Ultimate Beverage Package - Changes to Conditions

[majoranna]

If you are removing gratuities now you must get a form from NCL and mail it in after the cruise is over.

 

I believe the 18% gratuity being talked about here has nothing to do with the cabin stewards or MDR servers.

 

Bill

 

Ah, thanks for that Bill.

Edited February 28, 2016 by majoranna

[swedish weave]

If you are removing gratuities now you must get a form from NCL and mail it in after the cruise is over.

 

I believe the 18% gratuity being talked about here has nothing to do with the cabin stewards or MDR servers.

 

Bill

 

There is an open question about that because most of the servers who work in the specialty restaurants ad dinner time also work other meals in the MDR or buffet. It has also been reported by a HD that the servers in the specialty restauranta are in fact part of the DSC pool.

 

NCL does not respond to questions about this.

[majoranna]

There is an open question about that because most of the servers who work in the specialty restaurants ad dinner time also work other meals in the MDR or buffet. It has also been reported by a HD that the servers in the specialty restauranta are in fact part of the DSC pool.

 

NCL does not respond to questions about this.

 

This is what I presumed - so I never thought to differentiate between the gratuity added on to the UDP and the UBP and the gratuity we pay for the crew overall - just thought it was all going in the same pot and the same terms applied.

 

Sorry, fairly new to this Forum and cruising (only one previous in 2005)

- what is a HD and a DSC pool please?

[fshagan]

This is what I presumed - so I never thought to differentiate between the gratuity added on to the UDP and the UBP and the gratuity we pay for the crew overall - just thought it was all going in the same pot and the same terms applied.

 

Sorry, fairly new to this Forum and cruising (only one previous in 2005)

- what is a HD and a DSC pool please?

 

HD = Hotel Director

DSC = "Discretionary Service Charge" I think ... the auto-gratuities on other ships.

 

BTW - I noticed you mentioned the low salary and the rest made up in tips for the workers. This is a weird pay scale for those of us in western countries, but I think there's a reason for it.

 

First, the pay arrangements are negotiated by what amounts to a union in their home countries, and I strongly suspect the mix of tips to salary is something negotiated that the workers don't want to change. Here in the US, tips are subject to income taxes. But in most countries like the Philippines, the tip income is exempt from income taxes. So they pay income tax on that 32£ but not on the rest of their income. Pretty nice deal.

 

NCL pools the DSC and has some formula to dividing it up among the staff. We don't know how much goes to them in cash, how much goes to them in benefits, and how much the company keeps (or, how much the company puts in the pool that isn't covered by the DSC). There's a lot of speculation and heated arguments about it. The thing I do know is that we see we see a lot of workers who have been serving cruisers for years and years. So they are evidently happy with the arrangement, as they keep signing up again even when it would be easy for them to sign up with another cruise line. If it works for them then I see no reason to complain.

[insidecabin]

The research I did says Philippines p workers are of shore and no tax.

I suspect there is no evidence to back up the tax claims.

[swedish weave]

HD = Hotel Director

DSC = "Discretionary Service Charge" I think ... the auto-gratuities on other ships.

 

BTW - I noticed you mentioned the low salary and the rest made up in tips for the workers. This is a weird pay scale for those of us in western countries, but I think there's a reason for it.

 

First, the pay arrangements are negotiated by what amounts to a union in their home countries, and I strongly suspect the mix of tips to salary is something negotiated that the workers don't want to change. Here in the US, tips are subject to income taxes. But in most countries like the Philippines, the tip income is exempt from income taxes. So they pay income tax on that 32£ but not on the rest of their income. Pretty nice deal.

 

NCL pools the DSC and has some formula to dividing it up among the staff. We don't know how much goes to them in cash, how much goes to them in benefits, and how much the company keeps (or, how much the company puts in the pool that isn't covered by the DSC). There's a lot of speculation and heated arguments about it. The thing I do know is that we see we see a lot of workers who have been serving cruisers for years and years. So they are evidently happy with the arrangement, as they keep signing up again even when it would be easy for them to sign up with another cruise line. If it works for them then I see no reason to complain.

 

There are some deep seated reasons the crew members don't change cruise lines or complain. The biggest reason is the lack of opportunities in their home countries. Hundreds of people are trying to get jobs on the cruise lines because they can make much more on cruise ships than at home. That leads to lack of complaints because they don't want to lose the jobs they have, and they would have to start anew with another agency if they tried to change cruise lines. They sign up for a new contract each time they take their two months off and they know ahead of time when they will return and what ship they will report to. The company furnishes transportation if they complete their contract and renew for another stint.

 

It is not that easy for them to change, and they risk losing what they have if they do try.

 

I have noticed a change in many that I have known for a few years. They won't discuss it, but the tension is obvious to me. More so on NCL than on Princess and other lines.

[majoranna]

Thank you so much for the explanations. Sometimes you have to scratch the surface a little for a better understanding :)