Norwegian cruises gratuity increase ?

[nlt46]

I don't understand why a suite pays more than say the room next door to me. The butler is not covered in the tips; nor is the concierge. I still have to tip them. Being in an aft suite, I don't go to the Haven for anything. My room is not that much larger. I asked NCL today as I paid my DSC, and they could not answer the question. They did tell me that I had to pay the service charge by April 1 , which is more than a month before I sail, in order to get the old fee amount. Have a great day.

Nancy

[NLH Arizona]

I don't understand why a suite pays more than say the room next door to me. The butler is not covered in the tips; nor is the concierge. I still have to tip them. Being in an aft suite, I don't go to the Haven for anything. My room is not that much larger. I asked NCL today as I paid my DSC, and they could not answer the question. They did tell me that I had to pay the service charge by April 1 , which is more than a month before I sail, in order to get the old fee amount. Have a great day.

Nancy

I cruise in a suite, not a Haven suite, but I think it is because the suites are larger, plus the Haven has all the extra space where the pool, bar, etc. are that has to be cleaned.

[Rileyz]

I don't understand why a suite pays more than say the room next door to me. The butler is not covered in the tips; nor is the concierge. I still have to tip them. Being in an aft suite, I don't go to the Haven for anything. My room is not that much larger. I asked NCL today as I paid my DSC, and they could not answer the question. They did tell me that I had to pay the service charge by April 1 , which is more than a month before I sail, in order to get the old fee amount. Have a great day.

Nancy

 

I think it pays for the cheese and pastries in the cruise terminal. Lol, I sail in suites and figure it's more because they want it to be. I just really hope and pray the employees are seeing this money and not the bottom line.

[logan25]

I think it pays for the cheese and pastries in the cruise terminal. Lol, I sail in suites and figure it's more because they want it to be. I just really hope and pray the employees are seeing this money and not the bottom line.

 

If that helps you sleep at night, dream on. When WalMart raises their prices, I don't assume employees receive a raise.

[shof515]

whats the best way to pre-paid the gratuity? If i go online to my NCL account, it adds them to the cart and requires payment at the end. I can pay right then and there, not a problem for me. or do i have to call them up and tell them to add to my final booking. i rather not call them and be stuck on hold

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Hi guys. We've reached out to Norwegian about the increases and have recapped everything in our news story here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7659.

 

If you have questions not answered in the article, please let me know, and I'll do my best to track down the information.

[sfaaa]

;pSo for a family of 4 I will now be paying a whopping 14 dollars more for a 7 day cruise. I'm out, will never cruise again with NCL, horrible company, how can they do this

 

You got that right. This is precisely where NCL is going. It wants to move up the target market ladder and no longer interested in attracting bottom feeding cruisers.

[richstowe]

Hi guys. We've reached out to Norwegian about the increases and have recapped everything in our news story here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7659.

 

If you have questions not answered in the article, please let me know, and I'll do my best to track down the information.

I appreciate the final paragraph from your recap

"Norwegian is known for some of the highest gratuities in the cruise industry, having raised them twice within five months in 2015. It also has a notoriously cumbersome policy for passengers to follow if they wish to remove the charges."

Exactly !

 

You got that right. This is precisely where NCL is going. It wants to move up the target market ladder and no longer interested in attracting bottom feeding cruisers.

Until they need to fill up empty ships . Then they always drop trou . :evilsmile:

[Justaddvodka68]

I don't understand why people debate the salaries, wages, gratuities, service charges, and the like, when there are increases like this. I also don't understand why people often state that they don't care about increases in daily charges nor the 18% charge on the open bar cost (the later 18% has increased due to the ridiculous increase of the drink prices and UBP).

 

It seems that the main reason people don't mind the increases is because of the poor overworked staff; they feel strongly that they deserve it. People that object to the increases are often referred to as cheap.

 

 

Or it could be that people like me, don't care because it's a small amount over-all and when comparing where to spend my vacation dollars, NCL has still come out ahead - service for service with the perks they're offering.

 

I'm a bargain vacation shopper, (Two couples for a week in ST. Martin with airfare from NY and Florida, in two one bedroom oceanfront condos for under $800 and 20,000 Spirit air miles and 120,000 HIVC points, for instance!) A similar cruise itinerary on RCL, purchasing the beverage package, gratuity on that, a few nights in the specialty restaraunts, with gratuity on that, RCL's service charge, port fees etc and the out the door pricing, for us, has come out much better on NCL.

 

I imagine everyone's mileage may vary. If you're not much of a drinker, and aren't factoring in this perk, I can see where some could come out ahead on other lines.

[Justaddvodka68]

whats the best way to pre-paid the gratuity? If i go online to my NCL account, it adds them to the cart and requires payment at the end. I can pay right then and there, not a problem for me. or do i have to call them up and tell them to add to my final booking. i rather not call them and be stuck on hold

 

 

If you want to add to final payment, you have to call. I hate calling too, because I'm just like that . . . but I've never held for more than a couple minutes with NCL.

[KeithJenner]

whats the best way to pre-paid the gratuity? If i go online to my NCL account, it adds them to the cart and requires payment at the end. I can pay right then and there, not a problem for me. or do i have to call them up and tell them to add to my final booking. i rather not call them and be stuck on hold

 

 

 

Read post 83 on this thread.

[Oakman58]

I have always hated the hidden add-on fees of cruise lines. I wish cruise lines would just roll it all into one price. That oceanview cabin for a 7 day cruise out of Miami that you thought was $849 per person suddenly increases by $160 per person as soon as you book it to cover the port fees and taxes, etc. Oh but wait, there’s also a service charge of $97.93 per person for that7 day cruise too. Suddenly that great price for an oceanview cabin has jumped to 1106.93 per person. I’m not even going to add in the gratuities on drinks.

To be honest, I’d never cruise except my wife LOVES cruising. If it were up to me I’d only do all-inclusive resorts where I know the price up front and for the money I get a huge room with a huge bathroom for a cheaper price. Having said that, happy wife…happy life, so periodically we cruise.

[clskinsfan]

I have a trip booked for October of 2018 for which I have pre-paid the gratuities. I'm sure by the time that trip comes around the rate will have gone up at least three more times.

 

I would rather they just bundle the gratuity into the price and let me decide if the trip is worth the price. The two down sides of that are you can't unpaid it for bad services; and second they will hope people will forget that it's in the price at some point and then begin charging separately for it again like the airlines did with food and luggage.

 

I dont know about NCL as I am taking my first cruise with them this fall. But on Carnival and Royal you CAN deduct gratuities even if you pre paid them. It is refunded on the CC you used to book. I had THE WORST restaurant service ever on a Carnival ship and deducted gratuities from the wait staff on the last day of a cruise. Even if you pre pay gratuities need to be earned IMO.

[Rileyz]

If that helps you sleep at night, dream on. When WalMart raises their prices, I don't assume employees receive a raise.

 

Yes but Walmart doesn't call it a service charge. And why wouldn't I sleep at night, what did I do???? :confused:

[luvcruzing]

IThey did tell me that I had to pay the service charge by April 1 , which is more than a month before I sail, in order to get the old fee amount. Have a great day.

Nancy

 

I'm confused. The way I understood the FAQs is that as long as I booked before April 1st and paid my DSC before sailing, my DSC was grandfathered.

[cage keeper]

Please no! I absolutely hated those envelopes & always felt some of the staff were somewhat embarrassed (humiliated?) by the process. Besides, with the changes in dining you'd have to carry cash to tip at every meal. And what do you do at the buffet? Tip the people who put something on your plate?

 

As someone who worked in the service industry for many years they are are not embarrassed, they are grateful to receive the envelopes. I do take cash and tip each meal as well as bartenders. I worry the way it is done now they took a huge cut in tip pay.

[shof515]

I'm confused. The way I understood the FAQs is that as long as I booked before April 1st and paid my DSC before sailing, my DSC was grandfathered.

thats what im understanding too..if you pay it on the ship, you pay the higher price..if you pay at home, you are locked in at the old price.

[Até]

... Suddenly that great price for an oceanview cabin has jumped to 1106.93 per person. I’m not even going to add in the gratuities on drinks... If it were up to me I’d only do all-inclusive resorts where I know the price up front ....

 

It seems like you do know the cost of the cruise up front, but I understand what you are saying. Advertising the guarantee rate w/o any of the taxes/fees/gratuities/DSC is just marketing bait, most people know this going in as it's pretty standard with the mass-market lines. Very few people have no idea what their total cruise will cost when they sail, it's pretty well spelled out up front before you actually book. Those who delay paying the DSC and drinks until the end of the cruise are deluding themselves about the cost if they aren't taking that into account.

[pieshops]

It seems like you do know the cost of the cruise up front, but I understand what you are saying. Advertising the guarantee rate w/o any of the taxes/fees/gratuities/DSC is just marketing bait, most people know this going in as it's pretty standard with the mass-market lines. Very few people have no idea what their total cruise will cost when they sail, it's pretty well spelled out up front before you actually book. Those who delay paying the DSC and drinks until the end of the cruise are deluding themselves about the cost if they aren't taking that into account.

 

Kind of like every other industry does? car dealerships don't put the total price in big bold letters just the base price, restaurants don't advertise specials and say plus tip, department stores don't advertise prices with sales tax included, everyone advertises base price

[sfaaa]

Whatever happened to the concept of using ROUNDED NUMBERS ?

Instead of $13.99 why not go for the greedy gusto of a penny more ? $14.00

Charge a penny less and make them think they are getting a deal !

.

 

Bad idea. $13.99 is not $14. I save one precious cent without the rounding.

[Oakman58]

Kind of like every other industry does? car dealerships don't put the total price in big bold letters just the base price, restaurants don't advertise specials and say plus tip, department stores don't advertise prices with sales tax included, everyone advertises base price

 

Not quite, if you read my post I mentioned all-inclusive resorts. The travel agency I use puts the total price out there and it includes airfares. No extra taxes, tips are included, no other service fees. I know before I click on the resort what the total price will be.

[lanceholt]

We are cruising in Alaska in May, prepaid gratuities. Next cruise is Sept 2018 British Isles, just prepaid gratuities to beat the increase. Life is too short to feel outrage over a price increase when we see them everywhere every day. If you don't like the system, then don't cruise, pretty easy solution IMHO.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

I'm confused. The way I understood the FAQs is that as long as I booked before April 1st and paid my DSC before sailing, my DSC was grandfathered.

 

thats what im understanding too..if you pay it on the ship, you pay the higher price..if you pay at home, you are locked in at the old price.

 

That's correct. If you prepay your gratuities before April 1 (before the new prices go into effect), you'll receive the current prices of $13.50 or $15.50 (for suites).

[pieshops]

Not quite, if you read my post I mentioned all-inclusive resorts. The travel agency I use puts the total price out there and it includes airfares. No extra taxes, tips are included, no other service fees. I know before I click on the resort what the total price will be.

there are always exceptions to the rule, but they are in the minority

[luvcruzing]

That's correct. If you prepay your gratuities before April 1 (before the new prices go into effect), you'll receive the current prices of $13.50 or $15.50 (for suites).

 

So NCL reps are once again giving out incorrect information.