What do you think of this tipping idea instead of $10/day?

[fabby50]

In my naviety with NCL (only been on one NCL cruise), I thought the "tipping was included". That was my impression of the $10.00 per day and the 15% added to the bar tab and spa services. We never thought about tipping extra except to the bus/tour guides on our tours. It wasn't until I came to this web site that I saw that people tipped above and beyond.

 

I'm sure a lot of other people see it the same way - at least most people I talk to outside of this site do (others I have talked to on cruises and friends). Maybe it has to do with sailing on other lines and tipping at the end with no $10.00 fee added into your bill - when you see the $10 fee, you think it's the tip.

 

I'm still not sure I think many people add extra -

[smeyer418]

I don't know why this keeps coming up. The crew is happy with it. Most people are happy with it. Whether you add more is really up to you. If you consider it part of the fare why do you care when they collect it before or on the ship. I have explained why for the crew its better to be collected on the ship(its an accounting and tax issue)I have a simple suggestion to you if you don't like it...cruise another line.

It requires an attitude adjustment from traditional....

[Stillfloatin']

I've never had my card swipped entering the Main Restaurants on any NCL ship, never. The only time I've had my card swipped was entering a Surcharged Restaurant.

 

On the Pearl last month, our cards were swiped at all restaurants, including the main dining rooms. This was the first time we've had to do this so don't know if it's a temporary survey or will become standard practice.

[packercruising]

Call it what you want, it replaces the old tipping system where you had to individually prepare envelopes for the staff and then had to probably go to the recepotion desk to get the cash to put in them.

 

This way is infinately better. And as someone said, you can take cash with you if you want to tip extra for a good job.

 

Tipping extra is a personal decision. Some do, some don't. There is no right or wrong answer to this, IMO. :)

[shoreguy]

When I say waiter I mean the entire wait staff but you do see these people. The head waiter and the jr waiter/stewards etc. The maitres D are not in the tipping pool and thats why alot go back to being waiters. I use to work for the cruise line.

 

I thought you worked for NCLA - a very different model for tips.

 

My thoughs on the idea - a disaster - crew would be jumping ship. Many if not most would elect to add nothing to a piece of paper at each meal. All those that elected to eat in the buffet would contribute zero. Income would fall thru the floor. :eek:

[Cwolf]

My thoughs on the idea - a disaster - crew would be jumping ship. Many if not most would elect to add nothing to a piece of paper at each meal. All those that elected to eat in the buffet would contribute zero. Income would fall thru the floor. :eek:

 

would agree. Too many people would choose to "save money" and not tip, figuring if they dont have to pay more money, they won't. Thats probably a slim minority of the people posting at CC but overall a significantly larger percentage...

[johnql]

I very much prefer the current system.

 

As for the swiping of the cards, this was done on my Spirit cruise. The hostess told me that the swiping is what gives them data for the monitors that display the fullness of each dining room.

[Seago2]

I very much prefer the current system.

 

As for the swiping of the cards, this was done on my Spirit cruise. The hostess told me that the swiping is what gives them data for the monitors that display the fullness of each dining room.

 

That sounds like the most likely explanation. I know they definitely did swipe us- all meals in the dining room.

[Don Haynes]

I don't see how it can be done any easier than the current system of $10 per day per person with the auto tip on the drinks. Outside of the spa and kids crew staffs, any extra is up to you.

 

When it comes to paying the wait staff their labor, $10 out of your pocket is less than a $1 an hour. You can't even hire an illegal maid in Texas for less.

[Snowrose]

When I was on the Spirit last April, I had my card swiped each time I went into Windows or the Garden room. Nevr understood why. Does anyone know why?

 

DH and I were on the Spirit this past January and had one of our cards swiped several times when going into the main diningrooms. One day when they didn't swipe it going into Gardens we asked why. The hostess there told us that they used the cards to track the seating, to see where people were seated. (Probably to keep track of orders.) And when they didn't swipe the cards she said the reason for that was simply that the computer system was down.

 

HTH!

 

Teri

[Stillfloatin']

I don't see how it can be done any easier than the current system of $10 per day per person with the auto tip on the drinks. Outside of the spa and kids crew staffs, any extra is up to you.

 

When it comes to paying the wait staff their labor, $10 out of your pocket is less than a $1 an hour. You can't even hire an illegal maid in Texas for less.

 

I agree. Very simple, very fair, very convenient.

[newmexicoNita]

In my naviety with NCL (only been on one NCL cruise), I thought the "tipping was included". That was my impression of the $10.00 per day and the 15% added to the bar tab and spa services. We never thought about tipping extra except to the bus/tour guides on our tours. It wasn't until I came to this web site that I saw that people tipped above and beyond.

 

I'm sure a lot of other people see it the same way - at least most people I talk to outside of this site do (others I have talked to on cruises and friends). Maybe it has to do with sailing on other lines and tipping at the end with no $10.00 fee added into your bill - when you see the $10 fee, you think it's the tip.

 

I'm still not sure I think many people add extra -

Don't feel bad, you are under no obligation to tip above the $10 a day and many do not. NMnita

[Seago2]

Don't feel bad, you are under no obligation to tip above the $10 a day and many do not. NMnita

 

That is absolutely the case. I would even say that "most" do not. Some tip much more. I tip a lot more if I am traveling with kids, but I always tip extra. I spent too much time waitressing not to.

[pinkaboo]

I don't mind the pre paid gratuities, I have gladly pre-paid gratuties. My only concern is, what really happens when you don't receive the service to warrant a full tip or a tip at all. We cruised on a line I willnot mention what it is and we received not so good service from our cabin stewart. She initially refused to push beds together. She used a very negative tone when speaking to us. When had to request towels more than once. There were a couple of other issues but the point I'm making is the service was not up to par. Tips mean "To insure promt service" and that is not what we received.We had pre-paid the gratuties and because we know the workers rely on the tips for their livelihood, we even gave her a little something extra. But really she did not deserve it and that is why I don;t think tips should be paid up front. The workers should know that if they will get a good tip based on their performance. I wish my job would prepay me and then we'll work out the differences later.

I read somewhere on these boards that someone received bad service while on the Dawn and they had to explain to guest relations why they wanted the amount of their tips reduced. I don't think one should have to justify how, what, when or where to apply their tips especially if service wasn;t totally up to par. Now certainly everybody deserves something but to dictate hw much should be left up to the passenger. We always tip and tip extra, that's just how we are. But hey, everyone has to do what they think is best. I wonder when checking in for the first time, can one tell the check in desk when you're setting up your account that you do not want to pre-pay grattuites?

[kruzkupple]

Although I don't mean to dabble into semantics, I'm a bit confused as to why everyone on this thread has referred to the $10/pp/pd charge as a tip/gratuity. It's been at least a year since NCL introduced their "service charge" concept, if memory serves me right. You might all think that it's all the same, but I'm not so sure if that's so.

 

In their brochures, NCL makes it very clear as to the distinction between a "service charge" and a "gratuity". I quote from page 95 of the latest such brochure, entitled Freestyle Cruising 2007-2008:

 

1) "...a fixed service charge of $10 per person, per day will be added to your onboard account...Our crew is compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that the service charge supports." I notice, by the way, that NCL makes no mention about the passenger's right to remove all or part of that charge from their bill. I know that this matter has been discussed ad nauseum on these boards, but NCL still refrains from alluding to it directly in their printed matter.

 

2) "Unlike most other ships in the cruise industry, there is no required or recommended tipping on NCL or NCL America ships. You should not feel obliged to offer a gratuity for service that is generally rendered to all guests. However, all of our staff are encouraged to 'go the extra mile', and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities for exceptional or outstanding service, if you care to offer it."

 

Without intending to offend anyone in any way, I do wish that (when debating this subject) you use the same terminology as NCL uses in its official publications so that I and others will feel secure in the belief that you are intimately familiar with the sensitive matter which you have under a magnifying glass! :confused: Having said that earnestly and humbly, I ask that you now continue on with your discussion. As for me, I'm happy with the current practice.

 

As to the matter of swiping cards in the restaurants, I do believe that one room card from our party was requested and swiped in both main dining rooms during our Pearl cruise in February.

 

-Jack-

[sjbdtz]

Tips mean "To insure promt service"

 

 

I'm SO sick of reading this, and I don't care that Wickipedia says this is the case.

 

The simple fact is that Tips are To REWARD Prompt Service, not to insure it.

 

In fact, to "insure" something refers to the financial protection in the event of loss or damage. To ensure something is to make it a certainty.

 

So even if we consider pre-paying these tips, they should be called TEPS: To ENSURE prompt service.

 

:p

[mbisson]

I'm SO sick of reading this,

:p

 

There's a solution to that. Sort of along the lines of:

 

Patient "Dr. it hurts when I do that!"

Doctor " then don't do that!"

 

-Monte

[johnql]

I'm SO sick of reading this, and I don't care that Wickipedia says this is the case.

 

The simple fact is that Tips are To REWARD Prompt Service, not to insure it.

 

In fact, to "insure" something refers to the financial protection in the event of loss or damage. To ensure something is to make it a certainty.

 

So even if we consider pre-paying these tips, they should be called TEPS: To ENSURE prompt service.

 

:p

I feel the same way. People often claim that TIP is an acronym but there's no evidence of that. Check out this link:

 

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.htm

 

[pinkaboo]

Based on the research I've done, Tips mean to insure prompt service, now you can interpret that to mean whatever you like, but it is written what T.I.P.S means and I didn't write it. I don't have a problem with it and totally believe T.I.P.S. should be recognized. The problem with pre-paying gratuities in some cases is that the individual giving the service will feel as though they may not have to work as diligent and again in some cases take an attitude that they are definitely going to receive their T.I.P.S, therefore some attendants may be inclined not to do their best. I've seen it happen, I've had it happen to me personally, I've read about it on these boards tons of times and I know people that I have cruised with that have experienced service that was not up to par. I have been cruising for over 10 years and out of all of the cruises I've been on, I can honestly say on most of them I had top notch service. Then ones where service wasn't so top notch, I accepted it for what it was. YOu can't always get a 100% sometimes you might have to go with 80% and that's alright too. Bottom line here is, the guest should have the option to decide what and when to tip. Ncl states what their policy is before you board, so you either take it or leave it alone. That's your choice.

[Cosmopolitan]

I have been cruising for over 10 years and out of all of the cruises I've been on, I can honestly say on most of them I had top notch service. Then ones where service wasn't so top notch, I accepted it for what it was. YOu can't always get a 100% sometimes you might have to go with 80% and that's alright too. Bottom line here is, the guest should have the option to decide what and when to tip. Ncl states what their policy is before you board, so you either take it or leave it alone. That's your choice.

 

I have only been cruising for 2 1/2 years....5 cruises on NCL.

 

Top notch service every time on the Dawn and Jewel. And, I can compare it to 5 star hotels.

 

We are always compelled to tip extra..the staff works above and beyond any hotel we have ever been in. And, they are ALWAYS available.

 

You are correct...take it or leave it. $10.00 per day is a bargain:)

[NCL_Cruiser]

When I was on the Spirit last April, I had my card swiped each time I went into Windows or the Garden room. Nevr understood why. Does anyone know why?

 

Perhaps to see if you had any special requirements (dietary needs) or special occasions (birthday or anniversary cake ordered).

[Cosmopolitan]

When I was on the Spirit last April, I had my card swiped each time I went into Windows or the Garden room. Nevr understood why. Does anyone know why?

 

Why didn't you ask:confused:

[NCL_Cruiser]

Call it what you want, it replaces the old tipping system where you had to individually prepare envelopes for the staff and then had to probably go to the recepotion desk to get the cash to put in them.

 

This way is infinately better. And as someone said, you can take cash with you if you want to tip extra for a good job.

 

Tipping extra is a personal decision. Some do, some don't. There is no right or wrong answer to this, IMO. :)

 

The one problem with the system (and I suppose would be wrong with the other system), is when the guest is uninformed that the service charge is going to be billed, and think that once they board, if they don't leave the ship, don't buy anything, drink water, iced tea, or juices, that they are done paying. No excuse for this, as the TA should inform their guests, and the information is included in the FAQs and in their docs.....but I've seen it leave a sour taste prior to embarkation.

 

Of course, these same guests would be the same ones to stiff everyone in the entirely voluntary system.

[Cosmopolitan]

The one problem with the system (and I suppose would be wrong with the other system), is when the guest is uninformed that the service charge is going to be billed, and think that once they board, if they don't leave the ship, don't buy anything, drink water, iced tea, or juices, that they are done paying. No excuse for this, as the TA should inform their guests, and the information is included in the FAQs and in their docs.....but I've seen it leave a sour taste prior to embarkation.

 

Of course, these same guests would be the same ones to stiff everyone in the entirely voluntary system.

 

How could they not know:confused:

TA's certainly know and if you book directly with NCL it is in your documents!

Not a mystery! Not fine print???

[NCL_Cruiser]

How could they not know:confused:

TA's certainly know and if you book directly with NCL it is in your documents!

Not a mystery! Not fine print???

 

 

Can't claim that all people listen to their TAs 100% of the time, and I certainly doubt that everyone reads their NCL docs.;)