$20 Service fee for a suite that has NO suite perks?

[Clambake77]

NCL is charging us $20 a day service fee for the family inside suite on the Joy. However, from what ive learned the cabin has NO perks of being a suite category. Why am I paying as much for the service fee as the Haven suites who get all the perks. Anyone, Anyone????

[Old & Retired]

I believe the phrase you are looking for is 'revenue generation by any means necessary.'

[ChiefMateJRK]

41 minutes ago, Clambake77 said:

NCL is charging us $20 a day service fee for the family inside suite on the Joy. However, from what ive learned the cabin has NO perks of being a suite category. Why am I paying as much for the service fee as the Haven suites who get all the perks. Anyone, Anyone????

NCL is evil.  Best to just run away and never look back.

[julig22]

Go to guest services and have it adjusted when you get on board.

[joelheather]

The difference is marginal. However, the Haven suites should be at the highest service charge.  If your room is only categorized as a suite, and they do not come with Haven amenities therefore, you technically should be paying less then those who are getting the perks.  Up until Dec last year the SP category had more benefits. Now it just a room category.  

[Silver Sweethearts]

5 hours ago, Clambake77 said:

NCL is charging us $20 a day service fee for the family inside suite on the Joy. However, from what ive learned the cabin has NO perks of being a suite category. Why am I paying as much for the service fee as the Haven suites who get all the perks. Anyone, Anyone????

Here is the latest information we could find on the subject:

 

"Norwegian Cruise Line announced an increase of the daily services charges of crew gratuities. In a letter sent to guests and travel agents the company said that starting April 1, 2022, will be making a nominal adjustment to the daily service charges. 

The new daily service charges per person will be $20.00 – for guests in The Haven & Suite, $18.00 for Club Balcony Suite, and $16.00 for Balcony and below."

 

Your TA should be on top of this - or at least you be on top of her to handle this.

 

 

[lx200gps]

11 hours ago, Clambake77 said:

NCL is charging us $20 a day service fee for the family inside suite on the Joy. However, from what ive learned the cabin has NO perks of being a suite category. Why am I paying as much for the service fee as the Haven suites who get all the perks. Anyone, Anyone????

Not sure that's technically correct. We have an outside suite, SC category in June, and while the suite perqs have been cut way back on the Joy, there are still a few left.  The best one, the free breakfast and lunch in a specialty restaurant is long gone, but there are still a few left. Limited Concierge services, priority embarkation and disembarkation, a few free room service deliveries,  free PPV movies upgraded toiletries etc, all pretty lame. There a few threads on this subject here on this forum.

Edited May 7, 2022 by lx200gps

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, Clambake77 said:

NCL is charging us $20 a day service fee for the family inside suite on the Joy. However, from what ive learned the cabin has NO perks of being a suite category. Why am I paying as much for the service fee as the Haven suites who get all the perks. Anyone, Anyone????

The Daily Service Charge is your gratuity to the crew who work tirelessly to serve you. Your room steward who has to clean your "big" room, restaurant staff (including in your private restaurant, waiters, cooks, dishwashers), cruise staff (both passenger facing and behind the scenes, etc.).  It is not a fee for perks. Other than a butler, you pretty much get what suites get on other ships. And the butler would not be included in the DSC, so you would be expected to tip them separately. 

 

If you want a smaller Daily Service Charge, get a smaller room. 

[vacation44]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Daily Service Charge is your gratuity to the crew who work tirelessly to serve you. Your room steward who has to clean your "big" room, restaurant staff (including in your private restaurant, waiters, cooks, dishwashers), cruise staff (both passenger facing and behind the scenes, etc.).  It is not a fee for perks. Other than a butler, you pretty much get what suites get on other ships. And the butler would not be included in the DSC, so you would be expected to tip them separately. 

 

If you want a smaller Daily Service Charge, get a smaller room. 

The OP will be on the Joy, so there will be no "private restaurant".

[milolii]

I read this is a very nice cabin.  The service fee is the gratuity for the crew. It is added to all cabins. Yours may be a little bit more. 

[happytotravel]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The Daily Service Charge is your gratuity to the crew who work tirelessly to serve you. Your room steward who has to clean your "big" room, restaurant staff (including in your private restaurant, waiters, cooks, dishwashers), cruise staff (both passenger facing and behind the scenes, etc.).  It is not a fee for perks. Other than a butler, you pretty much get what suites get on other ships. And the butler would not be included in the DSC, so you would be expected to tip them separately. 

 

If you want a smaller Daily Service Charge, get a smaller room. 

 

[happytotravel]

Thanks for pointing that out to the OP.  People either forget or are not aware of all the crew members there are that make their cruise a memorable time.

 

happytotravel

 

 

[SpainAlien]

You are still in a suite with some suite perks albeit not Haven access. You are basically paying $2 per day per person DSC over what you would pay in a standard cabin for the crew looking after you.

[joelheather]

On 5/7/2022 at 7:50 AM, BirdTravels said:

The Daily Service Charge is your gratuity to the crew who work tirelessly to serve you. Your room steward who has to clean your "big" room, restaurant staff (including in your private restaurant, waiters, cooks, dishwashers), cruise staff (both passenger facing and behind the scenes, etc.).  It is not a fee for perks. Other than a butler, you pretty much get what suites get on other ships. And the butler would not be included in the DSC, so you would be expected to tip them separately. 

 

If you want a smaller Daily Service Charge, get a smaller room. 

So by your thinking. If i get two Connecting staterooms that doubles the square footage, I should pay double for each person. Two larger inside family cabins have more SF then the inside family suite. Your logic is faulty. Nice try though. You 100% did not absorb the spirit of the OP’s observation.

Edited May 10, 2022 by joelheather

[complawyer]

clambake 77, before you book any cabin, im sure you are aware that there is a "daily gratuity charge" per person. ncl has just recently raised the prices. while you may think $20 for no extra perks is excessive, in next one down i believe is $18.50 per day, so in reality you are complaining about $3.00 per day per couple. on an extended 14 day cruise youre talking about an additional $45 (hope my math is correct) sorry, but you'd probably drop more in the casino, 

 

if this really, really bothers you that much, go to guest relations and have them take it off your bill. they will do this with no hassles, and you will not be cursed, ridiculed or d**ned for all eternity if you go this route

 

always amazes me, how anyone taking a cruise, can spend 1000's of dollars on their vacation, and still quibble about a daily gratuity.

 

final thought!  if you are going to opt for having the daily charges removed from your overall bill, at least be gracious enough to tip individually for any services  you receive on board

 

this should include your cabin steward, butler and concierge if you have them, bartenders, waiters and waitresses and whoever is bringing you your drinks in a lounge or at the theater

 

wouldnt hurt to occasionally tip the blackjack dealer if youre doing well

[joelheather]

On 5/9/2022 at 11:23 PM, complawyer said:

clambake 77, before you book any cabin, im sure you are aware that there is a "daily gratuity charge" per person. ncl has just recently raised the prices. while you may think $20 for no extra perks is excessive, in next one down i believe is $18.50 per day, so in reality you are complaining about $3.00 per day per couple. on an extended 14 day cruise youre talking about an additional $45 (hope my math is correct) sorry, but you'd probably drop more in the casino, 

 

if this really, really bothers you that much, go to guest relations and have them take it off your bill. they will do this with no hassles, and you will not be cursed, ridiculed or d**ned for all eternity if you go this route

 

always amazes me, how anyone taking a cruise, can spend 1000's of dollars on their vacation, and still quibble about a daily gratuity.

 

final thought!  if you are going to opt for having the daily charges removed from your overall bill, at least be gracious enough to tip individually for any services  you receive on board

 

this should include your cabin steward, butler and concierge if you have them, bartenders, waiters and waitresses and whoever is bringing you your drinks in a lounge or at the theater

 

wouldnt hurt to occasionally tip the blackjack dealer if youre doing well

WOW the OP really hit a nerve with you… Where did it say they we contemplating removing the service charge, or even lowing it?  It was simply an observation.  And it happens to be relevant and appropriate. The Haven category should always be at the highest DSC.  Suites, 2nd and all others 3rd. 

[complawyer]

he didnt hit a nerve, it seems he was b**ching about a $20 daily gratuity charge that everyone pays in differing amounts, and i was just commenting, if he didnt want to pay it, he could have it removed

[nferr]

It's spelled out so why is it a surprise? 

[BirdTravels]

On 5/7/2022 at 8:12 AM, vacation44 said:

The OP will be on the Joy, so there will be no "private restaurant".

Has that gone away now?  We ate at La Cucina as a suites passenger when we were on the Joy. 

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Important (Health) Update - well, a 2nd. round of Antigen Rapid test this afternoon confirmed my/our worst "fear" - and, that is NOT to set off panic and start the blame game, just to inform and strongly urge, recommend and advise any & all with plans to sail the Joy, to exercise due diligence.  Mask up correctly, especially when indoors & in crowded places - I don't think we can pinpoint precisely when & how or where we're exposed.  We're masked up this morning as we disembark the ship, thru the cruise terminal and in our car service ride home - we worn our masks last night in the Joy Theater & were otherwise mostly in our suite yesterday - a slim chance of spreading the risks to others.  

 

Luckily, symptoms are mild - we are fully vaxxed (Pfizer) and boosted - our BIL/SIL & her sister in the other suite were double boosted, tested negative after we alerted them.  The other SIL that're in "our" suite but in the smaller bedroom & bath by herself, boosted - tested also negative.  All 4 of them will doing the self test again in 48 to 72 hours just to be sure, sooner if they begin to experience symptoms - Susan had a fever of 100.6 earlier (it's down now), her SPO2 is fine at 96%, other basic vitals are fine - yours truly, I believe, has milder symptoms that can be easily mistaken for catching a cold or the flu.  

 

For the next 5 to 7 days, we are going to self-isolate, test again and stay put, I'm sleeping in the library/guest room's sofabed & going to follow CDC guidance.  We had tried to be as careful as we should but it's a challenge with the latest & highly contagious sub/variants prevalent in the NY area now.  

 

I had a hunch all week that something is being spread onboard & crew is trying to go above and beyond, thinking it's possibly norovirus.  I was wrong on that, it turned out to be C-19 & we caught it ourselves, unfortunately ...  Well, we knew the risks involved and took it, it was fine in late March on the Getaway, but - boo, just going to accept and take personal responsibilities for it.  If warranted, we can use tele-health, etc.  Plentiful provisions in the freeze & on pantry shelves to get us thru and get food delivered, etc.  We should be fine - count our blessings over the last 2 years - after a few days of home/bed rest - more time to hangout on CC 👴

 

 

Just think for a moment, if these were the results last Friday - would've ended up with denied boarding and ...  Somehow & somewhere, between Sunday and yesterday, while on this cruise - we became unlucky.  

 

 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Has that gone away now?  We ate at La Cucina as a suites passenger when we were on the Joy. 

Yes, it was taken away in early December, along with the majority of suite amenities. 

[mking8288]

Affirmatively.  As of lately on the Joy, we just disembarked this morning - had two SC on Deck 10 (Family Inside Suites - 2 bedrooms with 2 baths) and paid the prevailing rates when we booked it last month, wasn't upgrade bidded into them.  There're no special dining area for guests in these 32 SC cabins - I cannot speak, definitively about SP suites.  

 

$20 per person per day as the DSC and aside from the coffee machine, restocked daily, there're no other perks that I can think of.  Room Steward was fine, but didn't even offer or ask whether we wish to have an ice bucket filled / refilled, of course - we didn't get any soda or "cartons" of water either, except for 4 "cartons" due to our Latitudes tier status (Sapphire) - the other SC suite got 2.  We're charged for $10 Room Service delivery for a "hot breakfast" - privileges being the same as someone in a Studio, Inside or Balcony.  We had to ask for 1 "extra" pair of white bath robes & disposable slippers (none that are oversized) - only 2 in the closet, when it's clear & obvious - as they have a manifest with headcounts, etc. - there're 3 staying in each of our 2 suites ... can't speak for the other 30 or 31 SC.  

 

The $10 room service charge offset or covered by our NR OBC, however, not everyone gets or receive OBC.  To us, it's not a big deal and not that it is unaffordable, or else, we would NOT book them - perhaps, call it a matter of curiosity to burn a little more money than usual (and, we own NCLH stocks for years ...)  The real answers that we are looking for, still puzzled, is what exactly did we get for being in these "suites" when half of the virtual balcony screen gone offline 3 times this week, each requiring a call to Guest Services ... since I wasn't sure the steward would check, report & get someone to fix it, STAT.  Rebooting ourselves didn't restore connectivity.  

 

Had we stayed with the Insides, Oceanviews or Balconies, our Latitudes status would get us "priority check-in / embarkation as well as disembarkation" and special color / mailed luggage tags or delivered onboard.  We wouldn't need to pay or stay in one of these SC to get "priorities".  

 

NY (Manhattan) Cruise Terminal's check-in lately, especially when Bermuda bound is consistently unpredictable, unreliable and chaotic, disorganized - unlike the Florida/GSC/Nassau runs on the Getaway - I am being careful to not confuse some of the suites-related issues inside the building, which is handled by shore-based outsourced contractor for NCL.  

 

I detailed a list of issues to the newly onboard GM mid-week, got a follow-up message the next day from one of his delegated manager, head of Guest Services - and, we had a long chat ... he is aware & I reiterated the concerns are from a "concerned" group on CC.  It isn't and didn't ruin our vacation onboard, although there are subtle issues with not really seeing things being done to go "above & beyond"  

 

Case in point - with 2 Platinum in the other suite and 2 Sapphire in ours, we had zero paper laundry bag or slip in their closet and a single (one) small (downsized) paper bag in ours - no laundry slip either.  When asked, received (surprise) 2 old/originally sized paper laundry bag (used for last 2 decades) plus 2 slips to use - nylon laundry bags (or is it cotton, reusable ones) to save us the hassle of skipping a liner.  Marriott's laundry bags to be rescue as liners, fit inside those paper bags.  Perks - explain to us, how.  Not bad enough to ***** onboard & demand another conversation with the care team or escalate to the asst. housekeeping manager, or should I.  I did speak to him about an unrelated matter and knew who to call, as a "complaint" - not worth my / our time.  

 

Don't get me started about those "treats" delivered twice during the week - it was really a joke, I'm not going to repeat it here, photo-documented in "Semi-Live" - no further need to say anything.  Sister of one of my two sister-in-law said it well, we could've gone upstair to the buffet & bring better varieties down in a small bowl or plate ... except that the rectangular covered tray fit better inside the refrigerator, and it's more roomy & empty except for 3 bottles there, for our convenience, with a charge ... of course.  

 

We didn't and never reduced that DSC but what we cash tipped (extras) this week, was, in fact, less than what we gave to our steward on the Getaway last month - staying in a balcony.  He was smart, helpful, proactive and truly make us feel at home in the cabin then.  These past 7 nights, not too sure about it and that's based on Mrs M's vote. 

 

Let's see what changes can and will be made in the coming weeks, as the Roll Calls have been following along - not just on suite-related Joy issues but "generic" ones that are mostly off-topics & not related to this thread. 

[lx200gps]

11 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Affirmatively.  As of lately on the Joy, we just disembarked this morning - had two SC on Deck 10 (Family Inside Suites - 2 bedrooms with 2 baths) and paid the prevailing rates when we booked it last month, wasn't upgrade bidded into them.  There're no special dining area for guests in these 32 SC cabins - I cannot speak, definitively about SP suites.  

 

 

 

I'm confused? According to the NCL Deck Plan for the Joy, the SC category Suites are the "Penthouse Suite with Balcony" and the SP Category are the inside "Family Suites" 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

I'm confused? According to the NCL Deck Plan for the Joy, the SC category Suites are the "Penthouse Suite with Balcony" and the SP Category are the inside "Family Suites" 

My bad, sorry 😔 I got that mixed up, reverse them - SP is the family suites as nd SC the smaller penthouse suite but the "spirit" of my comment doesn't change it, and there are just 31 family suites exclusive to the Joy's design & layout.  I doubt that these penthouses get anything more than we did ... Or else, the Guest Service manager would've said otherwise. 

 

[lx200gps]

6 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

My bad, sorry 😔 I got that mixed up, reverse them - SP is the family suites as nd SC the smaller penthouse suite but the "spirit" of my comment doesn't change it, and there are just 31 family suites exclusive to the Joy's design & layout.  I doubt that these penthouses get anything more than we did ... Or else, the Guest Service manager would've said otherwise. 

 

No worries, we're in an SC in a month and I've been following your thread closely. As far as I can tell, the only benefit to these rooms now is the significantly larger floor area, as pretty much all the useful perqs are gone, albeit replaced by our unexpected $200/pp OBC. The only other perq we'll be trying is the Concierge "service" for making restaurant bookings. Pre-boarding, I've only been able to book 4 specialty restaurant meals, only one per restaurant and we need three more, including Ocean Blue which I couldn't do on-line. I wrote the Concierge an Email this weekend, receiving an automated reply that they'll get back to us during working hours. Let's see if they can actually make these reservations.

[abugarcia1]

While we are not fans of fees, after our experience, we felt this was more than acceptable. Considering 3 meals a week for 7 days, that was barely enough in our opinion for the experience we received in the restaurant and their staff. That did not include our butler or concierge Adrian who was outstanding.