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[liverpoollad]

3 hours ago, liverpoollad said:

I don't get this about NCL cancelling the inclusive DSC & the bookings dropped.

NLH. I didn't put this correctly.

I do understand what posters here are saying, that they had to drop the DSC because of complaints that the cruises were then too expensive.What I was attempting to say that it didn't wash with me( I doubt they had complaints) & it was because they thought  that it would be better for themselves to rid the inclusive DSC  for the UK.

As I said all the all inc., here in the UK & Europe are doing great business( & no complaints), of course their fares have increased as well.

.

[SteveH2508]

I think NCL were trying to move themselves to a more upmarket cruise experience as per Oceania, Azamara etc, (which are basically all-inclusive). I vaguely recall FDR saying something along those lines. They also saw an opportunity to add a bit extra over the cost of AI, so their prices became un-competitive.

 

People have realised that they are not getting the quality of experience with NCL compared with the premium lines, so the value for money equation did not stack up. NCL has a reputational issue to overcome, which will take years to fix.

[rkelly21]

On 6/18/2019 at 5:07 PM, Kingkonig said:

 

You personally might not, but the market does.  

 

At the end of the day, you can remove the service charge at guest services, but you’re not hurting the company, or “punishing” them for depending on a service charge.  You are taking advantage of a service provided, with the intent to not pay for the service at the end of your cruise.

I have heard that many cruise lines raise their pricing in the UK and some European ports as they know most Europeans do not believe in tipping. That solves that problem. There will always be the cheap skate that tries to keep the overall price low but it not sad not to tip. That's why I like to personally give my tips to those who have come in contact me and given me better than average service. Remember it's a tip. It should not be used as a subsidiary to their salary. The workers you don't see below deck, etc should be paid by the cruise line and calculated in their overhead costs. I just want to be sure the people who worked hard to make my vacation great get the tip directly from me. Otherwise I don't how how the tips are split and I do know much Management keeps. Just like bingo.. I always spend more each day that the recommended tip unless the service is terrible. I was on another cruise recently and nobody seemed to care. Most of them were just down and a lot just didn't didn't know what to do so I assume they were in the first step of on board training. The other thing that bothers me just a bit is that if a person knows he is going to get the same tip there is really no incentive to work.that one step harder. I tip the Steward when I get on and off and the service is much better. Same in the bar. Everyone has an opinion and I respect that however I find my method the best especially i you want to guarantee yourself much better than average serve. Many of the NCL and Princess bar tenders fight over me because I treat them so well.

[valleyvillage]

I like to keep it simple. I leave the DSC in place and tip extra to Butler, Concierge, Steward and servers/bartenders. For us it works out to about 10% of the total cruise cost.