epic and the hidden charges and lack of space

[jwm51]

This thread reminds me...

 

I really need to find the CHEAPEST popcorn!:eek::D

 

Any Suggestions?;):p

[Love my butler]

This thread reminds me...

 

 

I really need to find the CHEAPEST popcorn!:eek::D

 

 

Any Suggestions?;):p

 

Hmm, the cheapest? I would try most of the pubs on any NCL ship.

[Medtech2]

Urrrr i think that we paid the cruise fares that were required before we left the uk, i do not want to be paying over inflated charges on top of the cruise price.

i hope that NCL pay their staff correct wages, as i have to in the uk for my staff to be employed by my company.

I agree that I would rather cruise staff, waiters, waitresses, cabbies, porters, etc ALL just be paid a correct and total wage and do away with the whole tip, gratuity, DSC, name your poison thing, BUT, that being said, if that is the system in place wherever you are it would be HORRIBLE to hurt those workers by arbitrarily withholding that money!

 

Work to change the system if you can but don't penalize the workers who are working under that system!

[Froggitt]

The OP makes me embarrassed to be British

 

 

+1

 

Regarding his statement about RCL and all the tips being included, I had a similar occurance bizzarely with an NCL cruise a few years ago. That was the TA gave an option to pre-pay the DSC up front, which I did to give me the illusion of a smaller on board bill!!!

 

That could be the way forward for NCL......collect DSC from European customers at point of booking.

[KeithJenner]

+1

 

 

 

Regarding his statement about RCL and all the tips being included, I had a similar occurance bizzarely with an NCL cruise a few years ago. That was the TA gave an option to pre-pay the DSC up front, which I did to give me the illusion of a smaller on board bill!!!

 

 

 

That could be the way forward for NCL......collect DSC from European customers at point of booking.

 

 

They do offer that, and if you book on the phone with NCL UK, they specifically ask if you want to do so.

 

I've prepaid my DSC on all of my NCL cruises for the last couple of years.

[philip_eunice1]

Ahhh £10.000 pounds on a holiday for 4 staying in miami for 5 days and the cruise down the east caribb don't be silly.

I spend where i want and give to who i want.

I am not dictated to and told where to spend my money.

 

£10000 or about $15000 for 4 sounds like u we're robbed and after allegedly spending that amount you come on here shedding bucket loads of tears about a few $$$$ really time to get over yourself

 

 

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[Froggitt]

£10000 or about $15000 for 4 sounds like u we're robbed and after allegedly spending that amount you come on here shedding bucket loads of tears about a few $$$$ really time to get over yourself

 

 

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£10,000 sounds about right over Xmas/New Year. Say £1,000 pp flight. £1,000 pp balcony cabin. That's £8,000. Plus car hire, hotel, food, taxi, drinks in Miami.

 

If he has £10k for a holiday, he should have £150 for DSC.

[SteveH2508]

They do offer that, and if you book on the phone with NCL UK, they specifically ask if you want to do so.

 

I've prepaid my DSC on all of my NCL cruises for the last couple of years.

 

Pre-paying DSC when you book through NCL UK is the default position I believe. It is a bit cheaper as well (£7 pppd as opposed to $12 pppd).

[SteveH2508]

Can I just add that not all Brits are tight when it comes to tipping!!

 

But while I'm on the subject, the reason my wife and I choose NCL is because there are so few Brits!!!!

 

 

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Another Brit here echoing these sentiments!

 

Another reason we choose NCL is that the service is consistently very good in our experience (not like our RCL experience). We pre-pay our DSC and we leave a bit extra for our cabin steward and the Martini bar staff (well they do get to know us quite well!:D).

[Rollingstone43]

OMG, just go away already. Go cruise Royal Caribbean and enjoy.

 

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Great response !! And I'm sure that the "food halls " on RCI are far more pleasurable and less like the image of a prison canteen that the OP has conjured in my mind!!

 

 

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[Demonyte]

My grats were included in the price,hence i new what the bill was

 

Since you knew that the price you originally paid already included gratuities on top of the cruise price, did you demand a refund of those from RCCL too?

 

In my mind there is only one word to describe or explain this: ignorance. Even though our beloved LMB likes to insist otherwise, on NCL's site it's clearly stated that DSC can be removed or adjusted if there is a service issue that is not corrected - and it was clearly not the case with OP, unless they wanted to punish the employees working there for the poor design of the ship itself. While NCL might allow a disgruntled, ignorant or cheap passenger to remove the DSC without any problems with the service, it doesn't make that any more acceptable - they just choose to bend their policies for those few passengers as there is no point arguing and making a scene with those kind of people. Chair hogging is clearly forbidden too but NCL has apparently chosen not to really enforce it either.

 

Going on a vacation to a foreign country and reasoning their foul play by expecting everything to be like at home is just plain ignorant. I too come from a society where base wages are somewhat reasonable and tipping is not expected but I'll adjust to local customs where needed - for the same reason I can't fathom out Finnish people travelling to Canary Islands and Turkey just to go to local Finnish restaurants and bars to eat and drink mostly Finnish dishes and drinks while listening and dancing to Finnish music while expecting everyone else speaking fluent Finnish.

 

As already said in this thread: When in Rome...

[besberry]

The problem is that on the UK cruise lines the grats are included in the price and so never exposed as extras. If the cruise price had been higher and included the DSC then it wouldn't have been an issue.

 

Not true. On P&O they add the auto tip to your cruise account. I did the world cruise on Aurora last year, which was divided into 5 sectors. At the beginning of each sector the auto tip was added to my account. The price per day was less than $12.50, though. I paid and tipped extra (if deserved). One thing about tipping and non US folk, is that most people think 10% is fine and are shocked at the imposition of 15% or more.

[MBMGWM]

You have to pay for everything you want to do on the ship via your card,i prefer it where everything is part of the package.You could spend a small fortune on additional costs.

...

Gratatuity charges added to my bill were the best part of 250 dollars for four people ,go to reception and get them removed on the last day of your cruise.

It is best if you wish to hand out your hard earned money, you give to the people you want.

...

Charging for the use of items on board is a big no no for me,let's have a clear price to use the facilities on board,

...

People may think the price is good ,but NCL hidden charges for everything makes it a very expensive cruise.

 

sive cruise ship.

 

If you want an all-inclusive cruise, you can get one. Here are two choices as an example:

 

(1) A Feb, 2014 7-day Western Caribbean NCL cruise that my wife & I are taking in a corner, aft-facing balcony cabin with a large balcony (we love seeing/hearing the wake plus the expansive view): $750/pp or $1500 total cruise fare. Yes, we'll gladly pay the extra daily service charge (for the hard-working waiters/room cabin stewards & others you don't see but who work hard behind the scenes to make sure your cruise is an enjoyable one), as well as pay the charges for any specialty dining, alcohol, shore excursions, etc that we CHOOSE to pay for during my trip. We're setting an onboard "total cruise budget" for ourselves of $2000 over and above the cruise cost for that week (an average of an extra $300 per day) to cover such costs and to enjoy ourselves with while onboard. Total planned cost of cruise: $3500.

 

Or, you can go all-inclusive with:

 

(2) Feb, 2014 7-day Western Caribbean Regent cruise we could have taken (we've sailed on Regent twice in the past for special occasions) in a regular Regent balcony cabin: $4000/pp or $8000 total cruise fare. We would not have to pay extra during the cruise for service charges/speciality dining/alcohol/shore excursions/etc, because we already would have paid for those items in advance (and paid for them whether I actually used them or not). Total planned cost of cruise: $8000.

 

Both of those "total costs" are exclusive of gov't taxes, airfare, gambling, shopping, etc. Yes, the Regent line has nicer ships & amenities than the more budget-friendly lines like NCL, but with NCL we got our preferred aft-facing cabin, rather than a standard side-facing one. And even with budgeting $2000 extra for onboard NCL expenses, our upcoming NCL cruise (with all of its "you have to pay for everything" costs) will be less than half as costly as an "all inclusive" cruise cost.

 

But.....if all-inclusive is what you want or need, those cruises are available.

 

Enjoy.

[boo214]

I think it's less likely to be removed being it's labeled as a tip rather than a service charge.

interesting you should say this. if you look at the many tipping threads on the rcl boards many people say "if it was a service charge i'd pay it". to me, whether you call it a gratuity or a daily service charge, its the same thing, the crews pay. people just like to play semantics to justify cheapness.

[Single Cruiser]

Not true. On P&O they add the auto tip to your cruise account. I did the world cruise on Aurora last year, which was divided into 5 sectors. At the beginning of each sector the auto tip was added to my account. The price per day was less than $12.50, though. I paid and tipped extra (if deserved). One thing about tipping and non US folk, is that most people think 10% is fine and are shocked at the imposition of 15% or more.

 

On Ocean Village they used to include basic grats in the cruise price. I think Thomsons do the same as well.

 

But again the key thing is this is described as daily service charge to fund an incentive fund for all crew members as opposed to tips where you would normally directly give to stewards, waiters etc..

 

On RCL I prepaid but was given paper vouchers to give to my steward, waiter etc..

 

Either way tips/gratuities/service charges are all part of the cruise culture and as others have said the DSC is clearly highlighted in booking conditions and most UK agents would have asked if prepayment was required at time of booking.

[tazza_0712]

Whilst not wanting to defend the OP I am not happy with this tarring all Brits not tipping by Americans.

 

If you grew up in a society where you don't tip for everything like in the states, for many including those who have cruised on UK cruise ships a US visit or a US cruise line is quite often the first time tipping comes into question.

 

In the UK those on minimum wage do not get taxed on expected tips nor rely on tips to meet a living wage, they are seen as a bonus for outstanding service. If I go to a restaurant in the UK and just get standard service I'm not going to tip, simple..

 

It is not clear that the DSC is used to make up the crews basic living wage and so can quite easily be seen as why tip for std service. Why should I pay 15% to a bar person where I've gone to the bar and he's handed me a bottle from a fridge and taken the cap off.. Where is the "extra above norm" in that..

 

I do tip as I realise the wage and crew situation. However for many Brits I can see why they wouldn't

 

 

Exactly! I agree completely.

[kollegekreed]

So you said it was different on RCL. I just looked it up and RCL is identical to NCL - $12, per day, added to your onboard account. You had no issue paying that, but screwed the crew out of $250 on NCL.

 

Justify all you want...you should be utterly ashamed of yourself. Stay in Europe.

[che5904]

Whilst not wanting to defend the OP I am not happy with this tarring all Brits not tipping by Americans.

 

If you grew up in a society where you don't tip for everything like in the states, for many including those who have cruised on UK cruise ships a US visit or a US cruise line is quite often the first time tipping comes into question.

 

In the UK those on minimum wage do not get taxed on expected tips nor rely on tips to meet a living wage, they are seen as a bonus for outstanding service. If I go to a restaurant in the UK and just get standard service I'm not going to tip, simple..

 

It is not clear that the DSC is used to make up the crews basic living wage and so can quite easily be seen as why tip for std service. Why should I pay 15% to a bar person where I've gone to the bar and he's handed me a bottle from a fridge and taken the cap off.. Where is the "extra above norm" in that..

 

I do tip as I realise the wage and crew situation. However for many Brits I can see why they wouldn't

 

I don't believe in Grouping anybody, whether by country or anything else, so I'm with your there.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I grew up in a tipping country and have never understood any of it.

 

I leave the DSC on, I tip what is considered appropriate on land but I can't say I understand it or agree with it. Anymore I refer to tipping instead of "for above and beyond service" as a "sympathy charge". I'm suppose to feel bad for anyone who is in a job that doesn't make what society deems appropriate money on land and most times have to tip people that make more money than I do, because I'm employed in a non-tipping job. :confused:

 

So you are certainly not alone and it's not only some brits who are confused by this system.

Edited January 13, 2014 by che5904

[Froggitt]

While the DSC is "optional", you will get people removing it.