What do you think is the biggest misconception about Freestyle Cruising?

[Notreallyacruiser]

A bit about me, I travel extensively primarly landbased trips worldwide, spend some time in places, learn about it, the people, etc. This you cannot get through cruising, a few hours in port. Cruising is not "traveling". However, I love being at sea, I could care less for the stops, in fact I book cruises with fewest stops and more sea time.....I'm forced into it, that or book a freighter which isn't a bad idea :) In light of that here's my shake on NCL:

 

I read many reviews too and the most numerous complaints were the buffet, ummm ok but NCL isn't a "buffet" type line, I don't think any lines cater so much to the massive, "beautiful", ice carving, more catered to buffets of the 80s, 90s. How awful is a buffet really? yes a selection, but lukewarm, overcooked, picked over food and constantly knocking into others isn't most peoples cup of tea. Glad that went by the wayside, but lines still try to cater to the fast food, massive quantity, type vacationer. A common complaint is.. no midnight buffet, who needs to eat that much at midnight?? But then again post drinking munchies I guess qualifies....ok I'm guilty:O And we are on vacation.

 

The next category of negative reviews are those that like traditional dining, same table (sometimes shared), same time, same wait staff. How boring? That is everything except getting to know your wait staff, another complaint. That is one thing I do enjoy about that aspect, is some personal service, get to know.

 

Then finally the biggest complaint, long lines at main restaurants and impossible to get reservations at specialty restaurants.

 

Its easy, don't eat between 6:30 and 8:00pm, get reservations at 6pm or 8:30pm....or order room service. So its pretty freestyle if you're very adapable.

 

The problem I've noticed with free style is pure human nature, people see a line therefore they must get in it....for fear it only will grow and they will lose out.....hence, the back up with main dining rooms. Same with getting reservations at specialty restaurants. With traditional dining where you have a set time and table each night, people don't freak out....its all set! Thats truly the difference, its like a rush on the grocery store for milk and bread prior to a snowstorm attitude with free style which was not intended to be.

 

If you can chill out and eat early or later, you'll be fine. Yes the lines do go down, but people queueing don't beleive so and line up and line up....go figure.

 

I don't think auto tipping has much to do with staff performance. I've sailed Cunard which has the same policy, with extremely exceptional service!! In fact, its designed so that staff get tips!!! You would not beleive the amount of people who do not tip at all!! It is mind boggling! So a set tip pulled from account is a good idea when you think of people as a whole, and something the cruiseline is doing to ensure employee benefit. However it is not intended to completely compensate exceptional service....its to make sure slacker passengers tip! It is still up the passengers to addtionally tip exceptional service and they should do so!

 

Ok what can I say, I'm pretty adaptable....considering I wouldn't get on a floating amusement park typically....but I do just to be at-sea :)

 

Happy travels to all,

MAG

[SailAways]

You are pretty much right about the tips and actually $10 a day is less than the recommended amount for the lines that haven't adopted auto tipping. yes, you can have them removed but you are asked for a reason and it is suggested if there's a problem with service that everyone tries to iron the problem out rather than make the entire service crew suffer. We always keep the $10 per day on our bill and add a few extra $$s to those who we feel have gone above and beyond. NMnita

 

We wouldn't think of removing the tip. Where else could you go, and only tip $10 a day? Certainly not on a land based vacation. We will always add additional at the end of the cruise for any and all who have displayed a desire to make our cruise as delightful as it can be.

 

Those who deserve extra will always receive it from us. To remove the $10 per day would negate many who have given their very best for your cruise to be a wonderful vacation.

[vacation luvver]

<<The $10 is a pretty basic amount. Same as the suggested cash tips in 1989>>

 

I want to make it clear that I have absolutely no problem with the $10 per day auto-tipping. However, in the 1990s, the last time that I took a cruise with NCL before they switched to "freestyle," the suggested cash tips were $3.00 per day to the cabin steward, $3,00 per day to the dining room steward, $1.50 per day to the busboy, and $1.00 per day to the Maitre d'. I know that that does not include tips to the bartenders and the wine steward, but today's auto-tipping doesn't include tips to them either. $8.50 per day is less than $10.00 per day. I have no problem with anyone saying that with inflation, the amount that we tip should be more today than it was in yesteryear, but I don't agree that $10.00 is the same as what was suggested in 1989.

[kdzgon]

Why would you want to adjust a tip? In the very small town I live in, if I don't tip at least 15 percent, I get no service whatsoever the next time I visit the restaurant. Waiters in my hometown expect more than 15 percent tips. No tip this time, no service the next time. You'll be ignored, last in line, and frankly hated by the waiters and waitresses.

 

Maybe you can adjust a tip in a major city, but in very small town with very few restaurants, the waiters and waitresses inform the others when they are ripped off. It won't be long before a friend tells you you are a heel.

 

You do know adjustments can be up OR down, right?

 

I know there have been posts by people that attempted to lower the service charge for whatever reason, but I asked about increasing it as I thought the amount was low as it included a share for our butler, the maitre d's, etc. I was told it is "not" tips we were paying, and that gratuities were not necessary, although if someone went out of his or her way for us, I could give something additional directly (but not on the actual daily charge).

 

I lived on tips for approx 15 yrs - I am well aware of the importance of tips, and also how it is possible to have a "bad day" as a server and perform less than stellar. Even surly and obnoxious servers get some sort of tip from me, but most servers receive more than the "average". I also tend to over-tip based on the recommended percentages (especially in places with liquor licenses) as we rarely if ever order alcoholic drinks and I don't even drink soda or coffee. I try to tip on an "average" check rather than our actual because of this.

 

None of this changes the fact that NCL goes a long way to "explain" how these daily charges are not "tips".

[hotspur]

<<The $10 is a pretty basic amount. Same as the suggested cash tips in 1989>>

 

I want to make it clear that I have absolutely no problem with the $10 per day auto-tipping. However, in the 1990s, the last time that I took a cruise with NCL before they switched to "freestyle," the suggested cash tips were $3.00 per day to the cabin steward, $3,00 per day to the dining room steward, $1.50 per day to the busboy, and $1.00 per day to the Maitre d'. I know that that does not include tips to the bartenders and the wine steward, but today's auto-tipping doesn't include tips to them either. $8.50 per day is less than $10.00 per day. I have no problem with anyone saying that with inflation, the amount that we tip should be more today than it was in yesteryear, but I don't agree that $10.00 is the same as what was suggested in 1989.

Renaissance "suggested" a $12/day charge on our year 2001 cruise.

[kdzgon]

BTW, I NEVER said I wanted to remove the tips - I only said the fact that it is no longer easy to do so weights the definition more to the side of a service charge rather than a tip. I did not - and would not - look to remove the tips. As I said earlier, I felt the amount was a bit low - maybe not 1989 prices, but low nevertheless. In fact, as a party of three in our cabin, we spent well over 400% of the automatic 'service charge' when including discretionary tips on board ship alone. (Add in everyone we tipped from home and back, and the total tips for the trip double!)

 

We did indeed tip well and often - from the butler, concierge, youth counselors, extra to the cabin stewards, a number of the wait staff and the bartenders when buying a round for family members, etc. I did not gamble at the tables, or I would have tipped the dealer(s) as well. We tipped anyone and everyone that touched our luggage in any way, shape or form. Overall I DO find the auto charge more convenient than the envelopes, although I found the additional daily tipping to be a bit more awkward at first.

 

That said, I do believe there were some wait staff that seemed rather indifferent as compared to our prior experiences. I suspect this may be due to the fact that discretionary tips play a much smaller role in their compensation. (These people were NOT the majority, but we did encounter them more so than in prior journeys.) I based the connection on my own prior experience with co-workers as a waitress.

 

Lastly, I guess I am naive, but I am quite surprised that there was ever a significant number of passengers that did not show up for the last dinner in order to dodge the wait staff. On the few occasions where we did not eat dinner in the main dining room on "tip" night, we always made sure to track down our server(s) to offer gratuities. I did in the past get a sense (from conversations with passengers and crew) that guests were more likely to stiff or shortchange the cabin stewards (and perhaps the maitre d's, but IMO many times maitre d's provide the least amount of consistent service) than the wait staff.

[vacation luvver]

<<Renaissance "suggested" a $12/day charge on our year 2001 cruise.>>

 

Okay, that's fine. But did Renaissance "suggest" how this $12 per day was supposed to be divided up? Or were you supposed to put $84 (for a seven-night cruise) into an envelope and give it to the Purser to distribute to the staff? Meaning that you had no way of knowing who would get how much?

 

Some posters have said that ship employees' shares of the auto-tipping proceeds go up and down depending upon what is said about them on the comment cards. Does NCL actually say that somewhere, or is it an assumption?

[samtig]

I'd never heard about tips going up and down based on comment cards - is that true? I've had room stewards tell me that comment cards are considered for promotions or if they request transfer to another ship.

[Notreallyacruiser]

Again, auto tipping is done so that employees at least receive a minimum tip due to many passengers not tipping at all, and that number is far more than you think! The auto tip is not what it really should be, how can a line force absolute proper tipping, hence may be the reason it doesn't seem in line with '89 prices. Its a BARE minimum, trust me.

 

The negative on this is perhaps some passengers may feel its enough and don't tip more.

 

I think many and those I hear on this thread tip accordingly, if not more, and thats very good.

 

One thing I do is bring my own 'thank you' notes vs. their envelopes, and write personal messages to those who've made my voyage good, to better to exceptional.

 

Happy travels to all....my only request as a single traveler is keep the kiddoes calm!

[Cosmopolitan]

One thing I do is bring my own 'thank you' notes vs. their envelopes, and write personal messages to those who've made my voyage good, to better to exceptional.

 

I do the same and include an additional tip:)

[Don Haynes]

I have stated in the past and will again, ten dollars a day is too little. Therefore I have always tipped more.

 

I find it a little disgusting that some would even mention having their automatic tips be reduced. They are the same ones who would stiff, and they are the same ones who have never earned a living on tip income.

[beachchick]

Again, auto tipping is done so that employees at least receive a minimum tip due to many passengers not tipping at all, and that number is far more than you think! The auto tip is not what it really should be, how can a line force absolute proper tipping, hence may be the reason it doesn't seem in line with '89 prices. Its a BARE minimum, trust me.

 

The negative on this is perhaps some passengers may feel its enough and don't tip more.

 

I think many and those I hear on this thread tip accordingly, if not more, and thats very good.

 

One thing I do is bring my own 'thank you' notes vs. their envelopes, and write personal messages to those who've made my voyage good, to better to exceptional.

 

Happy travels to all....my only request as a single traveler is keep the kiddoes calm!

 

The thing is that an "auto" tip is, by definition, not a tip. A tip is supposed to be an optional item commensurate with services rendered. There are standards, which most of us adjust up and down at land-based establishments based on service received.

 

"Forcing" an absolute minimum makes this a service fee, not a tip. I know that some people don't tip according to standards (or even at all). That is wrong (whether on land or by cruise). The fact remains though that required tips aren't tips.

 

I do prefer to tip those who've actually given service, but understand that it can be hard to do on a Freestyle ship. Still, we always add tips to specialty restaurant tabs, cabin steward, and so forth.

 

beachchick

[SailAways]

The thing is that an "auto" tip is, by definition, not a tip.

"Forcing" an absolute minimum makes this a service fee, not a tip.

beachchick

 

And......

 

The brochures which I have state that this is a "Service Charge".....or a "Hotel and Dining Charge". I have not seen this fee referred to as a "Tip" in any brochures recently.

[Host CMLA]

The thing is that an "auto" tip is, by definition, not a tip. A tip is supposed to be an optional item commensurate with services rendered. There are standards, which most of us adjust up and down at land-based establishments based on service received.

On NCL, the "auto" refers to them adding the tip to your bill as a convenience to you!!! You can adjust it.

"Forcing" an absolute minimum makes this a service fee, not a tip. I know that some people don't tip according to standards (or even at all). That is wrong (whether on land or by cruise). The fact remains though that required tips aren't tips.

If you're going to tip anyway, why be upset that it's taken care of for you when again, you can adjust it.

The brochures which I have state that this is a "Service Charge".....or a "Hotel and Dining Charge". I have not seen this fee referred to as a "Tip" in any brochures recently.

And it's adjustable on NCL ships so there's nothing mandatory about it.

 

Can I say this enough...The service charge is added AS A CONVENIENCE to the guest. It can be adjusted just as you would if you were handing out the money yourself.

[hotspur]

Can I say this enough...The service charge is added AS A CONVENIENCE to the guest. It can be adjusted just as you would if you were handing out the money yourself.

Sorry, Cecilia, but you will never be able to say it enough, because some people will ALWAYS want to carp about it, insisting it's all a nefarious plot to nickel-and-dime them. They will never be convinced the room stewards aren't holding back on another tube of body lotion because they know they've got your automatic service charge in their pockets--allowing them to sell that body lotion on the black market in Belize. Just like the waiters NEVER give you refills on your drinks because they can take your service charge for granted. And bartenders will refill everyone else's drink on the ship before they give you a soda if you have a soda card.

 

Similarly, despite your courageous and wise attempt to put the issue to bed once and for all time in your original posting to start this thread, there will ALWAYS be know-it-alls who will insist NCL service stinks because the crew has absolutely no motivation to treat customers like anything but dirt.

 

People are funny, Cecilia. Even--or is it especially--on Cruise Critic.

[samtig]

We've been on Carnival and NCL and auto-tipped every time, giving extra to some employees. Went on first RCI cruise last month and elected to auto-tip, again giving extra to some. It's just a convenience to us to do it that way. Found the service to be about the same on all ships with the best being on NCL Sun.

[newmexicoNita]

Sorry, Cecilia, but you will never be able to say it enough, because some people will ALWAYS want to carp about it, insisting it's all a nefarious plot to nickel-and-dime them. They will never be convinced the room stewards aren't holding back on another tube of body lotion because they know they've got your automatic service charge in their pockets--allowing them to sell that body lotion on the black market in Belize. Just like the waiters NEVER give you refills on your drinks because they can take your service charge for granted. And bartenders will refill everyone else's drink on the ship before they give you a soda if you have a soda card.

 

Similarly, despite your courageous and wise attempt to put the issue to bed once and for all time in your original posting to start this thread, there will ALWAYS be know-it-alls who will insist NCL service stinks because the crew has absolutely no motivation to treat customers like anything but dirt.

 

People are funny, Cecilia. Even--or is it especially--on Cruise Critic.

i agree with you 100%. Wonder if those same ones who feel the service is suffering because of "auto tipping" feel the same about the line they are loyal to and we all have one. Of course not, their's is the exception. Sorry, but I just had to throw that in. NMnita

[RichNY]

Just like the know it alls thats insist that NCL is the best......Maybe take the middle of the road approach......nothing is the BEST and nothing is the WORST...

 

I think the automatic service charge, that's what NCL calls it, is a great idea..and if someone goes "above and beyond" then I will give them a gratituity...it's that simple.

 

Perhaps most of the NCL misconceptions come from these boards...Good and bad.

[hotspur]

I've never seen anyone here say that NCL is always the "BEST," Rich. Many do take exception when someone says something that just doesn't reflect reality as we've experienced it--like saying freestyle "doesn't work" or that so-called automatic service charges result in poor service or that the dining room food is "awful."

 

Many of the regulars here happen to prefer the NCL package to other cruise lines, typically because of freestyle and the way NCL treats passengers like grown-ups capable of making intelligent decisions for themselves about dining and attire.

 

I think if you'd read this board carefully, you'd see that most regulars here feel that all mass-market cruise lines (including the overrated HAL and Celebrity) offer very similar overall experiences, with some doing some things better than others and some things not as well, but that the way NCL puts it all together just happens to suit their (or perhaps I should say "our") priorities best.

[SailAways]

Looking back upon our cruise in 2005 on NCL, It would seem that the biggest misconception is about expectations, and the entire concept of "Freestyle".

 

The dress code is surely misunderstood, and some folks seem to make a terrible chore of the dining options.

 

These things seemed pretty straight forward, and presented well in the literature as we read it.

 

Resort casual attire worked well for us, but we did dress up a bit more for Formal Night, but certainly not formal at all. Just our Sunday Best. Some did not dress up at all, and others were in gowns and tuxes. It seemed to all blend well, and no one looked out of place. It works!

 

The dining options are simple. Either Buffet, free restaurants, or pay restaurants where a reservation is suggested, but not required. Dining time is always at the cruisers discretion.

 

The tipping/service charge issue was not an issue for us at all. That too seemed pretty well explained.

 

We did tip extra for those who put forth extra effort for our comfort. We did not feel obligated to do this, it was our pleasure to do so. Had we not felt like doing so, that also would have been our choice.

 

We loved Freestyle, and given the option, it would always be the way we would go.

[calmac]

I'm very aware that "tipping" is the norm in the US and Americans are comfortable with, and used to, tipping. One advantage of having an "auto service charge" is that those of us who are from countries who have less of a "tipping culture" do not feel uncomfortable or worried that we've perhaps missed out on tipping someone and potentially upset them. Not sure that this would have been a consideration when an American company introduced the auto charging, but it is helpful.

 

 

On another point, having read through this thread, could someone please tell me what a third shift person is? Not a term I've come across and DH, who works for an American company, couldn't enlighten me either.

[hotspur]

On another point, having read through this thread, could someone please tell me what a third shift person is? Not a term I've come across and DH, who works for an American company, couldn't enlighten me either.

"Third shift" in a plant or manufacturing environment refers to someone working from midnight to eight in the morning. Typically viewed as the least desirable working hours ("first shift" would be from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon and "second shift" from four 'til midnight), third shift historically would have the least experienced workers on it. The poster who made reference to it apparently was using it as a pejorative term to describe some of his or her tablemates--with an appropriate reaction from others here.

 

Your comment about tipping, I believe, also has applicability to folks from the US who may not have been familiar with cruise ship tipping practices before taking their cruise. The whole concept of "envelopes" along with some of the strange-sounding positions on the suggested tipping list (assistant housekeepers? assistant maitre d's?) can be intimidating even for someone accustomed to tipping waiters and bellhops as a matter of course.

[johnql]

I've also heard the "third shift" referred to as the "lobster shift" or "graveyard shift". Not really sure about the derivations of those terms.

[calmac]

Thank you, hotspur and johnql, for the explanations of "third shift". I did wonder if it was what, in the UK, would normally be referred to as night shift (typically 10pm - 6am). However, at least in my experience, this is not seen as a "lesser" job or shift and, with shift supplements, these might just be the people who can afford to travel on the QE2 :D

[calmac]

Still encountering these double posts!