question on tipping policy

[mafig]

Didn't I just see this same question by the same poster on another forum?

 

I'm originally from NJ.  Most people from there are nice, generous people.  Unfortunately, OP doesn't seem to be.

 

 

[debbyfelse1963]

On 2/24/2024 at 12:12 PM, pete_coach said:

Point was that you can go to Guest Services and have it removed.

no you can not remove the daily service charge.  The only way to do that is contact NCL after the cruise.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that unless they were being cheap.  Just my opinion but I think the employees always go above and beyond in which case we leave extra cash for at least our cabin attendant and in the past to a particular cocktail server who went way above and beyond.  

[debbyfelse1963]

9 hours ago, wilsonhold said:

Say you decide to give an extra tip on a reposition transatlantic cruise to either England or Europe,  should the tip be in usd (now NCL only currency) or attempt to give them the tip in the final destination currency?
 

Not sure the hoops and difficultly the stewards, etc  have converting usd to either euros or pounds.

You can do either.  On our last Transatlantic, Rome to NYC at the end I didn't have many Euros left so I used a combination of both.

[zqvol]

6 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

no you can not remove the daily service charge.  The only way to do that is contact NCL after the cruise.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that unless they were being cheap.  Just my opinion but I think the employees always go above and beyond in which case we leave extra cash for at least our cabin attendant and in the past to a particular cocktail server who went way above and beyond.  

You are completely wrong. You have to do it on board at guest services. 

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, zqvol said:

You are completely wrong. You have to do it on board at guest services. 

I believe that if the DSC was pre-paid, the request for removal/reimbursement has to be made after the cruise; if the DSC is being posted daily to the onboard account, a visit to GS on the next-to-last day of the cruise will do the job.

[dbrown84]

18 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

no you can not remove the daily service charge.  The only way to do that is contact NCL after the cruise.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that unless they were being cheap.  Just my opinion but I think the employees always go above and beyond in which case we leave extra cash for at least our cabin attendant and in the past to a particular cocktail server who went way above and beyond.  

no, you have to do this onboard.  Once you leave the ship, it's too late

[dbrown84]

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I believe that if the DSC was pre-paid, the request for removal/reimbursement has to be made after the cruise; if the DSC is being posted daily to the onboard account, a visit to GS on the next-to-last day of the cruise will do the job.

even if pre-paid, you can go to GS and remove the DSC

[pete_coach]

21 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

no you can not remove the daily service charge.  The only way to do that is contact NCL after the cruise.  I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that unless they were being cheap.  Just my opinion but I think the employees always go above and beyond in which case we leave extra cash for at least our cabin attendant and in the past to a particular cocktail server who went way above and beyond.  

Yes you can.

I saw folks doing  it at Guest services.

Why? Well that is p to the person requesting it. The have their reasons.

Good for you. 🙂

[debbyfelse1963]

20 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I believe that if the DSC was pre-paid, the request for removal/reimbursement has to be made after the cruise; if the DSC is being posted daily to the onboard account, a visit to GS on the next-to-last day of the cruise will do the job.

yes i do believe that is true.  Unfortunate for the staff if people are so cheap that they want to remove it.  

[zqvol]

25 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

yes i do believe that is true.  Unfortunate for the staff if people are so cheap that they want to remove it.  

That is not true. It must be done on board. 

[icft]

The only way to know about removing DSC for sure is to contact NCL or to hear from those who have done it both with pre-paid and charged onboard.

 

I can't wait for those who have done it to post here. 😬

[kirtihk]

20 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

It's like you don't know what bait and switch means. 

In no way, is what you describe, a bait and switch. 

It doesn't matter how it's called.  What matters is the final product price which is the same in both cases with the only difference of accepting that price right away (upon seeing it) versus being attracted with something what appears as inexpensive and then going through process of multi-clicks to get the same final number with potential frustration and annoyance, because it's a surprise for a group of people who prefer a straightforward immediate outcome.

[bkrickles1]

9 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

It doesn't matter how it's called.  What matters is the final product price which is the same in both cases with the only difference of accepting that price right away (upon seeing it) versus being attracted with something what appears as inexpensive and then going through process of multi-clicks to get the same final number with potential frustration and annoyance, because it's a surprise for a group of people who prefer a straightforward immediate outcome.

Thanks for the input, but it's still not a "bait & switch".

[graphicguy]

18 hours ago, mafig said:

Didn't I just see this same question by the same poster on another forum?

 

I'm originally from NJ.  Most people from there are nice, generous people.  Unfortunately, OP doesn't seem to be.

 

 

Yeah....s/he is posting it in a bunch of forums.  Probably would be easier if s/he just went to the cruise lines' WEB sites and look up their individual policies.

[debbyfelse1963]

NCL policy is that all passengers must pay the automatic daily service charge; you can't opt out. They have a form, pick up at the customer service desk on ship, to fill out and e-mail to NCL after the cruise is over. They state you will get your service charges refunded.

[graphicguy]

Why is it so difficult to keep asking and getting responses that are wrong when NCL

’s WEB SITE HAS THE OFFICIAL ANSWERS??

 

Let’s put this to. bed once and for all

 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-about-gratuities

 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-is-onboard-service-charge

[RocketMan275]

34 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Why is it so difficult to keep asking and getting responses that are wrong when NCL

’s WEB SITE HAS THE OFFICIAL ANSWERS??

 

Let’s put this to. bed once and for all

 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-about-gratuities

 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-is-onboard-service-charge

Won't happen.  Too many just looking for a way to opt out and save a few dollars. 

When someone says I'll cancel the DSC and tip who I want, they're really saying I can save a bunch by cancelling the DSC and leaving a $5 for the steward.

Edited February 26 by RocketMan275

[seemoreroyals]

How about a new rule.  No religion, no politics, and no more discussions on tipping.

[dbrown84]

59 minutes ago, debbyfelse1963 said:

NCL policy is that all passengers must pay the automatic daily service charge; you can't opt out. They have a form, pick up at the customer service desk on ship, to fill out and e-mail to NCL after the cruise is over. They state you will get your service charges refunded.

This is 100% not true.

[Two Wheels Only]

22 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

How about a new rule.  No religion, no politics, and no more discussions on tipping.

 

All three would be better off if every individual decided for themselves what was right for them instead of worrying about what is right for others.

[dmwnc1959]

3 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Won't happen.  Too many just looking for a way to opt out and save a few dollars.  This whole argument to cancel the DSC and tip those i want is just an excuse to save a few bucks.

Personally I would never cancel the Daily Service Charge, albeit it’s still sitting in my NCL basket of online goodies along with a 7-meal SDP, Premium Plus photo package, and 🍪 2 dozen cookies. 🥰 And before anyone gets upset about the cookies, that’s $59 including the 20% gratuity and specialty service charge that somebody is getting. A drop in the bucket compared to the DSC and all of the fun CC member ‘recommended’ 😉 extra tipping that I could do on a 25-night cruise.  

 

And I’m not sure I’d call several hundred dollars “a few bucks”. I did do some quick math earlier that if I hypothetically ever decided to turn my $500 DCS into direct tips to only my room ‘Stewart’ and only to the non-specialty dining waitstaff that actually served me (based on some of the generalized monetary contributions my fellow CC members used), I’d save absolutely nothing. I also wouldn’t be padding everyone’s income. 
 

Based on that, it would cost me nearly double to have both the DSC as well as tip on top of that. 
 

😁

[icft]

3 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

                  *                                *                                  *
 

 ...I also wouldn’t be padding everyone’s income. 
 

😁

Just as a point of information and not contention, I think your concern with tips going to "everyone" is a bit misplaced.

 

Before the cruise lines went to their automatically charged gratuities (or service charge as some prefer) you would only tip those who personally provided you service. That was the end of the story as far as the passenger was concerned but not the end of the tip story.

 

In those days, just as occurs today in many restaurants, the person who received the tip would "tip out" those behind the scenes. That is they would tip those behind the scenes who helped them earn the tip. Room stewards in those days were considered "up there" among the crew in great part because they received lots of tips and controlled to whom and how much they passed along the tips. That is why they had not only the authority but also the power to get their passengers whatever creature comforts they wanted.

 

Under the old system you tipped those who directly provided you service but your tip filtered along to "everyone."

 

Under the new system the room steward has very little authority and very little power to do much for you and you give your tip to the cruise line who when distributes it to both the front line employees and those behind the scenes. The advantage for the cruise line is that it cuts down on conflict between employees. The advantage for the customer is that they don't have to keep cash in reserve for the last day then run around giving out tips.

 

In either system you are paying everyone. But if you mix systems by not paying the cruise line but only those who directly provide service you gum up the system and create possible crew conflict.

 

We feel it better to consider the service charges full payment of tips for good service and only consider cash tips for above and beyond service. So it is rare we cash tip. I know some folks consider that cheap, but looking at the dollars it looks fair to us. I actually think NCL looked at what was fair, based the service charges on that plus a little extra, and considers that the end of the story. But some folks just have to complicate things and ask about cash tips. NCL isn't going to tick off their employees by saying no, they just say it is not expected, but I suspect they consider those who cash tip for regular service to be that thing that can't be fixed.

[dmwnc1959]

6 hours ago, icft said:

Just as a point of information and not contention, I think your concern with tips going to "everyone" is a bit misplaced...

 
Very well thought out and very well written! THANK YOU!!! 👍 👍 👍

 

😁

[RocketMan275]

14 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Based on that, it would cost me nearly double to have both the DSC as well as tip on top of that. 

If you think that is too much, then take shorter cruises.

[graphicguy]

We haven't had a good "how I expect everyone else to dress" debate in a while.

 

Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen anyone in a tux or suit on a cruise in a couple of years.