Norwegian Cruise Line Changes Service Charge Policy

[SuiteCruiser]

They can make it part of the non-commissionable fare (NCF), which eliminates the commission issue.

 

I really wish they would do this. It would eliminate a big problem, especially over in Europe. I have a very close friend who works on the Epic and no one is tipping and they've heard from other crew members that the DSC is removed by most of the passengers.

[insidecabin]

Many threads decend into the if you hate them so much sail somewhere when the defenders run out of steam.

 

I don't choose to judge others choices on this issue as many seem to.

 

What I will defend it the right that was given when booking to make that choice.

 

The choice to not be charged the full service fee before leaving the ship has been take away.

 

There is now a compulsory charge with some refund/compensation process.

 

This asumes the reports are correct, NCL have yet to communicate this change in policy or contractual arrangement for those covered.

[legion3]

Abe3's response pretty much answers that post - the best endorsement cames those that hate something but still uses/travels/goes to it anyway than from someone who likes /loves it. Why? A person who hates it, is going to list the all the cons they think is bad but to others deciding , that might actually be plus since the person hating it is still traveling on it. That's actually better endorsement/advertisement than from person liking /loving the line, who's probably listing the positives but the bad about it. Its perfect and greatest thing about it - you, yourself don't want to realize it even when the opposition tell /call you out on. *smirk*

 

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What??? :D I don't get this... not even close to being real.

[funnybunny70]

Hi Suitecruiser

Do the staff get told which passengers remove the DSC ?

[maywell]

Many threads decend into the if you hate them so much sail somewhere when the defenders run out of steam.

 

I don't choose to judge others choices on this issue as many seem to.

 

What I will defend it the right that was given when booking to make that choice.

 

The choice to not be charged the full service fee before leaving the ship has been take away.

 

There is now a compulsory charge with some refund/compensation process.

 

This asumes the reports are correct, NCL have yet to communicate this change in policy or contractual arrangement for those covered.

You have no dog in this fight, want to know why? Because you're booking through the EU/UK that actually gives you government protection against NCL. For those booking through the US? The government laws is actually on NCL side on this and against the passenger that's not paying because they don't want to . Simply as that - that's the difference between the two hemispheres.

 

And yes, its is a simple case of go to another cruise line if you don't like their policies. Why? Because this is meant to be deterrent against those that don't want to pay in the 1st place. Still determine to not pay DSC no matter what and booked through the US? Go right ahead and take your chance - when it comes to screwing citizens over, United States is king of not much recourse, but of course, gives lots of protection to corporations and lobbyists.....

 

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[SuiteCruiser]

Hi Suitecruiser

Do the staff get told which passengers remove the DSC ?

 

I haven't asked that, but I will!

[legion3]

You have no dog in this fight, want to know why? Because you're booking through the EU/UK that actually gives you government protection against NCL. For those booking through the US? The government laws is actually on NCL side on this and against the passenger that's not paying because they don't want to . Simply as that - that's the difference between the two hemispheres.

 

And yes, its is a simple case of go to another cruise line if you don't like their policies. Why? Because this is meant to be deterrent against those that don't want to pay in the 1st place. Still determine to not pay DSC no matter what and booked through the US? Go right ahead and take your chance - when it comes to screwing citizens over, United States is king of not much recourse, but of course, gives lots of protection to corporations and lobbyists.....

 

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:D Not much else to say, whatever it was.

[SteelMagnolia9]

Re the OP's post:

 

I believe only a small minority will request a refund of the DSC.

[abe3]

Many threads decend into the if you hate them so much sail somewhere when the defenders run out of steam.

 

I don't choose to judge others choices on this issue as many seem to.

 

What I will defend it the right that was given when booking to make that choice.

 

The choice to not be charged the full service fee before leaving the ship has been take away.

 

There is now a compulsory charge with some refund/compensation process.

 

This asumes the reports are correct, NCL have yet to communicate this change in policy or contractual arrangement for those covered.

 

 

NCL don't need to communicate it. They only changed the procedure not the policy. If you want the DSC removed you still can remove it but you have to fill out a form and send it in after the cruise and then you get refunded after the cruise. I think it is the best way to handle it under the current circumstances. I for one would just leave it in place and not worry about having cash in my pocket for tips all the time.

[LoveyHowell]

What??? :D I don't get this... not even close to being real.

 

You are owed a free cruise for single handedly coming up with THE. BEST. FREE. ADVERTISING. CAMPAIGN. EVER

[SteelMagnolia9]

It's hard for me to understand why so many on this forum hate NCL and yet continue to cruise this line...

 

It certainly comes across that way in posts. There's lots of choices out there, life's too short!

[Wendy&Grumpy]

I really wish they would do this. It would eliminate a big problem, especially over in Europe. I have a very close friend who works on the Epic and no one is tipping and they've heard from other crew members that the DSC is removed by most of the passengers.

 

Then it's definitely time for NCL to increase FARES to INCLUDE the DSC amount.

 

If it's part of the revenues needed to pay salaries, then it needs to be compulsory.

 

When people are looking for the best cruise deal - which seems to be a huge reason for choosing NCL with their Freestyle "don't-pay-for-anything-you-won't-use" model - they ARE going to cut out any NON-compulsory charges!

Edited September 18, 2015 by Wendy&Grumpy

[insidecabin]

NCL don't need to communicate it. They only changed the procedure not the policy. If you want the DSC removed you still can remove it but you have to fill out a form and send it in after the cruise and then you get refunded after the cruise. I think it is the best way to handle it under the current circumstances. I for one would just leave it in place and not worry about having cash in my pocket for tips all the time.

 

People have booked with a condition it is discretionary on board.

[NLH Arizona]

Someone asked the question if NCL doesn’t get enough DSC to pay the crew’s salaries, does NCL then have to pay it. The answer is yes and no. I would think that every crew member is guaranteed a certain salary based on a combination of their monthly salary (which is reported to be between $50 and $100 a month) and a portion of the DSC and then on top of that an *incentive program. I would guess that NCL, from historical data knows what they will bring in from the DSC, so if some were to not pay, that money would first come out of the incentive programs and then out of NCL’s pocket initially (note, I said initially).

*I have to say that incentive program are great for motivating most employees, because I’ve never met any employee that doesn’t want to make more money and I would hate to have NCL lose money that benefits those employees that bust their butts every day for the passengers and get rewarded by this program.

Now, let’s assume that all of a sudden way more people stop paying their DSC, does that mean NCL has to make up the amount to cover the guarantee salaries, yes they will initially. But in the end, anyone who has taken Business 101 in high school knows that a company doesn’t pay for anything, their customers pay for everything. So, if all of a sudden NCL doesn’t have enough DSC to pay the guaranteed salary, what do you think they would do? They will raise the overall fare, raise the price of drinks, raise the price of specialty restaurants, charging for items that were free to the passengers, etc. or have cutbacks to cover the shortage. So, to the question, will NCL have to make up the shortage if many don’t pay the DSC, no we will all pay for it in increased prices or cutbacks in services, because no company is going to take a reduction in their earnings, they will just charge their customers more.

NCL, like every business, is in business to make money. They have a budget to keep, they have an earnings goal to make and like it or not, we pay for it all one way or another. If they are not reaching their earnings goal by mid-year or sooner, they will make adjustments, which could either be by raising prices or by cutting expenditures.

If someone doesn’t want to pay the DSC, there is a procedure in place to get your money back, nothing has changed as far as the policy. The terms of contract and FAQ (I’m speaking of the country I live in), clearly states that it will be charged to your onboard account and the new procedure clearly outlines how it can be adjusted. NCL is the company that makes the rules, whether we like them or not. So in other words, pay the DSC or not or cruise with NCL or not; the choice is up to the consumer who holds the purse strings.

Edited September 18, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[legion3]

Then it's definitely time for NCL to increase FARES to INCLUDE the DSC amount.

 

If it's part of the revenues needed to pay salaries, then it needs to be compulsory.

 

When people are looking for the best cruise deal - which seems to be a huge reason for choosing NCL with their Freestyle "don't-pay-for-anything-you-won't-use" model - they ARE going to cut out any NON-compulsory charges!

 

Well they have certainly raised fares and without adding the DSC to boot!

[Cruzaholic41]

Someone asked the question if NCL doesn’t get enough DSC to pay the crew’s salaries, does NCL then have to pay it. The answer is yes and no. I would think that every crew member is guaranteed a certain salary based on a combination of their monthly salary (which is reported to be between $50 and $100 a month) and a portion of the DSC and then on top of that an *incentive program.

 

Yes, the crew is guaranteed a certain salary, and that salary varies depending on where the crew member is from. 2 people doing the exact same job can have different salary guarantees just for being from different countries and working through different agents.

[Cruzaholic41]

It's hard for me to understand why so many on this forum hate NCL and yet continue to cruise this line...if you don't like it, book elsewhere.

 

Not everyone commenting here is actually still cruising NCL. Some of us are fed up and have given up on NCL. That doesn't mean we can't voice an opinion.

[luddite]

Well good for you.

 

I will say I think I agree that Freestyle may very well be the root cause of this NCL tangle. No other line does it this way as much as NCL.

 

I wonder if the "Anytime dining" or "my time dining" MDR waiters get some of the clearly defined amount other lines tend to show?

 

Why do you wonder about how the system on other companies' ship's works when you do not understand how it works on NCL's ships? That's just weird that it would concern you.

[SuiteCruiser]

Someone asked the question if NCL doesn’t get enough DSC to pay the crew’s salaries, does NCL then have to pay it. The answer is yes and no. I would think that every crew member is guaranteed a certain salary based on a combination of their monthly salary (which is reported to be between $50 and $100 a month) and a portion of the DSC and then on top of that an *incentive program. I would guess that NCL, from historical data knows what they will bring in from the DSC, so if some were to not pay, that money would first come out of the incentive programs and then out of NCL’s pocket initially (note, I said initially).

*I have to say that incentive program are great for motivating most employees, because I’ve never met any employee that doesn’t want to make more money and I would hate to have NCL lose money that benefits those employees that bust their butts every day for the passengers and get rewarded by this program.

Now, let’s assume that all of a sudden way more people stop paying their DSC, does that mean NCL has to make up the amount to cover the guarantee salaries, yes they will initially. But in the end, anyone who has taken Business 101 in high school knows that a company doesn’t pay for anything, their customers pay for everything. So, if all of a sudden NCL doesn’t have enough DSC to pay the guaranteed salary, what do you think they would do? They will raise the overall fare, raise the price of drinks, raise the price of specialty restaurants, charging for items that were free to the passengers, etc. or have cutbacks to cover the shortage. So, to the question, will NCL have to make up the shortage if many don’t pay the DSC, no we will all pay for it in increased prices or cutbacks in services, because no company is going to take a reduction in their earnings, they will just charge their customers more.

NCL, like every business, is in business to make money. They have a budget to keep, they have an earnings goal to make and like it or not, we pay for it all one way or another. If they are not reaching their earnings goal by mid-year or sooner, they will make adjustments, which could either be by raising prices or by cutting expenditures.

If someone doesn’t want to pay the DSC, there is a procedure in place to get your money back, nothing has changed as far as the policy. The terms of contract and FAQ (I’m speaking of the country I live in), clearly states that it will be charged to your onboard account and the new procedure clearly outlines how it can be adjusted. NCL is the company that makes the rules, whether we like them or not. So in other words, pay the DSC or not or cruise with NCL or not; the choice is up to the consumer who holds the purse strings.

 

Much of this is true. They are guaranteed an amount of pay every month, the base amount plus their share of gratuities. If there are not enough gratuities, they get a higher amount from NCL, but no gratuities.

 

Think of it this way, say guarantee is $50 per day, NCL pays $20 per day and DSC covers $30. In order to get over that $50 per day, the DSC received needs to be more than $31, it needs to be a higher amount, like $45 before they see an extra dollar.

 

If it's higher than the set amount of say $45 per day, then they get a percentage of that extra. The amount in between the $30 and and $45 is what NCL keeps. They use if for the other programs and incentives, and they use it to cover the next time that they don't hit the amount, say $25 of DSC comes in.

 

The other factor, if they have a really great cruise with loads of tips (think Christmas) they don't get that amount that week. It gets averaged out over a month, so they likley won't see much of it, since the weeks leading up to Christmas are the weeks when the ships are the emptiest.

 

This all came from an ex-NCL worker who had nothing to lose by telling me.

 

Edit to add: The last bit affect the casino staff more than the person handed a $20 bill. When the tips go to NCL they work out the percentage over their set limit and disperse if there are any left.

Edited September 18, 2015 by SuiteCruiser

[NLH Arizona]

Much of this is true. They are guaranteed an amount of pay every month, the base amount plus their share of gratuities. If there are not enough gratuities, they get a higher amount from NCL, but no gratuities.

 

That pretty much sums up what I said, except that if NCL see they are not generating enough revenue in the DSC, they will either raise the fares or have cutbacks to cover that expense.

[NLH Arizona]

Yes, the crew is guaranteed a certain salary, and that salary varies depending on where the crew member is from. 2 people doing the exact same job can have different salary guarantees just for being from different countries and working through different agents.

That is between the crew members and NCL. Not sure what bearing it has on the discussion at hand.

[NLH Arizona]

I really wish they would do this. It would eliminate a big problem, especially over in Europe. I have a very close friend who works on the Epic and no one is tipping and they've heard from other crew members that the DSC is removed by most of the passengers.

Sad to hear, especially since many from those countries don't believe in tipping, they are probably not giving cash tips to the crew either. NCL really has to address this by including this in their fares.

 

Wonder...why can't NCL just have a mandatory service charge like some restaurants do in Europe for those that book through any site other than US.

[NLH Arizona]

They won't do it as long as their competitors don't do the same. But even after that NCL competes with their cruise fare printed in the advertisements with land based vacations and other sorts of vacation providers. One of the reasons why they can make cruises to look like such a great deal and get more guests cruising every year is that they keep the base far so low and just add the service charge as optional and put it somewhere in the fine print and FAQs.

Thanks, but I know why NCL doesn't do it, but since so many in Europe remove the DSC (as been reported by SuiteCruiser) and probably don't tip otherwise, NCL really needs to do something to counter this. Maybe just raise the cruise fare for all those booking on European sites..just a thought. I could swear on another line I cruise, that their fares for European sites are higher (after conversion) than US fares.

[maywell]

It depends on the cruise and promotions and probably how good they different offices have been selling so far.

But you mention a good point. So if those who remove their DSC without service issues and punish the crew through that are cheapskates and acting disgraceful. How about the NCL management that although knowing the situation in Europe and the difficulties for the crew is not rectifying it?

Because the contract for EU/UK has to go through EU consumer protection commission/agency for review while the US one can be change at any time without government oversight.

 

 

Besides, NCL already switch ships out there permanently for next year. Europe's lost is Orlando, Florida's gain and replacement ship is not so bad, way smaller but still, not big deal im hindsight. Except maybe in number of staff servicing passengers.

 

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Edited September 18, 2015 by maywell

[Wendy&Grumpy]

 

anyone who has taken Business 101 in high school knows that a company doesn’t pay for anything, their customers pay for everything. So, if all of a sudden NCL doesn’t have enough DSC to pay the guaranteed salary, what do you think they would do? They will raise the overall fare, raise the price of drinks, raise the price of specialty restaurants, charging for items that were free to the passengers, etc. or have cutbacks to cover the shortage.

 

Like charging 18% gratuity on promo beverage and dining packages... $7.95 for room service delivery... increasing DSC for those who don't cancel it off... increasing gratuities on beverages... charging for additional entrees in specialty restaurants... removing free first night dinner show from UDP...

 

With the prior reports of the number of folks removing the DSC's, maybe everyone can start to understand why all these other increases are happening?!

 

And let's not forget... keeping initial fares low is what attracts new guests... once they're onboard, as FDR has already said, they're a captive audience and will pay the piper.

 

It wouldn't seem that "lure them in and screw them" would be a good business model when it comes to creating repeat customers... but who knows?

 

We just did our first NCL cruise and enjoyed it... despite having to fight to get what we paid for with the UDP (Illusionarium)... and were pleasantly surprised that additional entrees were not charged. We left the DSC alone and tipped our room steward extra as she deserved it. However, we did not order room service as we do not agree with a $7.95 fee for an included product, our UDP was purchased prior to the 18% added gratuity change, and our UBP promo was also prior to the 18% added gratuity change.

 

Our next NCL cruise was booked prior to taking our first, which was also prior to the 18% added gratuity on promos change. Were that cruise not already booked prior to those changes, I'm 99% sure we wouldn't be booking it. We have 6 people in a suite with promo UDP and UBP, promo DSC for the first two, and promo Shorex; and 4 more in a second cabin with promo UDP. Were we required to pay 18% on 10 UDP's, and 18% on the two UBP's, in addition to DSC for 8 (4 suite, four standard), the value would not be there for us.

Edited September 18, 2015 by Wendy&Grumpy