Gratuities going up...minimally

[Bird in Jersey]

My letter also states that if I prepay I will be charged the old fee of $12, but if I pay once on board (nothing about Feb 28th) it will be the increased charge. I don't sail til May 3rd...

I received my e-mail today and the e-mail does not have the date either. I will call my pcc to clear this up because my cruise is in April and I usually prepay about a week before my cruise.

[Pia1913]

Excuse me if this has been asked and answered. How does the new DSC compare with other cruise lines?

 

 

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iMuch higher. Princess gets $11.50 for regular cabins and $12 for minis and full suites. Holland America is getting $12 for regular cabins and $13 for full suites. Haven't been on Princess since April, but did HAL in December in a full suite.

[luvtheships]

Nope, MPK was referring to the word discretionary. :D

 

I guess now we have to use the acronym DDSC. ;)

 

Nope.... The bottom paragraph from Ncl that is in post # 139 says to make it easy for the guest to give gratuities. To me gratuity means tip

 

 

 

 

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Edited February 13, 2015 by luvtheships

[Rhea98]

I received a notice referencing my January 2016 cruise but not one for my October 2015 cruise. 2016 is in a suite and October is not.

 

I received a notice for September 28, 2015, cruise (as well as two for two cruises this spring). No suites.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Beaver1975]

iMuch higher. Princess gets $11.50 for regular cabins and $12 for minis and full suites. Holland America is getting $12 for regular cabins and $13 for full suites. Haven't been on Princess since April, but did HAL in December in a full suite.

 

Much higher?

 

Not really!

 

Celebrity

 

- $12 per person per day in staterooms

 

- $12.50 per person per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms

 

- $15.50 per person per day in suites

 

Carnival:

 

 

- $12 per person per day

 

 

Princess:

 

 

- $12 per person per day

 

 

Royal

 

 

- ??

 

 

When will the others follow NCL lead? They try to copy everything else. :rolleyes:

[GeezerCouple]

I'm pretty confused about how NCL can "change the terms of a contract" after it has been put in place with a deposit.

 

If this can happen, "what else" can be changed "later"?

 

I'm sure that if we - the passengers - decide we'd like to change some of the terms of the agreement, that wouldn't go over too well.

 

Any attorneys out there who would like to comment?

 

I would have expected that the NEW terms would be something like "for any NEW RESERVATIONS booked after <date>..."

 

EDIT to add: I'm not complaining about the higher charge. We'll still tip generously for those who do extra to help us enjoy our travels!

But how can NCL change the terms after the reservation is finalized with a deposit?

 

GeezerCouple

Edited February 13, 2015 by GeezerCouple

[brunolvr]

Norwegian Cruise Line increases gratuity

by Tom Stieghorst / February 12, 2015

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-increases-gratuity

 

It's interesting that this article says:

 

"The charge is used to pay restaurant servers, room stewards, behind-the-scenes support staff, concierges and butlers."

[swedish weave]

I'm pretty confused about how NCL can "change the terms of a contract" after it has been put in place with a deposit.

 

If this can happen, "what else" can be changed "later"?

 

I'm sure that if we - the passengers - decide we'd like to change some of the terms of the agreement, that wouldn't go over too well.

 

Any attorneys out there who would like to comment?

 

I would have expected that the NEW terms would be something like "for any NEW RESERVATIONS booked after <date>..."

 

EDIT to add: I'm not complaining about the higher charge. We'll still tip generously for those who do extra to help us enjoy our travels!

But how can NCL change the terms after the reservation is finalized with a deposit?

 

GeezerCouple

 

Reference to lawyers can get you more varieties of interpretations than you will want to see !! lol

 

NCL can make any changes they choose, but in this instance, it is not a mandatory charge. You have the right to adjust it however you see fit. Not something to worry about.

[reveur15]

Stewards that service suites do not have as many total rooms as those who do not service suites.

 

Larger room = more service required.

 

If a suite steward does 4 suite/day 2 hours each he works 8 hours.

if a balcony steward does 8 balcony/day 1 hour each he works 8 hours also.

 

Now the question is do they get DSC by number of rooms or by numbers of hours worked ? I believe they get the same share of the DSC !

Edited February 13, 2015 by reveur15

[amarvel]

Stewards that service suites do not have as many total rooms as those who do not service suites.

 

Larger room = more service required.

 

Also, there are many that come here ans say that they never used the butler or concierge, so why should I tip them? Yet the butler and concierge usually afford these people some level of service.

But larger rooms can also have more people. Thus more money.

[alkotik]

I have a booking of B9 (balcony SPA) on Breakaway. I just went to prepay my service charges and surprisingly it's $14. I did not know that the B9 is considered a suite, I expected to see $12. :confused:

 

[GeezerCouple]

Reference to lawyers can get you more varieties of interpretations than you will want to see !! lol

 

NCL can make any changes they choose, but in this instance, it is not a mandatory charge. You have the right to adjust it however you see fit. Not something to worry about.

 

Thanks :)

 

But I *am* curious about making "any changes they choose" - surely you don't mean that after we've made a reservation and paid a deposit, they can decide the fare will double, or NO restaurants will be free, or...

 

And that's more my point... if they can change this one part, what else *might* they change later, and AFTER one has paid a deposit.

 

I thought that deposit "locked in" the terms of the cruise.

So if fares go up, we are "protected".

Likewise (as some are upset about), if the fares go down, we are "locked in" then, too (although there are some adjustments sometimes, such as upgrades or extra OBC, etc.)

 

We don't object at all to the fee. We are more than happy to pay that, and we also tip others (like wait staff or stewards who are especially helpful/pleasant, even though they are part of the pool) in addition to Butlers and Concierge.

 

I'm questioning the "change of terms" after the contract is agreed upon and deposit paid and collected.

 

Yeah, "curiosity killed the cat", or something like that....

 

GeezerCouple

[Pikaia]

I'm questioning the "change of terms" after the contract is agreed upon and deposit paid and collected.

Like swedish weave said, lots of things can be changed without your permission. It's in the contract you agreed to when you booked.

 

For your reading enjoyment:

 

http://www.ncl.com/about/additional-terms-and-conditions

 

http://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Guest_Ticket_Contract_03_2014.pdf

[DMH15]

But larger rooms can also have more people. Thus more money.

Not always. Lots of families cruise in insides and outsides. Lots of folks like me cruise 2 in a suite.

[LMaxwell]

Here is the wording of the email I received last night, Feb 12. This is different from the postings of people made Feb 11. Obviously NCL went back and modified the verbiage

 

 

"

Norwegian Cruise Line is adjusting its daily service charges, effective for all sailings that depart on or after March 1, 2015. The new rates are: $12.95 per person per day for any category up to a mini-suite stateroom $14.95 per person per day for any suite category You can choose to pre-pay your service charges at the current rate of $12 per person per day. If charged on board, the new rates will apply. Norwegian's daily discretionary service charges, which were last adjusted in 2009, 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. Guests who are sailing in Suite categories also receive the services of a concierge, butler and dedicated wait staff. Sincerely, Norwegian Cruise Line®"

[Linda the Book Lover]

I have a booking of B9 (balcony SPA) on Breakaway. I just went to prepay my service charges and surprisingly it's $14. I did not know that the B9 is considered a suite, I expected to see $12. :confused:

 

 

I just paid for 3 of us (PH suite) for a 5-day in March. The total cost -- $180.

[mpk218]

As far as number of rooms the suite stewards have to clean . It has been my expierence that they have A Lot . We allways see our room steward up and down the hall all day taking care of dozens of rooms .. Maybe with the OS or GV they have fewer rooms do to size but the others , I dont think so .. ;)

[KeithJenner]

Here is the wording of the email I received last night, Feb 12. This is different from the postings of people made Feb 11. Obviously NCL went back and modified the verbiage

 

 

"

Norwegian Cruise Line is adjusting its daily service charges, effective for all sailings that depart on or after March 1, 2015. The new rates are: $12.95 per person per day for any category up to a mini-suite stateroom $14.95 per person per day for any suite category You can choose to pre-pay your service charges at the current rate of $12 per person per day. If charged on board, the new rates will apply. Norwegian's daily discretionary service charges, which were last adjusted in 2009, 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. Guests who are sailing in Suite categories also receive the services of a concierge, butler and dedicated wait staff. Sincerely, Norwegian Cruise Line[emoji768]"

 

 

And made it worse. :)

[sundercruiser]

Geezer, the DSC is discretionary. It appears in the Contract, but there's no actual rate suggested.

 

From NCL's POV, they are merely facilitating guests' completely discretionary distribution of gratuities to staff.

 

Pax are completely within their contractual rights to reduce or eliminate the DSC, for any reason including "I just don't wanna."

[alkotik]

I have a booking of B9 (balcony SPA) on Breakaway. I just went to prepay my service charges and surprisingly it's $14. I did not know that the B9 is considered a suite, I expected to see $12. :confused:

 

 

I just paid for 3 of us (PH suite) for a 5-day in March. The total cost -- $180.

 

Actually I think NCL made a mistake - the wording is " A discretionary charge of $14.00 per person per cruise day for all guests 3 years or older will automatically be added to your onboard account. Your service charges will total $168.00 for all guests, for your entire cruise."

However $168 for 2 person for 7 days comes down to $12 not $14. :D

[KeithJenner]

Lots of things are only loosely included in the contracts. I haven't looked at NCLs in detail, but I imagine that it will basically say they will take you on a cruise as described, but the actual itinerary may change. They will provide food and there will be some chargeable options, but there will be no commitment as to what specific restaurant options there are and which ones are free.

 

Prices of individual items won't be included in the contract (they can increase the bar prices if they want), and I suspect that the DSC will be referred to with no amounts stated.

 

We agree to prepay the DSC when we book, so my cruise confirmation actually stated the DSC in the overall cost and states the final amount I need to pay for the cruise. They can't now change that for me (at least I doubt whether they can).

 

By giving people the option to prepay and fix the DSC they are giving everyone the opportunity to similarly fix the rate. However, I'm sure that the instruction given to onboard staff will be to just accept any requests to reduce the onboard charge to $12. I can't imagine it's worth the hassle of questioning it.

 

All my very amateur thoughts.

[LMaxwell]

Given the emails, I suspect that people will be able to argue that it should be $12 if they try to prepay after 28th Feb, but personally, I'd save myself the bother and make sure I do it before that date.

 

Remember that if you do it over the phone then it is apparently just added to the final payment, rather than you having to pay it now.

 

My email is not unclear. If I pay before sailing (Dec 2016) I am given the current $12 rate. If I am charged onboard it will be the new, higher prevailing rate.

 

It says nothing about that I must pay by Feb 28th 2015, must decided by Feb 28th 2015 to add it of, or even pay it by final payment time. If I pay before we sail, I can pay the lower rate. If I pay onboard I pay the higher rate. I makes NO mention of Feb 28 2015 whatsoever. Here is the verbiage "You can choose to pre-pay your service charges at the current rate of $12 per person per day. If charged on board, the new rates will apply."

 

Makes you wonder how they are compensating the staff fairly if they basically offer me to choose two different rates? Or does NCL keep some of the gratuity for themselves? I ask genuinely as I haven't sailed NCL before.

Edited February 13, 2015 by LMaxwell

[KeithJenner]

I agree that your email is clear. However, the email sent to TAs was equally clear that they need to be paid my the 28th. The net effect is an unclear message.

 

As I said, your email means that you can argue the point if it became necessary (which I doubt it will). However, if it was me I'd do it before then just to avoid the risk of having to make any argument (however unlikely that risk is).

Edited February 13, 2015 by KeithJenner

[amarvel]

We got the same email that basically states as long as we pre pay it we would be charged the lower amount. but his is extremely confusing especially the wording that includes butler and concierge. If I would have gotten that email and had no prior knowledge of cruising and or had never cruise with Norwegian or Never cruised on a suite i would assume that that tip included everyone including the concierge and Butler. On our first few cruises that started this fee we did not tip the steward or anyone else.any exyta because we were tipping as part of the service charge. Then I came to this website and our last two cruises then we have left extra tips for everyone when we receive good service on top of the fee. There will be people that don't know any better and the language is not really that clear from NCL.

[KeithJenner]

Makes you wonder how they are compensating the staff fairly if they basically offer me to choose two different rates? Or does NCL keep some of the gratuity for themselves? I ask genuinely as I haven't sailed NCL before.

 

 

I don't know either, but if it is a pool which is then distributed then it doesn't actually matter. The pool total should gradually increase over time as less people are fixed into the old rate, so the amounts distributed to each person would also gradually increase.

 

As with so much on this subject, this is just speculation.