dmwnc1959

Trust me, they could cancel every single port of call between California and the Panama Canal (or vice versa) and I would be happy. The stops you’ve mentioned are just ‘enjoy an empty ship’ day for me. I’d much rather be sitting on a sheltered deck chair somewhere reading a good book than spending 2 to 3 hours roundtrip on a tour bus. Puerto Vallarta and to a lesser degree Cabo San Lucas are really about the only ones that interest me. There are maps of the two different itineraries I’m considering back on Post #1 of this thread, let me know what you think?

This posted over on the Aussie and NZ Cruisers Forum by @arxcards currently on the ship.

Sort of similar appearance, and similar in its ending salutations, but it’s from ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’. 😉

Yup, time to leave this disaster and move on other controversies like jeans in the MDR on formal night. Thanks for all the fish! 🖖 (me, wondering if anyone will get this reference)

I’ve already mentioned that I would never remove the OSC/DSC. It’s carved in stone as part of my budget. And by paying the OSC/DSC I therefore apparently don’t ever have to think about the behind-the-scenes workers or worry or tip extra knowing I am doing right by them and that NCL is taking good care of them by making sure that all of my service charge contributions supplement their salary into a fair wage. Yay! That’s good. No need to ever tip extra! As for the 40% that’s a figure I came up with by combining the 20% already added gratuities to what CC members were saying they generously tipped extra on top of that for specialty dining (based on the total cost of the meal) for every meal. And the reason I’m grouping those two types of charges and fees together is that they all amount to tips and gratuities, regardless of what fancy terminology NCL applies. 🍺 Cheers

Kind of you to speak for the ‘vast majority’ and to make assumptions of my values. We all value and respect the behind the scenes workers (especially when we are on the ship), just as much as the passengers that value them and respect them and wants to bring candy bars and fruit cakes instead of cash. And it’s while we are on the ship when it matters, because for the other 11 months of the year these wonderful and amazing people (whom we have never met) really never enter our thoughts. And I can guarantee you that when people are actually cruising on the ship (‘valueing’ the behind the scenes workers), sitting at a bar ordering drinks having a good time lost in all of the excitement and revelry, and at the dining table making exquisite selections off of the upscale dining menu, they’re not even thinking about all of the faceless people behind the scenes washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms making sure and worrying that they are paid well. It is possible to value something, to value someone, without always having to put a price tag on it. And the reason I’m lumping drink packages and specialty dining packages in a single statement is because those two are most likely the biggest packages people buy, especially when they comment specifically on how much they tip extra for each drink and how much they tip extra for each meal at specialty restaurants. It’s those 20% already added gratuities turning into 40% that I bring up. People can and do drink and buy specialty dining packages at the same time on the same cruise. Nonetheless, thank you for understanding that if I do nothing extra, which in reality doing anything extra is totally unnecessary, that my experience should be just as good without the extra expense. And that’s the way it should be. 😎

From months of recent tipping threads DSC appears to be the most frequently used, even if OSC and DSC are not interchange terms. From what I’ve read the OSC is billed daily, so it may be why Daily Service Charge is the most used? And, with all due respect, what is of value to you and your family may not be of value to everyone else. Or to someone traveling solo. I think that is the point which continues to be missed. Everyone keeps bundling passengers as if we are all the same - with the same needs, the same wants, the same expectations, and the same everything. As I had mentioned in another post for my specific case I did do a detailed breakdown of the DSC/OSC, and what CC members suggested adding on top of that as additional tips to bar staff, restaurant staff, and my room steward. That’s when the $500 DSC/OSC turned into $1000 just for tips…for a single person, traveling solo, in an Inside Solo stateroom. And I too actually do a detailed breakdown of cruises, what the total costs offers and includes, and then decide from there based on what’s important to me. I too look at the all-in costs. And if NCL tells me: 1) “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”, and that guest should not feel obligated (guilted) into tipping extra, I’ll take them for their word. 2) And if there is a 20% gratuity already added for all beverage purchases, and a 20% gratuity already added to specialty restaurant dining… 3) …that 20% doesn’t need to turn into 40%. And that’s my right. I completely understand there are probably hundreds of behind the scenes workers in all of the bars and restaurants, cleaners, and non-contracted staff that work hard for us, especially on a long cruise. And that’s what the OSC/DSC is supposed to cover (?), along with ALL the already added 20% gratuities. If extra tipping makes you and your family happy that’s great. But I shouldn’t be criticized unfairly if I don’t want to, peer-pressure guilted to do so, or held accountable to make up their wages. 😎

I didn’t say that, you did. Quit putting words in people’s mouth. I’m merely countering your broad, sweeping claim with the FACT that a “few bucks” isn’t $500 or $1000. And not everyone stays in The Haven and showers their Butlers and Concierge with hundreds of dollars. A lot of people book inside cabins, budget, can still afford to cruise, all the while not seeing the need to tip everyone that’s already been tipped, or who smiles at them or remembers their name. You have absolutely zero idea why people remove the DSC, but it’s easier for people on here to throw out the claim that those people are just being ‘cheap’ or are wanting to ‘save a few bucks’. You have zero idea what people do after they have removed the DSC, and if they have decided to tip their restaurant servers individually, tip their room steward handsomely, or tip the people that they want to tip. Sure this may still go back into a tipping pool, but to falsely accuse passengers of being cheap simply to make yourself feel better is beyond laughable.

Sounds like you’ve been on Princess Cruises too, I’ve read that the burgers in the Salty Dog are virtual hockey pucks! We really need a Guy Fiero’s burger joint, but I’m not cruising Carnival just to get one, sorry. 🤣 😉

Very well thought out and very well written! THANK YOU!!! 👍 👍 👍 😁

I looked at adding the Starbucks Package this evening, and at nearly $390 it’s better for me if I just pay as I go along - I might get one specialty coffee every other day - and that’s a much better option. I did find a Starbucks menu posted by @BirdTravels on another thread…

That would have been the (1995) Sun Princess. I sailed on her and sister Dawn Princess several times in the Caribbean and Alaska. They were GREAT ships, lots of great memories too. And I’ve got these really really wonderful cutaway posters that I was able to snag back in those days when I was a travel agent…😁 😁

Indeed, exactly what they were used for on the old Sun Princess as well. 😁

YAY!!! Great pictures 👍 of the deck chairs, THANK YOU! And that bench sort of reminds me of something I remember seeing on the old Sun Princess many years ago, it wasn’t comfortable then either. 🤣 😁

Just dawned upon me 😳 that (if I am reading this correctly) it DOES NOT include specialty coffees? Was price comparing NCL packages with those of Princess Cruises (which does include specialty coffees). Does Norwegian Jade have a coffee bar other than in the atrium where i can get specialty coffees? 😁

Does this work at the burger grill too, because I’m all in if it does. 🤣 (adds the grill guys to my tip list). 😉

😁

Personally I would never cancel the Daily Service Charge, albeit it’s still sitting in my NCL basket of online goodies along with a 7-meal SDP, Premium Plus photo package, and 🍪 2 dozen cookies. 🥰 And before anyone gets upset about the cookies, that’s $59 including the 20% gratuity and specialty service charge that somebody is getting. A drop in the bucket compared to the DSC and all of the fun CC member ‘recommended’ 😉 extra tipping that I could do on a 25-night cruise. And I’m not sure I’d call several hundred dollars “a few bucks”. I did do some quick math earlier that if I hypothetically ever decided to turn my $500 DCS into direct tips to only my room ‘Stewart’ and only to the non-specialty dining waitstaff that actually served me (based on some of the generalized monetary contributions my fellow CC members used), I’d save absolutely nothing. I also wouldn’t be padding everyone’s income. Based on that, it would cost me nearly double to have both the DSC as well as tip on top of that. 😁

That’s the BEST part about traveling solo - I’m my own best company and everything is a unanimous decision. 😉 Note to self: remember to download a book or two onto the iPad for those 9 glorious sea days. 🌎 ✌️

THANK YOU! For the past few weeks I’ve been following Coral Princess on Marine Traffic, she sure cut it close to land on your sail-away. Those short cruises look fantastic! Wish we had similar coastal cruises here that didn’t require going to a distant foreign port.

Screen shot of QM2 in Sydney today https://webcamsydney.com https://www.earthtv.com/en/webcam/sydney-opera-house/weather-clip

Looking forward to any new updates on the Specialty Dining pop-ups and promenade deck chairs (oooh, pictures too please! 😁). If you’re -also able to take some pictures of the current menus from Alfredo’s and Salty Dog it would be greatly appreciated! I’m guessing that the menus really don’t change much between her Down Under deployments to that of the Panama Canal season. Have a great cruise!!!

Me, self-righteous? 😇 If you knew me like my friends know me they’d laugh so hard at that label until beer poured out of their nostrils. 🍺🤣 But, as someone mentioned earlier on in this thread, there is no right or wrong when it comes to extra tipping (above and beyond what the Daily Service Charge and all of the mandatory added gratuities to packages already cover), there are just opinions. Strong as they may be. And those opinions as well as our real-world practices are as different as we (collectively, the members of Cruise Critic) are. Our cultures, behaviors, upbringing, social backgrounds, jobs, and all of the various factors that impact our daily lives play a part in how, and with whom, we spend our money. It’s been refreshing and stimulating reading all of these posts, and it’s time to get back to my planning for this grand adventure. I’ve got the maps, spreadsheets, screen-grabs, check-off lists, and cruise calendar over on the computer table and hanging on the walls. Even watched Norwegian Jade leaving out of Tampa yesterday on the Live Cams to determine cruising time between the dock and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (its two hours). 😉 And to end with one of my favorite quotes… ”Live Long and Prosper” 🖖

If the cruise lines want to raise cruise prices or the DSC to increase crew wages that’s their call, and that’s fine by me, but they are still walking a very fine line (despite reported record bookings) post-COVID shutdown to drive customers away. Cruise lines have always touted that cruises are the best value for the money. I’m not going to dispute that, since the appearance of an ‘all-in-one-package’ can be deceptively convenient. And at this point in time I’m more than fine with only pre-paying the DSC. No more. That’s what NCL has said is fine with them too. If I wasn’t before already, and thanks to a lot of posts here, I am firmly on the viewpoint - misguided or not - that my: 1) prepaid Daily Service Charges (in addition to my steward is apparently also used for all of the ‘behind the scenes staff’); 2) along with the 20% gratuities already added for the bar staff on the drinks package; 3) plus the 20% gratuities already added on my Specialty Dining Package for that waitstaff; 4) PLUS that of 2000+ other people (some who are just throwing out gobs of cash left and right) on one cruise is IMHO more than enough. That may change later when I’m two weeks into a 25-night cruise, but I’ll make that decision only then. There will be more sailings on that ship after I disembark, and a LOT more passengers coming week, after week, after week paying into their ‘added monthly salary pots’ for their employment contracts long after I’m gone. I’m quite sure that these folks are wonderful, and that they’ll make my cruise memorable, exciting, and amazing, but they do that week-in and week-out for everyone. And that’s their job. 😎

Another one? I thought I was doing that with the pre-paid DSC? 🤨 🤨