Yet one more tipping question!

[lauderdalebob]

Leaving Tuesday on NCL for the 1st time and 2nd time to free-style dining on cruise ships. On previous cruises with set dining times, besides the automatic gratuity, we always gave our waiter and assistant waiter extra tips at the end of the cruise. A year ago we took RCL Oasis and ate dinner at various times and had a different waiter every night. We did not leave anything additional and thought it wasn't expected since we did have someone different every night. Should we have carried cash and left a tip like at an "at-home" restaurant?

 

Also, at times on Oasis and other ships we've traveled on we sometimes eat breakfast or lunch in the open seating dining room and never left any tip at that time. I would think the wait staff of ships (as far as earning money goes) would rather have the same customers every night during the cruise thereby getting from many people extra tips as well as part of the automatic gratuity. That's one of the things I have always liked about cruising is not having to think about tipping during the week and then given extra tips (if felt they were deserved) at the end of the cruise (as well as the automatic gratuity). Now with free-style dining and different servers every night I would think they would prefer having the same customers every day?????

[johnql]

You're driving yourself crazy over-thinking it - with NCL's Daily Service Charge (DSC - $12 pp/pd), there's very little else left for you to do. If you leave the DSC in place, that's it - well, almost if you don't count discretionary tipping (with the emphasis on discretionary). The DSC pretty covers all your "tipping" (in quotes because technically it's a service charge, with actual tipping optional and at your discretion). Discretionary tipping includes: porters at the dock, room service, bar service (if you want to tip above and beyond the 15% automatic gratuity), and anybody else that you feel deserves an additional tip (perhaps an extraordinary waiter). Kids Club counselors are also not covered by the DSC, nor are butlers and concierges if you're lucky enough to be in a suite.

[greatlyblessed]

You're driving yourself crazy over-thinking it - with NCL's Daily Service Charge (DSC - $12 pp/pd), there's very little else left for you to do. If you leave the DSC in place, that's it - well, almost if you don't count discretionary tipping (with the emphasis on discretionary). The DSC pretty covers all your "tipping" (in quotes because technically it's a service charge, with actual tipping optional and at your discretion). Discretionary tipping includes: porters at the dock, room service, bar service (if you want to tip above and beyond the 15% automatic gratuity), and anybody else that you feel deserves an additional tip (perhaps an extraordinary waiter). Kids Club counselors are also not covered by the DSC, nor are butlers and concierges if you're lucky enough to be in a suite.

I am a first time cruiser where tipping happens like this, being from Australia tipping is a whole different ball game.

What does "If you leave the DSC in place" mean ???

Do we have some control over our tipping, particularly as I have three children , two being 12 yrs and are charged adult tipping costs. I would like to have the choice to be able to bless the Kids Counselors more, which is where they will be spending more time.

Thank you

[Big Kev]

I am a first time cruiser where tipping happens like this, being from Australia tipping is a whole different ball game.

What does "If you leave the DSC in place" mean ???

Do we have some control over our tipping, particularly as I have three children , two being 12 yrs and are charged adult tipping costs. I would like to have the choice to be able to bless the Kids Counselors more, which is where they will be spending more time.

Thank you

 

 

 

We are also Australian, so understand what you mean. It can be confusing..

 

We have travelled pretty extensively over the years, much of our time spent in USA.. Whilst many Aussies perceive tipping as such to be an American thing, you will find that "tips" are expected, and are the main source of income for service staff working on international cruise ships..

 

Different cruise lines treat it different ways.. With NCL, since the advent of "freestyle", they charge it to your on-board account on a daily basis.. Since freestyle causes you to have different waitstaff each time you dine, and wherever you dine, they make it easy for you.. It is charged as a DSC (daily service charge), much the same as a land resort will charge a resort fee..

 

Its the best way of doing things for us, 'cos it saves running around tipping those that help you each meal time, or getting having wads of $$ bills.. The ""service charge" also covers your room steward/s...

 

Treat it as part of your international cruising price and you dont have to worry about it.. You know... When in Rome.........:)

 

The ship service staff, never deserve to be "stiffed"

 

Hope that helps..

 

S and P

 

 

.

[aussie cruzer]

I am a first time cruiser where tipping happens like this, being from Australia tipping is a whole different ball game.

What does "If you leave the DSC in place" mean ???

Do we have some control over our tipping, particularly as I have three children , two being 12 yrs and are charged adult tipping costs. I would like to have the choice to be able to bless the Kids Counselors more, which is where they will be spending more time.

Thank you

 

You might be better to ask this question over in the Australian side of cc

Aussies & Americans can have different take on this issue .

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=712

 

Personally , I prefer to pre pay when we book & not worry about .

[johnql]

What does "If you leave the DSC in place" mean ???

Simple - you will be automatically charged $12 pp/pd for the Daily Service Charge. At the end of the cruise, all of the DSC charges will be on your shipboard account along with all of your other expenses. Leaving the DSC in place means that you agree to pay the $12 pp/pd for however many days of your cruise.

 

The converse is that you decide to either reduce or eliminate the DSC - something that I strongly advise against. You are allowed to do this but, in theory, it should come about as a result of bad service, which you have reported and which you have given the cruise line a chance to rectify. If the cruise line then does NOT rectify the situation adequately to your satisfaction, then you are absolutely within your rights to reduce or eliminate the DSC based on how much you feel you have been inconvenienced. There are some CCers who will point out that you don't actually have to go through this protocol, that you can simply have the DSC adjusted with no explanation given. You can probably do this but I strongly believe that that is simply stiffing the staff and not the right thing to do.

[Big Kev]

Simple - you will be automatically charged $12 pp/pd for the Daily Service Charge. At the end of the cruise, all of the DSC charges will be on your shipboard account along with all of your other expenses. Leaving the DSC in place means that you agree to pay the $12 pp/pd for however many days of your cruise.

 

The converse is that you decide to either reduce or eliminate the DSC - something that I strongly advise against. You are allowed to do this but, in theory, it should come about as a result of bad service, which you have reported and which you have given the cruise line a chance to rectify. If the cruise line then does NOT rectify the situation adequately to your satisfaction, then you are absolutely within your rights to reduce or eliminate the DSC based on how much you feel you have been inconvenienced. There are some CCers who will point out that you don't actually have to go through this protocol, that you can simply have the DSC adjusted with no explanation given. You can probably do this but I strongly believe that that is simply stiffing the staff and not the right thing to do.

 

 

.

 

Our sentiments also johnql... Our answer omitted to explain the NCL DSC policy is further stated on documents when you get to your room....

 

Passsengers also know about DSC when they book... No secrets... ! Documents explain possible scenario and what to do if you have service problems... Staff will firstly go out of their way to correct any issues with the agreed service...

 

.

[sparks1093]

I am a first time cruiser where tipping happens like this, being from Australia tipping is a whole different ball game.

What does "If you leave the DSC in place" mean ???

Do we have some control over our tipping, particularly as I have three children , two being 12 yrs and are charged adult tipping costs. I would like to have the choice to be able to bless the Kids Counselors more, which is where they will be spending more time.

Thank you

 

One quick note, the Kids Crew counselors do not participate in the DSC pool- you will have to tip them separately if you want them to receive something extra (it is my understanding that they receive a salary and are not wholly dependent on tips). The $12 per day for your children covers the service they receive from the same people that will be providing service to you. They don't receive less service just because they are kids.

[NeilD]

Hey - 'to each his own'...I'm the guy who carries that wad of bills around. I tip generously. Must be that 'cousin Vinnie' thing in me......either way, if you feel you are being fair to the crew, go for it....

[sparks1093]

Hey - 'to each his own'...I'm the guy who carries that wad of bills around. I tip generously. Must be that 'cousin Vinnie' thing in me......either way, if you feel you are being fair to the crew, go for it....

 

Ah, but to be truly fair to the crew one keeps the DSC in place because that covers all behind the scenes personnel who don't interact with you.;)

[NeilD]

Ah, but to be truly fair to the crew one keeps the DSC in place because that covers all behind the scenes personnel who don't interact with you.;)

 

Sparks....exactly! Don't mess with the DSC.

[yoyocruiser]

It sounds like the OP is trying to determine the best way to distribute tips above and beyond the DSC--not question in any way paying the DSC. My response to that is that we generally carry some extra money with us for those VERY SPECIAL situations where we feel a wait staff truly goes above and beyond, and we may simply leave a $5 bill right then and there. I agree with someone's advice not to "overthink" it. The advantage of the DSC is that you don't really have to worry about tipping--it makes life on a cruise much easier. If someone deserves extra tips, then it will stand out, and it will probably be worth your effort to leave something or even to find the person at a later time, or perhaps (even better) to fill out a STYLE card. (STYLE cards are tor ecognize specific good service that you receive and I believe that staff may get rewards for these)

[ripjerry95]

We have never adjusted the daily services charges..and never would..These are split up among various staffmembers..In the MDR's and as well as specialty we tip extra...That is just my 2 cents..

[cb at sea]

If you pay the suggested tips in advance....you're done...you need not tip addtionally, unless you want to.

All of those tips cover ALL meals...not just dinner, so don't worry about it!

 

If someone goes WAY above and beyond to do something special for you, hand them a couple of bucks...otherwise, your prepaid tips (or tips on your account) are all you need to do.

[bplazo]

I tip at least the amount that the cruiseline suggest and do not give it another thought. As far as the children you should always tip extra.

[lauderdalebob]

Thank you, yoyocruiser. I think you actually responded to my question. Somehow whenever postings are done, things go off into a tangent. I never said anything about not paying the required $12 pp per day and yoyoucruiser understood that.

 

SO, I think I'll just play it by ear. If I feel somone in one of the main dining rooms in the evening has gone above and beyond will leave something EXTRA. If not, a thank you will suffice and off I go. I have never in all my cruising actually seen anyone tipping in the open dining seating for breakfast or lunch any any line I've been on.

 

Happy Sailing!

[fshagan]

Thank you, yoyocruiser. I think you actually responded to my question. Somehow whenever postings are done, things go off into a tangent. I never said anything about not paying the required $12 pp per day and yoyoucruiser understood that.

 

SO, I think I'll just play it by ear. If I feel somone in one of the main dining rooms in the evening has gone above and beyond will leave something EXTRA. If not, a thank you will suffice and off I go. I have never in all my cruising actually seen anyone tipping in the open dining seating for breakfast or lunch any any line I've been on.

 

Happy Sailing!

 

I think you've got it! We sometimes tip our room steward extra, but have never really felt the need to do so in the MDR.

 

Some tips are added in automatically elsewhere, so be careful. If you buy a drink, the bill will include a gratuity in the total (18%, I think). They still have a blank "tip: ____" line on the bill you sign, and a lot of (American) people reflexively add a few bucks there, not realizing there is already a generous tip on an overpriced item. Its not really hidden, as it is shown above the blank "tip: ___" line on the bill, but people don't notice that. Especially after the fifth one.

[Admin]

Leaving Tuesday on NCL for the 1st time and 2nd time to free-style dining on cruise ships. On previous cruises with set dining times, besides the automatic gratuity, we always gave our waiter and assistant waiter extra tips at the end of the cruise. A year ago we took RCL Oasis and ate dinner at various times and had a different waiter every night. We did not leave anything additional and thought it wasn't expected since we did have someone different every night. Should we have carried cash and left a tip like at an "at-home" restaurant?

 

Also, at times on Oasis and other ships we've traveled on we sometimes eat breakfast or lunch in the open seating dining room and never left any tip at that time. I would think the wait staff of ships (as far as earning money goes) would rather have the same customers every night during the cruise thereby getting from many people extra tips as well as part of the automatic gratuity. That's one of the things I have always liked about cruising is not having to think about tipping during the week and then given extra tips (if felt they were deserved) at the end of the cruise (as well as the automatic gratuity). Now with free-style dining and different servers every night I would think they would prefer having the same customers every day?????

As noted by so many people, tipping is a personal thing. On our recent Pearl cruise we tipped the staff of Cagney's about $5 to $7 after every breakfast and lunch. We had the same staff everyday. The service was exceptional and we thought it was deserved. We tipped the 3 kids counselors that managed our kids' age group and we tipped the butler, concierge and extra tip for the room steward. I don't think you have to tip the wait staff extra but if you feel it's deserved, they won't turn it down!

[johnql]

Some tips are added in automatically elsewhere, so be careful. If you buy a drink, the bill will include a gratuity in the total (18%, I think). They still have a blank "tip: ____" line on the bill you sign, and a lot of (American) people reflexively add a few bucks there, not realizing there is already a generous tip on an overpriced item. Its not really hidden, as it is shown above the blank "tip: ___" line on the bill, but people don't notice that. Especially after the fifth one.

Just for the record - 15% automatic gratuity on bar tabs; 18% automatic gratuity on spa treatments.

[jarz85]

We just did an 11 day cruise on the Epic, and being from Australia the whole tipping thing was weird. Having spent 3 weeks in the USA before the cruise we knew how it worked (double the tax etc). We prepaid the $12 DSC so didnt have to worry about that. Tipped the baggage porter $10 at the port, tipped our room steward $25 on the last night... he didnt do anything special and generaly you tip $20 for a 7 day cruise. We tipped room service a couple of bucks each time as well as the $5 pizza guy.

 

We had different servers/waiters every night and the only specialty we ate at was Modernos. The carver/server guy there was great and had a lot of info about the meats.. instead of tipping him after the meal we filled out a STYLE card.. he was very happy with that!