How would you handle glacially slow MDR service

[Cruised there-Done that]

On the Star it was not a DSC--it was listed as a Service fee.

[iwannacruznow]

Eat faster.:D

[RJ2002]

On the Star it was not a DSC--it was listed as a Service fee.

 

Service fee = service charge

[Love my butler]

On the Star it was not a DSC--it was listed as a Service fee.

 

Many shortcuts are used on and off the ship. NCL calls it a Discretionary Service Charge in their printed and online documents.

 

In other words, NCL calls it a service charge that is discretionary. You can adjust it as you wish. The vast majority of cruisers just think of it as the tip.

[sparks1093]

Many shortcuts are used on and off the ship. NCL calls it a Discretionary Service Charge in their printed and online documents.

 

In other words, NCL calls it a service charge that is discretionary. You can adjust it as you wish. The vast majority of cruisers just think of it as the tip.

 

Many shortcuts are used on CC too- I have seen it listed as "discretionary service charge" in NCL's literature and as a "Service Charge". Whenever NCL uses capitals it's only with the term "Service Charge". On CC it as rendered as DSC, either for "Daily" or "Discretionary" depending on the bias of the individual poster, but I've never seen it listed thus in anything published by NCL (not to say that it isn't or hasn't been, just that I've never seen it).

 

Personally I would never adjust it without good reason, but others of course are free to do as they will.

[che5904]

We just finished a 14 day cruise aboard the Star. Service was the same. Did not care for the "Service fee" rather than the gratuity. Don't believe we have ever had such poor service--both in the dining rooms & in the Market Café on Deck 12.

 

What type of service was bad in the Market Café, it's a buffet, you serve yourself. :confused:

[Love my butler]

What type of service was bad in the Market Café, it's a buffet, you serve yourself. :confused:

 

Might have still been in code brown where the staff has to serve everything even in the buffet. The Star had a big noro outbreak on the Jan 5-19 sailing and I have read some of the lockdown was extended to the next sailing.

[Love my butler]

Many shortcuts are used on CC too- I have seen it listed as "discretionary service charge" in NCL's literature and as a "Service Charge". Whenever NCL uses capitals it's only with the term "Service Charge". On CC it as rendered as DSC, either for "Daily" or "Discretionary" depending on the bias of the individual poster, but I've never seen it listed thus in anything published by NCL (not to say that it isn't or hasn't been, just that I've never seen it).

 

Personally I would never adjust it without good reason, but others of course are free to do as they will.

 

Whether NCL officially labels it 'DISCRETIONARY SERVICE CHARGE' or not can be debated I guess. However, NCL clearly states the service charge is DISCRETIONARY. Thus Discretionary Service Charge is completely accurate.

 

I have never seen an instance where NCL referred to it as a 'Daily Service Charge'. If you have, please post a link.

[che5904]

Might have still been in code brown where the staff has to serve everything even in the buffet. The Star had a big noro outbreak on the Jan 5-19 sailing and I have read some of the lockdown was extended to the next sailing.

 

OK maybe I'm way off here

 

And I've never been on a ship that was high alert but I was under the impression that it was just you would be handed your plates etc and when you got to the buffet someone would actually dish it out to you.

 

This poster stated " Did not care for the Service fee rather than the gratuity", that lead me to believe they would prefer to tip themselves who they wished to.

 

Now I can understand tipping at land buffets where someone actually brings your drink to the table, and do table checks that people will leave a tip. But if the workers are all behind the buffet serving and handing you plates, it would not be normal to be tipping in the buffet.

 

So if I'm reading that poster correctly that they felt the service charge was responsible for bad service and tipping personally would give better service, my meaning of "it's a buffet" was, how was tipping personally vs service charge going to change that there.

 

I realize that some people have that view with the MDR or their cabin steward etc. Because I don't agree with them, doesn't mean I don't understand why they may think that. I just am confused on this buffet thing.

[che5904]

Whether NCL officially labels it 'DISCRETIONARY SERVICE CHARGE' or not can be debated I guess. However, NCL clearly states the service charge is DISCRETIONARY. Thus Discretionary Service Charge is completely accurate.

 

I have never seen an instance where NCL referred to it as a 'Daily Service Charge'. If you have, please post a link.

 

I'll have to do a little more searching here at home for my 2009 welcome book, but I seem to recall the "daily" got dropped on NCL's documents between my 2009 sailing and my 2011 sailing.

Edited February 5, 2014 by che5904

[sparks1093]

Whether NCL officially labels it 'DISCRETIONARY SERVICE CHARGE' or not can be debated I guess. However, NCL clearly states the service charge is DISCRETIONARY. Thus Discretionary Service Charge is completely accurate.

 

I have never seen an instance where NCL referred to it as a 'Daily Service Charge'. If you have, please post a link.

 

I don't believe that I've seen "Daily Service Charge" used by NCL, or if it was it was dropped long ago as che points out. Again, it's a shortcut used on CC. The official name, as rendered by NCL and as indicated by the way they capitalize it, is "Service Charge". May the service charge be adjusted? Certainly. Should it be adjusted for no reason? Not in my view, in my view that's an abuse of Discretion;).

[Love my butler]

Should it be adjusted for no reason? Not in my view, in my view that's an abuse of Discretion;).

 

I highly doubt anyone who adjusts the Discretionary Service Charge does it for 'no reason'. They will have a reason(s) which you may or may not agree with, but since it's their money it really is truly only their business.

[sparks1093]

I highly doubt anyone who adjusts the Discretionary Service Charge does it for 'no reason'. They will have a reason(s) which you may or may not agree with, but since it's their money it really is truly only their business.

 

My bad, I meant to say "Should it be adjusted for a non-service related reason?". The perils of posting without enough coffee:o.

[newmexicoNita]

What type of service was bad in the Market Café, it's a buffet, you serve yourself. :confused:

 

I have to smile, that is so true. I don't expect those who work behind the counter at a buffet to be running for personality poster child and no one gets you another cup of coffee, etc. The statement about poor service at a buffet is over the top in my opinion.

[newmexicoNita]

I highly doubt anyone who adjusts the Discretionary Service Charge does it for 'no reason'. They will have a reason(s) which you may or may not agree with, but since it's their money it really is truly only their business.

 

You are serious are you. I am willing to bet 75% of those who adjust the charge (call it what you want) do so because they had unrealistic expectations as to what kind of service they should get or they are just plain cheap. I am not talking service in suites where you add gratuities for the butler and concierge. I do agree with you, it is no one else business, but this doesn't make it right.

Edited February 5, 2014 by newmexicoNita

[che5904]

I have to smile, that is so true. I don't expect those who work behind the counter at a buffet to be running for personality poster child and no one gets you another cup of coffee, etc. The statement about poor service at a buffet is over the top in my opinion.

 

Well most times I don't like to think the worst of new posters, but it did get me wondering if this poster even knew that the market café was a buffet.

[jdvmd]

We arrived at dinner most evenings before 6:00PM. Wait time, if any, to actually be seated was short. Some night we did not have to wait for a table. Other nights the wait was 15 - 20 minutes which I consider short and perfectly acceptable. The night we arrived at 7:30 we did not leave the dining room until 10:15. Generally we request a 2 top for ourselves, but there have been instances when we did sit with another couple that we had become friendly with. They also expressed that they thought dining room service was unacceptably slow.

 

Being told I should go to the buffet instead is not an acceptable answer. I've paid for banquet style sit down dining with SERVICE, have I not? The rah rah sis boom bah section of this website ALWAYS berates the guest when service is poor. Guess what, sometimes service is just NOT GOOD.

 

Please recall I did speak with a head waiter who empathized with my frustration but basically admitted there is nothing they can do about it. I do not think I need to go to guest services to complain daily. That's an energy drain and a waste of precious vacation time. I expressed my concerns to the management level I thought was appropriate. If NCL Guest Services or main office aren't going to do anything what good would it do if they read my letter?

 

To the poster who said I should request all of my food at once and dinner would take 30 minutes; I suppose that IS an option, but that's not the point of having a sit down dinner either. Dinner in the MDR SHOULD take 60-90 minutes, especially when the staff are informed that we would like to speed up the process to meet other planned events. It is not like we walked in at 7:00 PM expecting to get to an 8:00 PM show and are shocked and surprised that it took over an hour. I also like to be presented with hot or cold food (as designed) and having all my food brought at once leaves everything to sit at room temperature.

 

Anyone suggesting I am a penny pincher or have decided to screw the staff ahead of time are just flat and plain wrong. Why would I ever dream of doing that as my standard mode of operation? Let alone come here to have strangers bash on me for it? I simply asked what recourse do I have and HOW can DSC be modified. I have never removed or modified DSC in the past, but if NCL can not provide the "S" part of DSC, why should I be compensating at 100%? Is it not my option to fine tune the DSC to more fit the level of service received? I have been on 17 cruises and MDR service has gone down, simple fact. The gracious and hard working staff are being SCREWED by management, but as a result I now receive subpar service.

 

Anyone who pays 100% for anything and only gets 70% is a fool. Like I said, I don't wish to punish the staff who are serving me, but I don't feel like I'm getting the value advertised by NCL. Therefore there must be a middle ground.

 

For example, if I remove the DSC, is it all or nothing (still unanswered; and this is a question of FACT, not opinion)? I am aware that many behind the scenes, so to speak, staffers receive a portion of that. If the staff is unhappy about reduction of DSC and voice their complaints to management enough maybe they will get the staffing levels they need to have good service and thus be earning full DSC and above and beyond. I would never leave a land based restaurant without tipping, but if the service were horrible it might be a 12% tip, not 20%. Likewise, if service were great a tip can go as high as 25%-20%. Any place that automatically adds 20% gratuity to service, I have found personally, has poor service not worthy of the 20%.

 

For the record as well, I have always left DSC in place and given a little bit more to those who work hardest for me in cold hard cash.

 

I suppose there will be another 10 posts now not answering simple questions of fact but telling me I am cheap, should eat in the buffet, it never happened, I am liar, I am a bad person, NCL is faultless, it is my moral, ethical, and spiritual obligation to hand out $$$ to everyone I see, etc.

How many times did this happen on your cruise? Or where you wanting to reduce the DSC because of one incident? And if this did happen more than once, you should have gone to the Food and Beverage Manager.

Another question: You said you did tell the wait staff. What did they say when you first started seeing a problem?