Daily Service Fees

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

The inside cabins are definitely worth it. And they are so dark that it makes it easy to sleep at night. That last piece of wisdom comes from my DW after our first cruise.

 

We have sailed in insides since then except once when an inside guarantee became an OV cabin. One other time we were upgraded, but I declined because we did not want to be under a noisy bar.

Yep.  I worked hard for my money, and I also worked hard to save money.  Now that I've escaped that dreadful w@*k world, I'm not about to start throwing money away on things I don't want or need.  Some derive tremendous value from a 3' x 8' balcony with the worst chairs on the ship.  I'll just nap in the OL instead! 😎

 

disclaimer: I've never fallen asleep on a cruise ship anywhere other than my bed and, on one rare occasion, a heavily discounted aft balcony.  It's the only fond "balcony" memory I have.

[JGmf]

17 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I have had customer service ask me to request removal of DSC (or part thereof) as a way to rectify a situation.  I have no doubt that they do it regularly.

 

Same here.  Last week on the Joy, I had them remove two drinks incorrectly charged (I had FAS).  Anyway, the GS person said that I could remove the DSC as well if I wanted....which seemed like an odd thing to do, esp since I wasn't some irate knucklehead, just a calm person asking why I was charged for drinks when I shouldn't have been. 

 

(I didn't remove the DSC.  To me, it's baked into the cruise price as part of their staffing and business model).

[Girr]

31 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I have had customer service ask me to request removal of DSC (or part thereof) as a way to rectify a situation.  I have no doubt that they do it regularly.

 

I’m sorry, but for this discussion thread I don’t believe that would be their answer. The DCS has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with VAT.   If people want to protest VAT then: 1) don’t sail in Spainish waters and/or 2) don’t sail NCL. To penalize the crew all because of a few dollars added daily for VAT is ludicrous. 

[PATRLR]

11 minutes ago, Girr said:

I’m sorry, but for this discussion thread I don’t believe that would be their answer. The DCS has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with VAT.   If people want to protest VAT then: 1) don’t sail in Spainish waters and/or 2) don’t sail NCL. To penalize the crew all because of a few dollars added daily for VAT is ludicrous. 

As I recall, my issue was with an excursion - significant chunks of the excursion simply didn't happen.  The excursion staff agreed but said there was nothing they could do and told us to go over to see Guest Services who told us to take it out of the DSC.  

Just as VAT has nothing to do with DSC, neither does an excursion.  But there it was.  I have no doubt that Guest Services uses it to fix a lot of problems.

[Girr]

11 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

As I recall, my issue was with an excursion - significant chunks of the excursion simply didn't happen.  The excursion staff agreed but said there was nothing they could do and told us to go over to see Guest Services who told us to take it out of the DSC.  

Just as VAT has nothing to do with DSC, neither does an excursion.  But there it was.  I have no doubt that Guest Services uses it to fix a lot of problems.

All I can say is if this suggestion was ever made to me I’d be asking to see the next in line of authority to report this wrongdoing. 

[PATRLR]

5 minutes ago, Girr said:

All I can say is if this suggestion was ever made to me I’d be asking to see the next in line of authority to report this wrongdoing. 

I actually had it happen twice - the other time was when NCL didn't credit me with the pre-paid DSC despite my clear documentation that it was included.  In that case, it kind of made sense to remove the DSC, but if one really believes what they tell you about DSC (I don't), then removing DSC was not the proper solution.  

The other point I will make is that treating the DSC the way they do just reinforces the idea that the DSC is nothing more than another revenue stream.

[ontheweb]

One conclusion I think we can reasonably make is that if guest services really is advising passengers to remove the DSC, then no one on guest services is sharing the DSC.

[jerkard]

We have 2 cruises scheduled for Oct and Nov. Our Oct. cruise is on NCL. We are staying in an inside cabin and the DSC is $20pp/day.  In Nov. we are cruising on Princess and staying in a mini suite.  The DSC on that cruise is $17pp/day.  It occurs to me that NCL may be paying their staff less than other cruise lines and having passengers subsidizing the difference. 

[RD64]

56 minutes ago, jerkard said:

We have 2 cruises scheduled for Oct and Nov. Our Oct. cruise is on NCL. We are staying in an inside cabin and the DSC is $20pp/day.  In Nov. we are cruising on Princess and staying in a mini suite.  The DSC on that cruise is $17pp/day.  It occurs to me that NCL may be paying their staff less than other cruise lines and having passengers subsidizing the difference. 

It is what it is - you have the option to cruise with Princess if the $3 difference is an issue.

[IAcruising]

9 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

The DSC has nothing to do with tipping. 

 

Ugh. Tell that to your room steward. When will you people stop this semantic non-issue?

 

[Capitan Obvious]

25 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Ugh. Tell that to your room steward. When will you people stop this semantic non-issue?

 

 

In the FAQ section of their website NCL talks about gratuity/tipping and the DSC as separate items. They even go as far as to say gratuities are not required (which makes one wonder why there is a DSC if it isn't required).

 

We'll stop what you call semantics (which is actually properly using the correct wording) when you can explain the difference between a gratuity and a service charge and tell us WHY the legal dept at NCL felt it was necessary to treat these as different.

[IAcruising]

3 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

We'll stop what you call semantics (which is actually properly using the correct wording) when you can explain the difference between a gratuity and a service charge 

 

Again, I would suggest you have your room steward explain it to you. He/she can certainly tell you what happens when you remove the gratuity/DSC.

 

 

[UKstages]

On 9/27/2023 at 2:59 PM, razor7_us said:

Considering the 'D' in DSC is discretionary then yes, you can remove them

 

that would be great logic if it were so, but the "D" in "DSC stands for "daily.'

 

in any case, i don't believe it's even called that anymore. it's called the "onboard service charge."

[cruiser2015]

5 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

In the FAQ section of their website NCL talks about gratuity/tipping and the DSC as separate items. They even go as far as to say gratuities are not required (which makes one wonder why there is a DSC if it isn't required).

 

We'll stop what you call semantics (which is actually properly using the correct wording) when you can explain the difference between a gratuity and a service charge and tell us WHY the legal dept at NCL felt it was necessary to treat these as different.

I say that there is no real distinction between a gratuity and a service charge.

 

Why wouldn't the two be listed separately?

They are two different groupings of services, processed with two different methods.

DSC covers certain groups of employees while tipping is for individual acts of service.

[RocketMan275]

12 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

We'll stop what you call semantics (which is actually properly using the correct wording) when you can explain the difference between a gratuity and a service charge and tell us WHY the legal dept at NCL felt it was necessary to treat these as different.

How about instead of calling this semantic, we call it pedantic.  A term  used to refer to someone who's too concerned with literal accuracy or formality.

[laudergayle]

Crew members (which is not all staff aboard) are on contract.  They are guaranteed a base + gratuity (aka service charge).  The DSC that we pay goes to the ships P&L.  If a guest removes the DSC it does not affect the “Crew”…it affects the profitability of the ship on that sailing.  If you tip more through NCL (I.e., extra tip on receipt in specialty dining), the “Crew” do not get this…it goes to ships P&L.  If you tip extra in cash, it may get pooled (bar, restaurant) or it may get pocketed directly (room steward).

 

Therefore, it is not unreasonable that a GSR (staff) would suggest that you reduce the amount of DSC to compensate you for whatever disservice you may have encountered.  It will NOT AFFECT what the crew is compensated.  It simply affects the ship’s bottom line…which is no different than if they refunded you to your account or gave you OBC.  

[BirdTravels]

13 hours ago, IAcruising said:

Again, I would suggest you have your room steward explain it to you. He/she can certainly tell you what happens when you remove the gratuity/DSC.

Herein is the challenge. A room steward is close to the bottom of the food chain on a ship. Where most of the crew on a BA class ship get private rooms, many room steward are still in shared cabins. And you are asking some with zero visibility in to corporate policies and zero visibility into corporate finance for factual information. What you get is probably more heresy and rumors versus fact than calling a call center (who are notorious for repeating anything they hear or read on the internet as fact).
 

Anyone who knows the facts can’t tell you the facts. The official “party line” is what the cruise line publicly states on the we web site. Nothing more. Nothing less. 

[G-DawgMN]

22 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I just pay the fee and enjoy my cruise.  If I want to spend less, I'll just book an inside.😎

 

Oh,wait.....🤣

Shouldn’t you adjust the DSC then since you’re in a smaller cabin??

 

 Oh wait. Why did I get sucked into another silly DSC thread. 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

Crew members (which is not all staff aboard) are on contract.  They are guaranteed a base + gratuity (aka service charge).  The DSC that we pay goes to the ships P&L.  If a guest removes the DSC it does not affect the “Crew”…it affects the profitability of the ship on that sailing.  If you tip more through NCL (I.e., extra tip on receipt in specialty dining), the “Crew” do not get this…it goes to ships P&L.  If you tip extra in cash, it may get pooled (bar, restaurant) or it may get pocketed directly (room steward).

 

Therefore, it is not unreasonable that a GSR (staff) would suggest that you reduce the amount of DSC to compensate you for whatever disservice you may have encountered.  It will NOT AFFECT what the crew is compensated.  It simply affects the ship’s bottom line…which is no different than if they refunded you to your account or gave you OBC.  

Actually, they can receive more than the guaranteed base plus service charges.  If you remove/reduce the service charge then the amount above the guarantee is also reduced meaning the crew does suffer.  And,  therefore, it is unreasonable that staff would suggest  you reduce the amount of DSC.

 

I've yet to see a poster reported exactly what the GSR actually stated.  

 

I'll I've seen is reports that someone said that someone said the GSR told them that they should reduce the DSC.

Reports of this nature are extremely suspect.  No one knows exactly what the GSR said.  How much distortion was there?  Especially since there are those looking for an excuse, any excuse to reduce the DSC.  I can see where someone would start a rumor claiming that the GSR said just reduce the DSC.  It's highly likely someone just made that up.

 

 

[ontheweb]

59 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Actually, they can receive more than the guaranteed base plus service charges.  If you remove/reduce the service charge then the amount above the guarantee is also reduced meaning the crew does suffer.  And,  therefore, it is unreasonable that staff would suggest  you reduce the amount of DSC.

 

I've yet to see a poster reported exactly what the GSR actually stated.  

 

I'll I've seen is reports that someone said that someone said the GSR told them that they should reduce the DSC.

Reports of this nature are extremely suspect.  No one knows exactly what the GSR said.  How much distortion was there?  Especially since there are those looking for an excuse, any excuse to reduce the DSC.  I can see where someone would start a rumor claiming that the GSR said just reduce the DSC.  It's highly likely someone just made that up.

 

 

 

 

So, reducing the DSC, either affects the crew's compensation or it does not. 🤦‍♂️

 

So, guest services either has or has not told passengers just reduce the DSC. 🤦‍♂️

 

I guess I have learned a lot from this thread. 😒

 

And now I do not know when I refer to my DW whether she is my DISCRETIONARY wife or my DAILY wife. 🤣

 

 

[reveur15]

On 9/28/2023 at 9:50 AM, insidecabin said:

.

Having prepaid I could not adjust.

 

Fellow passengers were getting advised to use DSC.

 

Why prepaid DSC could not be adjusted ? 

[RocketMan275]

50 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

 

 

So, reducing the DSC, either affects the crew's compensation or it does not. 🤦‍♂️

 

So, guest services either has or has not told passengers just reduce the DSC. 🤦‍♂️

 

I guess I have learned a lot from this thread. 😒

 

And now I do not know when I refer to my DW whether she is my DISCRETIONARY wife or my DAILY wife. 🤣

 

 

What you have learned is this:  Cruise Critic isn't the greatest place to get accurate information.

FWIW, I would suggest referring to her as your DEAREST wife  unless you want her to refer to you as her DECEASED husband.

Edited September 30, 2023 by RocketMan275

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

  And,  therefore, it is unreasonable that staff would suggest  you reduce the amount of DSC.

 

I've yet to see a poster reported exactly what the GSR actually stated.  

 

Ummm...  I had it happen to me. I reported it right here in this thread in post 50 and 54, included here for your convenience:

On 9/29/2023 at 11:48 AM, PATRLR said:

I have had customer service ask me to request removal of DSC (or part thereof) as a way to rectify a situation.  I have no doubt that they do it regularly.

 

On 9/29/2023 at 12:38 PM, PATRLR said:

As I recall, my issue was with an excursion - significant chunks of the excursion simply didn't happen.  The excursion staff agreed but said there was nothing they could do and told us to go over to see Guest Services who told us to take it out of the DSC.  

Just as VAT has nothing to do with DSC, neither does an excursion.  But there it was.  I have no doubt that Guest Services uses it to fix a lot of problems.

 

Regarding this:

 

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I can see where someone would start a rumor claiming that the GSR said just reduce the DSC.  It's highly likely someone just made that up.

 

I assure you it is not a rumor and it is not made up.  I am of the camp that pays the DSC all the time without thought to doing otherwise and I tip extra for extra service.  I am critical of the DSC, as far as I am concerned it's just another revenue stream, I don't like this model, and I have been vocal about it here on CC.  I have also been very vocal offering my opinion that the DSC IS the weekly gratuities that we used to pay via the old "envelope" system.  But none of that puts me in the camp to remove the DSC.   

 

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

So, guest services either has or has not told passengers just reduce the DSC. 🤦‍♂️

They have told this passenger to reduce it.

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

If you remove/reduce the service charge then the amount above the guarantee is also reduced meaning the crew does suffer.  And,  therefore, it is unreasonable that staff would suggest  you reduce the amount of DSC.

My guess is that the impact from a small amount of people removing the DSC, in response to Guest Services telling them to do so, is is extremely low to the point of possibly being immeasurable in the staff's pay.    

Edited September 30, 2023 by PATRLR

[MoCruiseFan]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

My guess is that the impact from a small amount of people removing the DSC, in response to Guest Services telling them to do so, is is extremely low to the point of possibly being immeasurable in the staff's pay.    

 

The impact of a small amount of pro[lr skoplifting a pack of gum from 7-11 is immaterial.  (Any loss is measurable, BTW.)