Tip Breakdown on NCL

[pajazz28]

I know the daily tip rate on NCL is $16.00 for non suite cabins. Does anyone know the breakdown for cabin attendants vs, dinning staff?

 

[All-ready2cruise]

I doubt it. I could be wrong of course. 

IMO, it's none of our business. 

[The Black Page]

You are talking about the Daily Service Charge, not tips.  While may claim to know who gets what wile others swear that"NCL keeps it all for added profit", no one outside of NCL knows how the DSC funds are distributed.

 

[RocketMan275]

The bottom line is this:  the crew is willing to work for the distribution as it is.  Therefore it is not really any of our concern.

[PATRLR]

To the best of my knowledge, that information has not been published.   I'm in the camp that there is no direct link between amount of DSC collected and what gets to the employees.  In other words, I believe it's just another revenue source to NCL.

[EvanBedar]

Does anyone truly believe that the crew on all of Norwegian's fleet doesn't read a news paper or visit cruise forums and news sites?
 

If they knew NCL was claiming to share something with their employees that they  actually weren't, the crew are grownups.

They know how to blow a whistle.

[phillygwm]

17 minutes ago, pajazz28 said:

I know the daily tip rate on NCL is $16.00 for non suite cabins. Does anyone know the breakdown for cabin attendants vs, dinning staff?

 

I don't consider DSC "tips," I consider it part of the cost of the cruise, not unlike taxes and port fees.   It gets allocated...somehow...maybe.  Truthfully, we'll probably never know and I'd be surprised if even the crew get a transparent accounting. 

 

Personally, if someone provides excellent service, I'll throw them a few bucks regardless of DSC.  It's wholly optional and, so we're told, not expected.  

 

  

[ColeThornton]

The crew don't get any share of the DSC.  They are third world country slaves forced into serving the evil NCL overlords.  

 

Or, something along those lines.  

[weltek]

Agree that this info isn't available re: the daily service charge specifically. Even crew haven't really been able to give a clear answer, based on my time on Cruise Critic.

All we know is that it's used for, generally (quotes directly from NCL), divided tips and other compensation programs (e.g., incentives, celebrations):

 

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. 

“At Norwegian Cruise Line, we are committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences at every step of the cruise journey, and with the dedication of our shipboard team, we are able to turn your vacation dreams into reality. As such, we make it easy for guests to show their appreciation for these vacation heroes with discretionary daily services charges, which provide gratuities to key onboard team members, including room stewards, restaurant servers and behind-the-scenes support staff.” NCL letter send to travel partners reads.
 

Other tips (e.g. cash to bartenders, servers, stewards) have a little more clarity around how they are handled, though even that's a little muddy. Stewards have said they are supposed to turn over/report them as they occur and they are given back once the DSC for the sailing has been divided. That would imply if someone removes DSC, the cash tip is included back in the pooled and divided amount. If everyone pays their DSC on that sailing (for that stewards assigned cabins?), then that steward gets back the cash.  Bartenders have reported they generally have pooled all cash tips and charged tips for the shift, just like your local bar. 

That's my best understanding from reading here forever, though someone else may have better info.

Edited November 8, 2022 by weltek

[GeezerCouple]

48 minutes ago, pajazz28 said:

I know the daily tip rate on NCL is $16.00 for non suite cabins. Does anyone know the breakdown for cabin attendants vs, dinning staff?

 

 

It's supposedly distributed among many categories of crew/employees, not just those you "see".  That includes those handling laundry, food prep, etc....

 

GC

[luv2kroooz]

24 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

I don't consider DSC "tips," I consider it part of the cost of the cruise, not unlike taxes and port fees. 

Norwegian defines them as gratuities. See the above post. They definitely are part of the cost of the cruise. However, they are very different from taxes and port fees, which are non negotiable and non discretionary. The DSC is fully discretionary and can be adjusted up or down while onboard prior to the end of the cruise based on the level of service received.

[Mjbenz]

Every crew member has a contract with a set salary. The DSC is used to pay those salaries. NCL corp takes the remaining amount and could use it on bonus programs for the top crew members based on hero cards. 
 

crew members do not get tips unless you personally give them cash tips.  

[TrumpyNor]

I actually worked as cabin steward on a luxury cruiseline  for a few months more than 20 years ago, and at that time the recommended tip (similar to what NCL today has as their "daily service charge") per day per cabin was $10,00 - and from that $10 I as a cabin steward received $3,50 (so actually 35%) per day (the base salary from the cruise line was only $750 per month, working 12 hours per day 7 days per week for many months). The rest was divided with a certain percentage to retaurant waiters, assistant waiters and bar staff. This was paid out to our "on board account" at the end of every cruise.

On top of that, we also very often received a personal tip in cash. 

Edited November 8, 2022 by TrumpyNor

[weltek]

4 minutes ago, Mjbenz said:

Every crew member has a contract with a set salary. The DSC is used to pay those salaries. NCL corp takes the remaining amount and could use it on bonus programs for the top crew members based on hero cards. 
 

crew members do not get tips unless you personally give them cash tips.  

Re: "The DSC is used to pay those salaries." Do you have sources to back this up? Because it sounds like theories I've seen posted with no real information to back it up. I'm not saying you are lying, but I'm concerned about rumors and conjecture being retold as truth, so always look at these statements with a bit of skepticism.

[phillygwm]

57 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

The DSC is fully discretionary and can be adjusted up or down while onboard prior to the end of the cruise based on the level of service received.

Just because NCL defines it as "gratuities" doesn't make it so.  We simply don't know.

 

And, while you're correct about being able to adjust DSC, I never would.  Why?  As mentioned above, nobody seems to know with certainty but I doubt that my DSC is specifically allocated to "my" crew.  So if my steward, for instance, was subpar, by reducing DSC I might be impacting everyone else in the pool, many of whom are behind the scenes making my cruise enjoyable.

 

Likewise, I'd never increase it.  As is more often the case, when I want to recognize someone for exceptional service, I'd rather hand cash to that individual.

 

Ultimately, I'd rather they roll DSC into the base fare but that won't happen because the promo fares wouldn't be as attractive.

Edited November 8, 2022 by phillygwm

[ChiefMateJRK]

21 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

Ultimately, I'd rather they roll DSC into the base fare

I'm not sure that would make any difference for anybody.  I like that they charge it separately as a discretionary charge, because it creates the idea (illusion?) that we've already paid "tips" and that any additional tips are just for over and above service for an entertainer/waiter/bartender/etc. who has made our cruise extra enjoyable.  Those emerge on every cruise and we enjoy handing them some extra cash, especially the musicians who tend to become the highlight of every cruise, regardless of where the ship sails/stops.

[Haddonqueen]

I was. Surprised to find A crew wages.  It’s a  list of what each crew member gets paid, from kitchen porter to head chef.      I better not post it cos it would cause problems.  But believe me I’m taking the gratuities off and I’ll tip myself. 

[PATRLR]

5 hours ago, Mjbenz said:

Every crew member has a contract with a set salary. The DSC is used to pay those salaries. NCL corp takes the remaining amount and could use it on bonus programs for the top crew members based on hero cards. 
 

crew members do not get tips unless you personally give them cash tips.  

Please provide a source for these statements.  Otherwise, they are just more unfounded claims.
 

6 hours ago, EvanBedar said:

Does anyone truly believe that the crew on all of Norwegian's fleet doesn't read a news paper or visit cruise forums and news sites?
 

If they knew NCL was claiming to share something with their employees that they  actually weren't, the crew are grownups.

They know how to blow a whistle.

NCL claims to give a percentage of the DSC to the crew and I believe that they do.  I suspect the crew  has both fixed and variable components to their salary with the calculus for the variable portion being unverifiable.  So, the crew may very well know exactly what's going on but they have no way to prove it.

[EvanBedar]

5 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Please provide a source for these statements.  Otherwise, they are just more unfounded claims.
 

NCL claims to give a percentage of the DSC to the crew and I believe that they do.  I suspect the crew  has both fixed and variable components to their salary with the calculus for the variable portion being unverifiable.  So, the crew may very well know exactly what's going on but they have no way to prove it.

lt’s $20, 18 and 16 pp pd.  Any crew member could check the passenger load and do the math and from that could easily divide it by the number of crew with a stake in the onboard service charge which would give them an excellent idea what the percentage of the total OSC is that they’re getting.   So this is no big mystery.  

[PATRLR]

9 hours ago, EvanBedar said:

lt’s $20, 18 and 16 pp pd.  Any crew member could check the passenger load and do the math and from that could easily divide it by the number of crew with a stake in the onboard service charge which would give them an excellent idea what the percentage of the total OSC is that they’re getting.   So this is no big mystery.  

Your original statement was "NCL was claiming to share something with their employees that they  actually weren't".  I don't think anyone doubts NCL is sharing some amount of the DSC with the crew. What I doubt (and I suspect I am not alone) is whether all of the collected DSC truly goes to the crew as part of a variable compensation component tied to the amount of collected DSC.

 

But, let's assume for a minute that the cabin steward does have access to all the information and calculations needed to determine what his/her cut of the collected DSC should be each week.  Do you think s/he also has access to what all the other staff are supposed to be getting too?  If so, then they would need not only the calculations for those other staff but also headcount of that staff each week.   

An individual staffer might be able to determine that they are getting their specific agreed to share but do you really think they know if 100% of the DSC is going to the staff, in the form of variable compensation, as NCL would have the guests believe?
 

[The Black Page]

20 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

The crew don't get any share of the DSC.  They are third world country slaves forced into serving the evil NCL overlords.  

 

Or, something along those lines.  

 

Thanks for your OPINION

[The Black Page]

19 hours ago, Mjbenz said:

Every crew member has a contract with a set salary. The DSC is used to pay those salaries. NCL corp takes the remaining amount and could use it on bonus programs for the top crew members based on hero cards. 
 

crew members do not get tips unless you personally give them cash tips.  

 

 

And we have yet another OPINION. 🙂

[ColeThornton]

4 minutes ago, The Black Page said:

 

Thanks for your OPINION

 

It was obviously said tongue-in-cheek.

 

But yes, people express opinions here.

[cruiseny4life]

5 minutes ago, The Black Page said:

 

 

And we have yet another OPINION. 🙂

I suppose you're new to Cruise Critic...but opinions are the backbone of the site. If they weren't....well it wouldn't be so interesting. 

 

Anyway, welcome? 

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Please provide a source for these statements.  Otherwise, they are just more unfounded claims.
 

NCL claims to give a percentage of the DSC to the crew and I believe that they do.  I suspect the crew  has both fixed and variable components to their salary with the calculus for the variable portion being unverifiable.  So, the crew may very well know exactly what's going on but they have no way to prove it.

Agree.  I believe the variable portion is based, at least in large part, on the customer satisfaction surveys, as the crew seems to push for a “great” review pretty heavily.

 

As far as wages, you have to add in the fact that their room and board is “free”, too.  That’s a big portion of the compensation.