Will you reduce DSC

Well, no. You have other options.

please enlighten me then.

Why on earth would I want to stiff the staff, hard working or not? If I don't like the DSC, I have the option to cancel my cruise. So I have to pay a little more, big deal. If I can spend a few thousand on a cruise, I can handle increase DSC as well.

All these phony justifications for not paying are just acts of Nickel & Diming, an activity that NCL is usually accused of. Sheesh.

No. You don't understand how the system works.

Or,....the other option....which I am not allowed to write about......

I am just not getting it, what other options?

No I won't. I don't have a problem paying the additional $2.95 on the DSC and will choose what increased fee items I will use. Why would I penalize the crew, even if I disagreed with any of these changes. Better to just not partake in room service, drinks or specialty restaurants if you disagree.

I completely agree

I have paid in full for my July Epic cruise.

Can I still prepay gratuities at old rates??

Thanks

Kerri

I have paid in full for my July Epic cruise.

 

Can I still prepay gratuities at old rates??

Thanks

Kerri

I think so, I prepay also

No. You don't understand how the system works.

Or,....the other option....which I am not allowed to write about......

Was anything I stared factually inaccurate? Which part? How the system works is between employer and employee. I am only talking about the options available between guest and company. Do you understand which perspective I am talking about? I think you may not be talking about the same thing or are misunderstanding.

When my wife and I booked our cruise with NCL, we booked with the understanding that....

 

• Room Service was Included - free of charge
  
• DSC's were "recommended" to be a certain amount.
  
• Gratuity was included for all dining options - including Specialty locations.
  
• Cagney's was included in our UDP
  

 

NCL decided in their infinite wisdom to change those 4 things to get more money from us AFTER THE FACT. THAT is what bothers me. I own my own business and I understand that NCL can do whatever they want to as well, on their ships, with their company.

 

That being said, I still have options as a guest.

 

That leaves me no choice but to totally remove the DSC from our upcoming cruise, and tip our cabin steward accordingly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMe View Post

We are sailing 7/11 Getaway, Booked Cagney's with UDP there was not a charge.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2213365

I have paid in full for my July Epic cruise.

 

Can I still prepay gratuities at old rates??

Thanks

Kerri

No, you can't. The DSC had to be prepaid prior to March 31st (if I remember correctly) to pay at the old rate. You can still prepay if you wish but it will be at the new rates.

We just finished our May 13-20 Epic West Med cruise. This was our first real cruise. We had done a 3 day repositioning cruise more than 20 years ago. Frankly, I was kind of glad not to have to be subjected to the lecture by the cruise director at the end of the cruise about how important it is to tip and having a bunch of envelopes to pass around (like 20 years ago). For me, the DSC and the mandatory gratuities on the UDP made it simple.

During one of our private tours, our Italian driver told us he and his wife worked on a cruise ship years ago. Back in those days, he says that a good waiter made about $5000 a month by providing direct service and getting direct gratuities by working exclusively for the same guests during the cruise. Now with the whole freestyle and tip pooling/sharing system, the monthly income has dropped substantially. According to him, no self respecting Western European would work on a cruise ship. That is why most of the staff is Asian or Eastern European. Once again, according to hm. I am Asian so dont call me racist. Of course, he also told us how tough it is working in Southern Italy in the tourist industry. In the end, we proabaly ended up tipping him too much, LOL.

Anyways, back on the ship,we did feel a bit sheepish because it was clear that the restaurant wait staff and the cabin stewards were all being exra friendly in hopes of getting an additional tip. I had not planned on tipping extra, but, damn, those towel animals are so cute. Fortunately, we still had an OBC balance. We had booked our own private excursions, did not want to buy too much of the on board crap souvenirs or buy any alcohol (we were trying to drink our 2.8 sodas per person per day so we could break even on our soda pack, LOL). Anyways, I was able to transfer all of our remaining OBC balance to our cabin steward in the end. So he got a good tip with NCL's money.

When my wife and I booked our cruise with NCL, we booked with the understanding that....

 

• Room Service was Included - free of charge
  
• DSC's were "recommended" to be a certain amount.
  
• Gratuity was included for all dining options - including Specialty locations.
  
• Cagney's was included in our UDP
  

 

NCL decided in their infinite wisdom to change those 4 things to get more money from us AFTER THE FACT. THAT is what bothers me. I own my own business and I understand that NCL can do whatever they want to as well, on their ships, with their company.

 

That being said, I still have options as a guest.

 

That leaves me no choice but to totally remove the DSC from our upcoming cruise, and tip our cabin steward accordingly.

I feel about this the same way you do, but I won't be reducing my DSC. I agreed to pay it when I booked the cruise, as NCL agreed to free room service and all the other amenities and rules that were in place when I booked. Just because NCL decided to break their word, altering the amenities and adding new rules, doesn't mean I get to do the same. I would have canceled the cruise altogether and booked with another line for that same week, but I'm already past the penalty date. So this will probably be my last Norwegian cruise, at least for a while, and it will be the first one in years on which I won't buy a future cruise certificate. However, I will make it a point to let them know why... not that Corporate will care.

You do realize that Carnival and Royal have already followed NCL with the higher dsc. Carnival has added the room service fee and Royal has started an overnight service fee.

No, you can't. The DSC had to be prepaid prior to March 31st (if I remember correctly) to pay at the old rate. You can still prepay if you wish but it will be at the new rates.

I logged into my account today and it offered me to pay at the old rate. In fact there was no way for me to pay the new higher rate.

Just to clarify. Here is a post where they are saying they have the UDP and Cagney's is included. The booked it at no charge.

 

 

 

Quote:

 

Originally Posted by MrMe View Post

 

We are sailing 7/11 Getaway, Booked Cagney's with UDP there was not a charge.

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2213365

We also have Cagney booked on our July 25th sailing, and there was no charge with our UDP.

I logged into my account today and it offered me to pay at the old rate. In fact there was no way for me to pay the new higher rate.

Well, I paid mine back in March when the email came out and I'm never taking another NCL cruise so I can't log into my account to try and pay them so I can't validate what you say you're seeing. I can state, according tot he NCL email, March 31st was the last day to pay at the old rate. Granted, NCL has broken their word so many times these last few months that their word is probably meaningless but that is what they put into writing in the email.

Well, I paid mine back in March when the email came out and I'm never taking another NCL cruise so I can't log into my account to try and pay them so I can't validate what you say you're seeing. I can state, according tot he NCL email, March 31st was the last day to pay at the old rate. Granted, NCL has broken their word so many times these last few months that their word is probably meaningless but that is what they put into writing in the email.

Are you saying that NCL closed your MYNCL account because you threatened to never sail with them again?:confused:

Are you saying that NCL closed your MYNCL account because you threatened to never sail with them again?:confused:

No, I'm saying I can't see what the MYNCL account says for what the DSC cost is now because it's already paid.

I don't make threats, I state facts (unless I explicitly state that a post is an opinion). Once my June cruise is over, it's goodbye NCL and good riddance. Too many other good lines out there (CCL, Princess, RCCL, HAL) to ever waste money sailing NCL again.

I don't make threats, I state facts (unless I explicitly state that a post is an opinion). Once my June cruise is over, it's goodbye NCL and good riddance. Too many other good lines out there (CCL, Princess, RCCL, HAL) to ever waste money sailing NCL again.

Well, me know your first statement is up for debate...but why are you going on NCL if you hate them so much? What happened that you feel this way? And at least I hope you have a good time and make the best of your cruise; if you have a great time are you willing to reconsider your position?

My cruise is in 11 days and just did the online registration and decided to pre pay the service charge (2 cabins) I will be prepared to tip cash for exceptional service as well as to the bar staff as I've always done .i just can't see penalizing those that work so hard to please me. my first real NCL cruise I hope it's a good one !!

NO!!!! The increase in DSC is an absolute drop in the cruise cost bucket.

I feel like there has to be a lot of dishonesty of what people actually do on threads like this, but I really feel no reason to put on airs at all or especially on an online forum.

Will I be reducing my service charges? Yes, absolutely.

I'm not paying double for restaurant service. We will eat in a specially restaurant every night, if I am being assessed an 18% tip, that covers those meals and I won't pay it over again.

"But then you rip off the servers in the regular restaurant!!"

They didn't serve me if I didn't eat there! I don't go across the street and tip a waitress at tgi Fridays if we ate at Applebee's that night. It's absurd thinking.

I will reduce the service charge to $50 left on the account and I will tip our meal servers directly and my room steward directly. They can apply the $50 to the behind the scenes folks as I will request them to do so.

If you don't like how I do it, too bad. But I felt I wanted to share because there is way too much chest thumping on this topic and if someone is more of my mindset, there's other people out there who don't like being raked over the coals either.

I feel like there has to be a lot of dishonesty of what people actually do on threads like this, but I really feel no reason to put on airs at all or especially on an online forum.

 

Will I be reducing my service charges? Yes, absolutely.

 

I'm not paying double for restaurant service. We will eat in a specially restaurant every night, if I am being assessed an 18% tip, that covers those meals and I won't pay it over again.

 

"But then you rip off the servers in the regular restaurant!!"

 

They didn't serve me if I didn't eat there! I don't go across the street and tip a waitress at tgi Fridays if we ate at Applebee's that night. It's absurd thinking.

 

I will reduce the service charge to $50 left on the account and I will tip our meal servers directly and my room steward directly. They can apply the $50 to the behind the scenes folks as I will request them to do so.

 

If you don't like how I do it, too bad. But I felt I wanted to share because there is way too much chest thumping on this topic and if someone is more of my mindset, there's other people out there who don't like being raked over the coals either.

Good story, but it really sounds like an excuse to avoid tipping anyone.

Good story, but it really sounds like an excuse to avoid tipping anyone.

How am I avoiding tipping anyone if I leave on the "behind the scenes" portion, pay the assigned 18% that I don't have a choice about in the dining and also tip my room steward?

Avoiding tipping double, yeah, you bet!

I feel like there has to be a lot of dishonesty of what people actually do on threads like this, but I really feel no reason to put on airs at all or especially on an online forum.

 

Will I be reducing my service charges? Yes, absolutely.

 

I'm not paying double for restaurant service. We will eat in a specially restaurant every night, if I am being assessed an 18% tip, that covers those meals and I won't pay it over again.

 

"But then you rip off the servers in the regular restaurant!!"

 

They didn't serve me if I didn't eat there! I don't go across the street and tip a waitress at tgi Fridays if we ate at Applebee's that night. It's absurd thinking.

 

I will reduce the service charge to $50 left on the account and I will tip our meal servers directly and my room steward directly. They can apply the $50 to the behind the scenes folks as I will request them to do so.

 

If you don't like how I do it, too bad. But I felt I wanted to share because there is way too much chest thumping on this topic and if someone is more of my mindset, there's other people out there who don't like being raked over the coals either.

It doesn't work that way, and you know it.

To the OP....of course we wouldn't reduce our charges, the staff are one of the highlights of cruising with NCL and we'd NEVER short-change them.

I can't imagine that somebody would.

Stephen

.

Well, I paid mine back in March when the email came out and I'm never taking another NCL cruise so I can't log into my account to try and pay them so I can't validate what you say you're seeing. I can state, according tot he NCL email, March 31st was the last day to pay at the old rate. Granted, NCL has broken their word so many times these last few months that their word is probably meaningless but that is what they put into writing in the email.

I think it depends when the cruise was booked. I booked my upcoming cruise (October, 2015) in January. I called last weekend to make final payment and pre-paid gratuities at the old rate. I was told I got this lower rate because I booked in January. So, IMO, this is fair.

However, I was not told about the increase until I asked to pre-pay gratuities, so I think if I had waited to pay onboard, I would have been paying the higher rate.

Big picture, though, our aft balcony cabin on my upcoming cruise, with unlimited beverage package included, is costing us $500 less than the oceeanview cabin we had on our honeymoon cruise 20 years ago. Cruising is still a great value.