Removing Gratuity Charges?

[erdoran]

@Gampy1967 what I meant was that if you got bad restaurant service, you can't remove just the restaurant portion, you remove some or all of the DSC and EVERYONE is impacted, not just the restaurant you were unhappy with.  IF you buy into the DSC as a part of your cruise fare and pretty much mandatory, then it is unfair to the rest of the crew to impact their share because a steward, waiter, etc wasn't up to your standards-not saying YOU in particular, just whatever standards, right or wrong.  

 

My understanding is that you CAN remove DSC for any reason or no reason.  Whether or not you SHOULD is totally different than whether or not you CAN.  

[dcipjr]

@Shorty6095 See what we meant about the can of worms? People are still here arguing about it. 5 pages and counting. 

 

Don't feel bad, somebody else will post the same question next week and we'll do it all over again!  🙌 🎉

 

Just whatever you do, don't post a question about whether the Free At Sea perks are truly free.

[erdoran]

Life would be so boring.....I'd have no way to goof off at work if these debates didn't keep happening!!

[Two Wheels Only]

17 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

Just whatever you do, don't post a question about whether the Free At Sea perks are truly free. 

 

...or a question about smoking on your balcony, finding a lounger at 5am and returning at noon, FDR's salary, nickel and dime tactics even if nickel and dime is incorrectly defined, wearing shorts or a hat in LeBistro, getting drinks for guests 3&4 when only guests 1&2 have the UBP, sharing apps when using the SDP, Haven access for non-Haven guests, booking minors in a connecting stateroom, bringing homemade cookies onboard......

Edited February 28, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[dcipjr]

8 minutes ago, erdoran said:

Life would be so boring.....I'd have no way to goof off at work if these debates didn't keep happening!!

 

I love how it happens almost once every week, usually from new users, usually while there's another ongoing thread about the same thing. 

 

Maybe they're just trolling us?

 

Either way—it's like Billy Dee Williams used to say about Colt 45: "It works every time!"

[dcipjr]

1 minute ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

...or a question about smoking on your balcony, finding a lounger at 5am and returning at noon, FDR's salary, nickel and dime tactics even if nickel and dime is incorrectly defined, wearing shorts or a hat in LeBistro, getting drinks for guests 3&4 when only guests 1&2 have the UBP, Haven access for non-Haven guests, booking minors in a connecting stateroom, bringing homemade cookies onboard......

 

Were you there for the bring-your-own-mattress thread? 🤣

[thetaro]

It would be nice if people who complain about how bad the service is and why you don't want to pay DSC, to put money where your mouth is and never give NCL any business.

[Gampy1967]

30 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

@Shorty6095 See what we meant about the can of worms? People are still here arguing about it. 5 pages and counting. 

 

Don't feel bad, somebody else will post the same question next week and we'll do it all over again!  🙌 🎉

 

Just whatever you do, don't post a question about whether the Free At Sea perks are truly free.

I make the "free at sea" perks free by removing the DSC to cover the costs of the "free" perks.  Boom!! Two topics in one.  Anything left over I use to purchase plastic straws that I then feed to the coke-addicted sea turtles that keep getting them stuck in their nose.

[Two Wheels Only]

5 minutes ago, Gampy1967 said:

Anything left over I use to purchase plastic straws that I then feed to the coke-addicted sea turtles that keep getting them stuck in their nose. 

 

The only Coke addicts are the people who complain that NCL is Pepsi only.

[ColeThornton]

Do some of the people here who actually seem upset about all of this get so adamant about finding out the salaries and working conditions of other service industry professionals?    Travel professionals?    Airline workers?  Or is it just cruise line employees?

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who finds it a bit bizarre.  What answer would you give a room steward or bartender who asked you how much money you make?

 

Oh well, gotta go scrape the ice off my car.   🙂

[NLH Arizona]

23 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Do some of the people here who actually seem upset about all of this get so adamant about finding out the salaries and working conditions of other service industry professionals?    Travel professionals?    Airline workers?  Or is it just cruise line employees?

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who finds it a bit bizarre.  What answer would you give a room steward or bartender who asked you how much money you make?

 

Oh well, gotta go scrape the ice off my car.   🙂

No, you are not the only person who finds it bizarre.  I would never think of asking a cruise employee what they make, how they are paid, etc., but some think, I guess, that they are entitled to interrogate crew members regarding their financial matters.  I'm sure that crew members are told not to discuss their wages, so who knows what they say to these interested parties.

 

Off to get ready for a beautiful 73 degree day.  😎

[Newleno]

33 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Do some of the people here who actually seem upset about all of this get so adamant about finding out the salaries and working conditions of other service industry professionals?    Travel professionals?    Airline workers?  Or is it just cruise line employees?

 

I'm sure I'm not the only person who finds it a bit bizarre.  What answer would you give a room steward or bartender who asked you how much money you make?

 

Oh well, gotta go scrape the ice off my car.   🙂

I have been always curious as to how much they are paid.  While chatting with crew members well it seems like they get afraid even when you ask them if they had time off to see the port we were in.  It is a big mystery, no one knows how much time they get off, or how much they are paid.  Usually I dont care about how much someone makes or even their job/career (in fact I dont want to hear about it, that is why we usually eat by ourselves) but cruiseline workers yeah I'm curiious.  room, board, medical, dental is taking care of, so how much does one usually make/save?  How long are their contracts?  oh man if i could just find out then i could sleep at night.

[Jachred]

Welcome trolls... why post a complaint to a discussion.. isn't it ironic that you are the one you are complaining about...   

 

How they get paid is my buisness because I am the one paying them.....  ie if the DSC is removed and doesn't impact anyone why not remove it if you can?  That's the question..  does that money goto the crew or a money grab....

 

I chose ncl because of the ship and iterary...  if I want to save money because of a price drop or removing costs that I can... and it doesn't affect those people... why not? 

 

 

[thetaro]

BRB, Calling IRS now.

Why pays the tax if it doesn't go to places that I WANT it to be? Hello Greece.

[phillyguy31]

13 minutes ago, Jachred said:

Welcome trolls... why post a complaint to a discussion.. isn't it ironic that you are the one you are complaining about...   

 

How they get paid is my buisness because I am the one paying them.....  ie if the DSC is removed and doesn't impact anyone why not remove it if you can?  That's the question..  does that money goto the crew or a money grab....

 

I chose ncl because of the ship and iterary...  if I want to save money because of a price drop or removing costs that I can... and it doesn't affect those people... why not? 

 

 

It really isn't anyone's business on how they get paid except the employee and the employer. When you purchase from Amazon do you first ask how much of that item's purchase price is allocated toward salaries, how much to infrastructure and how much is profit. So saying it is your business because you are paying them is incorrect. I have talked to a lot of crew members that has been with NCL for years. If they were really unhappy they wouldn't be back after their contract was up. There were even a few that came from other lines as well.

Since you really have no idea if removing the DSC does or does not affect the crew then you shouldn't remove it to be on the safe side if you reaaly care about the crew.

[newmexicoNita]

2 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

I just did some web surfing yesterday to see what I could find and I saw several sites reference Carnival as being different from the other cruise lines.  Not sure where they got their information from.  Here are a few - I saw it referenced in a few other places too.

 

https://www.reviewed.com/cruises/features/the-low-down-on-cruise-ship-gratuities-2

Updated in 2015.  Not sure if anything has changed

 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article191863039.html

This one is more recent, but again....not sure where there get the info from. 

 

Unless a cruise line actually shows how they do it, I don't believe a word from their FAQ or websites.  I need a little transparency to believe what they say.

I am not sure I believe too much even when I read it. Too many have agenda to push or reasons to lean one direction or the other. This goes for everything now that we have social media. I love social media, most of us couldn't get along without it but there are still bad sides to everything. Thanks for giving us information on what you read whether it is legit of not. You took the time to try and find out the story. 

[newmexicoNita]

22 hours ago, adam_s_allen said:

I leave the DSC alone and tip extra to anyone that provides me excellent service while on a cruise. But I don't think the reason they have the DSC in place is because of people not tipping. I don't imagine NCL cares whether people tip or not just as much as any restaurant owner would care if I tipped my server or how much. I think the main reason the DSC is there is so that the cruise lines can advertise a lower price.

This goes back maybe 10 or more years ago when HAL had a no tipping policy. Because people took it totally literally and didn't absolutely didn't tip at all, the DSC was added. Eventually all lines or most decided to add the DSC. Yes, it did have to do with a combination of tipping and making sure some in the back who we never see got a small portion of the tips. 

[luv2kroooz]

7 hours ago, phillyguy31 said:

It really isn't anyone's business on how they get paid except the employee and the employer. When you purchase from Amazon do you first ask how much of that item's purchase price is allocated toward salaries, how much to infrastructure and how much is profit.

I don't, and I am a pretty curious person.

 

But I will tell you if Amazon started assessing a service charge on my coffee pods or the office supplies I buy, I probably would ask why they were doing it. If they weren't real transparent about it, I'd be skeptical. If they said it was going to pay their workers salaries, I would tell them to set their prices at a level that allows them to pay their employees salaries.

 

And if their service charge was $10 today, then $11 next year, then $12 the year after, I would definitely be curious. And if it was 15% today, then 18% tomorrow, and then 20% a year later, I'd be real skeptical, especially after reading quotes from their corporate executives about how they were laser-focused on raising prices everywhere. Evidently inflation is under control everywhere, but apparently not on NCL cruise ships. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by blcruising

[ARI421]

Did anyone ever answer the question or are we just fighting over whether we should or shouldn't!  To answer your question yes you can go to guest services and request the service charges removed and you can tip in cash. Whether you wish to do this is your opinion. But at least your question is answered! 

[Guest]

On 2/26/2019 at 6:10 PM, Yesimapirate said:

That's a nice way to spin it to make it seem like I'm an ass for considering removing it.   In the end, we.decided it wasn't worth it but I'll give you a brief answer below.   I think we can all agree that there are occasionally bad staff who act in an inappropriate manner.  Those are the times I think it's ok to remove it for that particular employee.   And I'll also add, since we didn't pursue it, I don't even know if it can been removed only from one person.

 

So we started our 7 day cruise with a pretty long talk with our cabin steward.   I actually thought it was nice though my wife and I both agreed he way over stayed hus welcome and it was a bit awkward.   That turned into "oh, there are my friends" and hin him flowing us into our room 3 times over the next two days.  Now it was uncomfortable and annoying but I still felt he .want well and was just socially inept. 

 

By the 4th day, he took my wife's arm and pulled her into the linen closest twice to tell her secrets.   Clearly not something almost any woman would we be ok with.   I didnt find this out until a few days later.  Stuff like this kept happening.  

 

Finally, on the 2nd to last night he tells us some story about missing dinner and asking if we could have the butler bring 2 orders of wings from o'sheehans at a certain time.  I thought it was extremely inappropriate.   I was so surprised he was asking that I didnt even hear half his story or know what to say.  Then, in front of me, he pulled my wife into the linen closet and shut the door.  Nothing really bad happened or trust me, I'd have made the news from throwing him overboard but my wife was furious and thought he was "rapey". 

 

So yeah, I absolutely can see where guests feel like there are times they don't want to tip.  Qnd truthfully,  we should have reported him so no one else had to deal with that. 

This can't be real.Are you crazy? You should have reported him and had him arrested.Whats wrong with you.

[salty dingo]

I just want to chime in here with my view - there is nothing easy about having to keep up with cash to tip people with as you go. It may be a thing for some people to hand cash but I just don't get it, and it would not make my vacation any easier to convert auto-tips to cash tips. It's not even practical given that you probably never have the same wait staff twice.

 

A huge reason I am in favor of the auto-tips is how they address the occasional traveler who does not come from a culture where tipping is customary, or just believes the tips are another way a big corporation can rip them off. There's only one way to deal with those folks and that's by making the tips mandatory, and I am glad they are.

[pc_load_letter]

On 2/26/2019 at 1:55 PM, FranknBeans said:

This topic makes me crazy.

 

Why would anyone want to steal food from the staffs mouth who work so hard 7 days a week at all hours to feed their families back home. 

 

If you don't want to pay then maybe you should just stick to camping.

 

Because people are cheap asses.

[buckeyefrank]

On 2/26/2019 at 4:22 PM, Shorty6095 said:

 

I hear you as far as being skeptical about NCL keeping a small %.  Also the "gratuity" money that is added onto their checks is going to be taxed, giving them even less money.  And from the estimated calculations you just made, that is very little in tip money for a weeks worth of hard work.  I definitely do not want to cut their wages even further, especially the people behind the scenes.  That calculation definitely puts it in perspective for me and now I am rethinking removing the gratuity charges.  We will likely still tip them cash even if we keep the gratuity charges, cause they deserve better.

This is a USA law / requirement that does not necessarily apply to NCL employees.  From my understanding, removing the tips and then paying cash will do nothing.  I have heard that tips received from people who have removed DSC are required to be placed in the DSC pool.  So you would be removing them and adding them right back in.

[erdoran]

I STILL argue that cruise lines should pay their staff well enough that they are not dependent on tips.  I do the tipping thing because I have to - but “stealing food from their mouths”?!  REALLY????  OMG, that is a bit extreme!

 

All other things being equal, the amount a cruise ends up costing is what counts, whether that total is made up up of fare alone or fare and “optional” DSC - either choice being the same total.  

 

So much anger, angst, and energy is wasted, and so many negative feelings come out of this whole DSC thing that could be totally avoided by just increasing the fare the same amount and paying crew a decent wage that they are guaranteed to get, rather than be at the whim of pax, some of whom don’t “get it” and others who just feel uncomfortable when there are situations out of the ordinary (I’ve read about a few here) for crew to get their DSC or extra tips added, or ....

[rochelle_s]

38 minutes ago, buckeyefrank said:

This is a USA law / requirement that does not necessarily apply to NCL employees.  From my understanding, removing the tips and then paying cash will do nothing.  I have heard that tips received from people who have removed DSC are required to be placed in the DSC pool.  So you would be removing them and adding them right back in.

 

First off I  am not trying to be argumentative but would like to play devils advocate on how this could not possibly be true.

 

Imagine I were to go about my cruise tipping cash as I went, such as an upfront tip to my cabin steward and then cash directly to every waiter who served me along the way. On the final night I go to guest services and have the DSC removed from my account, how would they ever be able to know who received a cash tip or how much?  If it were an honour system how would an employee know that I would be removing my DSC at the end?

 

Seems to me the only employee they would be able to approach is the cabin steward and I am not sure anyone among the staff would think it was fair to single out this one department.

 

Rochelle