Gratuities going up...minimally

[sparks1093]

So you're totally okay with removing money from the staff before you cruise, but not removing it during the cruise?

 

Even though it comes out the exact same for the staff?

 

Hilarious.

 

I'm sure the staff will be impressed with your high morality as they open their smaller paycheck.

 

I would expect that NCL would disburse the new rate in full to all employees even if the passenger has opted to pre-pay their service charges prior to March 1st.

 

I added the service charges for our next cruise to the account as soon as I booked it so I have no idea how this will impact me. Think I'm okay paying an extra $4 though if it comes to it:D.

[pieshops]

I would expect that NCL would disburse the new rate in full to all employees even if the passenger has opted to pre-pay their service charges prior to March 1st.

 

I added the service charges for our next cruise to the account as soon as I booked it so I have no idea how this will impact me. Think I'm okay paying an extra $4 though if it comes to it:D.

 

Why in the world would NCL take money out of their pocket to pay the higher gratuities, sorry service charge for people who have prepaid the lower amount. That makes no sense at all. There is going to be some crossover for those who paid the lower and those who paid the higher.

[sparks1093]

And as long as we're talking ethics and morality, how about we weigh the ethics of NCL changing the service charge after I booked?

 

 

Since the rate itself is not part of the contract between you and NCL there is no ethical concern.

[sparks1093]

Why in the world would NCL take money out of their pocket to pay the higher gratuities, sorry service charge for people who have prepaid the lower amount. That makes no sense at all. There is going to be some crossover for those who paid the lower and those who paid the higher.

 

Because the employees know that the rate is going up and NCL wants to keep them happy, same reason NCL didn't unilaterally tell all passengers sailing after March 1st that the rate was going up and there would be no grandfathering.

[Pikaia]

Since the rate itself is not part of the contract between you and NCL there is no ethical concern.

There is no breach of contract, but that doesn't make business ethics irrelevant.

Businesses can and do behave unethically at times, without risking legal repercussions.

[sparks1093]

There is no breach of contract, but that doesn't make business ethics irrelevant.

Businesses can and do behave unethically at times, without risking legal repercussions.

 

Sorry, without a written agreement outlining the amount of the service charge there can be no ethical argument and to the extent there is one NCL has mitigated it by allowing passengers that book prior to March 1st the opportunity to pay the previous rate. The price of everything on board is subject to change without notice, including the service charge.

[Pikaia]

Sorry, without a written agreement outlining the amount of the service charge there can be no ethical argument and to the extent there is one NCL has mitigated it by allowing passengers that book prior to March 1st the opportunity to pay the previous rate. The price of everything on board is subject to change without notice, including the service charge.

I think you and I are mostly in agreement. I believe NCL is being completely fair to already booked passengers, and I think my previous posts on this subject reflect that.

 

I have invoked business ethics today only because another poster has asserted that my choice to prepay at a lower rate is immoral. :rolleyes:

[js]

I'm not paying gratuities in Feb 2015 for a cruise in December 2016.

 

I did for August 2016.

 

It is for a family of 10 in two Haven rooms.

 

It was no extra money out of my pocket. The gratuities were added to my final payment invoice amount. If I waited until March 1, my final payment would be higher.

 

Thank you OP for this thread. I appreciate it.

[swedish weave]

I chuckle at the comments about ethics and morality. Why is it bad to lock in the DSC rate, but it is met with cheers and hurrahs when you lock in the price of the cruise, then ask for the price to be lowered if the rates go down after you book ???

 

Doesn't make sense to me to bad mouth one case and cheer the other !!!

[sparks1093]

I think you and I are mostly in agreement. I believe NCL is being completely fair to already booked passengers, and I think my previous posts on this subject reflect that.

 

I have invoked business ethics today only because another poster has asserted that my choice to prepay at a lower rate is immoral. :rolleyes:

 

Ah, gotcha:).

[Pikaia]

I chuckle at the comments about ethics and morality. Why is it bad to lock in the DSC rate, but it is met with cheers and hurrahs when you lock in the price of the cruise, then ask for the price to be lowered if the rates go down after you book ???

 

Doesn't make sense to me to bad mouth one case and cheer the other !!!

Yup. Once in a while I see someone comment that it's wrong (unethical? immoral?) to ask for a lower fare before final payment. When I read those posts I have to assume it's sour grapes....

[dna529]

It did feel a little "shady" that the price increase came out after the big sale started and I had already booked two cruises in the last 2 weeks. But it was probably all a strategy to make the consumer feel better about the increase. In other words,"well I got kids sail free, free dining, and free UBP, so it's no big deal that the DSC went up".

Edited February 20, 2015 by dna529

[luvtheships]

So you're totally okay with removing money from the staff before you cruise, but not removing it during the cruise?

 

Even though it comes out the exact same for the staff?

 

Hilarious.

 

I'm sure the staff will be impressed with your high morality as they open their smaller paycheck.

 

The point is she is paying what she agreed to and not being forced to pay more

 

There is nothing wrong here

 

Haven't you ever shopped a sale or paid something in advance to take advantage of a discount

 

If you haven't you should

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

I did for August 2016.

 

It is for a family of 10 in two Haven rooms.

 

It was no extra money out of my pocket. The gratuities were added to my final payment invoice amount. If I waited until March 1, my final payment would be higher.

 

Thank you OP for this thread. I appreciate it.

There is no communication from NCL to indicate you must pay by March 1 to receive the lower rate, only before actually sailing. . The choice is yours to make.

[luvtheships]

For those of you who feel debating ethics and business morality are silly I wonder if you would feel that way regarding a medical procedure you want but your plan won't pay for

 

Yes I know it's a stretch and the .95 is meaningless to me.....

 

But we do need to keep corporations... Hospitals.... The government ....on their toes or we risk going head first down that slippery slope

 

And NO I am not comparing Ncl to any covert ops!!! Lol

 

Just sayin too many of us keep our heads in the sand and won't stand up to shady business practices

 

For me... I would not care about .95...at booking or at final payment or on the ship....

 

But you can be darn sure I don't believe everything I hear....read....or watch on TV....or totally trust any large corporation 100%...yep.... I question it all....why?

 

Because in my long life thus far..... Many of my theories have been proven correct....heck most have....

 

Lol

 

Again...it's not the .95...... It's the big picture.

 

 

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Edited February 20, 2015 by luvtheships

[Whitnee1]

Don't see the issue just elect to pre pay. What's the difference if you do have to pay it now versus final payment. At today's interest rates you wouldn't even earn enough to buy a Piña Colada poolside if you waited till final payment.:):)

[pieshops]

Because the employees know that the rate is going up and NCL wants to keep them happy, same reason NCL didn't unilaterally tell all passengers sailing after March 1st that the rate was going up and there would be no grandfathering.

 

That would have been the smart thing for NCL to do, any sailing after March 1 should be charged the new rate no matter what.

 

But since they did not i really don't think they will dig into their pockets and pay

[nfglory1]

While I completely agree that the extra $0.95 per day is nothing and immaterial, I look at it from a return perspective. Seven nights at the old $12 per day is $84. At the new rate, it's $90.65, which is an increase of $6.65. If prepaid, this is extra money saved or essentially "earned" in this scenario and based upon the original $84, that would be a 7.9% annual return on your money. Who wouldn't love that kind of return on their money! And that's not even taking into account that this is being earned over less than a year period of time. It's a no brainer to pay the service charges early if you disregard the dollars and look at it from a return and value of money perspective. That's just my 95 cents, I mean, 2 cents.

Edited February 20, 2015 by nfglory1

[triptolemus]

Don't see the issue just elect to pre pay. What's the difference if you do have to pay it now versus final payment. At today's interest rates you wouldn't even earn enough to buy a Piña Colada poolside if you waited till final payment.:):)

 

You wouldn't earn enough to pay for the garnish on the thing.

Edited February 20, 2015 by triptolemus

[Pikaia]

If prepaid, this is extra money saved or essentially "earned" in this scenario and based upon the original $84, that would be a 7.9% annual return on your money.

Agreed! Also, since the rate for suite passengers is going from $12 to $14.95, prepayment can be worth even more. Our cruise isn't 'til October 2016, but prepaying our suite passenger service charge is the equivalent of 14.7% annual return on that money.

[swedish weave]

The point is she is paying what she agreed to and not being forced to pay more

 

There is nothing wrong here

 

Haven't you ever shopped a sale or paid something in advance to take advantage of a discount

 

If you haven't you should

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

The big misunderstanding here is NOBODY IS FORCED TO PAY ANYTHING TO THE DSC.

 

NCL is asking for an amount that is more than it used to be, BUT THEY ALSO ALLOW YOU TO CANCEL THE DSC CHARGE AND PAY NOTHING !!

 

How can that be called unethical business practice ???

[triptolemus]

The big misunderstanding here is NOBODY IS FORCED TO PAY ANYTHING TO THE DSC.

 

NCL is asking for an amount that is more than it used to be, BUT THEY ALSO ALLOW YOU TO CANCEL THE DSC CHARGE AND PAY NOTHING !!

 

How can that be called unethical business practice ???

 

Why are you so UPSET ??

[swedish weave]

Why are you so UPSET ??

 

Am I upset ???? I didn't know that.... It takes more than some silly arguments on CC to upset me !!!!111

Edited February 20, 2015 by swedish weave

[luvtheships]

Am I upset ???? I didn't know that.... It takes more than some silly arguments on CC to upset me !!!!111

 

You are yelling that is why posters here think you are upset

 

 

 

 

 

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[pokerpro5]

But I'm NOT removing money from the staff. I'm prepaying at the current rate. Prepayment has been an option for quite some time. It's not something that was created just for this situation.

 

Furthermore, I have no reason to believe anyone's paycheck will be smaller because of my decision to prepay. NCL does not share that information with us. We have no way of knowing how NCL distributes monies collected via the service charge.

 

For the record, I'm not being cheap. I always tip additional amounts to Splash Academy staff, the special diets coordinator, the butler, the concierge, our cabin steward, and the breakfast/lunch staff at Cagney's. Those amounts add up to far more than the amount I'll save by prepaying.

 

And as long as we're talking ethics and morality, how about we weigh the ethics of NCL changing the service charge after I booked?

 

Ultimately I have no qualms about prepaying at the rate that was communicated to me at the time of booking. :)

 

Pretty sure you prepaying $12 DSC will put the exact same money in the pocket of the staff members as you adjusting it down to $12 onboard.

 

I think you're reaching to find a "moral" way to pay the lower DSC rate, while not feeling like a jerk by reducing it onboard.

 

Too bad for you it's the same thing.

 

Personally I think it's ridiculous that some people are expected to pay higher tips than others, when getting the same room and same service on the same cruise.

 

Part of me wants to lower the DSC onboard for that very principle, but I may not bother because it's such a small amount.

 

I'm definitely not prepaying, because I always want to receive the service first before tipping. Otherwise it defeats the whole purpose/concept of tipping.

Edited February 21, 2015 by pokerpro5