Mandatory Service Charges

[sidari]

Bea ... Did not know it was on the Ireland site, I guess that dispells the Brexit theory then.

[PTC DAWG]

I did like the "gin and bear it". comment...

 

Sail on. 

[Beamafar]

13 minutes ago, sidari said:

Bea ... Did not know it was on the Ireland site, I guess that dispells the Brexit theory then.

 

(Aw, Jeez ... don't mention the 'B' word  😱)

I posted it ages back (post #13 refers) ... are you following your own thread - or wha?   🙄  

 

I can confirm that it IS also on the Spanish site:

 

 

 

Should I check for any more countries ... any suggestions, huh?

Edited February 21, 2019 by Beamafar

[Omega1]

Does anyone know when the first references to a mandatory service charge were made by MSC?

Edited February 21, 2019 by Omega1

[Magnelasagne]

No changes on the Norwegian site yet. 

I understand why some of you see this as a matter of principle and getting upset about it. 

But for me I just couldnt care less. I see it as part of the total price and just can’t be bothered to find out if it is legal or not. Life is to short to worry about DSC😛

[Captain-John]

3 minutes ago, Magnelasagne said:

No changes on the Norwegian site yet. 

I understand why some of you see this as a matter of principle and getting upset about it. 

But for me I just couldnt care less. I see it as part of the total price and just can’t be bothered to find out if it is legal or not. Life is to short to worry about DSC😛

 

Understood, but for me the emphasis is on the 'D' of 'DSC.' 🙂

[sidari]

Omega ... It has been there since the site was updated.

[Beamafar]

Thanks for reporting on the Norwegian one as the translation I was getting didn't make sense!

 

The following countries' websites still haven't been updated:  Belgium, France and Denmark -  but Sweden's clearly states that the charge is mandatory.  (I'm not going to upload photos to prove all this - my internet has been as slow as dial-up tonight and I've just about had enough!)

[Omega1]

14 minutes ago, sidari said:

Omega ... It has been there since the site was updated.

Thanks

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, Magnelasagne said:

 But for me I just couldnt care less. I see it as part of the total price and just can’t be bothered to find out if it is legal or not. Life is to short to worry about DSC😛

 

 

To some extent I agree with this, I have never withheld the Service Charge and can't imagine service bad enough to make me do it. To be honest if there was a press announcement saying they were introducing this I would probably say "About time too.", my preference would be to see it in the ticket price like NCL.

 

I just feel it is underhanded to sneak these things in, we only just got past the drink package and now they are at it again.

 

Honestly....... I have two cruises booked one NCL and one MSC, first MSC did the drinks thing, next NCL took all the premium out of the included package and now I'm back to MSC changing the DSC..... It's like "What next!", I should not be having to battle for what I paid for and am entitled to. I know I'm not losing anything here but it's principle, they think they can do what they like and we have to suck it up.

Edited February 22, 2019 by ziggyuk

[korpo024]

10 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Thanks for reporting on the Norwegian one as the translation I was getting didn't make sense!

 

The following countries' websites still haven't been updated:  Belgium, France and Denmark -  but Sweden's clearly states that the charge is mandatory.  (I'm not going to upload photos to prove all this - my internet has been as slow as dial-up tonight and I've just about had enough!)

Holland and USA still not mandatory

[Gettingwarmer]

14 hours ago, free from work said:

Phew! Thank goodness for that! With everything that's going on I thought I'd missed something. However your highlighting the change to the Hendricks is definitely sneeky! 

 

However going back to the DSC, we are on a Grand Voyage and decided to prepay them due to the potential of the pound tanking and saved £200 against what we would have paid had we waited until the end of the cruise, so at the moment perhaps savings can be made. 

 

Jim

How do you prepay the service charge? I see nowhere on the uk site to do this. 

[free from work]

Just now, Gettingwarmer said:

How do you prepay the service charge? I see nowhere on the uk site to do this. 

 

We did it through our travel agent but others have telephoned their local (national) MSC office and asked for a full prepayment figure. 

 

Interestingly there is another thread on the main MSC board which is discussing the DSC being mandatory now and no longer optional. 

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, korpo024 said:

Holland and USA still not mandatory

 

Not yet!

[SeaTheW0rld]

1 hour ago, korpo024 said:

Holland and USA still not mandatory

 

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Not yet!

 

It's that way with several of the CCL brands. USA can still remove tips, but not anyone else.  Maybe it's a cultural thing because tipping is normal in the US. 

[Beamafar]

10 minutes ago, SeaTheW0rld said:

 

 

It's that way with several of the CCL brands. USA can still remove tips, but not anyone else.  Maybe it's a cultural thing because tipping is normal in the US. 

 

All the more reason for there not to be a problem in that region with making it mandatory.

 

 

[cruiser man 60]

Whatever MSC say it's still not legal under U.K. And EU Consumer protection law to change a fee or make compulsory after contract agreed i.e. When you pay your deposit . I am traveling over next week or so can't contact ABTA but interested to hear any feedback from anyone who does contact them or any other travel body involved in licensing MSC

[SeaTheW0rld]

37 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

All the more reason for there not to be a problem in that region with making it mandatory.

 

 

 

No arguments from me.  I worked in restaurants for many years before. Now, I do draw the line at tip jars when I order something at the counter. Unless I make a special request, I never tip there. 

[BermudaBound2014]

16 hours ago, sidari said:

Maybe it is the idea of an Ex NCL Employee! So far it would seem that it only appears on the UK website  and no others, if that is the case and it remains that way there would be a case for discrimination against MSC. 

 

Sid, I don't get this comment. Unless things have changed very recently, NCL doesn't have mandatory gratuity. You mentioned that MSC is turning into the 'mainstream' lines, but the only two lines I am aware of that have mandatory gratuity are MSC and Costa. Both Italian lines. What am I missing, Can you explain please?

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said:

Whatever MSC say it's still not legal under U.K. And EU Consumer protection law to change a fee or make compulsory after contract agreed i.e. When you pay your deposit . I am traveling over next week or so can't contact ABTA but interested to hear any feedback from anyone who does contact them or any other travel body involved in licensing MSC

 

Having 'lived through' the recent drinks debacle, MSC will ultimately resolve this in a similar manner....i.e. those booked before the date this was announced will retain the option to remove, those booking after the date will therefore be contractually bound by it.

 

It always surprises me the number of people who, even before going on their cruise, apparently plan to remove the DSC. It troubles me that so many would wish to 'stiff the crew' who work so hard to serve us. MSC, like every cruiseline, has a business model and have decided to make DSC compulsory from March 2019....I applaud that decision, which means we all play (and pay, according to the experience we book) on a level playing field!

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Sid, I don't get this comment. Unless things have changed very recently, NCL doesn't have mandatory gratuity. 

 

We are mostly UK/Europe (ooops freudian slip) posters in this thread and in this region, unlike the US, our NCL cruises have gratuities included in the ticket price.

Edited February 22, 2019 by ziggyuk

[BermudaBound2014]

41 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

We are mostly UK/Europe (ooops freudian slip) posters in this thread and in this region, unlike the US, our NCL cruises have gratuities included in the ticket price.

 

Thank you for the clarification. That make perfect sense. Gratuities are culturally orientated.  I think we all agree that, on the whole,  North American passengers are less likely to remove tips than those from other areas where tipping isn't culturally ingrained. US passengers have gratuities automatically added each day, but the gratuities can be removed with a visit to guest services. 

 

I'm not making any excuses for MSC and the way they have implemented this change, but IF (and I say if because there really isn't any proof other than cruise line word for it) gratuities truly are supplementing income, MSC employees would be making substantially less than their counterparts (since more of their clientele comes from non-tipping culture). That might explain why there are so many reports of MSC employees leaving for other companies?

 

Note: I'm not making any judgments either way about whether or not people should tip :).

[Omega1]

I emailed my TA yesterday ( a well known UK cruise agent) regarding the mandatory service charge. Their customer service manager responded - here’s a section from her response...

Unfortunately, we have not been made aware of this but, in the light of your email, have made contact with MSC. We are currently being given mixed messages so are seeking official clarification. Once we have this we will communicate the statement to our clients.

It seems as though MSC treats its clients and TAs with equal disdain.

[BermudaBound2014]

29 minutes ago, Omega1 said:

I emailed my TA yesterday ( a well known UK cruise agent) regarding the mandatory service charge. Their customer service manager responded - here’s a section from her response...

Unfortunately, we have not been made aware of this but, in the light of your email, have made contact with MSC. We are currently being given mixed messages so are seeking official clarification. Once we have this we will communicate the statement to our clients.

It seems as though MSC treats its clients and TAs with equal disdain.

 

I'm not defending MSC, but I don't think it's disdain. I really think it is total disorganization to the point of incompetence at times. 

[Omega1]

40 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I'm not defending MSC, but I don't think it's disdain. I really think it is total disorganization to the point of incompetence at times. 

 

I believe MSC have deliberately and knowingly decided not to inform booked guests and TAs and simply add it to their website. This strategy = disdain in my book.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Omega1