service charge question

[C cruise]

Has anyone opted out of paying the service charge and just tipped on your own? and if not who does the service charge cover for tips?

[cb at sea]

The DSC covers your room attendant, waiters, ass't waiters, and head waiter. You should leave that in place, so those who are supposed to be tipped, WILL be tipped.

 

Room service isn't included in those DSC tips. If you feel someone deserves MORE...feel free to hand them cash. The DSC covers all who are supposed to be tipped.

[havanadaydreaming]

I always tip room steward and bartenders extra. and servers.

 

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[C cruise]

The DSC and tips are two completely different things. All tips are 'on your own' other than on a few packages.

could you explain that... I thought they were the same thing...I just am trying to understand

[ColinIllinois]

could you explain that... I thought they were the same thing...I just am trying to understand

 

 

Check out the NCL Frequently Asked Questions. This is always a weird topic around here because for some reason people get upset about it. For most it is just a matter of semantics and watch, the usual knuckleheads will come in here and argue with me. Guaranteed. :)

 

Look under "Money Matters" in the FAQ section.

 

https://www.ncl.com/faq

[pieshops]

could you explain that... I thought they were the same thing...I just am trying to understand

Its semantics that gets some on this board worked up about. If you pay the DSC, there is no need to pay any extra tips, it is tips but called something else. This also covers behind the scenes people so if you remove and pay on your own those people are not getting anything from you..Those who remove will say not true but I have worked on ships and know it is true

[C cruise]

Its semantics that gets some on this board worked up about. I This also covers behind the scenes people so if you remove and pay on your own those people are not getting anything from you..Those who remove will say not true but I have worked on ships and know it is true

 

ok... so if I tip on my own I am tipping people who actually do something for me.... but the behind the scenes people won't get anything - who are the behind the scenes people?

[sanger727]

could you explain that... I thought they were the same thing...I just am trying to understand

 

 

 

Unlike some other lines where the specifically break down that $4 goes to room stewards and $4 goes to wait staff; they simply phrase it as, your DSC provides crew incentives and welfare programs. Tipping on top of DSC is not required. We just pay the DSC and let ‘where it goes’ go.

 

 

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[pieshops]

ok... so if I tip on my own I am tipping people who actually do something for me.... but the behind the scenes people won't get anything - who are the behind the scenes people?

pretty much anyone you dont see, laundry people, maintenance people etc. Obviously they will get something but if half the people on the ship opt out, then they will all get half as much

[pieshops]

ok... so if I tip on my own I am tipping people who actually do something for me.... but the behind the scenes people won't get anything - who are the behind the scenes people?

exceptions are - entertainers, kids club workers, spa workers, butlers and concierge people they are not included in the DSC

[C cruise]

Unlike some other lines where the specifically break down that $4 goes to room stewards and $4 goes to wait staff; they simply phrase it as, your DSC provides crew incentives and welfare programs. Tipping on top of DSC is not required. We just pay the DSC and let ‘where it goes’ go.

 

 

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sanger727 - then you don't tip anymore or any others?

[pieshops]

sanger727 - then you don't tip anymore or any others?

sorry to hijack your direct question - but correct, not necessary - if you dint have the drink plan then there is a auto grat added to each bill, if you get the meal plan or the drink plan there is gratuity added on the total price of the package and then no extra grat is added on. Same in the spa - gratuity is added on automatically to whatever you spend

[smplybcause]

Also, since ncl is freestyle dining you'll most likely have different severs each night (I don't remember having the same one twice) so you'd have to bring cash with you each night to cover the severs. And it's even harder when you use the buffet.

 

Way easier to just pay the DSC.

 

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[BirdTravels]

Has anyone opted out of paying the service charge and just tipped on your own? and if not who does the service charge cover for tips?

Pay your DSC and don't worry about all of the behind the scenes people it covers. If can also provide additional gratuity to your room steward.

[Mistizoom]

Don't be cheap, pay the daily service charge. It covers wages for crew you see and crew you don't see. You certainly are welcome to tip over and above the daily service charge. The crew you interact with really do appreciate it.

[casofilia]

Being from New Zealand (and originally the UK) I am basically averse to any form of tipping but "When in Rome ....." I pay the DSC and tip my room steward extra if he/she has done a good job but he/she is the only one.

[KeithJenner]

Way easier to just pay the DSC.

 

 

 

Basically, this.

 

I have no strong feelings either way, and don’t care what people decide to do, but I honestly can’t work out why anyone wants to make their, and potentially other people’s, lives harder.

 

Basically, NCL have come up with their method of paying staff. The staff have taken jobs, or renewed contracts, based on that method of pay. It is reasonable to assume that they are happy enough with this to accept those jobs.

 

It seems frankly bizarre for me to then say, “actually, despite having no real clue as to the consequences, I’m going to waste my time whilst on holiday cancelling the DSC and then trying to find various members of staff to give them a few dollars, just because that’s how I do it at home”.

 

Save yourself the time and the effort and enjoy your holiday.

 

You are on a ship where things are set up to use the DSC. You may do it differently at home, where things are different. At home, I often don’t tip at all as it isn’t expected in many places. When I go away I look at the local customs and expectations and just follow them. On an NCL ship, the expectation is that you pay the DSC.

 

 

 

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[sanger727]

sanger727 - then you don't tip anymore or any others?

 

 

 

I don’t feel obligated to tip. I pay the DSC to cover the room stewards and wait staff. I get the UBP and SDP (as promos) and pay the service charge to cover the bar and specialty dining staff. By the time I step onto the boat I’ve paid over $50 per day in ‘service charges’. So no, I don’t feel obligated to tip above that unless I ask for special services (room service, extra from my room steward, etc).

 

 

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[ray98]

NCL's DSC's is just their method of compensating employees that falls in line with the industry standards you see across the board. Tip = gratuity = service charge.

 

NCL was the first to push the Freestyle model which took us away from the old model which focused on things such as an assigned wait staff for dinner at your assigned table in the main dining room. Now you will normally be served by a different team each night depending on where and when you dine. There is no practical way to pass on gratuities like used to happen when you gave an envelope on the last night to the head waiter.

 

Programs such as the DSC were created, the passengers still provided compensation to the numerous positions which are gratuity based and the program created a way to distribute this passenger provided compensation.

[Chris2018]

How do you guys know if NCL doesn't just pocket the daily service charge and not pay the money to their employees? It is a well known fact that cruise workers are underpaid even if they are paid a daily service charge or not.

 

When I said goodbye to my room attendant without tipping him, he seemed mad at me. He didn't say goodbye and did not smile. He just said okay and continued working in the hallway folding towels. I am not a cheapskate as I tip 20-25% to waiters here in New York all the time. But in my mind, I already tipped him with the daily service charge. The workers wanted cash as NCL barely compensates them for their time.

[KeithJenner]

How do you guys know if NCL doesn't just pocket the daily service charge and not pay the money to their employees? It is a well known fact that cruise workers are underpaid even if they are paid a daily service charge or not.

 

When I said goodbye to my room attendant without tipping him, he seemed mad at me. He didn't say goodbye and did not smile. He just said okay and continued working in the hallway folding towels. I am not a cheapskate as I tip 20-25% to waiters here in New York all the time. But in my mind, I already tipped him with the daily service charge. The workers wanted cash as NCL barely compensates them for their time.

 

 

 

To answer your first question. Don’t know, don’t care. That’s their business. The staff take the jobs, so I have to assume they are happy with the arrangement. If not, that’s something they have to deal with, not me.

 

As for the room stewards attitude to whether you tip or not. In all the cruises I have been on, the steward has never been aware when we leave whether we have tipped them. We always leave an envelope in the room when we go. We often see them in the corridor when we leave and say goodbye to them. They have always, without exception, been extremely friendly when we do so. I’d suggest that your experience was unusual and almost certainly nothing to do with tipping.

 

Edit: just to clarify my “don’t care” comment above, as it probably sounds a bit helpless. I obviously do care if people are being exploited, but I don’t see it as my job to go out of my way to ensure that they aren’t. I wouldn’t investigate how the workers at the local supermarket are being paid for example.

 

If someone were to present evidence that a company were badly treating their staff then I would consider how I should deal with that. It would be more likely that I wouldn’t deal with that company rather than run off and hand out cash myself.

 

As it is, I’ve heard various opinions either way. The one I personally believe the most is from an NCL employee who has worked for two other lines before and tells me that NCL have been the best payers of the three.

 

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Edited March 4, 2018 by KeithJenner

[FucusVesiculosus]

What currency do you tip in, if you're sailing from the UK to Norway, and don't have the UBP? Would pounds be ok?

[softl]

I've found the best service is given to those that recognize the worker. Even though I have the UBP I still tip the server for each drink. Very simple dollar every time gets you to the head of the line quickly. A fin in the dining room has the same effect if you try to get the same table. So, $20 or so bucks a day is nothing and it gets you great service.

[mjkacmom]

How do you guys know if NCL doesn't just pocket the daily service charge and not pay the money to their employees? It is a well known fact that cruise workers are underpaid even if they are paid a daily service charge or not.

 

When I said goodbye to my room attendant without tipping him, he seemed mad at me. He didn't say goodbye and did not smile. He just said okay and continued working in the hallway folding towels. I am not a cheapskate as I tip 20-25% to waiters here in New York all the time. But in my mind, I already tipped him with the daily service charge. The workers wanted cash as NCL barely compensates them for their time.

From what I’ve read, the DSC is basically their salary, which is contracted. I’ve always tipped our room steward, and many bartenders, but it’s not necessarily. Actually, we double tipped one steward on our last cruise, and gave nothing to the other (2 cabins), one was outstanding, the other not so much (we had four teens in one cabin, he didn’t pull down the Pullman a couple of times, so dd14 and dd16 had to share the couch.

[KeithJenner]

What currency do you tip in, if you're sailing from the UK to Norway, and don't have the UBP? Would pounds be ok?

 

 

 

I usually use dollars, as it is the onboard currency. As you are sailing from Southampton then they will be able to use pounds there, so they will be ok, if perhaps not quite as good as dollars.

 

Euros would also be fine.