New DSC Removal Form

[legion3]

Should your concerns not be met with satisfaction you can adjust the charges.

 

This is the end result.

[SeaShark]

 

Nothing suggests anywhere they can reject the refund. such wording does not exist, expressly or implied.

 

 

While that's all well and good, does is say somewhere that that CAN'T reject the refund?

 

 

 

 

The world would be a better place if people just posted FACTS. I'm a little surprised by your post, SeaShark. You usually stick to facts.

 

Time will tell what the facts are, right? Won't be my first "I told you so". SW can vouch for that. ;)

[maywell]

Well if that is what keeps you going, more power to you.

Probably won't be all that interesting, more likely very corporately routine and by the book.

This was supposedly in place 2 weeks ago, its technically going week 2 for whatever 7 day trip that end the 1st week this started. So shouldn't there be reports of people getting their refunds right about now? Hmm.....

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

Edited September 16, 2015 by maywell

[legion3]

While that's all well and good, does is say somewhere that that CAN'T reject the refund?

 

 

Could they reject the refund before? If not, then unless they expressly write out the word discretionary ( a legal term for not mandatory) then yes, they CAN'T legally reject the refund.

[legion3]

This was supposedly in place 2 weeks ago, its technically going week 2 for whatever 7 day trip that end the 1st week this started. So shouldn't there be reports of people getting their refunds right about now? Hmm.....

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

I guess.

[swedish weave]

Well, you already don't decide to give your DSC to the crew, you give it to NCL who decides who and when or if, maybe, possibly, when the moon is full, who or whom to give it to.

 

Send it to me and I will make sure my crew get's it and I won't even skim off the top!

 

I will vonunteer to be your crew chief, so you can have it sent to me !!

[legion3]

You guess..........

 

 

Like I said, this is going to be some good reading... Knowing that information from the previous closed thread should had raised red flags but whatever - I'm not the one looking for a refund.

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

Well whatever...

[weelv2cruise]

There will be individuals who will attempt to use this policy to cheat the onboard staff of their tips after the fact.

 

Exactly! Regardless of what you 'think" your room service was, the DSC covers making the bed, cleaning the residents spit from the sink from the morning teeth cleaning, wiping out the shower after morning and evening use without disturbing an individuals "mess". And quite frankly, IMO, only petty little people don't pay the DSC. People, this is a non-subject! It should be a mandatory charge--although separate from cruise cost to ensure room attendants receive their rightful dues.

Edited September 16, 2015 by weelv2cruise

[legion3]

I will vonunteer to be your crew chief, so you can have it sent to me !!

 

A contract for 10% of all DSC wages will be sent forthwith!

 

Welcome aboard!

[legion3]

Exactly! Regardless of what you 'think" your room service was, the DSC covers making the bed, cleaning the residents spit from the sink from the morning teeth cleaning, wiping out the shower after morning and evening use without disturbing an individuals "mess". And quite frankly, IMO, only petty little people don't pay the DSC. People, this is a non-subject! It should be a mandatory charge.

 

But it's not mandatory. This makes it a non-subject. Ask NCL why it is not. You may not like the answer.

[luddite]

All the nonsense you have previously spewed about the crew giving poor service to people who remove the DSC is just that - nonsense. If I was crew I would be offended that you would suggest that I would take gross revenge.

 

You wouldn't happen to be a shareholder would you? Because it would explain why you are so determined to get people to pay the FAKE gratuities instead of real cash to the hard working crew. DSC is revenue. So is the 18%. More of that money goes to investors than it does crew.

 

If you were the crew and didn't do your job the same as you don't pay your obligations....well, you wouldn't have a job.

it is amazing that you post so much about stiffing the crew whilst admitting that you have no clue how things work on the ship.

Simply amazing.

That you continue to spew about that which you don't comprehend is scary.

[luddite]

To me I have ways viewed the DSC as a gratuity.

 

And thus...the problem.

[abe3]

And thus...the problem.

 

 

Read the NCL website and you will see.

[legion3]

Read the NCL website and you will see.

 

Unlikely.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

Read the NCL website and you will see.

 

The NCL website makes it clear that DSC is NOT gratuities.

 

"What's the service charge?

Why is there a service charge?

The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports. How much is the charge? Onboard Service Charges are additional." https://www.ncl.com/faq#service-charge

 

"What about Gratuities?

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. Also, certain staff positions (e.g., concierge, butler, youth program staff and beverage service) provide service on an individual basis to only some guests and do not benefit from the overall service charge. We encourage those Guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. Additionally, there is an 18% gratuity and spa service charge added for all spa and salon services, as well as an 18% gratuity and beverage service charge added for all beverage purchases and an 18% gratuity and specialty service charge added to all specialty restaurant dining and entertainment based dining." https://www.ncl.com/faq#tipping

 

Neither answer says that they are one and the same.

[abe3]

depends on how you interpret it. The DSC is used to help behind the scene support staff. To me that is a gratuity to the staff even though it is worded as a DSC.

[pokerpro5]

Don't bother searching for a form to download and fill out.

 

The process doesn't work that way.

 

The front desk has to give you the form, note on a handwritten paper that they gave you the form (including your cabin #), and then Miami will match the form to that handwritten record once you e-mail the form in.

 

In fact, each form has a number on the top, which corresponds to the number of people that have requested it.

 

So if you're the 13th cabin to request the DSC removal on this cruise, you will get form #13. If you return anything but form #13 to Miami, it will be ignored.

 

The forms all look identical except for the number printed at the top.

 

I presume this is being done to prevent people from mailing it in after-the-fact when they actually never went to the front desk in the first place to request the DSC removal.

[hpecorari]

The NCL website makes it clear that DSC is NOT gratuities.

 

I thought the same thing at one time. Until NCL perks said 'FREE GRATUITIES'.

When the perk of 'FREE GRATUITIES' is selected by the customer - the customer is NOT charged DSC.

 

That kinda changed my mind.

 

Harriet

[triptolemus]

The NCL website makes it clear that DSC is NOT gratuities.

 

 

And their promotional materials (i.e., e-mail, website, ads) make/made it clear that they ARE gratuities. It is certainly reasonable to conclude that many folks believe they are, and consider them to be, gratuities.

 

Edited September 16, 2015 by triptolemus

[hpecorari]

Have you actually seen the form? Does it look like the one that was posted here....no letterhead, no logo, no signature?

 

Harriet

 

 

Don't bother searching for a form to download and fill out.

 

The process doesn't work that way.

 

The front desk has to give you the form, note on a handwritten paper that they gave you the form (including your cabin #), and then Miami will match the form to that handwritten record once you e-mail the form in.

 

In fact, each form has a number on the top, which corresponds to the number of people that have requested it.

 

So if you're the 13th cabin to request the DSC removal on this cruise, you will get form #13. If you return anything but form #13 to Miami, it will be ignored.

 

The forms all look identical except for the number printed at the top.

 

I presume this is being done to prevent people from mailing it in after-the-fact when they actually never went to the front desk in the first place to request the DSC removal.

[hpecorari]

We must have been typing at the same time as I agree with you and just posted the same thing. That promo does not say, "FREE DSC", it clearly says 'FREE GRATUITIES'.

 

Harriet

 

And their promotional materials (i.e., e-mail, website, ads) make/made it clear that they ARE gratuities. It is certainly reasonable to conclude that many folks believe they are, and consider them to be, gratuities.

 

[Wendy&Grumpy]

I thought the same thing at one time. Until NCL perks said 'FREE GRATUITIES'.

When the perk of 'FREE GRATUITIES' is selected by the customer - the customer is NOT charged DSC.

 

That kinda changed my mind.

 

Harriet

 

I think that was someone in marketing thinking the same way most of the world thinks.

 

Our amenity confirmation for our next cruise states "Prepaid Service Charges" so I think they are working at getting away from that thinking.

[triptolemus]

Have you actually seen the form? Does it look like the one that was posted here....no letterhead, no logo, no signature?

 

Harriet

 

The person who posted that photo already admitted they made it up based on something they claimed to have seen on Facebook. They claimed that they had "spent years in school perfecting [their] document making skills" so naturally they were qualified to just make stuff up... :confused:

Edited September 16, 2015 by triptolemus

[Tinyturtle22]

The NCL website makes it clear that DSC is NOT gratuities.

 

"What's the service charge?

Why is there a service charge?

The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports. How much is the charge? Onboard Service Charges are additional." https://www.ncl.com/faq#service-charge

 

"What about Gratuities?

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. Also, certain staff positions (e.g., concierge, butler, youth program staff and beverage service) provide service on an individual basis to only some guests and do not benefit from the overall service charge. We encourage those Guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. Additionally, there is an 18% gratuity and spa service charge added for all spa and salon services, as well as an 18% gratuity and beverage service charge added for all beverage purchases and an 18% gratuity and specialty service charge added to all specialty restaurant dining and entertainment based dining." https://www.ncl.com/faq#tipping

 

Neither answer says that they are one and the same.

 

DSC isn't a gratuity but certain staff members are not part of the DSC so you should give them an "appropriate gratuity" because they aren't included in the non gratuity DSC. Got it.:rolleyes:

Edited September 16, 2015 by Tinyturtle22

[pokerpro5]

Regarding the DSC and its actual distribution by NCL, while we do not have any confirmation on that subject, an intelligent individual can read between the lines and understand what's actually going on.

 

Anyone with a working knowledge of business practices of large corporations (or, alternatively, someone who has taken a few good business courses in college) can put the pieces together and figure out what's happening.

 

Simply put, large corporations will sometimes risk driving away customers with a new business strategy, but they will almost never risk driving away customers simply to benefit their employees.

 

So every time a business raises its prices or makes a customer-unfriendly policy change, something is always in it for them. They don't do this simply on behalf of their workers.

 

The one exception to this is when the possibility of a walkout, strike, or mass-quitting exists, and the workers are not replaceable. For example, airlines are always in trouble when their pilots strike or stage "sick outs" in protest to working conditions, because there are only a limited number of qualified pilots to fly large jets.

 

But cruise jobs are highly coveted by citizens of developing countries, so NCL does not face an issue with running out of employees.

 

Therefore, it made ZERO sense that they raised the DSC TWICE in a period of four months. If the DSC went to the workers (and not NCL), all this would have accomplished was piss off customers (which it did) while only benefiting the easily replaceable workers. You can trot out some BS that NCL values its employees and sees them as family, but that's a bunch of nonsense. NCL would never risk alienating customers to give TWO raises (in four months time!) to employees who were already thrilled to be there at the 2014 pay rates.

 

So those two DSC raises already made it painfully clear that DSC is simply reimbursing NCL for what they already are paying employees, and removing the DSC therefore does not affect employee pay.

 

This latest move makes it even more clear. You have 30 days to remove the DSC after the cruise, with a 2-week processing time, meaning up to 44 days can pass between the end of the cruise and the removal of the DSC. So what are they going to do? Take the money back? What about employees who are no longer there?

 

And then there's NCL's language about the DSC on their website. They never state that the DSC goes directly into the pockets of employees. Instead, they use funny terms such as "compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports", which is a fancy way of saying you're just paying NCL back for compensating their crew.

 

All of these things combined would lead any intelligent and observant person to strongly believe that the DSC is not tipping employees at all, but rather compensating NCL and adding to their bottom line.

 

But if you want to sit on your high horse and believe you are "tipping" employees because you never remove the DSC, go ahead and do so. Whatever makes you sleep at night.

 

It is my assertion that getting a $189 discount on your cruise fare is equivalent to removing the DSC, and that employees are affected the exact same way by both (i.e. they're not at all).