MsMidge

45 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i hope cruisenurse 2 doesnt get confused. at the risk of sounding repetitious , nurse, ncl includes "daily gratuities onto every sailing, for every person in a cabin. they range (i think from 15-20) per day per person)

 

the only way these can be waived is to go to guest services and "DEMAND" they be taken off the bill the day before the cruise ends. of course, if you do this, you will (at least in theory) be depriving the crew of there share

 

ncl rationalizes these charges as being divided among their many staff people, so everybody gets a fair share (they are to frigging cheap to pay a fair and decent wage) so we all get soaked for these "gratuities). you can pay them upfront, or they will be added to your entire tab at the end of the cruise.

 

Tips, however, are a completely different animal. a tip is exactly that. the money goes to whoever you want it to go to.  if you get a drink, give the bartender a buck or two. if you get decent service from a waiter or waitress, regardless of the venue, leave a few bucks. (just like you would do if you  were on land in a restaurant) if youre in a haven, give the butler and concierge a larger tip if their service was exceptional. i always tip my cabin steward $20 at the beginning of the cruise $20 inthe middle and $20 at the end. 

 

just be aware that regardless of who and how much you tip, you'll still be charged  the daily gratuity  at the end of the cruise. so dont confuse the terms. 

Your assuming the DSC affects the crew in any way at all.  I have heard from crew that their pay does not change from week to week anymore.,  Years ago, it was always different depending on how many tips they got, but now not so much.  I believe this line, like the others are using the funds to subsidize their obligations.   Why else would they not be at all transparent or make it removable at all?  

16 hours ago, ShazM said:

The ship docked here in Sydney this morning. Our state health department said that passengers could get off if they had a negative RAT but crew had to stay onboard. Currently there are 118 positive cases, 4 passengers and 114 crew who are already isolated. The passengers who got off said it was no big deal. The problem is the media trying to whip up hysteria with the constant reporting. Some are even calling the ship "Covid riddled" which is so far from the truth.

I would trust the people that are actually there to describe what is going on.  Sounds like a lot of the crew are infected.  Wonder if they are the only people required to have testing.  Maybe everyone else is keeping quiet as they dont want to have to be quarantined etc.  Based on some reports here, the last thing I would do would be to report to medical if i felt sick.  The treatment of the positive folks sounds horrible.

Everything on NCL is mediocre, nothing really stands out.  Everything is fine on NCL, just don’t expect to be wow ed with anything.

4 hours ago, kimlovesfl said:

I really do wish the US would go the way of Australia, and include gratuities in the cost of the fare, but we don't, and aren't likely to do so any time soon. That being what it is, if you can afford to cruise, surely you can afford the relatively small amount per day for the automatic gratuities, and if you wish, pay the room steward, etc, a little extra on top of that. So many people share those tips, some you may never have contact with. The crew members work so so hard to make our vacations wonderful. They deserve that extra money. 

Your assuming the employees pay is affected by how many people pay the DSC.  Isn’t this the cruiseline that shares the DSC fleet wide, so your money could be going to pay the crew on other ships.  More likely its going to the company and their shareholders.  That’s why they aren’t transparent where it goes.

In what part of the world is it customary to give the tip to the owner to distribute as they see fit if they distribute it at all?  Nowhere.  

I heard their pay never changes from week to week, so the number of people who opt out of the DSC has no affect on their pay whatsoever.  Therefore, participating is like sending in a donation to the company so they can reimburse themselves for what they should be part of the fare to begin with.

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I went to Taco Bell this afternoon for lunch....there were at least five items on the menu that they didn't have the supplies for. Thankfully they had cheese, so I could have my quesadilla! Yes, yes, I know....Taco Bell is not real food, but I happen to enjoy every so often. 

At least they did not take your money and then tell you they didn’t have whatever you ordered refusing to give it back.

5 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

I think it does come down a lot on culture/where you are from. 

 

BUT you should follow the customs of the country you are visiting and not where you are from. 

They start following US labor laws, and we will start following US tipping customs.  Oh, its not customary to give your tip to the owner of a company to do with whatever they want.  The voluntary  tip goes directly to the server, housekeeper etc.

21 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

 

Damn, I'm a day late to a tipping thread 🥲

 

Exactly! For tips to be included in the fare, the price would have to be increased by more than the $101.50, because the cruise line would have to count that amount as revenue and pay tax. To your point, every line would have to agree to do it, as the outliers would have a hard time raising the price if others kept it low (with separate grats). Think of the airline industry. Spirit started charging for bags. When people searched for an airfare, they saw Sprit's much lower fare, and booked it. Only to find out later that they had to pay for a bag. Eventually, all the other airlines (sans Southwest) had to start charging for bags to stay competitive. You won't see an airline switch back to free bags, because they would have to raise the ticket price to make up for the lost revenue.

If they then owe more taxes good.  That would theoretically less taxes would have to be paid by others that dont have all kinds of attorneys and accountants to get them out of paying their fair share.

13 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Actually they put more money into the crews bank account…mainly due to tax reasons.  

It would be even more if it was cash in the pocket!  Somehow people are being hoodwinked into thinking its better to let the owner decide to do with the tips, rather than the people that are actually serving you.

Seems to me, years ago when people tipped directly, they figured some were being way over paid with tips and they could somehow start to control the tips and use it as they please to pay the rest of the crew.

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The auto grats are designed to reward all of the hard working crew who have made your cruise memorable. It's like, reward the waiter, but cheat the assistant waiter, bus boys, dish washers, cooks, cleaners. Because of the auto grats, all of those people depend on you to contribute to the auto grarts just to get up to their minimum contract salary levels. 

 

You are still welcome to give extra tips to those who have exhibited exceptional service. 

Seems to us the auto grants are actually designed to reimburse the cruise line for the wages they are obligated to pay its crew to provide the services sold to the consumer.  

We plan on doing this cruise next spring, if they are still around, and really going for just the islands, not the ship so much.  That being said, sounds like they better start paying excellent wages to get the crew to provide excellent service.

So it is ok to break the rules as long as you feel it is no big deal. What would you do if they removed you from the cruise or worse arrested you for gaping on a plane. What would you tell your boss if they wanted to fire you for breaking one of their "no big deal" rules?

 

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Oh please, people break rules all the time. Me vaping in the cabin, in the bathroom has absolutely no affect on you. Meanwhile, how many people are killed every day by people driving over the speed limit? Oh, I guess you feel that no big deal......

And yes, I vape at work behind the desk all day, every day. Been doing it for years. The vape pen looks like a usb stick, so nobody is the wiser.

Really you do it on planes against federal laws.

 

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Maybe in the US it is, but not everyone is from the US

now I feel bad for utilizing them :(

THANKS! lol

whatever we ask for we make sure to be very polite and stress that it isn't a rush.

 

Our daughter once spit her pacifier off the balcony and it landed in the crew pool area, it was embarrassing to ask for but our butler got it back for us. Those things are a precious commodity when you're in the middle of the ocean lol.

 

EDIT to answer OP

we also asked for the pitchers of water and lemonade to be kept filled (so nice having it available all the time.) he also took pictures for us, and with us(we wanted a picture with him because he was so good with our daughter and made our trip so special)

We never asked for anything and all she did was drop off a plate of crappy snacks every day from a cart she rolled down the hallway. Basically it was a waste for us anyway.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but from personal experience, if you vape in your stateroom, you do run the risk of setting off the "smoke" detector. :o

We use the Juul vape pen all over the ship when nobody is watching and never set off any alarm. We love them, much better than cigarettes, just pop into the nearest bathroom, and take a few hits. We even do it on planes, just in the bathroom and blow the vapor down the sink drain with the water running as it has a slight vacuum. It’s much more convenient than going to the smoking area.