dmwnc1959

On 3/22/2024 at 5:56 PM, sfpd3000 said:

It's staggered to prevent everyone from showing up at the same time and overwhelming the folks trying to check you in.

If you can elaborate on this a bit. I’m booked on a similar tour through NCL that has the staggered times. Are the Hop-on Hop-off tickets for the tour provided by the issuing company and then distributed to booked passengers on the ship, or are we taken to a centralized office location somewhere in town? 

3 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

NCL Sun transiting westbound on Saturday 

it’s hard to resist a good bridgecam.

 
I totally forgot to check the bridge cam until it had already transited! 😫

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

But they obviously don't allow anyone on their bow....

I was wondering the same, and thought maybe it was because the prop blades and anchor aren’t railed-off that might present a safety issue with passengers. 

8 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I read it and found nothing to convince me to change my mind.

Premeditated = Shamefull.

I see no reason to continue this conversation.  

Shameful. 🤣 

I’ll remember that the next time a tipping thread shows up and we all have a ‘conversation’ for four pages of OPINIONS and PERSONAL VIEWPOINTS.
 

Which apparently is shameful to have. 🤣

😎

5 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Premeditated = Shameful.

Didn’t even read it did you? 🤣🤣🤣 It’s like listening to respond vs listening to understand. 🤣🤣🤣

Just now, RocketMan275 said:

If someone wants to know how to reduce/eliminate the service charge prior to even boarding the ship, prior to even knowing what service they will receive, that is indeed premeditated and shamefull.  

Amazing the lengths you go to in order to justify something as shameful as stiffing the crew.  

This makes me laugh. 🤣🤣🤣 I’m sure you could have squeezed the word ‘shameful’ in there a few more times if you tried really hard. 🤣

Inquiring isn’t intent. But in case you missed the second half of his inquiry:

“Does NCL allow you to tell customer service desk the amount you want to pay or do you have to totally eliminate all the charges?”

Can I reduce it first, or do I have to totally remove it all (and then - insert second option for how to pay the desired amount I want to pay). 
 

So shameful. 🤣🤣🤣

Just now, Distinctive-Destinations said:

My comment, to which you have now replied twice to, was in regards to you complaining about your low pay.

 

And before you respond (yet again), I’m all in favor of paying members of the military more. 

I wasn’t complaining about it, I was stating a fact. And, like I said, I managed to survive off of that, at the time quite comfortably when living aboard ship and having my food supplied. You know, sort of like the cruise crew have their room and board provided for free.  

And I too am all in favor of paying the military more. Just like I’m all in favor of paying the cruise staff more for their base salaries.
 

Blame the cruise line. Pretty much everyone here has said they would pay more for their cruise if the cost of the onboard service charge was included in our base fare. 

23 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It should be obvious that OP hasn't boarded the ship, can't possibly have experienced any issues that would justify reducing/eliminating the service charge.  Yet OP wants to know how/when OP can reduce/eliminate the service charge.  And, now, you're playing word games in an attempt to justify OP's shameful actions.

You are quite obviously responding without even reading. Here, let me detail it a bit for you: 

Let’s say someone is not sure why they are paying $20 a day for the OSC. Maybe, for reasons you have no right to know, they feel like that’s a bit much and it should be $15 or $10. They are fine with that amount. Again, it’s none of your business. Maybe they also tip the steward personally. You know, they can tip whom they choose. Maybe they want to tip as they go.
 

And they don’t have to have any reasons, excuses, justifications, or problems to justify why they want to reduce or remove the service charges. Period. 
 

Now, maybe they are unsure what to do and want to ask advice ahead of time before they get to the ship - you know, because they have never cruised with NCL - when is a good time to ask the customer service desk. Before debarking, OP asked? 
 

When you’re wrong, you’re really wrong. Just because all of this is done premeditated doesn’t justify you saying it’s shameful. You keep throwing the word shame in there like it’s something you’re proud of. 
 

😎

41 minutes ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Unless you were drafted, this was all your choice.

Thank you for your patriotism. 🦅 🇺🇸

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Anyone, such as OP,  who decides to remove the service charge prior to even boarding the ship, should have the courage to face the crew and justify their shameful decision.  

 

I cannot understand why anyone would attemp to defend that decision.

Quit putting words into peoples mouths. OP didn’t say that. You did.

Let me refresh your memory…

PER THE OP:

“When is the time to get the auto charges reduced or eliminated? The day before debarking?”

I’m sure you’ve cruised enough to know that you don’t debark a ship before you even board it. 🙄

38 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Service fees are most definitely part of the cost of the cruise.  You're only playing with words to justify stiffing the crew.

Wrong again. It’s not part of the ‘cost of the cruise’, it’s part of the total sum when combining the total cost of the parts with the additions to the cruise. No where in this summary does it include Onboard Service Charge. You know why? Because I have to add it in there. 
 

1 minute ago, Distinctive-Destinations said:

Unless you were drafted, this was all your choice.

Excellent point, just like it’s the choice of the crew to join the ship. I’m sure they were not drafted as well.
 

Circumstances aside, no one is making them join, just like no one made me volunteer. However, no one padded my salary with extra tips for my hard work, service, and dedication to my country. My paycheck for the entirety of the first five years was a total sum of $31,050. With free room and board I managed to live off of that. 

I don’t know how much the crew makes, and I don’t care. 

11 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Some of us understood your point. Like I said above, I don't necessarily like your point, but I do agree with what you're saying.

Heck, I don’t like my point either. 
 

But I will defend those who make that choice - for reasons we have no idea, have no right to speculate, and have absolutely no right to berate or belittle - to make that choice. Those that do engage in those practices are the ones that should be ashamed of themselves.

11 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

It is never a good time to try and stuff the hard working crew who work 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day. Pay your daily service charge and tip more. That’s what most people do. 

7 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

To be fair, the 7-days a week, 10-12 hours/day comment falls on deaf ears to me. Naval vessels underway or deployed work similar (and longer) hours without tips. If alcohol is found on-board, it's usually straight to the Captain's mast.

 

The USN is partly why shipping lanes are free and why it's safe(r) for cruise ships to sail.

Well, it certainly is falling on the deaf ears of NCL.
 

As someone who proudly served in the US Navy on various surface ships and submarines, who defended the shipping lanes (and as a lot of you like to say defended your freedom), and as a veteran who knows what it’s like to work seven days a week with 18-hour working days and got paid a meager salary, absolutely no one here is going to tell me what I should do. I have earned that right. 

8 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

So,  you're too ashamed of removing the service charge to explain to those affected what/why you've done so?

Shame has absolutely nothing to do with it. And you have absolutely no idea the reason why someone may want to remove the service charges. NONE. 
 

But the fact that you brought it up in such a manner is shameful in itself.

AS I HAVE REPEATEDLY SAID MYSELF…

(pay close attention to this next paragraph) 

I personally have zero intention of removing the Onboard Service Charge. ZERO. As a matter of fact, it will be prepaid by the end of this month. Fact.  I hope that’s clear enough for you.
 

That being said, I will defend the right of someone who chooses to remove the onboard service charge if they choose to do so. It’s their choice, not yours or mine. And no should be shamed into a choice based on our principles.
 

😎 

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Do whatever you want.  It doesn't affect me one iota (unless it raises my total out of pocket when I sail).  I know how much I'll spend in total  before I sail because service charges, taxes and fees are part of the cost.  Just add them in and decide whether you want to take the cruise or not.

 

IF it exceeds your budget when you total it all up, keep shopping for another cruise.

 

But, this whole "I'm not paying crew because I don't want to" excuse is tired and pretty worthless.  They forget cruising is part of the service industry.  Restaurants, Hotels, Resorts, etc....one way or the other it's baked in, no matter how the pie is sliced up.  IF you want to have it removed, go to Customer Service and tell them.  When they ask why, tell them that, too.  When your cabin steward cleans your room, tell him/her why.  When the bartender serves you a drink, tell them why.

 

If you're going to do it, spread your point of view to the people who are affected instead of skulking around here and trying to gather mindshare.

Service fees are not “part of the cost”. It’s an additional cost. If the Onboard Service Charge was part of the cost it would be added into the cost of the actual cruise along with the port charges and taxes. The OSC is no more part of the cost than if I buy a water package or a dining package or a shore excursion. Those all have to be added by the passenger (when pre-paid) to the cost of the actual cruise costs when you’re paying off the balance. 
 

38 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Excellent comment.  

IMHO, anyone who removes/reduces the Service Fee should be honest and inform the service workers that you believe they are paid enough without your contributions to the fee and that you've removed/reduced your contributions.  

If anyone makes that decision to remove the extra onboard salary compensation charges they really owe an explanation to no one. It’s that person’s choice. And the customer service desk shouldn’t interrogate a passenger into why they’ve come to that decision.
 

And if the drink package includes the 18% gratuity for the bar staff, and the specialty dining packages include the 18% gratuity for those staff, and I personally tip the cabin steward and the MDR staff, then I’m good with that. I don’t have to explain to a single soul why I’m not tipping anyone and everyone for just doing their job. 

4 hours ago, European_CruiseGirl said:

As you have previously cruised on other lines and not on NCL there is one thing you should know about the NCL shore excursion reservation process/system. Once you book a shore excursion all the other shore excursions for that port disappear from your view if they are overlapping with your booked tour with even 5 minutes. So where on RCCL you can book a shore excursion and then constantly check which new shore excursions come available on NCL you simply cannot see anything else than your chosen shore excursion for that port anymore. So there might become new interesting shore excursions available after you book yours and you have no clue about them. It’s a shame the system works like this but it is what it is. 
 

Also it’s good to understand that NCL never has discounts on their shorex (or wifi or whatever pre-cruise things you can purchase). If you want to book something just book it, they don’t use dynamic pricing or discount these items like RCCL does. 

This is an incredibly important detail I don’t think anyone has ever mentioned. 😳 I usually only pick one per port since I also want some free time to roam even I places I’ve already been. I’ll definitely have to pay more attention when booking excursions in those ports that are new to me.  👍

6 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Breaking news: you do pay the crews wages. 
 

Just like you pay for fuel for the ship, the food you eat, etc., etc.  

 

All the expenses of operating the cruise line is paid from revenue from the passengers.

But isn’t all of that pretty much already baked into the singular price of the cruise? But not so for the extra onboard service charge that’s paid as an extra supplemental crew income? 
 

🤔

1 hour ago, TN Roz said:

We have our first NCL cruise booked to Alaska May 2025. I was looking at my reservation and there are only 26 shore excursions available. Does this mean all but 26 are sold out or is it too early for all of the excursions to be showing?

I’m in a similar boat with a 7-night SB from Whitter on April 28, 2025, and so far 24 have slowly populated into availability.
 

My cruise just before that from April 3 - April 28 is 25-nights and now has 43 available (up from 32 yesterday). Quite a few AK shore excursions have already shown up and I expect a lot more in the coming months. 

43 minutes ago, cassie55 said:

Not true about European cruises.  We've just prepaid £360 service charges for a cruise next month.   And (despite being European) we will also tip extra to the steward, concierge and butler.  

It is nice that you do that. And it’s obviously a personal choice. Like having a concierge and a butler is a personal choice.
 

But it’s all about personal choice. Unless tipping and the Onboard Service Charge become mandatory. 😉
 

😎

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

The passage dmwnc1959 outlined has many expansive sections as I have found out by watching some YouTube videos this past week.  

 

Norris

I believe that videos and pictures will often betray the size of something unless you are physically there. Standing on top of an 11 deck high, 930’, 82,000 ton cruise ship, positioned at the rails, sailing with land on either side up the approach to Skagway or Juneau is much better in person.
 

It’s sort of like that through the Canadian Inside Passage. You have to see it in person to truly appreciate it.
 

And it’s a lot like my Alaska pictures from the Inside Passage - it’s visually more impressive actually being there than looking at an image.

😁
 

5 hours ago, wolft927 said:

If you cant afford the service charges do not go on a cruise!

3 hours ago, Menocchio said:

It's not a tip, it's a part of their basic compensation…

I can afford the tips. And I can afford to cruise. It’s absolutely nobody’s business how I spend my money.
 

My money. 

However, we should be able to choose not to supplement the entire crew’s wages based on some flimsy ‘onboard service charge’ that NCL are going to distribute to practically everybody.
 

It’s not my job to pay their wages. That’s on NCL. 

1 hour ago, Menocchio said:

They obviously aren't entirely successful because some people still want to treat the service charge as a tip, in that it's optional. 

I think most of you probably already know my feelings on this subject 😉 based on the last lengthy ‘exciting conversation’ we had about this. In case anyone forgot:

In my view the OSC are my tips. And I will not be tipping extra. 

And If people are going to drive home the fact that the onboard service charge is nothing more than us supplementing their income, then I am all for removing it, and just start tipping the people we want to. 

1 hour ago, Capitan Obvious said:

FWIW, NCL says: "Unlike most other ships in the cruise industry, there is no required or recommended tipping on our ships for service that is generally rendered to all Guests. While you should not feel obligated to offer a gratuity, all of our staff are encouraged to “go the extra mile,” so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities for exceptional or outstanding service if you care to offer them." You want them to explain that tips are not expected, but they are already saying that there is no required or recommended tipping. Not sure how much more clear they could make it.

1 hour ago, Menocchio said:

They obviously aren't entirely successful because some people still want to treat the service charge as a tip, in that it's optional. 

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

What difference does it make if I choose to treat it as a service charge or if I choose to treat it as a tip?

BINGO! 🎉 🎉 🎉

WE HAVE A WINNER!!! 
 

😎

36 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

OP, you appear to be talking about a cruise a year from now, April 2025.

 

Is that correct?

 

It is common across the cruise line website world that general or specific excursion  information for any port on any cruise line may disappear or be limited when contracts for the tour operators expired and new contracts between a cruise line and port tour operators are being negotiated and signed.

 

Excursion information will reappear when the information is available. 

Not my cruise a year from now. Any and all cruises going to Colon. There are no shore excursions. Check it yourself - don’t log in, go to Shore Excursions, and select Colon. There’s nothing. But they were all there, maybe 20 of them. And I know that if I am logged into my reservation only those available short excursions will populate. I’ve been viewing those and booking them for several weeks now. What I don’t understand is why they would have showed them when they weren’t going to be offered to anyone.

As others have said it’s probably some kind of glitch, or ‘contract renewals’ and they just wiped the entire slate clean of anything and everything, or maybe it’s because it’s the end of the current Panama Canal season. 

But I’ll keep an eye on it for the next year. There’s not much choice, and I’ve got time on my hands. However, in this case it would be much safer to take a ship-sponsored shore excursion since we don’t even get in until 10am and the particular short excursion I was looking at isn’t even offered by Viator. 
 

An example of seeing a shore excursion that’s before and after logging in, note the price difference.