NCL Star Remove DSC

[floridafish]

I didn't realize DSC was optional?

[zqvol]

3 minutes ago, floridafish said:

I didn't realize DSC was optional?

It’s not really but instead of arguing with you they will let you remove it. Not a wise thing to do, but to each his own. 

[Wayward Son]

1 hour ago, floridafish said:

I didn't realize DSC was optional?

 

It is, but it's just a cost of cruising for us. If we have to pinch pennies so much that we have to save money by removing the DSC, then we shouldn't be cruising.

 

[destar]

22 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Congratulations, you found  your excuse to remove the DSC.

You hit the nail on the head. 

[BirdTravels]

On 2/17/2024 at 1:16 PM, pete_coach said:

Absolutely. Boycott NCL. 🙂

Protest and show your displeasure against corporate NCL with your wallet .

 

Yup. The ship will sail >100% capacity without you. So your protest and boycott is meaningless to them. 

[destar]

7 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

If we have to pinch pennies so much that we have to save money by removing the DSC, then we shouldn't be cruising.

My feelings exactly, on another thread somebody was complaining about having to pay taxes on any drinks while the ship is on some US ports.

 

$20 pp daily DSC is nothing compare to the amount of the cruise.

[graphicguy]

Oh Boy…another one of these threads.  About once a week you can find another one of these in all the other cruise line threads.  The reasonings for removing the tips/service charges, etc are all usually similar.

 

Sit back, relax…it’s Friday.   Going to pour a bourbon and watch the volley 

[pete_coach]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yup. The ship will sail >100% capacity without you. So your protest and boycott is meaningless to them. 

You realize the post you responded to back on Feb 17 was facetious??

I did not make the original post.

[PartyPlannerLady]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:04 AM, Pevil said:

I am on the Feb 18th Antartica cruise, which ncl has removed an Antartica sailing day and added an extra sea day betwwen Falkland Island and Buenos Aires.

 

To protest this change I am considering removing the DSC because:

 

1.   The only communication I have received from ncl is that the change was made to enhance the guest expereince.   As a guest there is no way this itinerary change can be considered an enhancement.   Others have posted there is a go slow order but ncl has not provided that information to me as an affected guest.

 

2.  The itinerary change will shorten the cruise total distance significantly and will allow the Star to cruise at a slower speed which will add up to major fuel cost savings.  Instead of ncl making a goodwill gesture and passing these savings onto its guests in the form of an obc, ncl is pocketing the savings.

 

3.  For the 2024-25 Star sailings for this itinerary, ncl website is showing the original itinerary, not our revised itinerary.   So there will be no go slow order next year?

 

We board the Star tommorrow.  Maybe ncl will provide a better explanation for the itinerary change once on board.  If not, a trip to guest services to remove the dsc may be the only way to protest the change.

 

 

 

Sounds more like excuses to me than protest.  Itinerary changes happen and you agreed to the fact that they can do so without compensation or explanation when you booked your crusie.  IMHO you are  choosing to make your crusie miserable ratehr than kicking back and relaxinf.  Yeah it is a bummer when a port, especially one you really wanted to visit, is dropped but it is all part of cruising and it happens on all cruise lines at times.  The folsk who work to earn the DSC are not the ones who made the decision to drop the port.

[PartyPlannerLady]

On 3/14/2024 at 4:00 PM, Pevil said:

 

OP back from the 14 day NCL "Antarctica & South America: Argentina & Chile".  The main issue I had with NCL on this cruise was that NCL, 2 weeks before departure, cancelled 1 of 2 days of scenic cruising in the Antarctica and exchanged it for an additional sea day in the Atlantic.

 

When I booked this cruise NCL's own description included: 

 

"Calling all penguin and nature enthusiasts-come aboard Norwegian Star for a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to Antarctica.  Cruise through Paradise Bay in Antarctica and witness a pristine frozen wonderland of glacial mountains and azure icebergs that a colony of adorable Gentoo penguins call home."  

 

NCL cancelled Paradise Bay.  The only reason given by NCL was to "to enhance the guest experience."  This reason was confirmed by Guest Services while I was on board.  No other reason or explanation was provided.  NCL did not offer any goodwill compensation.

 

Not sure if I was more disappointed in NCL in making the last minute itinerary change and not giving me what I paid for or NCL giving me a BS reason for the change.

 

Bottom line, NCL terms and conditions allow NCL to make itinerary changes, and NCL did.  NCL terms and conditions allow me to remove the DSC and I did.

 

When removing the DSC at Guest Services, I was not asked for the reason I was deducting the DSC from my final account.  If NCL wanted to enhance the guest experience I would have thought NCL would want to know the reason I was deducting the DSC, so that NCL could correct the issue on future cruises.  The impression I was left was, NCL could not of cared less if I did or did not remove the DSC.

 

There were other service issues on this cruise.  The quality of this NCL cruise was significantly less than my pre-covid NCL cruises.  The drop was so significant that I will not consider NCL for future cruises.  My impression at the end of this cruise was NCL is prioritizing cost cutting regardless of the affect on the guest experience. 

 

I have completed 3 Princess cruises post-covid, and the quality of those Princess cruises were similar to pre-covid Princess cruises and exceeded by far the quality of this NCL cruise at a similar price point.  Princess gave me what I paid for, so I had no issue paying Princess its DSC. 

 

Just reporting my experience on this NCL cruise and that if you are not happy with your NCL experience instead of just complaining there is (to use Mistertomatoe's description in post #25) the nuclear option of removing the DSC.  For those who think I am punishing the crew by removing the DSC, then we are into the tipping discussions which already has 1,000's of posts on this site so no need to continue to beat that horse.  I am OK with my decision.  If you would have made a different decision, I am OK with that, too.  To each their own.

 

 

 

 

 

You got EXACTLY what you paid for.  1a 14-day cruise.  Ports are NEVER guaranteed,  You agreed to a contract that stated the cruise line can change an intinerary for any reason at any time with no explanation and no compensation.  That is what happened and you used it as a lame excuse to not pay the DSC rather than stand by whar tiy agreed to.  I am happy that it made you feel better.

[Yesimapirate]

We're currently on the Epic and let's simply say we've had some service issues.  Nothing major other than our room not cooling correctly and taking until day 5 (and dragging the hotel manager into the room) for them to actually solve the issue.

 

For the smaller issues, it felt like a good portion of the crew, between a third and half, chose to argue and look for a way to say no instead of yes.  Examples include:

-we skipped a port and I inquired about a shore excursion being refused to the credit card I used to purchase it 4 months pre-cruise.  I was told I booked it onboard and never used a credit card.   They continued to argue that I didn't use a credit card even after I offered to show their manager the charge on my app.  Then they switched to they don't have a manager.   I guess the "assistant" on his name tag proves he doesn't report to anyone 🙄

 

-we went to the buffet for breakfast one morning at 930 AM because the Haven restaurant was closed already.   Asked for fresh squeezed orange juice.  I was told they were out and "the early bird gets the worm", should have come earlier.   This was day 3 and we litterally just came from the behind the scenes tour and saw hundreds of cases of oranges.   There were also stacks of oranges in 5 places on the buffet. 

 

-we met our butler on tbe 1st day.  He told us his rooms were spread out and we wouldn't see him all week.  And we basically haven't. He also ignored our basic requests for distilled water,  not to bring sweet treats to the room as my wife is diabetic and claimed we never told him about the AC issue despite him giving me a 10 minute lecture (during our first day meeting) about how I'm using the AC wrong. 

 

There are probably a dozen more interactions that I felt could have been handled significantly better but I don't really want to spend all my time writing them all down.   And yes, i know none of them other than the AC is a major issue but they are annoyances.  The point is we felt the service among a good amount of the crew was poor and my wife and I discussed removing or reducing the DSC.  However,  the amazing crew were equally in number to the bad.  And with such a quantity of bad crew, it's a management issue, not an employee issue.  

 

We decided it wasn't right to punish the good crew and would rather bad crew get something they don't deserve than good crew lose something they've earned when they work so hard.  We will be keep the DSC and since the Butler isn't part of the pool,  we will take half of what we were going to give him and distribute it (and more) to the crew that have gone out of their way for us.

 

[victory2020]

A couple of points: I am in the service industry & I have gotten stiffed because someone was unhappy about something that was out of my control and I thought the DSC is only an incentive program, not actual money going to the crew ( crew parties, days off etc)

[complawyer]

hey pirate, i'm absolutely shocked and over whelmed at the lack of assistance you indicated on your cruise. on the + side (which is really not a +) in 25 ncl cruises, in various cabins, i have never been able to adjust the air conditioning to work properly. it's either arctic, or dense tropical.

 

the others you mentioned are imo,  inexcusable. i have never had a butler that didnt appear at least twice a day and always showed up if i called with a problem. while it may be inappropriate to chastise the butler, i would have called him out, albeit in a nice way, and advised his services are part  of the haven experience, and i didnt want to hear i wouldnt see him all week. I would have immediately contacted the concierge and asked for a different butler. the shore excursion issue, appears to me to be just incompetence on the part of the the manager. hopefully, it didnt appear on your final bill, or if it did, i hope you  fully intend to dispute it with either ncl or your credit card company. no company should be able to get away with charging someone for something they didnt use/get. as for the orange juice issue, although in the general scheme of things, being in a haven, while i dont expect the staff to perform miracles (although for some issues i do) i do expect a certain level of service. i would have taken the maitre'd aside and explained that while i may be late to be served breakfast, im sure someone in the haven staff could  scrounge up a glass or 2 of fresh squeezed juice from somewhere.

 

that would be the least of my expectations if i had booked a haven suite . on the 1st day out, when meeting my butler, i explain exactly what i want. usually, i let him know that 1st thing in the morning, bring a carafe of coffee, hot water for tea, croissants, muffins and sweet rolls (as well as some orange juice. for the afternoon snacks, i ask for assorted cheeses, crackers and meats.

 

i would say at least 98% of the time (if not 100%) what i have asked for is usually there. i have also discovered that if the butler is inattentive, or just plain lazy, i talk to the concierge to take care of the problem. 

 

i can certainly sympathize with your dissatisfaction,  also, i can assure you that (maybe i've just been really lucky) we've never experienced those type of problems on any previous ncl cruise. 

 

i hope the epic experience hasnt left a bad taste in your mouth against ncl. although, i concede, i would have been massively p***ed.

 

yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!!!!

[RocketMan275]

40 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

A couple of points: I am in the service industry & I have gotten stiffed because someone was unhappy about something that was out of my control and I thought the DSC is only an incentive program, not actual money going to the crew ( crew parties, days off etc)

a portion, only a portion, goes to the 'incentive program'.  The remainder goes to the crew.

[Distinctive-Destinations]

3 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

We're currently on the Epic and let's simply say we've had some service issues.  Nothing major other than our room not cooling correctly and taking until day 5 (and dragging the hotel manager into the room) for them to actually solve the issue.

 

For the smaller issues, it felt like a good portion of the crew, between a third and half, chose to argue and look for a way to say no instead of yes.  Examples include:

-we skipped a port and I inquired about a shore excursion being refused to the credit card I used to purchase it 4 months pre-cruise.  I was told I booked it onboard and never used a credit card.   They continued to argue that I didn't use a credit card even after I offered to show their manager the charge on my app.  Then they switched to they don't have a manager.   I guess the "assistant" on his name tag proves he doesn't report to anyone 🙄

 

-we went to the buffet for breakfast one morning at 930 AM because the Haven restaurant was closed already.   Asked for fresh squeezed orange juice.  I was told they were out and "the early bird gets the worm", should have come earlier.   This was day 3 and we litterally just came from the behind the scenes tour and saw hundreds of cases of oranges.   There were also stacks of oranges in 5 places on the buffet. 

 

-we met our butler on tbe 1st day.  He told us his rooms were spread out and we wouldn't see him all week.  And we basically haven't. He also ignored our basic requests for distilled water,  not to bring sweet treats to the room as my wife is diabetic and claimed we never told him about the AC issue despite him giving me a 10 minute lecture (during our first day meeting) about how I'm using the AC wrong. 

 

There are probably a dozen more interactions that I felt could have been handled significantly better but I don't really want to spend all my time writing them all down.   And yes, i know none of them other than the AC is a major issue but they are annoyances.  The point is we felt the service among a good amount of the crew was poor and my wife and I discussed removing or reducing the DSC.  However,  the amazing crew were equally in number to the bad.  And with such a quantity of bad crew, it's a management issue, not an employee issue.  

 

We decided it wasn't right to punish the good crew and would rather bad crew get something they don't deserve than good crew lose something they've earned when they work so hard.  We will be keep the DSC and since the Butler isn't part of the pool,  we will take half of what we were going to give him and distribute it (and more) to the crew that have gone out of their way for us.

 

If your butler is Mark (Marc?) on the Epic, we had a very similar experience in November with him.

 

About the only thing he did for us was waste about ten minutes of our time explaining how his tip worked.

[MoCruiseFan]

4 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

a portion, only a portion, goes to the 'incentive program'.  The remainder goes to the crew.

 

Your opinion is appreciated but the FAQ clearly states that the DSC is an incentive program.  Unless you are an NCL employee you have no idea how that incentive us set up.  Your post is opinion and conjecture, nothing more.

[UKstages]

i don't think NCL employees actually have much insight themselves into the OSC distribution policies or behind the scenes machinations. there is very little transparency when it come sto the OSC.

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

Your opinion is appreciated but the FAQ clearly states that the DSC is an incentive program.  Unless you are an NCL employee you have no idea how that incentive us set up.  Your post is opinion and conjecture, nothing more.

Yes, it is an incentive program, in the sense that it incentivizes the crew to perform well in order to earn their full compensation.  Tipping in a restaurant on land is also an incentive program.  The second reason that the DSC model is used by cruise lines (after being able to cut the DSC out of the advertised fare) is so that the DSC is used as both the carrot and the stick to force the crew into a "team approach" to guest service, because any one crew member who causes DSC to be adjusted affects every DSC crew member's paycheck.  It is one of the poorest forms of leadership and team building around, but given that the cruise lines do not invest in any leadership training for first and second line supervisors, it overcomes the shortcomings of those supervisors, transferring the leadership requirement to the front line workers themselves.

 

I worked for NCL, and as senior ship management, so I do know how the DSC is set up.  It was discussed nearly every week in the shipboard management revenue meeting.

Edited March 17 by chengkp75

[RocketMan275]

10 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

Your opinion is appreciated but the FAQ clearly states that the DSC is an incentive program.  Unless you are an NCL employee you have no idea how that incentive us set up.  Your post is opinion and conjecture, nothing more.

Despite  your opinion and conjecture, compensation, in any form, is considered an incentive.