About the Daily Service Charge

If you want the Bella experience, book a Bella, but do not book the Bella experience and complain that you did not get the Fantastica experience.

In theory. Usually Bella is sold out long time and you have to book Fantastica. Which for Non-US-guests is a joke, they usually don´t use the room service anyway, don´t get any drinks vouchers and the only "benefits" are a few more Voyagers points and a free photo you cannot choose. Wow, totally worth the 100 Euros or even more.

Here we go again. Some of the lines are already including tips and beverages...but they are called luxury lines. The cost would send most of you into shock.

When one of the major lines builds a new ship it means taking a billion dollar gamble which means they have to sell a lot of less expensive cabins to keep the ship afloat. Low prices attract the newbies. If you wanted to pay the staff a "living wage" then the price would defeat the line's ability to attract new customers. It really is that simple.

We live in an imperfect world and the shipping companies are using an imperfect system...but it has worked for the last 150 years.

subsidizing slave wages...……

Dennis

Jacksonville, fl

707 days at sea 82 cruises14 cruise linesT/P, T/A, Hawaii,Central & South America, New Zealand & South Pacific, Rio/ Amazon,Alaska

I have just found this thread and am annoyed with some of the comments,

You know who you are Seashark.

Tipping is not just an American culture. We all want excellent service and we all like to reward this.

A gratuity is a voluntary amount of money given in exchange for a service performed. A gratuity is also known as a tip. Example —We typically tip our waitress or our hair stylist for great service. So, what's the difference — A service charge is mandatory and it is pre-determined by the hotel or vendor in the instance Cruise Ships..

Anyway......... gratuity and tip are the the same thing, but the service charge to defray the cost of balancing basic wages for non-tipped staff and to provide medical benefits for all. ... Tipping is expected on top of that.

I have also done some calculations on on gratuity on MSC.

If the Seaside is full and everyone paid their daily gratuities then an amount of $68,750 more income will be given on a daily basis. That is $481,250 every 7 days. WOW.

I have cruised many times and I do like when everything is included in your overall price, this saves a lot of confusion and you are aware of what you are paying before you go..

Sorry for the rant.

In theory. Usually Bella is sold out long time and you have to book Fantastica. Which for Non-US-guests is a joke, they usually don´t use the room service anyway, don´t get any drinks vouchers and the only "benefits" are a few more Voyagers points and a free photo you cannot choose. Wow, totally worth the 100 Euros or even more.

Hmmm, so you are saying to make it worth the extra hundred euros, you have to make sure you get 100 euros worth of complaining in? It works both ways, Yacht Club fills up fast too, but I do not buy the Aura Experience and complain that I am not getting the YC experience. My guess is if all experiences were sold out except for the Yacht Club, you would not book it, but would reschedule or look elsewhere. I say you get what you pay for and should take utmost advantage of that.

Just done a bit more research and they say that there is 759 crew members on board this is equivalent to 0. 138 to passengers.

If all crew members received the gratuities they would all receive an extra $634 per month. Not bad for doing your job.

Just done a bit more research and they say that there is 759 crew members on board this is equivalent to 0. 138 to passengers.

 

If all crew members received the gratuities they would all receive an extra $634 per month. Not bad for doing your job.

What ship are you refering to ? MSC Seaside has little over 1,400 crew members and passenger capacity of little over 5,100 .

Found this on google even with your numbers it is still $318 a month on top of pay still not bad going where a lot of people in service gets only their pay for a job they signed up for. Don't get me wrong everyone deserves to be rewarded to make a holiday special and not only for the face to face service.

Just done a bit more research and they say that there is 759 crew members on board this is equivalent to 0. 138 to passengers.

 

If all crew members received the gratuities they would all receive an extra $634 per month. Not bad for doing your job.

A job they take for substandard wages in the expectation that gratuities will make up the difference. But you knew that. But hey, whatever it takes to justify your actions.

A job they take for substandard wages in the expectation that gratuities will make up the difference. But you knew that. But hey, whatever it takes to justify your actions.

And herein lies the problem, no gratuity should ever be expected. In any walk of life!

 

 

 

Very well stated LAM,

 

I believe in rewarding excellence and I will continue to tip beyond the DSC whenever I feel it is well deserved. The people who advocate that the DSC should be included in the cruise fare do not realize that policy will lead to mediocrity...and we have enough of that in he world today. Again I repeat, the reward system at sea has been around for hundreds of years. It might not be the best system...but it works and nobody has come up with anything better.

 

 

 

Including the gratuity (or service charge??) certainly does not lead to mediocrity...try sailing with the likes of Silversea or Crystal! Certainly the 6* cruise lines have come up with something better, & their service was exemplary. Yes they are top end prices, but when you factor in the drinks, possibly the

excursions & the dreaded gratuities , then actually they come out pretty darned good. Even ncl & p &o & marella , not top end lines, have now added in the gratuities to final pricing. Enforced Tipping is Archaic. Voluntary tipping is a great idea.

 

 

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A job they take for substandard wages in the expectation that gratuities will make up the difference. But you knew that. But hey, whatever it takes to justify your actions.

You don't know what my actions is. However let me enlighten you, I would never not pay as I think all crew members deserve a decent wage and always prepay my gratitudes and tip on top. I was just saying so what you read into it is your issue so right back at you.

But hey, whatever it takes to justify your actions

And herein lies the problem, no gratuity should ever be expected. In any walk of life!

So your culture is the only valid one? And they say it is Americans who are ugly.

But hey, if ignoring the reality because you don't agree with it lets you keep your money in your pocket at the expense of people way below you on the global domain then that is completely on you and comes across as self-justifying cheapness.

 

 

 

Including the gratuity (or service charge??) certainly does not lead to mediocrity...try sailing with the likes of Silversea or Crystal! Certainly the 6* cruise lines have come up with something better, & their service was exemplary. Yes they are top end prices, but when you factor in the drinks, possibly the excursions & the dreaded gratuities , then actually they come out pretty darned good. Even ncl & p &o & marella , not top end lines, have now added in the gratuities to final pricing. Enforced Tipping is Archaic. Voluntary tipping is a great idea.

 

Silversea and Crystal are not my cup of tea. Yes...there are companies that are now including the gratuities and service charges but I do not choose to book them. You say "Enforced tipping is Archaic". I have never heard of enforced tipping?? The DSY is not enforced and extra gratuities have always been voluntary. I would never tip anyone who did not deserve it. Perhaps a lot of pax do not know how to navigate through the different systems. Perhaps we are seeing a lot of newbie pax who cannot grasp the differences from one line to another and want to change the entire system.

 

 

It would make no difference to me if the Daily Service Charge was included in the cruise price. I would still voluntarily reward excellence wherever I found it onboard ship.

You say "Enforced tipping is Archaic". I have never heard of enforced tipping?? The DSY is not enforced and extra gratuities have always been voluntary.

I believe that the poster in the previous quoted post is referring to NCL's "all inclusive" pricing model which is used in some markets. It gives the price including all service charges and there is no daily service charge. Since there is no daily charge, it cannot be reduced or removed. Some prefer this even though the total price is higher than if booking the same cruise where there is a DSC and promo service charges.

In other words, someone who booked their cruise in the US will pay a DSC while the guest next door will not pay a DSC if that neighbor lives in the UK and booked from there. The UK guest will not feel obligated to tip as "all inclusive" states that gratuities are included in the fare. The US guest might feel that the DSC takes care of the gratuities and may not tip because of it. The US guest can also reduce or remove the DSC.

In either case, a guest is free to tip whomever the guest wants to tip or can not tip at all.

My preference is that the cruise industry picks ONE pricing model for all markets. Even if including everything in the price leads to higher total cost (it will) and even if people are forced to pay for things that they neither want nor need ("all inclusive" guests pay for drink packages even if they don't drink), I'd be happy simply because the forum would no longer have multiple endless DSC-type threads.:p

Thank you Two Wheels,

If the DSC is included in the price then it really no longer exists...just a higher price. A lot of people would want it that way. Tipping or rewarding outstanding service would still go on even, with the DSC included, and plenty of pax would still be complaining on these threads.

I can see some problems ahead when the mass market lines start including the DSC in the cruise fare. They would end up keeping more of the money. The luxury lines can do this because the per diems are so much more $$$ than the mass market lines. The luxury lines have to pay the staff more in order to offer superior service. I have rarely, if ever, heard a staff member complain about a luxury line. They seem to be content and well paid. The mass market lines still have to compete with low prices to attract the newbies. One must keep in mind that all these new super ships must have lots of newbie cruisers in order to stay profitable.

So your culture is the only valid one? And they say it is Americans who are ugly.

That wasn’t what he said, if you don’t understand that he was saying everyone deserves a reasonable wage without begging for breadcrumbs, then that’s not his fault.

I will never understand the justification for charging 15% on top of the price of a barman handing you a bottle of beer they’ve just opened. Do you think every $ goes to the staff?

But hey, if ignoring the reality because you don't agree with it lets you keep your money in your pocket at the expense of people way below you on the global domain then that is completely on you and comes across as self-justifying cheapness.

Just pay them the proper wage then this problem you support will go away. It doesn’t happen in Europe because laws protect workers. There’s the problem. You seem to want to support exploitation by employers.

I do wonder if there are any other First world countries that allow employers not to pay their staff and not having minimum wage earnings in place and the population feels obliged to make up that shortfall. And by some it seems, just so they can boast how much they tipped or bought the servants undying attention at the expense of others instead of waiting their turn. Now that is ugly!

Do you tip your builder and everyone else who does work for you?

Anyway, I don’t and wont remove the service charges and do give a gratuity (for gratitude... there’s the clue), when service has gone beyond what can be expected.

That wasn’t what he said, if you don’t understand that he was saying everyone deserves a reasonable wage without begging for breadcrumbs, then that’s not his fault.

 

I will never understand the justification for charging 15% on top of the price of a barman handing you a bottle of beer they’ve just opened. Do you think every $ goes to the staff?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just pay them the proper wage then this problem you support will go away. It doesn’t happen in Europe because laws protect workers. There’s the problem. You seem to want to support exploitation by employers.

 

I do wonder if there are any other First world countries that allow employers not to pay their staff and not having minimum wage earnings in place and the population feels obliged to make up that shortfall. And by some it seems, just so they can boast how much they tipped or bought the servants undying attention at the expense of others instead of waiting their turn. Now that is ugly!

 

Do you tip your builder and everyone else who does work for you?

 

Anyway, I don’t and wont remove the service charges and do give a gratuity (for gratitude... there’s the clue), when service has gone beyond what can be expected.

Hear Hear...pay everyone a decent minimum wage. I will still tip whenever I get good service, which is usually often on the cruises I take.

We have never reduced the gratuity/ service charge on our cruises even though what bothers me is that I've heard that the ship owners are not passing on all the gratuities to the crew.

This is a little off topic but what is bad about tipping in America is your gratuity is based on the total check less tax. So one week the wife and I go out for dinner and spend 50 bucks on dinner, a week later we go to the same restaurant and the tab in 60 bucks, we had the same exact service yet the tip should be higher, that has never sense to me.

Years ago I researched how Carnival deals with its crew. Things may have changed, and MSC may not do the same, but here's what I found about Carnival, RCL, and Norwegian:

The cruise lines do not hire the hotel staff directly. Instead, they hire through agencies. These agencies charge the person their first year's salary in exchange for getting them the necessary documentation (passports, visa, permits, etc) and airfare to the ship. These employees are working STRICTLY for gratuities their first year. At least on Carnival, first year employees never interact with guests - they serve the crew and other staff. So their only source of income for the first year is their share of the service charges.

Even after the first year, the hotel staff pay is extremely low. The main source of income is tips.

So, regardless of what the consumer protection and labor laws are in your country, or your customs regarding tips, understand that your gratuities are the primary source of income for the hotel staff. In a perfect world, these employees would be paid a decent wage and would not have to rely on tips, but we don't live in that world.

As a side note, I talked to a bar waiter on the Seaside last week, and while he would not come out and say that MSC keeps some (or possibly all) of the service charge and even extra tips you could add when paying by room card, he did tell me he MUCH preferred cash tips.

This is a little off topic but what is bad about tipping in America is your gratuity is based on the total check less tax. So one week the wife and I go out for dinner and spend 50 bucks on dinner, a week later we go to the same restaurant and the tab in 60 bucks, we had the same exact service yet the tip should be higher, that has never sense to me.

There are no "rules" for tipping. Whether the bill is $50 or $60, tip however much that you want to tip.

Thank you Gomez,

That is exactly how I remember it. I agree with your imperfect world synopsis...so true. Thinking that the lines will start paying the staff a living wage is not going to happen anytime soon.

On 1/11/2018 at 1:39 PM, Aulanis said:

Some employers keep a portion of the service charges.

Hmmm. Makes someone wonder.