/18/2019 at 11:00 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

NCL has 18 ships I believe with an average capacity of 3K using the same assumptions as above that's approximately $945,000/week or $49.14 million per year in funds billed to the customers as gratuities for staff that are not being given to the staff.

Huh?  All of the DSC & the gratuities are spent on staffing-related items....either payroll, bonuses, incentives, or benefits.

On 6/18/2019 at 11:00 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

Do you feel it to be acceptable for any other business owner to force a sky high auto gratuity charge on patrons for it's staff, then pocket half of it for themselves if that is in fact what is happening?

 

Just to clarify in case anyone knows, can the UPD gratuity charge be modified at the end of the week like the DSC can?

NO it cannot be modified.  Yes, it is acceptable.  There's a cost to provisioning the services, whether you consume them, or not.  You are paying for the availability of services.   If NCL was "pocketing" it  (and that would show up in their Annual Report), then they're offsetting other costs - because you can surmise they will intend to make the same revenue amounts, one way or another.   Why they would choose to allocate some portion of the corporate revenue stream to a mechanism that can be reduced/removed at the whim of a customer would be the dumbest management decision I've ever seen.   So I extrapolate that and deduce that any DSC shortfall must affect the crew, not the company.

Stephen

On 6/18/2019 at 11:00 AM, Wedgie23 said:

 

 

On 6/8/2019 at 7:41 AM, JOHNHOWARTH2 said:

sjbdtz, I cannot find any reference to what I was actually asking and Newmixiconita, I am fully aware of the consequences of the behind the scenes workers, but my question is not about the ethics of the system, merely to ask anybody who has signed the form at guest services. (Unless the hundreds of people on this site have never opted out of the discretionary charge)

http://bfy.tw/O2vR

Some have. Most don't appear to.

The link explains how Google works.  🙂

4 minutes ago, JOHNHOWARTH2 said:

I have just booked on the Epic next month and booked through NCL UK. They asked me did I want to pre-pay the Daily Service Charge or sort it out on board. NCL however did say that the charge was discretionary and that you could go to guest services on the first day, complete a form and then there would be no charge on your account at the end. I believe that the idea is if you prefer to tip individuals yourself. This is not an attempt to not pay the hard working staff, but all I am trying to establish is if this practice actually works and if anybody has successfully had the discretionary DSC waived from their account. Any help would be appreciated

Yes, try Google Search for DSC.   This has been discussed 1,000,000 times, and all are indexed on Google.  

10 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

It was certainly 100% accurate.

No, it wasn't.

17 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

 

Yes you do.  You can choose to think you don't.  Then again the canuckian medical system, is sub par to that of the civilized world.

LOL.   Okay, sure.   I'm certain you think that's a justifiable comment, in some way.

23 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

 

Yes you do, you just pay them before you need or use them.  Some never even use what they have already paid for.

Right.  That's called living in a society.   I've paid for roads I've never driven on,  and for people to extinguish fires which had nothing to do with me.

I even continue to pay, to educate other people's children.

But we do not have MEDICAL expenses, as I said. 

Stephen

14 hours ago, Kingkonig said:

Man I wish my company paid my medical expenses when I was traveling for them though.

 

(not trying to refute any points, but honestly the medical benefit might be the best of all of them)

I'm Canadian.  We don't HAVE medical expenses.     😛

Getting food, lodging, etc.  Doesn't mean they don't still pay for those things at home.    I still pay my mortgage, even though my company reimburses my hotel expenses when I travel for them. 

.

20 minutes ago, njkate said:

Why do you assume she isn’t asking for a friend?

It's a joke. 

On 5/15/2019 at 6:30 PM, stevens397 said:

 The first trip we reserved the Owners Suite and this trip the Penthouse Suite.  We have given a lot of money to NCL.   

Glad things were resolved.  But as I re-read this thread, this stuck out at me, and is a continued irritant.  Since CC is indexed by Google, maybe this will help others in the future:

You did not give a lot of money to NCL.   You purchased a high-value item from NCL, for a going rate.    That in no way makes you a VIP, or a whale, or a loyal customer, or anybody else who might warrant a little wheel-bending.

Buying luxury items / services are larger transactions, certainly,  but they incur costs for the provider over & above the lower-priced items.   

Just because I have a Lexus now doesn't mean I'm a high roller in Lexus' mind...I'm just another average Lexus owner.   All of their customers are.

Stephen

1 hour ago, Minoushka said:

As of Jan this year apparently Del Rio changed the rules for Casino players 

I seriously doubt this to be factual. 

FDR is the CEO of NCLH the parent company of NCL, Regent & Oceania.  He's far more preoccupied with buying $1B ships, and orchestrating the Brand Differentiation to maintain multiple lines, and continually securing & evaluating financing options.

While Andy Stuart (President of NCL) is a far more likely 'top dog' to be involved in such minutiae, this type of decision MOST likely gets made by the VP of Revenue, or even by the Fleetwide Casino Revenue Director. 

Apologies if my response is a bit pointed, but this is a pet peeve of mine.  Not every tiny detailed change comes from the top, or necessarily anywhere NEAR the top.    Sometimes decisions are made, and the top is advised about it, after it's happened. 

That's what results from empowering employees and giving them direction.   NCL has over 33,000 employees, many of whom may be empowered to create & implement programs & policies. 

Stephen

.

I'm always amused that the people who get most incensed about the DSC, whether about its existence, or increases to it - are often the same people who say it should be included in the base price.

Then they turn around and complain when it's collected by the company and distributed according to the company's own protocols. 

Then they worry it might be KEPT by the company, and only partially paid-out to crew.

HOW,  I would love to know.... is that any different than a higher fare, that includes service????   The company collects the whole amount, and decides what to do with it.

Stephen

P.S.   One advantage with crew being ranked & rated by their supervisors & management is that it ensures a more consistent standard of work.   Otherwise one could work super-hard one week, get loads of tips (and making someone's cruise awesome) and step back a bit the next week to recover (making someone else's cruise sub-standard).    By using overall ratings, and apportioning a share of the DSC pool, service becomes more predictable. 

On 5/11/2019 at 6:46 PM, Birdie And Sue said:

 

 

I see that some crew members are not covered by the DSC and tipping is ENCOURAGED.  I do not see anything about EXPECTATIONS.

Those people are the Butler, Concierge,  Kid's Club,   Spa attendants, etc.     People who are not typically available to ALL guests, but only those either in a suite, with kids, or using the spa.    Those people are not part of the DSC pool.

.

Sometimes, if you're not paying attention....you might get more than you expected:   

TRANSLATION:    Watch for our children....they might be yours!

Stephen

In Scotland, there are hidden pooers you need to be aware of....

In some cases, even the clock ignores the signs...

Whew.... there I thought I was going to have to book another cruise in March 2020.... 

When you mentioned BTS and entertainment,  I thought.... rapping K-Pop boy band BTS would be onboard.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bts&oq=bts&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2j0l3.812j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 

21 hours ago, EdNottingham said:

Greetings,

 

Counting the days (well, maybe hours) until we head to Copenhagen on 22 May for our 14-day Getaway Norway/Iceland cruise!  So excited!

 

I've been researching tipping tour guides and finding generic info such as tipping in Iceland is not really expected.  Likewise (I think) Norway.  We are hoping to NOT have to "buy" a lot of different currency to use. Just curious the experience of others in terms of tipping tour guides in Norway, Iceland, and Scotland.  We do have tours scheduled in each port.

 

Thanks so much.

Ed Nottingham

In North America, we tend to tip because we know certain industries - particularly service industries - are on the very low-end of the pay-scale. 

The same is not true, in Iceland or Norway. 

Would you tip the car valet if you knew he made $50,000 / year as a base salary PLUS tips?   Probably not, unless he also detailed your car, or did something above & beyond parking & fetching the car. 

Same goes with employees in Iceland (tour guides, hairstylists, restaurant servers, etc.)    Societies like those have higher prices for everything, and they incorporate paying employees a livable wage, with benefits. 

So if you really feel the need to tip, go ahead.... but when they say it isn't necessary or expected....they mean it. 

Be prepared for the cost of things though.   We bought two hamburgers, two fries, and one chocolate shake to share at a fast-food outlet (I think it was called American Burgers....looked vaguely McDonalds-like)....total cost in USD?     $60 !!!   No tip required.

Stephen

4 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

Generally speaking I will comply with signs, but not always.  Sometimes I will be a jerk and ignore a sign.  I did not comply with this sign that I saw in a bathroom in Italy.

 

This version is obsessed with how your hat is worn...