Gratuities/Daily Service Charges increasing!!

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

funny thing is I knew as I was typing my response that you would totally miss the point

I got your point.  

You didn't get mine.

[ChiefMateJRK]

56 minutes ago, Level six said:

We just spent 4 days in Vegas. Because of this discussion, I paid very close attention to our tips so I could compare.  We tipped 20% or more to everyone who gave us any service at all. 

How did you calculate the 20% or more that you tipped your housekeeper.  Did you tip that person 20% of the room cost (including that silly "resort fee")?

[Level six]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

How did you calculate the 20% or more that you tipped your housekeeper.  Did you tip that person 20% of the room cost (including that silly "resort fee")?

 They do not service the room unless requested ever since covid.  We didn't have the service at all but left $20. Once I saw the room attendent in the hall and got new towels and a few other things and gave her $10.  Our room was comped. 

We also do that a lot on the cruise ship.  We don't need service 2 times a day, or even once. We always say no turn down and sometimes we just tell our steward to take the day off. We can reuse the towels we have and I usually make the bed anyway. 

[New2cruise2022]

20 minutes ago, Level six said:

 They do not service the room unless requested ever since covid.  We didn't have the service at all but left $20. Once I saw the room attendent in the hall and got new towels and a few other things and gave her $10.  Our room was comped. 

We also do that a lot on the cruise ship.  We don't need service 2 times a day, or even once. We always say no turn down and sometimes we just tell our steward to take the day off. We can reuse the towels we have and I usually make the bed anyway. 

Personal to meet you needs. 

[Lionkingrichard]

16 hours ago, Level six said:

 They do not service the room unless requested ever since covid.  We didn't have the service at all but left $20. Once I saw the room attendent in the hall and got new towels and a few other things and gave her $10.  Our room was comped. 

We also do that a lot on the cruise ship.  We don't need service 2 times a day, or even once. We always say no turn down and sometimes we just tell our steward to take the day off. We can reuse the towels we have and I usually make the bed anyway. 

$40 in 4 days? How much were your meals? $5?

 

This is where your DSC/Tips are going. From cruiselawnews.

 

The median wage at Norwegian is $19,319, compared with $14,706 at Royal Caribbean Group and $8,658 at Carnival Corp.

 

I meet a Bartender and servers that were on the Breakaway for 5 years(pre-covid). Not straight, but renewed their contracts. They were very happy to return every year.

 

I still cruise NCL for a lot less($2-3,000, 2016 prices, not today's) then DCL over 6 years ago. No free booze, wifi, specialties and $50 per excursions. 

 

We loved DCL, but found a much better value!

[Level six]

24 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

$40 in 4 days? How much were your meals? $5?

 

This is where your DSC/Tips are going. From cruiselawnews.

 

The median wage at Norwegian is $19,319, compared with $14,706 at Royal Caribbean Group and $8,658 at Carnival Corp.

 

I meet a Bartender and servers that were on the Breakaway for 5 years(pre-covid). Not straight, but renewed their contracts. They were very happy to return every year.

 

I still cruise NCL for a lot less($2-3,000, 2016 prices, not today's) then DCL over 6 years ago. No free booze, wifi, specialties and $50 per excursions. 

 

We loved DCL, but found a much better value!

Less than $40 per day, not for 4 days

[graphicguy]

59 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

$40 in 4 days? How much were your meals? $5?

 

This is where your DSC/Tips are going. From cruiselawnews.

 

The median wage at Norwegian is $19,319, compared with $14,706 at Royal Caribbean Group and $8,658 at Carnival Corp.

 

I meet a Bartender and servers that were on the Breakaway for 5 years(pre-covid). Not straight, but renewed their contracts. They were very happy to return every year.

 

I still cruise NCL for a lot less($2-3,000, 2016 prices, not today's) then DCL over 6 years ago. No free booze, wifi, specialties and $50 per excursions. 

 

We loved DCL, but found a much better value!

They never add in the free room and board crew receives.  That alone would easily double their salary.  Plus, I remember a statement some time ago, that depending on where the crew’s home is located, they don’t pay taxes, either.

 

I know people who LOVE DCL.  I know others, like yourself, who state their fares have made them look elsewhere to spend their cruise dollars.

[cruiseny4life]

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 Plus, I remember a statement some time ago, that depending on where the crew’s home is located, they don’t pay taxes, either.

You're correct about this. Obviously the home country may levy taxes on the person's income, but certainly the US government does not.

 

Last FAQ at this link: https://www.ncl.com/about/careers/shipboard-employment/faq

 

[ontheweb]

I just had a discussion with our TA about this subject. 

 

When I first mentioned it, he asked if I wanted to add the old tips to our invoice. I asked 2 questions.

 

The first was would the tips be refundable like port charges and taxes if something happened, and we could not go. His answer was he could not get a straight answer from NCL about this, and generally after final payment nothing but those 2 were refundable. I then followed up with the following question. If it were non-refundable, would it affect our insurance putting it up to the next category. (I am in my 70s and DW in her 60s so insurance becomes expensive.) He was going to check our figures to see and get back to me.

 

The second question was how about paying it right before the cruise, not as early as final payment. He said we could do that, but he did not advise doing that. He said his experience with payments after final payment was that they sometimes caused glitches, and the cruise line would then see it as payment in full was not made and deny us boarding.

 

Just some things to think about.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

33 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

He said his experience with payments after final payment was that they sometimes caused glitches, and the cruise line would then see it as payment in full was not made and deny us boarding.

That may be true for your TA, but it sounds more like a problem with their systems.  I've found the posts by experienced cruisers right here on the forum to be much more useful than posts sharing inputs from random TAs.  If this were a problem with NCL, we would have heard about it by now.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That may be true for your TA, but it sounds more like a problem with their systems.  I've found the posts by experienced cruisers right here on the forum to be much more useful than posts sharing inputs from random TAs.  If this were a problem with NCL, we would have heard about it by now.

He said sometimes, not always. In other words, it could happen.

 

No one has done this yet I assume with this new tip, er service charge, policy as it has just went into effect.

[julig22]

15 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I just had a discussion with our TA about this subject. 

 

When I first mentioned it, he asked if I wanted to add the old tips to our invoice. I asked 2 questions.

 

The first was would the tips be refundable like port charges and taxes if something happened, and we could not go. His answer was he could not get a straight answer from NCL about this, and generally after final payment nothing but those 2 were refundable. I then followed up with the following question. If it were non-refundable, would it affect our insurance putting it up to the next category. (I am in my 70s and DW in her 60s so insurance becomes expensive.) He was going to check our figures to see and get back to me.

 

The second question was how about paying it right before the cruise, not as early as final payment. He said we could do that, but he did not advise doing that. He said his experience with payments after final payment was that they sometimes caused glitches, and the cruise line would then see it as payment in full was not made and deny us boarding.

 

Just some things to think about.

 

  Prepaid DSC fees are fully refundable (per NCL FAQs) if you cancel.

Also the FAQs state prepayment can be made up to 24 hrs before your cruise. I've never had any glitches but I also book directly with NCL.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, julig22 said:

  Prepaid DSC fees are fully refundable (per NCL FAQs) if you cancel.

Also the FAQs state prepayment can be made up to 24 hrs before your cruise. I've never had any glitches but I also book directly with NCL.

Thank you, I found the relevant section in the FAQs.

[rudy63ca]

I can appreciate everyone's opinion no matter what it is, these forums are becoming more and more like an insult program, when someone new asks a question there seem to be hordes of people willing to bash and criticize anyone for being curious.

The point of the matter, for me, is the cruise companies are reeling us in with false information and misleading information until you dig into finding it.

I do read the websites and I do cost comparisons and I do tip for services when received, I do not agree with tipping before I get on board or service charges to offset wages. I do agree with paying for an experience and an opportunity to travel but PREFER an all included price UP FRONT. Why hide it or advertise free balcony or free drinks only to find it is an extra charge based on a different level of fee structure. If you go to a restaurant that offers free dessert only to find out it was for a specific menu item that you didn't know about until you finished your meal, is that the fine print in the advertisement?

 We were never informed by our travel agent about any services charges when we booked our cruise. we found out about it by NCL in an email stating if we didn't prepay by Jan we would be automatically charged an increase in the charges while n board or billed upon our return.

When I called NCL they stated they were mandatory and had to be paid.

Again (get it or not) why not just include it in the booking price if that's what we "have to" pay.

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, rudy63ca said:

When I called NCL they stated they were mandatory and had to be paid.

Again (get it or not) why not just include it in the booking price if that's what we "have to" pay

I won't deign to answer your second question...comment, etc. 

 

As for the first, if you are referring to the Daily Service Charge (DSC), then they are not mandatory. You are more than welcome to go to Guest Services and request they be removed.

 

There are plenty of comments on why this is, or isn't a good idea. Whether it's ethical. Whether you should. So I'll just stick with, the NCL agent was wrong. You may remove them if you wish. 

 

Happy cruising! NCL does provide a really great product and I hope you'll be satisfied with the experience, regardless of any marketing lies NCL may spout. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

33 minutes ago, rudy63ca said:

We were never informed by our travel agent about any services charges when we booked our cruise.

Sounds like it's time for a new TA.

[laudergayle]

Per day per person charges (i.e., service charge, gratuities or any other name the cruise lines want to label it) have been around since I first started cruising more than 25 years ago.  It’s unfortunate that your TA did not disclose this to you.  My NCL PCC  doesn’t really put it in my face, but she does ask every booking if we want to include the service charge on the booking.  If I was not aware of the specifics, I may not realize how much this actually is..especially if traveling with a family.  That being said, I do believe NCL could do a much better job presenting the option during the booking process.  Two things could happen. 1) NCL gets more money on the books cuz you agree to pay them at final payment, or 2) they begin to better understand  where price-point resistance is happening with their prospective cruisers.  

[SunshineGal2022]

On 12/15/2022 at 2:25 PM, ontheweb said:

The second question was how about paying it right before the cruise, not as early as final payment. He said we could do that, but he did not advise doing that. He said his experience with payments after final payment was that they sometimes caused glitches, and the cruise line would then see it as payment in full was not made and deny us boarding.

 

Just some things to think about.

 

This is my plan, and I don’t anticipate any glitches.  

 

I told my TA I will add my prepaid DSC + FAS+ to my account before we sail but after final payment.  I want to hold onto my money as long as possible and if I can delay giving them money for 3 months, I certainly will.

[Haddonqueen]

On 12/8/2022 at 5:44 PM, KeithJenner said:

This is nothing to do with the free at sea gratuities.

 

This is the service charge which is added to your bill every day during the cruise (unless you prepay it).

Hi,   I’m from U.K. and was told that our free at sea package included the gratuity.  

[hallux]

41 minutes ago, Haddonqueen said:

Hi,   I’m from U.K. and was told that our free at sea package included the gratuity.  

Includes the gratuity for the FAS package items.  I don't believe the DSC is included for you folks unless your booking agent included it in their package.

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, Haddonqueen said:

Hi,   I’m from U.K. and was told that our free at sea package included the gratuity.  

We don’t pay any gratuities on the free at sea packages (we pay a fee to get those things which is about the same anyway).

 

This thread is about the service charge that is charged daily, which is a totally separate thing. What hallux says is correct, we still have to pay the DSC, whether onboard or by prepaying.

Edited December 24, 2022 by KeithJenner

[zqvol]

On 12/15/2022 at 5:25 PM, ontheweb said:

I just had a discussion with our TA about this subject. 

 

When I first mentioned it, he asked if I wanted to add the old tips to our invoice. I asked 2 questions.

 

The first was would the tips be refundable like port charges and taxes if something happened, and we could not go. His answer was he could not get a straight answer from NCL about this, and generally after final payment nothing but those 2 were refundable. I then followed up with the following question. If it were non-refundable, would it affect our insurance putting it up to the next category. (I am in my 70s and DW in her 60s so insurance becomes expensive.) He was going to check our figures to see and get back to me.

 

The second question was how about paying it right before the cruise, not as early as final payment. He said we could do that, but he did not advise doing that. He said his experience with payments after final payment was that they sometimes caused glitches, and the cruise line would then see it as payment in full was not made and deny us boarding.

 

Just some things to think about.

 

This is an example of a misinformed TA. First prepaid service charges are refunded if the cruise is canceled for any reason and second people pay many fees prior ro sailing and after final payment and there are no issues. If there were issues with payments after final payment date you can be sure the boards would be all over it.This sounds like a lazy TA issue more than anything.

[zqvol]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:14 AM, ontheweb said:

He said sometimes, not always. In other words, it could happen.

 

No one has done this yet I assume with this new tip, er service charge, policy as it has just went into effect.

The service charge policy has been in effect for years only the amount has changed, it is not an issue to pay the DSC any time before sailing.

[ontheweb]

44 minutes ago, zqvol said:

The service charge policy has been in effect for years only the amount has changed, it is not an issue to pay the DSC any time before sailing.

I think the thing that changed was you can pay the service charge as posted from when you booked, or if you do not before the cruise you will pay the new increased service charge when you sail.

[Trabadeer]

Hello, 

Is the service charge ever included in the Free at Sea perks. I booked directly with NCL for a European cruise in November and I thought they were included but now I think I may have misread.