Tipping

[Smitheroo]

4 minutes ago, ConcettaBonetta said:

We enjoy being busy! Having done the backpack through Europe thing and a few other trips where we spent just a few days in each city and got on a train every few days, unpacking once, leaving everything on the ship, and just stepping off in a different city each day sounds luxurious 😂

Have you  cruised and experienced getting off in ports?  Its not like a bus. It can be time consuming. Day after day?  Hmmmmm  I'm still wondering which cruise this is that stops in so many ports in 12 days?

 

[graphicguy]

Like my brilliant, late Father used to say…”don’t ask the question if you may not like the answer! 

 

Anyway, back to the topic…tipping is just another  part of the vacation cost.  I even include airport parking, Uber, port transport, even souvenirs!

[zqvol]

35 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

Have you  cruised and experienced getting off in ports?  Its not like a bus. It can be time consuming. Day after day?  Hmmmmm  I'm still wondering which cruise this is that stops in so many ports in 12 days?

 

I’ve done one 16 ports in 14 nights but it sure wasn’t on NCL

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Cool story!!!!

 

My son is a huge Weird Al fan.  I think I’ve seen all his vids.  Don’t know why this thread reminded me of this vid….it did!

 

I’d do that cruise with you and your beautiful wife again tomorrow.  

 

Still looking for a Bliss-Alaska cruise in Sept to use the coupon.  I’m starting to see fares drop a little bit on it.  Will keep spying it to see if it makes sense!

10/12/24 - 10/26/24 B2B.  Book it!!!😎

[ConcettaBonetta]

3 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

Have you  cruised and experienced getting off in ports?  Its not like a bus. It can be time consuming. Day after day?  Hmmmmm  I'm still wondering which cruise this is that stops in so many ports in 12 days?

 

Yes we have. It’s not like getting off a bus or train but it’s not “that” time consuming to make it not worthwhile to get off the ship. The cruise is of northern Europe. Several cities are right there, walkable or a short cab ride. We also have friends in a handful of the areas who are excited to pick us up in their cars and show us around. And we’ll do NCL excursions for the ports without friends that are a long distance from the sights we want to see. 

[gizfish]

11 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

actually, I've read that "TIPS" stands for "To Insure Proper Service" so that would seem the logical way would be to tip ahead of time. I dont, just thought I'd add to the discussion with what I've read about the history of tipping

That's actually a fallacy.  Tip is not an acronym.  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tip-sheet/

[cruiseny4life]

15 hours ago, ConcettaBonetta said:

Thank you for the information. For us it’s a 12 day cruise with four people in a cabin so it’s $960. In port 11 of the 12 days, half until well after dinner time, we will be eating every lunch except one and half our dinners in port. Two of us will skip breakfast and two will grab a quick bite at the buffet. We will be doing a lot of sightseeing and go to bed early in the evenings without going to a bunch of shows. The weather is not going to be nice enough to hang out by the pool on the one sea day and we will probably stay in the cabin and read. $960 is excessive for what we are doing. I have no problem with the concept of a service charge. I am not suggesting skipping it and entirely, but cutting it down to about half. 

Ignore anyone telling you otherwise. You are allowed to do what you want with the onboard service charge (it's the new name for daily service charge). If you want to reduce the onboard service charge, go to the guest services desk and let them know you'd like to reduce the charge. They'll politely allow you to do this. 

 

As for other posters, well, they'll do what they wish too. Personally, I disagree with you about reducing the onboard service charge, but I'm not going to sit here and berate you for it. Your vacation. Your discretionary fee. Your choice. You do you. I'll do me. And the rest will continue to provide their opinion. That's the great thing about Cruise Critic. We all have lots and lots and lots of opinions. I hope you stick around and tell us all about your cruise! 

[seemoreroyals]

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Ignore anyone telling you otherwise. You are allowed to do what you want with the onboard service charge (it's the new name for daily service charge). If you want to reduce the onboard service charge, go to the guest services desk and let them know you'd like to reduce the charge. They'll politely allow you to do this. 

 

As for other posters, well, they'll do what they wish too. Personally, I disagree with you about reducing the onboard service charge, but I'm not going to sit here and berate you for it. Your vacation. Your discretionary fee. Your choice. You do you. I'll do me. And the rest will continue to provide their opinion. That's the great thing about Cruise Critic. We all have lots and lots and lots of opinions. I hope you stick around and tell us all about your cruise! 

 

Great post.  Probably makes more sense than any response I have seen on this thread so far. 

 

I would only add that if you decide to go to guest services and decrease the tips (DSC) you are paying @ConcettaBonetta take in to consideration if you are on the 3rd and 4th passenger in the cabin sails free promo.  If you are not go for it. As @cruiseny4life said your choice. You do you.  I'll do me.

 

 

[Smitheroo]

10 hours ago, gizfish said:

That's actually a fallacy.  Tip is not an acronym.  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tip-sheet/

good to know

[Smitheroo]

10 hours ago, ConcettaBonetta said:

Yes we have. It’s not like getting off a bus or train but it’s not “that” time consuming to make it not worthwhile to get off the ship. The cruise is of northern Europe. Several cities are right there, walkable or a short cab ride. We also have friends in a handful of the areas who are excited to pick us up in their cars and show us around. And we’ll do NCL excursions for the ports without friends that are a long distance from the sights we want to see. 

Great!  Too much energy required for me though. Sounds like you will enjoy it

[graphicguy]

12 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

10/12/24 - 10/26/24 B2B.  Book it!!!😎

Those fares actually look better than the ones using a coupon for the Sept 28th cruise.

 

Hmmmmmmm......let me ponder those dates.  Probably won't do a B2B, but can catch at least one of them.

[Sunseeker1001]

We just got off an NCL cruise and was  S H O C K E D  to learn that cabin stewards to NOT share in the gratuity added to your statement.  We pre-paid of $20/day/pp.  We asked our cabin steward and he confirmed that the policy changed in October 2023.  In addition they assigned him an extra 11 cabins to service each day.  The only compensation he gets is his paycheck and gratuities individuals give him.  If we had not pre-paid, we could have adjusted our gratuities at the desk and given him what we deducted.  Alas....we just gave him an extra $40 and our sincere thank you for his great service.

[graphicguy]

The DSC/OBC is distributed to the people you do see, and those your don't, like stewards, bussers, etc.

 

I think you just found the one steward who used the oldest trick in the book....the sympathy tip.

 

Every once in a while this will pop up.  Some room steward will mention they don't get any sort of "cut" of the DSC, and therefore "guilts" the guest into tipping them.  Understand, I do this anyway.

 

Further, what your steward didn't tell you, the rooms s/he had to clean may have doubled, but s/he's on cleaning them once per day, instead of two times/day.  So, twice as many rooms but only cleaned 50% of the time they used to have to do.

 

But, I'm betting if Customer Service heard of this, the cabin steward in question may find themselves reprimanded or out of a job.

 

[UKstages]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

That's the great thing about Cruise Critic.

 

We all have lots and lots and lots of opinions.

 

i view cruise critic opinions like sitcom plots. there are only a few sitcom plots and they get endlessly repeated, week after week, year after year, decade after decade.

 

so, too... there are only a few opinions expressed here on cruise critic. and they get endlessly repeated and restated and analogized.

 

there are only a few opinions expressed here on cruise critic. and they get endlessly repeated and restated and analogized.

 

there are only a few opinions expressed here on cruise critic. and they get endlessly repeated and restated and analogized.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

The DSC/OBC is distributed to the people you do see, and those your don't, like stewards, bussers, etc.

 

I think you just found the one steward who used the oldest trick in the book....the sympathy tip.

 

Every once in a while this will pop up.  Some room steward will mention they don't get any sort of "cut" of the DSC, and therefore "guilts" the guest into tipping them.  Understand, I do this anyway.

 

Further, what your steward didn't tell you, the rooms s/he had to clean may have doubled, but s/he's on cleaning them once per day, instead of two times/day.  So, twice as many rooms but only cleaned 50% of the time they used to have to do.

 

But, I'm betting if Customer Service heard of this, the cabin steward in question may find themselves reprimanded or out of a job.

 

I 100% agree. While I don't have any insider information regarding how they are actually paid, I immediately think sympathy tip or simply not understanding their paycheck. I think back to all the co-workers I've had over the decades (nothing to do with cruising) that didn't understand their paychecks or benefits. Not unusual at all. Based on the push to fill out "Hero" cards I'm assuming that may significantly affect what someone gets in compensation, monetary or otherwise, from the DSC.

As to the adding 11 more cabins, yes more cabins seems to be true.  But stewards are now working a 9-5 shift, more or less, most days - instead of a split shift well into the evening. And with those 11 more cabins comes the possibility of 11 more cabins with tipping passengers.

[PartyPlannerLady]

21 hours ago, gizfish said:

That's actually a fallacy.  Tip is not an acronym.  https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tip-sheet/

Except it does not INSURE anyting.  If might ENSURE service though.  While your acronym is a tad catchy it is absolutely false.

[PartyPlannerLady]

As I have seen others say here, the DSC aside, the only 'rule' (using the tern loosly) about tipping is to tip anyone you want, any amount you want, any time you want,  What others do, who they tip, and how much they tip is irrelevant.  There is no suggested, usual, customary, etc tip.

[junieh]

We just got off the Encore and I was surprised to see that you guys kept this one going for so long :) Thank you to all that replied with helpful answers. We paid the DSC as I said we would and we only tipped those that we felt deserved it... which ended up not being that many. We had a favourite server who we tipped on a daily basis, we tipped our cabin stewart, we tipped our waiter in one of the speciality restaurants and we tipped the chef at Teppenyaki. We didn't tip the waitress at Teppenyaki as having waited over 30 minutes to be served drinks, we didn't feel they deserved it. We also never felt the urge to tip in the MDR as the service was mediocre at best. I will write a full review soon, I am just off to enjoy the second half of my holiday now :)

[vacation44]

54 minutes ago, junieh said:

We just got off the Encore and I was surprised to see that you guys kept this one going for so long 🙂 Thank you to all that replied with helpful answers. We paid the DSC as I said we would and we only tipped those that we felt deserved it... which ended up not being that many. We had a favourite server who we tipped on a daily basis, we tipped our cabin stewart, we tipped our waiter in one of the speciality restaurants and we tipped the chef at Teppenyaki. We didn't tip the waitress at Teppenyaki as having waited over 30 minutes to be served drinks, we didn't feel they deserved it. We also never felt the urge to tip in the MDR as the service was mediocre at best. I will write a full review soon, I am just off to enjoy the second half of my holiday now 🙂

Thank you for reporting back and I am looking forward to reading your full review as we are on the Encore in two weeks.   

 

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

[cybergremlin]

On 1/22/2024 at 10:44 PM, RocketMan275 said:

Be sure and inform the crew that you're cutting the DSC in half because you think it's excessive.  I'm sure they'll appreciate your position.  

No need to do this as some posters on this site believe there’s a list printed “somewhere” with room numbers who have altered the DSC.

 

if people believe this rubbish then just remove/alter the DSC on the last night so service isn’t effected, although I’ve never notice a change in the service I’ve received 

[cybergremlin]

On 1/22/2024 at 10:35 PM, ConcettaBonetta said:

Thank you for the information. For us it’s a 12 day cruise with four people in a cabin so it’s $960. In port 11 of the 12 days, half until well after dinner time, we will be eating every lunch except one and half our dinners in port. Two of us will skip breakfast and two will grab a quick bite at the buffet. We will be doing a lot of sightseeing and go to bed early in the evenings without going to a bunch of shows. The weather is not going to be nice enough to hang out by the pool on the one sea day and we will probably stay in the cabin and read. $960 is excessive for what we are doing. I have no problem with the concept of a service charge. I am not suggesting skipping it and entirely, but cutting it down to about half. 

guest service is open 24/7 so remove/change the DSC when you wish, if you’re off the ship for the majority of port time then you’ll likely always encounter long lines as everyone will be on board, as others have said no hoops to go through just a form they will fill out and you’ll sign to confirm, the reduction/removal will appear on your account normally the following day
 

tipping is a touchy subject on this board and some posters will take a instant dislike to anyone who mentions altering the DSC

[razor7_us]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:47 PM, complawyer said:

hey benel204 DSC= "DAILY SERVICE CHARGE" it's the fee you pay per person per day, that "allegedly" goes into central fund that is dispersed among the entire crew, in lieu of tipping individually

The 'D' in DSC is listed as both Daily and Discretionary in NCL literature.  They honestly can't or won't tell you how this collected charge is distributed and the fact that the acronym apparently has multiple meanings leads me to believe that this is a profit multiplier for the Company

[RocketMan275]

35 minutes ago, cybergremlin said:

No need to do this as some posters on this site believe there’s a list printed “somewhere” with room numbers who have altered the DSC.

 

if people believe this rubbish then just remove/alter the DSC on the last night so service isn’t effected, although I’ve never notice a change in the service I’ve received 

Not just believe, there are reliable posters who have reported actually seeing this list so it isn't 'rubbish'.  IIRC, this list isn't posted until the debarkation day so there's no mystery why you would have never noticed a change.  The purpose of the list is so crew will know whether they may keep or must turn-in any cash received from passengers.  

 

It shouldn't surprise you that there are some here who do not believe in stiffing the crew from their well earned gratuities.

Edited January 24 by RocketMan275

[UKstages]

7 hours ago, razor7_us said:

The 'D' in DSC is listed as both Daily and Discretionary in NCL literature.

 

if that were true, and it certainly may have been, it is no longer true... except to the extent that NCL's crackerjack web team haven't updated the website yet.

 

the "DSC" has been renamed the "OSC," which stands for onboard service charge.

[razor7_us]

On 1/24/2024 at 9:23 PM, UKstages said:

 

if that were true, and it certainly may have been, it is no longer true... except to the extent that NCL's crackerjack web team haven't updated the website yet.

 

the "DSC" has been renamed the "OSC," which stands for onboard service charge.

Beg to differ. From NCL.com under my reservation. As stated, the D in DSC is discretionary, which oddly enough is the opposite of mandatory.