Daily Service Charge Increase - effective April 1st 2018

Good thing we don't get raises where I work... Actually, the first contract I was given had a 2000 GBP higher salary listed than what I actually got paid when I started. So if I were to get a 5$ raise I would be highly impressed. Because that would mean that they were actually giving employees some kind of raise.

Most people get a nominal yearly increase (at least here in the US). And the people that don’t are usually job hopping so they can get an increase. This year I received a 4% raise. Sounds about right in line with this increase. Take a look at health care costs rising every year here in the US. My premiums went up $120/month this past year. That was WAY more than 4%.

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Wow! Here they go again.

We received an email for our three upcoming sailings. Went from $13.50 to $13.99 on 4-1-17 and now up to $14.50 one year later. Poor decision by NCL, in my opinion.

 

Do we have the option of adjusting down to $13.50 onboard? This is getting ridiculous unless there is an increased level of service onboard.

Have you checked the gratuity prices on other lines? As we all know, one does it, they will all follow. Do I personally like the increase? Of course not, but certainly .51 cents a day is nothing to most of us. And no,you do not have the option of adjusting down to $13.50, why would you? If you pay before March 31st you can get the $14.50 price. the increase however is so small most people will not even be aware of the change unless they spend time of places like CC.

From what I understand you can adjust however you would like onboard. Totally up to you.

this is only partly true: you can adjust but you have to fill out a form, have a reason and even then you still pay but the adjustment will be returned to you after the end of the cruise.

If it was truly meant to be discretionary, it would be left to cruisers' discretion.

Just another corporate cash grab.

this is only partly true: you can adjust but you have to fill out a form, have a reason and even then you still pay but the adjustment will be returned to you after the end of the cruise.

The reason would be because it’s permitted in the contract. End of story.

Any grief? Chargeback! Companies hate them for some reason. Have a lovely cruise!

According to USA Today:

Like other major cruise lines, Norwegian has been pushing up service charge levels at a rapid rate in recent years. With the coming increase, the line's standard cabin service charge will have jumped by nearly 21% from $12 since February 2015. That's more than three times the rate of inflation in the USA over the same period. The U.S. Department of Labor has recorded a 6.1% rise in inflation, as measured by its Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), since February 2015.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2018/03/22/norwegian-cruise-line-joins-royal-caribbean-celebrity-hiking-service-charges/448373002/

Have you checked the gratuity prices on other lines? As we all know, one does it, they will all follow. Do I personally like the increase? Of course not, but certainly .51 cents a day is nothing to most of us. And no,you do not have the option of adjusting down to $13.50, why would you? If you pay before March 31st you can get the $14.50 price. the increase however is so small most people will not even be aware of the change unless they spend time of places like CC.

Hello! Why to pay before March 31st? If your are booked by March 31st, then you have to option to pay the gratuity prices at the current rate prior sail date.

In my case, I booked in December and intend to pay end of May, prior June sail date.

Does anyone know how it works if my bidding for an upgrade results in my getting a suite? If I already prepaid my service charges for my mini suite that I am currently booked in, will I get charged for the additional fee on top of the actual bid?

Most things inflate yearly. Perfectly reasonable for DSC to go up.

Do you work for NCL? you never have a bad word for them and shoot down anyone who criticises them. Its not reasonable at all. $58 for a family of four per day forget it. It is just a way of saving on staff pay rises.

Tell me a hotel or land based holiday that charges this - The staff work just as hard. No its because of the pitiful wages paid by the cruise industry.

Tips do not go up yearly well not in UK.

Look it makes no difference if you are booked through UK as is well publicised by our consumer rights magazines you can remove any charge even if it is packaged in Premium all Inclusive and no doubt it will continue. I know in the US culture is different but here we simply do not tip the way you do in the States. So NCL and all cruise lines are learning

I figured I would pre-pay to get the lower rate. Just logged in and this is what I see:

"The convenience of pre-paying service charges allows you to plan your budget prior to your cruise giving you additional freedom while on board. A discretionary charge of C18.73 CAD per person per day for all guests 3 years or older will automatically be added to your onboard account. Your service charges will total C280.95 CAD for all guests, for your entire cruise. Guests sailing to Hawaii will be charged an additional 4.275% Pre Paid Service Charge GET Tax"

This is for 3 people for 5 days - the exchange rate puts this at $14.50 US per day (which is the increased price). What am I doing wrong?

.50 per day for 2 people is a buck a day, $7 a week. hardly worth fronting the money now to pre-pay.

I was thinking the same thing. Traveling solo so $.51 per day. 5 days....$2.55 increase.

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Tell me a hotel or land based holiday that charges this - The staff work just as hard. No its because of the pitiful wages paid by the cruise industry.

 

 

Tips do not go up yearly well not in UK.

You don't pay them anyway, do you? Aren't all UK NCL fares set to the "all inclusive" program they rolled out a while ago, where the daily service charge and drink gratuities are all in the base fare?

Anyway, you may not have stayed in a resort in America, where "resort fees" are common, and average $24 per night per room:

The major benefit to the hotels is the profit. Resort fees brought in $2.47 billion to the hotel industry in 2015.[14] MGM Resorts International stated that, for Las Vegas hotel rooms in 2011, "Our RevPAR (revenue per available room) in the first quarter was up 16%, including resort fees. Excluding resort fees, REVPAR was up 11% in the quarter year-over-year."[16]

So, let's see ... I pay $24 per night at the MGM grand, or $30 a night on NCL. But on NCL I'm also not tipping for 3 meals a day, or tipping the maid. So yeah, for us, the daily service charge is not any better than a hotel.

I'm confused. It was my understanding you cannot adjust the tips once onboard. If you have a complaint, you must contact NCL after return. On Carnival they would let us remove the tips so we could pay cash to the people we felt serviced us best. I would personally rather tip in cash to the specific servers, stewards and employees who were most worth it to us. I understand completely why they stopped this...as many would never tip at all. I would much prefer the mandatory tips just be added into the fare than play this game. I also am slightly irked that kids 3-18 do not qualify for Latitudes, but we have to tip as an adult for them on each cruise. They should get the same Latitudes credits for the sailings.

I would rather see a higher cruise fare and this tipping nonsense to go away. I miss the days when you could remove them onboard without issue and pay cash to the servers who you actually interact with on a regular basis. By definition gratuities. : something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service.

They should change the name of this to service charge since it's obligatory and not voluntary. I also think it's extremely unfair that kids under 18 cannot get Latitudes frequent cruiser points, as we sail with them often, but we are required to tip for them the full amount.

Gratuity | Define Gratuity at D

I'm confused. It was my understanding you cannot adjust the tips once onboard. If you have a complaint, you must contact NCL after return. On Carnival they would let us remove the tips so we could pay cash to the people we felt serviced us best. I would personally rather tip in cash to the specific servers, stewards and employees who were most worth it to us. I understand completely why they stopped this...as many would never tip at all. I would much prefer the mandatory tips just be added into the fare than play this game. I also am slightly irked that kids 3-18 do not qualify for Latitudes, but we have to tip as an adult for them on each cruise. They should get the same Latitudes credits for the sailings.

I'm confused as well (no surprise there) we never remove the DSC or autotip but know other that do. Does this mean the line at the desk the last night will now be smaller :) at least on NCL. Lots of folk's remove the fee at this time and I have to wait forever to pay off any charges onboard. I like to pay with cash on the last night so we don't have any (or not much) on the credit card used when we board.

Oh and even though it will be more (plus extra for POA) I would never pre-pay this or book shore excursions on NCL prior to sailing.

Thanks for all the information again folk's.

Hello! Why to pay before March 31st? If your are booked by March 31st, then you have to option to pay the gratuity prices at the current rate prior sail date.

 

In my case, I booked in December and intend to pay end of May, prior June sail date.

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Quoting, verbatim, robo-email from NCL that we received 2 days ago, about our late April sailing:

Norwegian Cruise Line is making a nominal adjustment to its daily service charges, effective April 1, 2018. Norwegian's discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to the onboard staff dedicated to delivering superior guest service throughout the cruise.

The new rates are:

• $14.50 per person per day for any category up to a mini-suite stateroom
  
• $17.50 per person per day for any suite or The Haven category
  

Any guest that has made a booking by March 31, 2018 will have the option of prepaying their service charges at the current rate if done prior to sail date. Guests with existing cruise reservations who have already pre-paid their service charges at the current rate are not affected.

Service charges can be prepaid in the Vacation Summary section on MyNCL

... Not, IMO, going to worry about that extra $7.14 for 2 of us on a 7 days itinerary. That's roughly the difference of 2 soda, a la carte on the ship, with the 20% gratuities. Call center's agents aren't known for providing the most accurate, current and timely information on a consistent basis :rolleyes: