Gratuities/Daily Service Charges increasing!!

[julig22]

9 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

Based on the lack of response, I wonder if removing the DSC is, in fact, more of an urban legend and this discussion is a lot of lather over nothing. 

Pretty sure it's not an urban legend, based on the number of posts on various platforms where people say they "always" do it. 

What isn't apparent is how it's done and the consequences, if any.  Do you have to give an example of the poor service -like name names.  Are there consequences to your room steward - it's been speculated that if you pull the DSC, your steward is supposed to hand over those cash tips.

[ngrund]

5 hours ago, Deacon22 said:

OK my head hurts reading this.  

I paid everything in advance looking at my bill. It says I paid 222.72 for Free At Sea Gratuities.

 

Is that what they are talking about?  My bill says amount due 0. Is there an additional surcharge coming or is that it?

Looks like you do not have these services charges added

 

Your invoice should have lines similar to the below (At least that's how it shows on the invoice I receive booking through Caesars (casino comp card discount):

 

These are the Free at sea Bev and Dining

Bev Srv Charge 277.20
Din Srv Charge 31.60

 

These are the services charges being discussed:

Prepaid Service Charges 217.00

 

if you don't see this last line, you need to pre-pay or you will be charged on board

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tony s]

36 minutes ago, julig22 said:

Pretty sure it's not an urban legend, based on the number of posts on various platforms where people say they "always" do it. 

What isn't apparent is how it's done and the consequences, if any.  Do you have to give an example of the poor service -like name names.  Are there consequences to your room steward - it's been speculated that if you pull the DSC, your steward is supposed to hand over those cash tips.

Done it . They ask what they can do to make you happy and then take it off no drama. Crew does not know 

[RocketMan275]

46 minutes ago, tony s said:

Done it . They ask what they can do to make you happy and then take it off no drama. Crew does not know 

It has been reported here multiple times that the crew does know if DSC is removed.  Maybe not until after debarkation, but they are informed.  Numerous reports of posting in the crew's area of removals.  Also, mutliple reports that crew must return any cash received directly from those who have removed/decreased DSC.

[RD64]

9 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

Hey, so happy you enjoy the present day NCL. Enjoy your cruises, too!! I wish you would have had an opportunity to experience NCL pre pandemic. It was an even more wonderful experience at a fraction of the cost. True value.

If you had experienced it pre 2000, it was a completely different world - that is when cruising was truly something special.

[ChiefMateJRK]

8 minutes ago, RD64 said:

If you had experienced it pre 2000, it was a completely different world - that is when cruising was truly something special.

What was so "special" during the last millenium?  Isn't that when folks had to dress up and eat with the same people all of the time?

[New2cruise2022]

1 hour ago, tony s said:

Done it . They ask what they can do to make you happy and then take it off no drama. Crew does not know 

Thank you. I didn’t think people were lying about it, but it really is pretty unheard of other than the mention of it. Do people do it on the first day or the last day? Or does it even matter?

[travelgalnow]

On 12/7/2022 at 8:17 AM, pghflyer said:

That is quite a hike.  For those of us that don't spa/ gamble and get all the elite benefits and "free at sea" stuff............the gratuities are kind of the only thing left that I use my OBC for (well, that and maybe CruiseNext certs).  So prepaying solves the rate-hike problem but leaves me with an OBC problem. Privileged problems for sure but still.  I wouldn't do it myself but I mean, nothing really stops people from going to the front desk and telling them you booked planning to spend the published gratuity rate and want your gratuities adjusted to that amount.

Yes, but would they really do it?  I'm sailing in January, and I also planned to use my onboard credit toward the service charges. If you read on their website, and as DaCruiseBug posted, they will give you a hard time about adjusting the service charges unless you say there is a service issue and they can't rectify it. I guess I could put up a stink about it and maybe they would adjust it. That's not what I want to do. And they may not agree to adjust it anyway.  And according to the FAQ on the Norwegian website, it's not a gratuity. It's a service charge. I may pay it in advance and try to use my onboard credit on some excursions. Not sure yet. Not happy with Norwegian right now. It is too high of a jump, too quickly. I think they are doing okay financially. 

[travelgalnow]

2 hours ago, tony s said:

Done it . They ask what they can do to make you happy and then take it off no drama. Crew does not know 

Have you done it recently on NCL though? And I don't want to remove it entirely. I just want to pay the amount I contracted to pay. Not the new amount. And I don't want to pay it in advance of the cruise.

[fstuff1]

33 minutes ago, travelgalnow said:

Have you done it recently on NCL though? And I don't want to remove it entirely. I just want to pay the amount I contracted to pay. Not the new amount. And I don't want to pay it in advance of the cruise.

I've done partial removal pre covid.

I gave cash to the room steward.

 

The form asked for a reason for modifying the dsc.

Reason: gave cash

 

Have not done it since cruise restart.

But I might lower it to $10/day.

'"Reason: $20/day dsc too high. Thought $10/day is adaquate and was too lazy to modify Even though the default dsc kept raising.

But $20/day spurred me into action. Thx Del Rio." 😄

 

Interesting note:

Celebrity does not allow partial removal. It's either all or none. 

[travelgalnow]

7 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

I've done partial removal pre covid.

I gave cash to the room steward.

 

The form asked for a reason for modifying the dsc.

Reason: gave cash

 

Have not done it since cruise restart.

But I might lower it to $10/day.

 

'"Reason: $20/day dsc too high. Thought $10/day is adaquate and was too lazy to modify Even though the default dsc kept raising.

But $20/day spurred me into action. Thx Del Rio." 😄

 

Interesting note:

Celebrity does not allow partial removal. It's either all or none. 

So, is the form you fill out a reimbursement form? And you receive the difference back after the cruise? or do they change it onboard?

 

I just talked to my husband about it. It sounds like he is willing to go onboard and argue, if necessary. 😅It's just not cool to change the rate after you have booked and are all locked in.

Edited December 9, 2022 by travelgalnow

[dbrown84]

53 minutes ago, travelgalnow said:

Yes, but would they really do it?  I'm sailing in January, and I also planned to use my onboard credit toward the service charges. If you read on their website, and as DaCruiseBug posted, they will give you a hard time about adjusting the service charges unless you say there is a service issue and they can't rectify it. I guess I could put up a stink about it and maybe they would adjust it. That's not what I want to do. And they may not agree to adjust it anyway.  And according to the FAQ on the Norwegian website, it's not a gratuity. It's a service charge. I may pay it in advance and try to use my onboard credit on some excursions. Not sure yet. Not happy with Norwegian right now. It is too high of a jump, too quickly. I think they are doing okay financially. 

I've done it as recently as this past October.  they don't give you a hard time at all.  You fill out the form and give it back.  No questions were asked at all by the guest service agent

[fstuff1]

8 minutes ago, travelgalnow said:

So, is the form you fill out a reimbursement form? And you receive the difference back after the cruise? or do they change it onboard?

 

I just talked to my husband about it. It sounds like he is willing to go onboard and argue, if necessary. 😅It's just not cool to change the rate after you have booked and are all locked in.

No idea about reimbursement.

I usually don't prepay.

[julig22]

58 minutes ago, travelgalnow said:

Yes, but would they really do it?  I'm sailing in January, and I also planned to use my onboard credit toward the service charges. If you read on their website, and as DaCruiseBug posted, they will give you a hard time about adjusting the service charges unless you say there is a service issue and they can't rectify it. I guess I could put up a stink about it and maybe they would adjust it. That's not what I want to do. And they may not agree to adjust it anyway.  And according to the FAQ on the Norwegian website, it's not a gratuity. It's a service charge. I may pay it in advance and try to use my onboard credit on some excursions. Not sure yet. Not happy with Norwegian right now. It is too high of a jump, too quickly. I think they are doing okay financially. 

Just a fyi - unless you have refundable OBC it can't be used to pay your DSC.  Seems like a lot of effort just ' cause you don't want to pay in advance.

[New2cruise2022]

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I've done it as recently as this past October.  they don't give you a hard time at all.  You fill out the form and give it back.  No questions were asked at all by the guest service agent

Was it given back immediately or after cruise? What day of the cruise was this?

[dbrown84]

1 minute ago, New2cruise2022 said:

Was it given back immediately or after cruise? What day of the cruise was this?

This was at some point during the week (I believe the 2nd or 3rd day) when I filled out the form.  The DSC continued to hit my account each day, then on the last day all the charges dropped off.  The guest services agent explained to me that it would work this way, so I was not concerned to see it being added to my bill each day.

[New2cruise2022]

4 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

This was at some point during the week (I believe the 2nd or 3rd day) when I filled out the form.  The DSC continued to hit my account each day, then on the last day all the charges dropped off.  The guest services agent explained to me that it would work this way, so I was not concerned to see it being added to my bill each day.

I assume you have never felt like you were treated differently after filling out the form. 

[IronRobi]

5 hours ago, julig22 said:

What isn't apparent is how it's done and the consequences, if any.  Do you have to give an example of the poor service -like name names. 

Done it twice. Once on NCL once on Carnival.

On Carnival it was due to a price dispute at the spa caused by a price increase over what was already arranged. They wouldn't budge and actually advised me to remove the $40 or whatever it was from the DSC. But Guest Services would not remove only a portion and took the entire DSC off instead. I felt it a strange policy.

 

With both times, guest services were very pleasant and polite, didn't ask many questions or pose any argument about it at all. I wasn't shamed, wasn't made to feel bad, nothing. Both needed a small form filled out that gave you the opportunity to express an issue, but you weren't required to put anything in there at all.

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, New2cruise2022 said:

I assume you have never felt like you were treated differently after filling out the form. 

no.  Honestly, this idea that the staff knows is news to me.  Not that I would care

[travelgalnow]

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

Just a fyi - unless you have refundable OBC it can't be used to pay your DSC.  Seems like a lot of effort just ' cause you don't want to pay in advance.

 

On other cruise lines, I've always been able to apply non-refundable OBC to the DSC. It just shows as a credit on the bill and when all the charges are added the net result to pay is the difference.  Maybe Norwegian is different? I've cruised with them before, but I can't remember if I had OBC the last time. 🤔 I should probably look that up.

[julig22]

23 minutes ago, travelgalnow said:

 

On other cruise lines, I've always been able to apply non-refundable OBC to the DSC. It just shows as a credit on the bill and when all the charges are added the net result to pay is the difference.  Maybe Norwegian is different? I've cruised with them before, but I can't remember if I had OBC the last time. 🤔 I should probably look that up.

NCL changed their policy some time ago.

[mianmike]

On 12/7/2022 at 9:13 PM, luv2kroooz said:

NCL can't fill their ships at current pricing, so a further fare increase would reduce demand further. I think their last reported number was somewhere in the 80% range. NCL is collecting zero service charges from the missing 20%. Therefore, the DSC burden needs to be shared by fewer passengers, which results in a higher per passenger charge. It is excessive and unwarranted in my opinion as the service level is not changing. And I will say it here, there is no way I would pay $20 per day for services onboard any cruise line.  I would adjust them back to $16 which is a fair price for the services received.

 

Bingo.  In Oct we were on the Encore 21 day Panama Canal cruise.  There were many empty cabins.  I heard capacity was around 60%.  We were in an aft cabin on the 9th deck and the aft cabin next door to us was empty as well as the one across the way.   These aft cabins were listed at $6600 pp and they never reduced the price to fill them, so they sat empty.   Fewer passengers, but not fewer crew means less DSC to spread around.  Frank's strategy of: "Market to fill" isn't filling all the ships.  Something had to give, either:

1) Raise the price of cruises

2) Price to fill cabins

3 Or raise DSC to cover the shortfall. 

 

I see why NCL chose to raise the DSC.  The DSC is a "popular" fee as many people incorrectly think of DSC as a tip directly to the crew that shows the passenger's appreciation to the hard working crew.  It would be unpatriotic to think otherwise.  With inflation at 8%, a 29% increase in 10 months is big pill to swallow though.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  

[DaCruiseBug]

3 hours ago, mianmike said:

 

I see why NCL chose to raise the DSC.  The DSC is a "popular" fee as many people incorrectly think of DSC as a tip directly to the crew that shows the passenger's appreciation to the hard working crew.  It would be unpatriotic to think otherwise.  With inflation at 8%, a 29% increase in 10 months is big pill to swallow though.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  

 

...and this right here is exactly why I personally think it's just another scummy tactic NCL is deploying. Because so many think the DSC is a "tip" that goes directly to employees...they don't really question it or it doesn't phase them. The reality is that the DSC only partially goes to the employees by paying their actual salaries and undisclosed "incentive programs" and the rest NCL just keeps as part of revenue.

 

NCL does the same exact thing with "taxes and port fees" by inflating the actual port fees charged by the various ports and pocketing the difference. Why do you think NCL "taxes and port fees" are consistently higher than any other cruise line?

[DaCruiseBug]

MSC Divina cruise out of Miami -

 

Miami - 7pm departure

Nassau - 9am to 6pm (9 hours)

Ocean Cay Private Island - 1:30pm until 6pm the next day (28:30 hours)

Miami - 7am

 

Total port taxes and fees = $96 per person

 

 

NCL Joy cruise out of Miami -

 

Miami - 5:30pm departure

Great Stirrup Cay - 8am to 6pm (10 hours)

Nassau - 8am to 5pm (9 hours)

Miami - 7am

 

Total port taxes and fees = $215.84

 

NCL on the same exact itinerary, but with each cruise lines stopping at their respective private island, charges 125% more in port taxes and fees than MSC.

 

NCL inflates port taxes and adds in additional "fees" to increase their revenue. Nobody questions this because everyone thinks it's standard fees that NCL can't do anything about. Call it sneaky, call it being dishonest...you choose...

 

When you buy your airplane ticket look at the taxes and fees you're charged and you'll see they are the exact same regardless of the airline you fly. Plus, there's transparency and you know exactly what each fee is. Why not at the very least hold cruise lines (especially NCL) to the same standard?

 

 

[New2cruise2022]

FWIW — The same topic is on fire over in the Royal section. On fire? Same as here. 20 people rehashing it. Over and over. I just might be the sucker that tries to compile a comprehensive, singular post that incorporates every mention of it from NCL. I still think you get a lot of TLDR people that look for the detail they like and go with it. Then the casual observer or new cruiser comes along and says, “It’s optional?” and we start all over again.