DaCruiseBug

Daily Service Charges increased by 25% and at the same time...cabin cleaning service is cut by 50%. Why is anyone surprised? NCL is the leader of squeezing every possible penny out of customers and reducing the services and items offered at the same time.

Next up... Super Premium Plus Beverage Package that includes all the things the Premium Plus used to include for only an extra $49 per person per day on top of what the Premium Plus package costs.

Just think of how many people don’t bother standing in line to get it corrected. All that extra $$$ charged by NCL incorrectly…how convenient.

1. How do you know that someone who says they're removing the DSC in order to tip cash doesn't actually do that? Do you follow people around 24/7 while on the ship? Seems to me like you're making a lot of assumptions. 2. Way to try and guilt other cruisers into doing what you do. If the DSC isn't mandatory and can be removed then why should you have to go and tell each crew member that you're not paying DSC? I thought it's your choice to do as you please and cruise how you please? Oh wait...that doesn't apply when someone does differently does it?

It literally states that on the NCL website.

Where has that information been provided? Let's see it...

NCL could be transparent and tell customers exactly how the DSC are spent. Instead they choose to hide behind a cloak of secrecy. Sometimes what you don't say is louder than what you do say.

1. NCL doesn't state ANYWHERE that the DSC are all going to a specific program. A very VAGUE statement about what they "support" means absolutely nothing. 2. Why would it be illegal for NCL to use the DSC to pay for other crew expenses such as pensions? Where does it say that it's illegal for NCL to do that? There's a difference between legal/illegal and ethical/unethical.

What evidence are you referring to? Show us where NCL specifically states where the DSC go. Not a vague statement, not "in part", show us the breakdown of where the $20 per day is going and I guarantee you that a little transparency would actually be enough for most people.

You're absolutely right. On their filings NCL also includes crew pensions under operational expenses so I wonder if the DSC also goes to fund the Captains pension because we know a lowly room steward isn't getting a pension from NCL.

1. If I go to a restaurant and leave a 20% tip I know for certain that the server gets that tip and usually they give a cut to the other workers. The restaurant doesn't get to keep it. It's also not used to pay the staff salaries and pizza parties. 2. Resort fees are additional revenue for each of those hotels. They also don't market them as "crew incentives". Everyone also knows that resort fees are just another way for the hotel to charge more. Try again...

So you think an extremely VAGUE statement answers all our questions? It's vague on purpose, so that NCL can ultimately do what they want anyways. "support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.” Does this mean 100% of the DSC goes to salary and incentive programs? No. Does it mean that the crew is penalized if nobody pays the DSC? No. does it mean that NCL doesn't use the DSC as a slush fund for other expenses? No.

That's a rather simplistic approach don't you think. Do the DSC go to pay the Captains salary? Chief Engineer? Is that what you're saying? You asked me how NCL could possibly pocket the DSC if they can't claim it as "general revenue" and I gave you a perfect example of how they can do it. The DSC is basically a slush fund used to pay for whatever expense NCL wants to use it for. They're anything but "crew tips".

It's rather simple. If they can use the DSC to pay for the salaries of the crew onboard then they can also use them to pay for the salaries of their ground personnel. Doesn't have to be "general revenue" if it accomplishes the same thing. You honestly didn't think that a multi-billion dollar corporation that skirts paying many US taxes by registering ships in other countries could find a way to figure this out?

How dare you object? Just shut up and pay the price! You're not allowed to have a negative opinion on a multi-bullion dollar corporation that raises daily service charges by 25% overnight. Go stay at a Motel 6 and see how many washy washy songs you hear! Pfffft...the audacity you people have to complain in a discussion forum baffles me! You shall pay as much as the NCL gods and cheerleaders want you to pay and you'll enjoy it! *The message above was all said as sarcasm btw"

Doesn't have to go in as "general revenue". There's plenty of (legal) accounting practices that would let NCL essentially add DSC to their bottom line.

The NCL Escape holds 4,266 guests at double occupancy and has 1,733 crew. The NCL escape also has 95 Haven cabins. So 190 guests pay Haven service charges. So if you have 4,076 non-Haven guests paying $20 per day in service charges times 365 days that's $7,300 per guest per year or $29,754,800 for all 4,076 guests for an entire year. Add in $1,733,750 from Haven guests and that comes out to $31,488,550 total for the year. If you divide $31,488,550 by 1,733 crew members (even tho officers and managers shouldn't count) that comes out to $18,169.97 per crew member per year in daily service charges. That's $1,514.16 per crew member per month just on daily service charges. Now ask yourself...do you really think that 100% of the DSC goes to crewmembers? How much do you think they actually make each month? If you think they earn less than $1,514.16 per month then money is being pocketed by NCL. If you think they earn on average about that amount...then your DSC is paying their entire salary. It's simple math people. For whatever reason there's always a few people that will defend NCL until their last breath but math doesn't lie.

Celebrity does this if you select one of their all-inclusive fares. Obviously they're higher than the barebones fares but include a drink package, wi-fi, and daily service charges. They also don't charge you a service charge on the drink package.

You don't think that raising daily service charges by almost 50% since 2017 is worth mentioning? How much has inflation gone up since then? My guess is not even 1/2 of that. You may not think it's worth discussing it, but since this is a discussion forum and we're not in North Korea we'll keep talking about what we want to talk about. If you don't like it feel free to skip over the thread. Nobody is forcing you to read it.

Unknown? I thought the reasons are obvious. No?

But cruise fares have gone up by well over the cost of inflation. I get it that no matter what anyone says you're just going to keep defending NCL but most people can see right thru your argument.

Because if you're going to market or deceive a customer into thinking a daily service charge is a tip and port taxes/fees are mandatory expenses that are paid to local ports then you should have to prove it. the same reason if you miss one of those ports you should get a refund. The airlines do it. Why can't cruise lines? Are they not exempt from enough US regulations as it is? They already skirt paying many taxes and hiring US employees by registering their ships in other countries. Why give them even more?

Voluntarily? Yes and No. Did anyone force them to sign on the dotted line? Not physically no... But realistically a vast majority of the workers on cruise ships come from 3rd world countries and do the job they do because of need and desperation. Their economic conditions at home are probably worse than anything we see in America. So signing that contract lifts them up from hunger and despair to actually being able to eat and feed their families. So again...were they physically forced to do it? No. But it sure wasn't what we would consider voluntary. Offer those same working conditions and pay/benefits to any American, Canadian, British etc...and you wouldn't have very many takers.

Someone posts this every time this happens. So when can we actually add it all up? If you have a $40-50 increase every couple of months do you get to stack it? Great job at being the perfect NCL customer.

People that say a salary is an incentive program have absolutely no clue what they're talking about. Imagine working at a restaurant as a server that gets paid $10 per hour. A 20% gratuity is automatically added to each check but that gratuity doesn't go to workers as "tips". They go to pay for their $10 per hour salary, their vacation days, and pizza parties. All sounds normal right? If anything, this debate has shown a need for transparency by the cruise lines. Customers should know WHERE the services charges go. What port taxes and fees are being paid and how much for each.