NCL wins the service charge race !

[wcook]

34 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

It's not deceptive, it's stated quite clearly in paragraph 3.(c)

Lol. Good one. 

[Anjjmum0294]

36 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The ultimate consumer of any product or service pays for everything. There's no such thing as "At NCL's expense". It's a simple economic and business fact of life.

If NCL raises employee salaries the money comes from the passengers. 

I’m very aware of how life works. As long as NCL is aware there are other cruise lines 😉 ! 

[Sthrngary]

My first cruise was 43 years ago and it was on the Norwegian, SS Norway.  That company name is now NCL.  My go to cruise line for many years has been NCL.  I like it and I am not alone.  I like is a little bit less today than a year ago or before covid.  

 

What I like even better than NCL is CruiseCritic.com.  All the blogs on many cruise brands.  I found CruiseCritic.com to be a nice place to talk about cruising with other that feel the same.  Some topics sometimes brings out the worst in us.  They are tough topics.  In most cases we are all nice to each other yet still can express our opinions.  

 

Please consider taking the high road with each other.  There are many more blogs and social media site that are know for hateful talk and putting down posters.  From my standpoint, if you like a cruise brand and it policies, book it.  If you don't but once did, explain yourself and simply spend your money another way.  The high road is to "Agree to Disagree".  Life is to short to be aggressive to each other.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Topdog52]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

The ultimate consumer of any product or service pays for everything. There's no such thing as "At NCL's expense". It's a simple economic and business fact of life.

If NCL raises employee salaries the money comes from the passengers. 

LMAO!!! They are not giving them a raise, They are doing twice as much work. Now if I am helping to pay for their salary, then they need to listen to me and turn down my bed down at night. I really don't care about turning my bed down,but if I am paying part of their salary,I should have that option!!

[sailorusvi]

25 minutes ago, Topdog52 said:

LMAO!!! They are not giving them a raise, They are doing twice as much work. Now if I am helping to pay for their salary, then they need to listen to me and turn down my bed down at night. I really don't care about turning my bed down,but if I am paying part of their salary,I should have that option!!

 

The entire hospitality industry has staffing issues. Seems everyone loves to be served, but few want to do the serving.  Most places have no choice but to raise salaries to attract workers. Even with higher salaries, some places still do not have enough staff and have to also cut services.  Cruise lines are not immune to this trend.

 

Don't get me wrong, I get everyone's disappointment.  Especially if you are long time cruiser or booked a while back and they keep moving the posts. Feels like bait and switch. 

 

On another note, what's with people thinking hospitality workers "need to listen to" them and  perform services no longer offered because they are paying part of their salary?  All customers, regardless of industry partially pays workers' salaries.   I can't think of another industry where it's acceptable to make such demands, but customers do this to hospitality workers all the time.   And we wonder why hospitality companies have problems finding workers.  

 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 minutes ago, sailorusvi said:

Don't get me wrong, I get everyone's disappointment.  Especially if you are long time cruiser or booked a while back and they keep moving the posts. Feels like bait and switch. 

The bolded part is inaccurate.  You can pay your DSC just before cruising and still get the lower daily rate that you booked under.

[bkrickles1]

20 hours ago, njhorseman said:

In fact the service charge/tipping scenario really favors you in the event of grossly unsatisfactory service. You can lower or even altogether eliminate a service charge or tip, while if you paid the salary as a part of the fare you are stuck with it.

I thought I read somewhere that you can no longer adjust (higher or lower) or eliminate the service charge/tip.

I know, in the past, you could get a form on board and eliminate/lower/raise your service charge.

Again, I thought they eliminated that option.

Am I wrong?

TIA

[ColeThornton]

4 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

I thought I read somewhere that you can no longer adjust (higher or lower) or eliminate the service charge/tip.

I know, in the past, you could get a form on board and eliminate/lower/raise your service charge.

Again, I thought they eliminated that option.

Am I wrong?

TIA

 

 

I can give you half an answer, this is what the FAQ's still say:

 

If there is a service issue can the service charges be adjusted on board?

Guest satisfaction is the highest priority at Norwegian Cruise Line. We have structured a guest satisfaction program designed to handle any concerns about service or on-board product quickly and efficiently. However, in the event a service issue should arise during your cruise please let our on-board guest services desk staff know right away, so that we can address these in a timely manner. It is our goal to reach a satisfactory solution to any issue when it happens and make sure our guests can focus on enjoying their cruise. Should your concerns not be met with satisfaction you can adjust the charges.

[wcook]

Just curious, is there anyone who likes having the service charges billed separately and would be upset if NCL got rid of them and simply included them in the cruise fare? 

[graphicguy]

25 minutes ago, wcook said:

Just curious, is there anyone who likes having the service charges billed separately and would be upset if NCL got rid of them and simply included them in the cruise fare? 

Those charges would be the same.  It’s more of a marketing issue.  If they would include the service charges in the fare, they perceive they would be at a disadvantage because most people only look at the advertised fare, and not the “out of pocket” (which includes service charges).  NCL’s competition would have a field day by having lower advertised fares as a result.

 

I tell people who ask my advice about cruising all the time….”look at the out of pocket, not just the fare”.  Any line item may be more or less when booking a cruise on ANY cruise line.  It’s the total out of pocket that matters.

[Oakman58]

I wonder if that 25% increase in the service charge for balcony cabins and below will have people thinking twice about giving an extra tip to the cabin steward.

[bkrickles1]

7 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

I wonder if that 25% increase in the service charge for balcony cabins and below will have people thinking twice about giving an extra tip to the cabin steward.

It won't for me.

I'm sailing Joy in July (sailed her last year, June, and loved it) and booked an inside cabin for the first time in years. We have a big vacation planned for April, so I decided to save a little with this trip.

I have always used the same strategy. I'll provide a note with the few requests we have (extra towels, empty mini fridge, etc) and leave it on our bed (if we don't see our steward) with a $20 bill attached. We've never had a problem with our steward accommodating these requests, which leads to an additional $20 on the second to last day.

Of course I would reconsider the second $20 if our requests were ignored.

Fingers crossed that doesn't happen in July. Lmao!!

[cruiseny4life]

14 hours ago, sailorusvi said:

 

The entire hospitality industry has staffing issues. Seems everyone loves to be served, but few want to do the serving.  Most places have no choice but to raise salaries to attract workers. Even with higher salaries, some places still do not have enough staff and have to also cut services.  Cruise lines are not immune to this trend.

 

Don't get me wrong, I get everyone's disappointment.  Especially if you are long time cruiser or booked a while back and they keep moving the posts. Feels like bait and switch. 

 

On another note, what's with people thinking hospitality workers "need to listen to" them and  perform services no longer offered because they are paying part of their salary?  All customers, regardless of industry partially pays workers' salaries.   I can't think of another industry where it's acceptable to make such demands, but customers do this to hospitality workers all the time.   And we wonder why hospitality companies have problems finding workers.  

 

 

The hospitality industry really needs to just rip the band-aid off, raise prices, and provide customers with what they paid for. I'm primarily talking about cruise lines, not so much hotels (a wee bit, due to eliminating once a day housekeeping), and not really restaurants at all. I suppose restaurants could do the whole "shrinkflation" thing, but I haven't noticed it at restaurants I go to.

The cruise industry, on the other hand provides plenty of promises when you book, then takes things away, raises prices, and doesn't care about the customer. Ergo, raise the fare, pay employees better so you can find/retain employees (how many of those stateroom attendants left/are leaving/won't be back due to extra work), and give customers what they want. Sure, customers need to understand they'll have to pay more, but the whole whiny, petulant attitude of cruise lines (and plenty of service-industry employers) is just a load of hogwash. There isn't a staffing shortage. There's a treat people humanely/pay them well for their job shortage. 

 

And yes, passengers need to treat employees humanely as well, but if a guest is asking for turndown service (as was offered when booked), then I don't see them grossly out of line. 

Sorry (not sorry) if that offends, but it's the truth. 

[clojacks]

We recently got off of Celebrity Apex and NCL Joy in B2B cruises. Celebrity was still doing twice daily in-room service, but had dramatically cut back on the food service for our cruise. NCL went to single in-room service for our cruise, but their food service was fantastic. I'm curious how many people who are complaining about eliminating twice daily service, do it at home?? I'm curious why they feel it should be expected on a cruise, just because that has been the norm? What do you get out of the second service that you can't live without, or that you couldn't get with a phone call to your attendant? Our NCL attendant said they have recently gone from 15 rooms per attendant to 22 rooms. I'm not sure it is physically possible to do that many twice a day, and still have some time off to eat mid-day.

[SeaShark]

17 hours ago, Anjjmum0294 said:

I’m very aware of how life works. As long as NCL is aware there are other cruise lines 😉 ! 

 

They are just as aware that there are other cruise lines as you are aware that there are other guests.

[lfdemt]

50 minutes ago, clojacks said:

Our NCL attendant said they have recently gone from 15 rooms per attendant to 22 rooms. I'm not sure it is physically possible to do that many twice a day, and still have some time off to eat mid-day.

15 rooms with twice daily housekeeping equals 30 "cleanings". Now they have 22 "cleanings" I don't see why they wouldn't be able to still eat?  And they go from 15 daily service charges to 22 so a considerable increase in tips for 8 less cleanings. 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by lfdemt
typo

[graphicguy]

I admire the crew on all cruise lines.  They work long hours, with very little time off, with the exception of the months they take off after a contract.

 

That said, regardless of cruise line, I find most crew (especially cabin stewards and restaurant/bar staff) are very adept at evoking some guest responses to elicit more tips.  Nothing wrong with that and if it nets them more Benjamins, I say "go for it".

 

But, I don't think NCL (or a ny other cruise line) would be particularly happy with crew complaining to guests about their wages or work load.  Plus, I think much is exaggerated. 

 

I don't think I've ever encountered someone that's on their first contract.  But, I mostly sail the new(ish) ships, where experienced staff is placed.  Every crew I've enoucntered have multiples of contracts under their belt, and always say they will return if offered another.

 

My belief....if the pay is poor, working conditions are terrible, then why keep coming back signing up for  more contracts?

Edited February 27, 2023 by graphicguy

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, wcook said:

Just curious, is there anyone who likes having the service charges billed separately and would be upset if NCL got rid of them and simply included them in the cruise fare? 

I wouldn't like it.  The DSC has always been part of the "no tipping" policy, and I prefer to keep it that way.

[wcook]

58 minutes ago, lfdemt said:

And they go from 15 daily service charges to 22 so a considerable increase in tips for 8 less cleanings.

Its cute that you think NCL is passing along more money to the cabin stewards. And keep in mind 22 full cleanings can be at least as much more as 15 cabins with cleanings twice a day. 

[disneylover89]

1 hour ago, clojacks said:

We recently got off of Celebrity Apex and NCL Joy in B2B cruises. Celebrity was still doing twice daily in-room service, but had dramatically cut back on the food service for our cruise. NCL went to single in-room service for our cruise, but their food service was fantastic. I'm curious how many people who are complaining about eliminating twice daily service, do it at home?? I'm curious why they feel it should be expected on a cruise, just because that has been the norm? What do you get out of the second service that you can't live without, or that you couldn't get with a phone call to your attendant? Our NCL attendant said they have recently gone from 15 rooms per attendant to 22 rooms. I'm not sure it is physically possible to do that many twice a day, and still have some time off to eat mid-day.

I don't think people are upset about service being cut from twice a day to once a day, they are upset because there was a $4 per day, per person price increase for the service that was now cut down to once a day. 

[clojacks]

32 minutes ago, disneylover89 said:

I don't think people are upset about service being cut from twice a day to once a day, they are upset because there was a $4 per day, per person price increase for the service that was now cut down to once a day. 

I'll ask again....what in the second cleaning is so important as to make it a "must have", even at a lower price.

[Blueside]

I don't understand why people are so averse to having cruise lines be more transparent about pricing, and just include DSC into the fare. Why do people argue for cruise lines to continue their deceptive practices? Yes, it sums up to the same fare in the end, so why would you not want better information for the customer?

[thistimeplease]

3 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

I wonder if that 25% increase in the service charge for balcony cabins and below will have people thinking twice about giving an extra tip to the cabin steward.

It absolutely will for me.  If a steward is doing half the work for me I will be changing the amount I tip them at the end.  I don't see this increase as a good thing for the crew.  I think there are a lot of passengers who will definitely be tipping less.

[DCGuy64]

For every cruiser who says "I want to see a breakdown for everything" there is another who says "I don't care about specifics, just give me the bottom line." IOW no matter how cruise lines structure their prices, some people will be upset. All of which proves again the old adage: You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

[lfdemt]

1 hour ago, clojacks said:

I'll ask again....what in the second cleaning is so important as to make it a "must have", even at a lower price.

I can only answer for myself and for my family we have routinely had 4 in a cabin with usually at least one pull down bed from the ceiling.  The current reports are that the bed is left down the entire cruise drastically reducing the ability to use the room during the day time.   I don't care if they do a full turn down but at least put the bed away in the day and bring it back out at night.