Norwegian Cruise Line Raises Gratuities Twice in 5 Months

[hpecorari]

It's just a metric to go by. What if they eliminated DSC and charged a flat 15% of the cruise fare?

 

That works for me. I get my cruises comped by CAS.....I'd be saving money on the DSC with a flat 15%. However, that would never work because what if the cruise was 11 days or 14 days, etc. The ratio of the room difference from 7 days to 14 days is not double.

 

Harriet

[MisterFidgetpants]

That works for me. I get my cruises comped by CAS.....I'd be saving money on the DSC with a flat 15%. However, that would never work because what if the cruise was 11 days or 14 days, etc. The ratio of the room difference from 7 days to 14 days is not double.

 

Harriet

We are straying too far here. I think the point of the person I replied to was that when DSC represents 10% of your cruise cost it's easy to look down on someone in a cheap cabin but who may be paying 30% of their cruise cost in DSC. So level the playing field and pick a flat percentage instead of a flat cost. Plenty of people here brag they tip out 500 to 1k per week in the Haven. I don't believe them but a flat percentage could sure save some of them some coin....

[Jane Don]

That works for me. I get my cruises comped by CAS.....I'd be saving money on the DSC with a flat 15%. However, that would never work because what if the cruise was 11 days or 14 days, etc. The ratio of the room difference from 7 days to 14 days is not double.

 

Harriet

 

Like with comped UBP, they would of course charge you the gratuities at the same rate as if you would have bought the fare and probably rack rate. LOL.

 

It is just a metric, true. At the same time, people who regularly buy $4000 cabins have less to whine about when it comes to the DSC.

 

I imagine it would be difficult to sell that $10,000 garden villa if required to pay $1500 in gratuities on top.

[maywell]

That works for me. I get my cruises comped by CAS.....I'd be saving money on the DSC with a flat 15%. However, that would never work because what if the cruise was 11 days or 14 days, etc. The ratio of the room difference from 7 days to 14 days is not double.

 

Harriet

 

Not just that, the law of supply and demand comes into pay as well since pricing is different even between people who are sailing on the same date and room type but booked at different times. One person booked last December for $700 altogether for 2 while another person booked for $1400 for 2 in April for the same room category for a August sailing. Tack on the flat 15% on top and I can see where people would get upset.

[kcwiak]

Raising rates AFTER I paid in full for 11 people on a cruise leaving on Aug 1? Shame on NCL. Last time. I have 170 cruise days with 7 on NCL. NO MORE!!

Wait....are you saying you paid in full and then they raised the gratuities and billed you for it? If so, I would not pay it. That cannot be legal.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[tedwesterlyri]

Wait....are you saying you paid in full and then they raised the gratuities and billed you for it? If so, I would not pay it. That cannot be legal.

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

 

I paid the fare in full, not the gratuity. My point has been all along that the gratuity is part of the implied agreement when you pay for the cruise. NCL quotes the gratuity rate when you sign on. Most commenters say it is not that much; however, if, let's say, NCL raised it $5 then more hell would break out. "Can't do that!!" And the bigger picture is that CEO Del Rio is quoted as saying that raising fees is part of his strategy to raise the corporate ROI. Not improve services, just raise fees. Just smells a bit.

[COMBOY]

No....you have two options if you are already book prior to the increase:

 

For any passenger who is booked on a Norwegian cruise before July 31, 2015, service charges can be prepaid at the current rate. Anyone who has already prepaid their service charges at the current rate will not be affected.

 

The daily service charge or DSC is put on passengers' bills automatically at the end of a cruise. Travelers can also remove the automatic gratuities at guest services if they want and substitute their own tips.

[motleyfan]

I paid the fare in full, not the gratuity. My point has been all along that the gratuity is part of the implied agreement when you pay for the cruise. NCL quotes the gratuity rate when you sign on. Most commenters say it is not that much; however, if, let's say, NCL raised it $5 then more hell would break out. "Can't do that!!" And the bigger picture is that CEO Del Rio is quoted as saying that raising fees is part of his strategy to raise the corporate ROI. Not improve services, just raise fees. Just smells a bit.

 

Now you've learned prepay the gratuity

[23words]

I got the email last night and prepaid today for my Aug. 29th cruise ... they offered 11 euros per day, which is about 12 dollars right about now.

 

For me, the auto gratuities were always just part of the cruise fare. I still tip my favourite people onboard extra, because they deserve it.

[spanishguy1970]

No, no one is sure that 100% of the money is going to the staff. I doubt that it is, otherwise they would call it a "gratuity" and not a "service charge" or in the case of the specialty dining rooms, a "Gratuity and Service Charge".

 

If it were strictly for the employees, and NCL had decided that it was due time for an increase in pay, would they not figure out how much of an increase in DSC would cover the amount needed and then institute the increase as they did only 5 months ago? It seems very odd that the staff, after just getting an increase only 5 months ago, ( presumably, we don't know that they did ) are now presumably getting another one? I don't know about you, but in a lifetime of work, I got only Annual increases aside from the occassional bonus or increase in salary due to promotion, etc. I certainly did not get one 5 months after the last.

 

So are we to assume that NCL's Accounting Department is now equally as incompetent as their PR Department, and they just didn't get it right 5 months ago and now have to increase it again?:rolleyes:. Or do we just assume that NCL wanted more money in their coffers and this is a convenient way of getting it? Giving them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps the increase was seen as too substantial for the average cruiser to swallow whole at one time, so they decided to break it up into two smaller bites;). Bad move IMO, if so. Just makes them look greedy. If they had a competent PR department, they could have smoothed it over somewhat.

 

But, no. No way I believe the staff is getting it all, deserving as they are.

 

I totally agree with you. LIke i said on another thread instead of building these over the top ships where they are probably going into more and more debt why dont they raise the staff contract salaries instead of gauging customers with all these fees. We give good tips but i just hope employees are really benefiting from this.