NCL Service Charge - Can this be changed? waved?

[Cosmopolitan]

 

I agree with El Bac who said that the service charge should be based on cabin... I go further than that and say it should be a percentage of price paid for the cruise just like tips... how about 10%????

THat way the ultra rich would be paying their fare share vs someone in a low level inside cabin where the auto tips are almost more than their cruise fare....

 

WHY would the service charge be based on cabin:confused:

 

EVERY cabin receives the SAME excellent service from the cabin stewards, waiters/waitresses, buffet, etc.,! With the exception of your cabin stewards, what staff members (included in the service charge) even know what cabin you are in? All are treated the same:)

 

Those in the suite categories additionally tip those that are not included in the tip pool even though they have paid MORE for these suites.

 

"just like tips...10%" - who tips only 10% in 2007:confused:

[Cosmopolitan]

they throw people off these ships like its an olympic sport and Im supposed to tip them after that. Im tying myself to my bed at night just so there are no unfortuante accidents where Im not bouncing off a life boat in the middle of the night

 

You may want to stick to "land" vacations:D

[KarmaElectra]

I truly don't understand the problem. Tipping is an accepted practice here, and I would much rather pay the $10/day service fee and add it to my bill. I recently went on a Disney cruise and although I enjoyed it immensely and our steward/servers were great, I was uncomfortable with the "here is your envelope" thingie. I have no need to make myself feel superior to the help. JMHO.

[rsinj]

I truly don't understand the problem. Tipping is an accepted practice here, and I would much rather pay the $10/day service fee and add it to my bill. I recently went on a Disney cruise and although I enjoyed it immensely and our steward/servers were great, I was uncomfortable with the "here is your envelope" thingie. I have no need to make myself feel superior to the help. JMHO.

 

That's a interesting combination of thoughts. If tipping is an accepted practice, what's the problem with the "here is your envelope" thingie? Is that not part of the accepted practice? Just because you've got problems with it doesn't mean others who follow "accepted practices" do too. I assure you, the service fee is not the "accepted practice". I personally prefer to give the room steward the gratuity, and personally convey my gratitude when "giving the envelope". How could anyone make the leap of thinking it is just a way to make yourself feel you are superior? Does leaving a tip at a restaurant after a meal make you feel uncomfortable and tend to make you feel it is just a way to make you feel superior? JMHO too.

 

Howard

[rsinj]

WHY would the service charge be based on cabin:confused:

 

EVERY cabin receives the SAME excellent service from the cabin stewards, waiters/waitresses, buffet, etc.,! With the exception of your cabin stewards, what staff members (included in the service charge) even know what cabin you are in? All are treated the same:)

 

Those in the suite categories additionally tip those that are not included in the tip pool even though they have paid MORE for these suites.

 

"just like tips...10%" - who tips only 10% in 2007:confused:

 

Thank you. This is one thing I have never understood and can't imagine why people go along with it. What is with the whole percentage-based tipping thing on how much you paid? If I order a lobster or a filet mignon entree in a restaurant for $40, did I receive so much more service than someone else in my party who ordered lasagna for $10? Why are you tipping based on the cost of your meal? The cost of the food and cost of work for preparation is included in the price of it on the menu. The tip is for the service - does someone ordering a more expensive meal get better service than someone ordering something less expensive? No different than on the cruise - you are getting the same great level of excellent service.

 

You are also entirely correct about those in the suite categories giving additional gratuities above "the suggested" amounts based on the extra services provided.

 

Howard

[QuickieGlenn]

I don't post often but this thread is too messed up for me not to

$10 a day tips....it is only $10

You get served food 3 times (or more) a day

Try going to a resturant for all your meals and only tip $10

I have read on these posts about people who try to remove the auto tip as soon as they board ship

I agree that some times the service is not what some believe is up to par

But from my experiences the good outway the bad

I also hand out additional tips for those who go out of the way for me

Being in a wheelchair I appreciate more things that most take for granted

Just my 2 cents or 10 bucks

[salty dingo]

You may want to stick to "land" vacations:D

 

My thoughts exactly. That guy just doesn't get it.

 

And you know what? Folks like him would not matter at all if the service charge was non-removeable. Are you listening, NCL?

 

These people would gripe, but that would be it. End of discussion. Now we can move on to "nickel and dime" topics, talk about lousy food, poor service, etc. All the reasons we really should not cruise! :D

[DGTV]

the main problem as I see it is that is discourages you from tipping better service as you know that you are already tipping $10 p/d. I'm sure it is a fairer way to do it as people that work behind the scenes doing just as important work never get the chance to make direct tips.

 

It would be easy for a member of staff to get complacent knowing that they are guaranteed a percentage of a tip, but having recently been on the Pride of America, the staff really do work very hard and they work very long hours.

 

My view of tipping is that it should be to reward good service, and a mandatory charge goes against this, however under the circumstances, I think the best thing to do is accept it.

[mooseII]

Straight from the dictionary folks:

 

mandatory - permitting no option; not to be disregarded or modified

 

gratuity - a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip.

something given without claim or demand.

 

If you can't see that this is an oxymoron (look it up if you have to) than you didn't finish grade school.

 

The reason there is "manditory tipping" is to make the cruise look $140 less per couple than it is. If they charged $140 more, paid the crew accordingly, and had no "auto-tip" or whatever ridiculous name each line uses, they would be less competitive with the other cruise lines.

 

If they did charge $140 more per couple for a 7-day cruise, and paid the crew accordingly, then the crew would get even more tips on top of that and make out better.

[salty dingo]

The reason there is "manditory tipping" is to make the cruise look $140 less per couple than it is. If they charged $140 more, paid the crew accordingly, and had no "auto-tip" or whatever ridiculous name each line uses, they would be less competitive with the other cruise lines.

 

I agree, but a better term is "mandatory service charge" in lieu of a gratuity.

 

I also think it would be a lot better for the passengers to plan for the service charge the same way we plan for our fare - collect it up front. Then the onboard account balance is much smaller. However, it would indeed make the cruise look more expensive, and that could hurt bookings.

 

As long as people know about it up front, and are aware before they book, it's hard to accept gripes about it later. If you don't like the service charge there are other lines to choose from.

 

I do think this will catch on with all of the budget lines. Some of the more expensive lines probably do not have as much of a problem with the thrifty guest who wants to minimize all costs, including gratuity. They are not paying the higher fares in the first place.

[cruise4kicks]

I also think it would be a lot better for the passengers to plan for the service charge the same way we plan for our fare - collect it up front. Then the onboard account balance is much smaller.

Carnival does just that. When I booked in August for a September sailing, my TA asked if I'd like to pre-pay gratuities. (???) After taking a few seconds to absorb what he was asking me, I said, "Sure!" It was nice not having that extra amount on my onboard tab.

[johnnyboz]

I could stiff them and make 40 cruises

Thirty-five cruises in an inside cabin? Sounds like you've been kept in the dark way too long! You could have done 34 and paid your own tips.:p

[blackrose602]

There is an entirely different way to look at the whole tipping/service charges/whatever you want to call it. Virtually every mid-range, mass market restaurant I've been to here in the US adds a "mandatory service charge" to the bill for large groups--usually over 6 or 8 people. Right or wrong, whatever your personal feelings on the matter, if you want to dine with a group in that restaurant you pay it. So...technically speaking, on a cruise ship you're part of a 2500 person "group." You pay the mandatory service charge that is applied to groups. No muss, no fuss. If you want to tip extra, you do that, same as you could in that restaurant example. But it's not expected. Just my two cents on the topic.

[beachchick]

There is an entirely different way to look at the whole tipping/service charges/whatever you want to call it. Virtually every mid-range, mass market restaurant I've been to here in the US adds a "mandatory service charge" to the bill for large groups--usually over 6 or 8 people. Right or wrong, whatever your personal feelings on the matter, if you want to dine with a group in that restaurant you pay it. So...technically speaking, on a cruise ship you're part of a 2500 person "group." You pay the mandatory service charge that is applied to groups. No muss, no fuss. If you want to tip extra, you do that, same as you could in that restaurant example. But it's not expected. Just my two cents on the topic.

 

That's an interesting way to look at it, but I completely disagree. Just because I'm on the same cruise as someone else, doesn't mean I'm part of a "group" that is together. When restaurants add the mandatory tipping/service charges for "large groups," it is for groups that are together. If 40 people get to the restaurant at the same time, they're not automatically made into a "group" seating; if 100 people check into a hotel or resort at the same time, they're not suddenly a group.

 

There is no technically about it. I am NOT part of a 2500 person "group"; I am one of 2500 pax on a ship. Just as I might be one of 200 people in a restaurant or one of 500 people staying at a resort.

 

I'm fine with a cruise line charging the mandatory "service charge" as long as they don't call it a voluntary tip. We always tip extra for any crew members who go above and beyond, just as we tip extra to land-based restaurant servers and land-based resort housekeeping staff who go above and beyond.

 

beachchick

[sjbdtz]

We always tip extra for any crew members who go above and beyond, just as we tip extra to land-based restaurant servers and land-based resort housekeeping staff who go above and beyond.

 

beachchick

 

This is one of the things which I think may confuse some people...the notion that a lot of CC members establish their generous nature by commenting that they'll tip extra.

 

 

FOR THE RECORD: The service charge is ALL the tipping that is necessary if you are just using the same services as everyone else.

 

If you use opt-in services (bar, spa, casino, kid's club, concierge, butler) then separate gratuities are either automatically added-on, or are appreciated.

 

 

Of course...there will always be some of you who will not only feel that you shouldn't tip, but that each worker should divert some of their take-home pay to your wallet, for the privilege of having served you....or they should never have accepted this job, since you work hard for your money (like THEY don't!!!!)

[mbisson]

I paid for my cruise. No One ever said there was to be a mandatory $10 pp per day added on when I bought the cruise. These people work for the cruise line. Let them pay them appropriately. Im taking the money off immediately.

 

I could stiff them and make 40 cruises

 

That clicking sounds isn't crickets. It's ignore folders being activated all over the world!

[salty dingo]

FOR THE RECORD: The service charge is ALL the tipping that is necessary if you are just using the same services as everyone else.

 

Agreed. It makes the cruise a whole lot easier to not have to even think about tips on the last night. Unless, of course, you want to.

[Thrifty]

(I am assuming for the purpose of this post that the "service charge" is mandatory and unchangeable. Who knows; I certainly don't?)

Until recently, if one committed any of a range of sins in one's cabin, from wiping the dust off one's shoes with a towel instead of a tissue because one's spouse was hogging the bathroom where the tissues were, to things I can't even imagine much less mention, one could be pretty sure the cabin steward would be tolerant since he would not want to risk a substantial tip. To the extent that his income is now guaranteed by the substitution of a service charge distributed by the cruise line for the traditional tip, it is to be expected that his loyalties will be transferred from the passenger to the cruise line and his tolerance much less sure (booze smugglers watch out).

Of course, many of the stewards will remain just as gracious and trustworthy as ever, but the loyalties of others will follow the money and, at first glance, the two kinds of steward look very much alike. Even passengers with nothing to hide, are likely to find that the service will suffer from less incentive.

On my next cruise (and possibly my last), I plan to tell the cabin steward, "I tip as though there were no service charge." It may seem strange that someone with the user name "Thrifty" would tip as much again as he has already contributed to the cabin steward's share of the pool, but it will be for the same reason he tipped before there was a service charge; to insure good service. I estimate that the additional tip will be about 2% of the cost of my cruise including airfare and should be worth it as insurance of our comfort in the cabin.

I am not going to try to have a "heart to heart" about tips three times a day with dozens of waiters, so I shall just have to take my chances with them.

So the cost of my cruise will go up a bit (cabin steward extra tip) and the service in the dining room is likely to go down a bit (waiters with less incentive).

Several contributors to this discussion have suggested that, if I don't like letting the cruise line decide which of the staff get my grant money, I should just stop cruising, which would mean going to a five star seaside hotel on some foreign coast probably at less expense than a four star cruise. While the hotel would be stationary in the absence of an earthquake, that might be less important than not having to submit to these changes in the cruise experience. Let us hope that it will still be some time before the last of the inexpensive cruise lines adopts the mandatory "service charge".

[Cubechick]

That clicking sounds isn't crickets. It's ignore folders being activated all over the world!

 

:D :D :D

[cruise4kicks]

That clicking sounds isn't crickets. It's ignore folders being activated all over the world!

:confused: Did somebody say something, Monte? ;)

[mbisson]

:D :D :D

 

:confused: Did somebody say something, Monte? ;)

 

quiet tonight, isn't it?

 

chirp chirp chirp

[cruise4kicks]

quiet tonight, isn't it?

 

chirp chirp chirp

I think that's because several people were recently shown the door.

[Toyz711]

i was wondering about that myself....did seem very quiet.

[mbisson]

I think that's because several people were recently shown the door.

 

I've been good :D

[cruznut1111]

I've been good :D

 

So good, I was going to let you have the last word. ;)