Why NCL also calls the DSC gratuities

I asked the question of NCL why they refer to the Daily Service Charge as gratuities as a free perk for POA cruises and this was the response from the Senior Director, Public Relations:

I apologize for any confusion regarding our daily service charges. Norwegian’s discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to key onboard staff who provide superior guest service during the cruise including their room steward, restaurant servers and behind-the-scenes support staff. For the sake of brevity in marketing, we refer to them as “gratuities”.

Hopefully it will clear up any misinformation given on here about why they use both terminologies when referring to the Daily Service Charge.

And in their note back to you, they refer to it as a discretionary charge.

Interesting.

Confirms what I suspected was the case- in marketing you use terms easily understood by the public and "gratuities" is more readily understood than "service charges".

This is a factual answer that is most likely the root cause. Most of the staff gets gouged by their agent and taxes in their homes countries from paid salary. In most cases, income earned from gratuities is not subjected to these fees and taxes at home. Be that as it may, the cruise lines have to maintain some sort of verbiage that is synonymous to gratuity in order to benefit the employee.

This could be changed but it would require a lengthy and complicated contract process with hundreds of home country agents, and there's no way that can happen overnight.

And in their note back to you, they refer to it as a discretionary charge.

 

Interesting.

Exactly. If it were entirely a service charge you would not be able to adjust or remove it.

Exactly. If it were entirely a service charge you would not be able to adjust or remove it.

Gratuities or Service Charges? As the Bard said; "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.":)

No where was the 18% gratuities ever mentioned or at issue, my post was in answer to my question to NCL why they call the perk for the POA as free gratuities, when it is actually free service charge and why they used the two terminologies for the same thing. I would suggest emailing NCL and asking them how the 18% gratuities are distributed and if you do, please report back their answer.

Thanks for this quote:

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.

The contract specifically states the charge is discretionary, and NCL even responds saying it is a discretionary gratuity. Neither the contract nor NCL's response on this page has any if / then qualifiers about the guests discretion and it all is in plain English. I don't see why anyone would be confused about it.

I asked the question of NCL why they refer to the Daily Service Charge as gratuities as a free perk for POA cruises and this was the response from the Senior Director, Public Relations:

 

I apologize for any confusion regarding our daily service charges. Norwegian’s discretionary daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to key onboard staff who provide superior guest service during the cruise including their room steward, restaurant servers and behind-the-scenes support staff. For the sake of brevity in marketing, we refer to them as “gratuities”.

 

Hopefully it will clear up any misinformation given on here about why they use both terminologies when referring to the Daily Service Charge.

Thank you for the clarification. I have always been a little confused about this subject. I figured since they advertise free gratuities at times that the DSC is your basic grats and if you want to give more for over and above you are welcome to but not necessary, not counting those specifically excluded as outlined by NCL. I've often read different opinions on these boards.

The basic grats being covered by the DSC makes sense. And now that they have the 18% for specialty dining it makes sense as well. I see that as extra tip you leave for the service received there and perhaps servers work there to get a bonus income above the DSC. The servers in the included dining options are often great but more often great in the specialty venues so I assume had to earn the ability to work specialty. I've been told they rotate every couple months and so some of the best servers on the ship will be in the main dining room depending on the rotation.

I've yet to find a room steward or staff that was not really good. It's what I like most about NCL. Sure you can tell the seasoned from the newer staff but at least the new staff are trying. I figure they are reimbursing their employees adequately if they are able to keep such good employees. There's a chance I've just been lucky but I think it's more likely that typically staff and service are great onboard because they are paid well and have a good work environment.

I really like the way NCL has it set up. No need to run around with a bunch of bills to tip everyone for everything. If I have some standouts I make sure and offer them extra, typically at the end of the cruise. It makes my vacations much easier not to think about money till the end and have most of what needs to be paid done before I step on the ship.

NCL must be doing something right with their wages and DSC and 18%'s on packages. It doesn't really matter to me what they are doing with those collected fees as long as they keep staff happy, which they seem to be doing on ships I've sailed.

I'm still not sure why you would even ask NCL why they would refer to the DSC as a gratuity. They refer to it as a gratuity because it essentially is a gratuity. At least some portion of it. It relieves the cruiser of the need to tip, or provide a gratuity individually. I would not agree with you that it is none of my business, as NCL clearly states that it constitutes my gratuity to the crew, and well, if it is my tip, I'd like to know how much I am actually tipping. If it is 90% of the amount, fine. But if it is 10% of the DSC, then maybe I'd like to tip individually a bit more.

 

But I do agree that it is also service charge, and how much goes to whom, we'll never know. I don't know that this actually clarified anything for anybody.

At least it is confirmed a gratuity and since it is paid automatically, the obligation for tipping is complete. :)

The fact that it is removable, unlike service charges at shore establishments, makes it a gratuity: because it is, in fact, payable at the discretion of the passenger- which means that recipients (the staff) can treat it as gratuity and not salary - giving them generally better tax treatment.

Not that hard to understand - except perhaps by those who feel entitled to withhold as much compensation from the staff as possible to fatten their own wallets.

My first cruise is next March and I have paid the DSC's up front. Does this mean that I don't need to tip them any additional money? Would it be in poor taste to not tip any additional money for these services?

Thanks :)

My first cruise is next March and I have paid the DSC's up front. Does this mean that I don't need to tip them any additional money? Would it be in poor taste to not tip any additional money for these services?

 

Thanks :)

You're going to get many different answers on here. The answer is no, you don't have to pay anything more. Some will insist that you should, others will say that giving a bartender a buck or two will insure that your service is good. Same with your room steward. If you want to be sure your room is just right, feel free to tip. BUT the prepaid gratuities is all that you have to pay. Personally I stay in an inside room and have never felt obligated to tip my steward extra, and if I find a great bartender, I may add a little extra on the receipt. Again, this is not expected OR required. It is not in"poor taste" not to tip extra. Just be sure you tip your concierge if you're in a suite, and if you go on a good excursion, those staff are not NCL and deserve a tip (at least in my opinion). Otherwise, no need to budget for tipping or feeling bad for not tipping. Prepaid covers all, and 18% is automatically added at the bar and spa.

My first cruise is next March and I have paid the DSC's up front. Does this mean that I don't need to tip them any additional money? Would it be in poor taste to not tip any additional money for these services?

 

Thanks :)

You will be fine. You will have paid your bills.