NCL Gratuities/Service Charges & Cabin Steward

[1stTIMECRUZER]

Here's a new spin on an often discussed topic.  This happened to us at the end of a 2018 cruise.   We were preparing to leave our cabin to debark and handed our cabin steward an extra gratuity in addition to the $s we'd left in the cabin here and there throughout the week to say thanks for things.  Instead of "Thank you", our cabin steward said we should ask to have the service charge removed from our bill and give it all to her.  Her reasoning was that cabin stewards get very little of the service charges that NCL collects.  Then she said...."or did you prepay your gratuities?".  We had pre-paid but that's neither here nor there.   I was very surprised that she was confronting a guest in this manner and didn't know what to say.   A few minutes later as we were leaving our cabin we found the same cabin steward looking at another guest's bill that was hanging by their door.  I'm assuming she was checking to see if it showed their gratuities.  

 

We had a great week up until that point and the service she provided was adequate/good but not over the top.   That final confrontation left us feeling bad and questioning things.  We didn't report the issue to NCL or anything but I'm assuming if she confronted very many guests, someone would have by now.

 

Have you ever had this happen?  How did you respond?  

[Harratine]

Wow, that’s a first for me. Odd to say the least and surprising/ not surprising.  Imagine taking all gratuities and giving to one person when they get divided by a lot of people, do that in one or two cabins, then a really big payday for the person pulling that off. Do it every week for a year and that’s about 30k.  Not bad work if you can find it.

[NLH Arizona]

Seems like she had an agenda, which was to get herself some more money.

[graphicguy]

WOW!  I bet if her co-workers knew what she said, they might want to have a word with her.  I bet management would like to talk to her, too.

 

That’s brazen! 

[1stTIMECRUZER]

Agree..."Brazen!", but for whatever reason, I at first thought I was doing something wrong.  😲

 

[BirdTravels]

It is a fact that the cabin steward gets a small piece of the DSC. And that the DSC is shared amongst the forward facing and behind the scenes crew members who have worked hard all cruise to make it enjoyable. For one employee to say “screw the others, give it all to me” should have been reported. 

[erdoran]

Totally out of line DEMANDING a bigger tip!  I understand how you felt, I would have felt the same - and how ungracious for you tipping over and above the DSC, which should not be expected or required.  

 

7 day cruise x 2 is about $210, right?  Pretty hefty tip for the steward ON TOP OF the tip you already gave.  I agree with Bird and the others, this should be reported.  What a way to leave a bad taste in your mouth at the end of a lovely trip!

[erdoran]

Actually, I have the PERFECT answer!  “I’m not quite sure how to do that, why don’t you come to Customer Service with me and explain to them what it is you have requested, and make sure they hand the DSC directly to you, to make sure you are properly compensated”

[All-ready2cruise]

1 minute ago, erdoran said:

Actually, I have the PERFECT answer!  “I’m not quite sure how to do that, why don’t you come to Customer Service with me and explain to them what it is you have requested, and make sure they hand the DSC directly to you, to make sure you are properly compensated”

YOu're right, it is perfect. LOL 

 

[1stTIMECRUZER]

4 minutes ago, erdoran said:

Actually, I have the PERFECT answer!  “I’m not quite sure how to do that, why don’t you come to Customer Service with me and explain to them what it is you have requested, and make sure they hand the DSC directly to you, to make sure you are properly compensated”

Yes, I agree, great response!  Wish I had been thinking.

[GUT2407]

Just goes to show how out of hand this whole tipping thing is.

[Buford T Justiice]

1 hour ago, 1stTIMECRUZER said:

 We were preparing to leave our cabin to debark and handed our cabin steward an extra gratuity in addition to the $s we'd left in the cabin here and there throughout the week to say thanks for things.  Instead of "Thank you", our cabin steward said we should ask to have the service charge removed from our bill and give it all to her. 

 

Then she said...."or did you prepay your gratuities?".  We had pre-paid but that's neither here nor there.  

 

A few minutes later as we were leaving our cabin we found the same cabin steward looking at another guest's bill that was hanging by their door.  I'm assuming she was checking to see if it showed their gratuities.  

 

That final confrontation left us feeling bad and questioning things.  We didn't report the issue to NCL or anything but I'm assuming if she confronted very many guests, someone would have by now.

 

Have you ever had this happen?  How did you respond?  

 

I think it was mis-communication between the parties.  I think the steward was confused by the money "here and there during the week", as well as the money given at disembarkation. There was (is) a time when stewards had to turn in money received from cabins that had chosen to remove the service charge.

 

I don't see the discussion "you should give me the cash next time" as confrontational either.

 

[1stTIMECRUZER]

12 minutes ago, Buford T Justiice said:

 

I think it was mis-communication between the parties.  I think the steward was confused by the money "here and there during the week", as well as the money given at disembarkation. There was (is) a time when stewards had to turn in money received from cabins that had chosen to remove the service charge.

 

I don't see the discussion "you should give me the cash next time" as confrontational either.

 

She did tell us not to tell anyone so I suspect we got the gist of what she was asking but could be wrong of course.

[Greenpea2]

4 minutes ago, 1stTIMECRUZER said:

She did tell us not to tell anyone so I suspect we got the gist of what she was asking but could be wrong of course.

I think it's pretty clear this was not a miscommunication. Looking at other peoples' bills, suggesting ANYTHING regarding tips is totally not cool.

[Love my butler]

3 hours ago, 1stTIMECRUZER said:

Here's a new spin on an often discussed topic.  This happened to us at the end of a 2018 cruise.   We were preparing to leave our cabin to debark and handed our cabin steward an extra gratuity in addition to the $s we'd left in the cabin here and there throughout the week to say thanks for things.  Instead of "Thank you", our cabin steward said we should ask to have the service charge removed from our bill and give it all to her.  Her reasoning was that cabin stewards get very little of the service charges that NCL collects.  Then she said...."or did you prepay your gratuities?".  We had pre-paid but that's neither here nor there.   I was very surprised that she was confronting a guest in this manner and didn't know what to say.   A few minutes later as we were leaving our cabin we found the same cabin steward looking at another guest's bill that was hanging by their door.  I'm assuming she was checking to see if it showed their gratuities.  

 

We had a great week up until that point and the service she provided was adequate/good but not over the top.   That final confrontation left us feeling bad and questioning things.  We didn't report the issue to NCL or anything but I'm assuming if she confronted very many guests, someone would have by now.

 

Have you ever had this happen?  How did you respond?  

 

If the service your steward provided was average at best,  why did you feel the need to shower her with money throughout the week and give her even more money at the end?  Just curious.

[Love my butler]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

It is a fact that the cabin steward gets a small piece of the DSC. And that the DSC is shared amongst the forward facing and behind the scenes crew members who have worked hard all cruise to make it enjoyable. For one employee to say “screw the others, give it all to me” should have been reported. 

 

Yeah, on the last morning, waste your time reporting this poor girl and possibly get her fired.  That's the ticket.....

[deliver42]

I usually give the cabin steward an extra tip at the end of the cruise because they do work hard. The lone exception for me was on my last cruise, on the Symphony of the Seas. The steward didn't even dust all the areas. For the first time in all my cruises, I left her nothing, but would not take back the DSC because of the rest of the crew who were fantastic.

[OBSESSIVEWORLDTRAVELER]

So your cabin steward confirmed they do get a portion of the funds from the Daily Service Charges. There have been conversations on CC about stewards and dining staff stating they don’t get anything and NCL is keeping 100% of it. I heard it myself when a guest asked a dining staff personnel cleaning tables about it and he said he gets nothing. Maybe your cabin steward has sinked to this level to make up for the guests who line up at the end of the cruise complaining about bad service and want their DSC refunded. It’s economics. The less money there is in the pot, the less each individual will potentially receive. 

[Von & John]

11 hours ago, 1stTIMECRUZER said:

 Instead of "Thank you", our cabin steward said we should ask to have the service charge removed from our bill and give it all to her.  Her reasoning was that cabin stewards get very little of the service charges that NCL collects. 

 

We had a great week up until that point and the service she provided was adequate/good but not over the top.   That final confrontation left us feeling bad and questioning things.  We didn't report the issue to NCL or anything but I'm assuming if she confronted very many guests, someone would have by now.

 

Have you ever had this happen?  How did you respond?  

 

What ship were you on? 

 

We had a similar situation with our steward (also female) the night prior to disembarkation.  We had an add'l tip already planned for her.  She asked to speak to us privately in our room & mentioned that a number of the EE's had been talking & they didn't think the service charge distribution was fair.  Ultimately it was very awkward for us!  We were so taken aback at the time, we didn't know what to say (a first for me 🙂).  We let her know we were expected elsewhere & needed to depart.  Up until that point, she had been an amazing steward!  We debated over eliminating her additional tip.  In the end - we still gave her the full planned additional tip & kept the service charge in place.  Plus we had already provided a couple of Cruise Hero cards in her name.

 

However, it left a very sour note on our cruise for us - which I still struggle with today.  We decided against mentioning anything to the Hotel Director.  I would have preferred to mention it - so they could do retraining with the team.  However, I fully appreciate that instead - it most likely would have ended with disciplinary process &/or employment termination.   We were also asked not to tell anyone!

I have decided if this were to happen again, I would simply express the impact the conversation was having on my cruise satisfaction & that if it persisted no additional tip would be forthcoming.  We would possibly report it this time, dependent upon how the conversation went.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Von & John

[cheersforbeers]

We’ve never had anything but thank yous from any of our cabin stewards.  We do make it a point to thank them every day we see them for the good job they are doing, not only the stewards but everyone we come in contact with.

[Love my butler]

2 hours ago, cheersforbeers said:

We’ve never had anything but thank yous from any of our cabin stewards.  We do make it a point to thank them every day we see them for the good job they are doing, not only the stewards but everyone we come in contact with.

 

Thank yous are great but the staff really love monetary thank yous.

[newmexicoNita]

14 hours ago, 1stTIMECRUZER said:

Here's a new spin on an often discussed topic.  This happened to us at the end of a 2018 cruise.   We were preparing to leave our cabin to debark and handed our cabin steward an extra gratuity in addition to the $s we'd left in the cabin here and there throughout the week to say thanks for things.  Instead of "Thank you", our cabin steward said we should ask to have the service charge removed from our bill and give it all to her.  Her reasoning was that cabin stewards get very little of the service charges that NCL collects.  Then she said...."or did you prepay your gratuities?".  We had pre-paid but that's neither here nor there.   I was very surprised that she was confronting a guest in this manner and didn't know what to say.   A few minutes later as we were leaving our cabin we found the same cabin steward looking at another guest's bill that was hanging by their door.  I'm assuming she was checking to see if it showed their gratuities.  

 

We had a great week up until that point and the service she provided was adequate/good but not over the top.   That final confrontation left us feeling bad and questioning things.  We didn't report the issue to NCL or anything but I'm assuming if she confronted very many guests, someone would have by now.

 

Have you ever had this happen?  How did you respond?  

OMG it is hard to believe anyone would do that? I have never heard of such a thing and we have cruised 40 plus times on many different lines. I really don't know what I would have said or done. I guess the only answer would have been, I am sorry you feel you are not getting your share, you may want to take this up with management. Of course suggesting you go with her to guest services would have been clever but would not have occurred to me. I don't know if I would have reported her. I hate to be responsible for someone losing their job 

[fshagan]

This is an example of why you can't automatically believe people who say they don't get a share of the DSC. While it may fit into our preconceived ideas about big corporations, people will and do lie when there a possibility of personal gain. This particular employee is like the server in the restaurant who doesn't share his or her tips with the hostess and busser. Eventually the other employees will find out and her life will be made a bit more difficult.

[erdoran]

I hope NCL is reading this topic.  This adds fuel to the controversy about paying DSC.  Of course for the "tip directly" folks, it would certainly be unfair and inappropriate to hand over 100% of the DSC to the steward, as there are many other staff that are supposedly in the same DSC pool - waitstaff, buffet, general cleaners, cooks, etc, etc, and that could be brought up as well.

 

It would be interesting if the info was made available to NCL without specifics being mentioned - not even ship/cruise date.  Perhaps they would like to address this, and that is a way it could be raised without endangering anyone's job - but--IMHO an objective recounting of events is reasonable and fair, and if someone's actions endanger their job, perhaps they should at the very least be cautioned about how inappropriate that behavior is.

[latebloomer56]

Well this is a new one for us as well. We did ask at a meet and greet and were told the DSC was divided among several areas of service only personnel. The staff at kids club, show folk's, customer service, etc. do not get this. Also if you remove this DSC and give cash to each person you want to have a tip they can be discharged if they don't turn this in. 

Asked our steward on NCL if they worked the same as Princess and he told us pretty much. Any cash they receive they need to add the cabin # to the envelope and turn it in, once the (sorry forget who he said) person in charge checks and the fee hasn't been removed they get the envelope back if it has then the cash goes to the pot to be shared.

We do leave a little now and then but not always, I do go to the coffee bar for the person who took care of me for that trip generally even though I know they are part of the fee (DSC ,auto tip, whatever it's still a fee) but only if they are good.