tipping question

[sac2]

does ncl automatically take out tips from the credit card they have on file...or its up to the person to tip staff...thank you

[Big Kev]

does ncl automatically take out tips from the credit card they have on file...or its up to the person to tip staff...thank you

 

 

Gidday sac2.

 

The daily charge of $10PP is charged to your on board account. When you embark, you provide credit card details, and your room key also becomes your on board charge account card. The ships are cashless, and everything you purchase will appear on your account. The gratuities show as a debit each day, rather than as a lump sum at end of cruise.

 

Hope that helps. Have a great time ;)

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[CRUZIN TOM]

You will still be charged a 15% charge on all drinks and other services on the ship, like the spa, haircuts, etc.:)

[mylesf]

Here is the policy on the Service Fee:

 

Service Charges

Service charges and gratuities are not included in the cruise fare. A fixed service charge is added to each guests' onboard account as follows:

• $10 per person, per day
  
• $5 per person, per day for children ages 3-12.
  
• No charge for children under 3.

Service charges cover the services rendered onboard by the stateroom steward and dining personnel (waiter, busboy, maitre'd).

This is a fixed service charge, not a gratuity, and therefore is not adjustable. We encourage guests with any concerns about the service they receive while on board to please bring them to the immediate attention of our reception desk staff on board.

Gratuities

NCL Bars ……..15% gratuity added to menu

NCLA Bars….. NO gratuity added, guests may add their own if they choose.

All Spas………..18% gratuity added for all services.

Any additional gratuities are completely at the passenger's discretion. Concierge and butler services are available to guests in suites and we recommend those guests consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

[Thrifty]

mylesf: May I ask the source from which you extracted the policy on the service fee? The reason I ask is that, when I embarked on my recent NCL cruise, the contract of carriage to which someone referred me seemed to make the service charge mandatory, whereas the booklet NCL sent me did not seem to. I assumed that I could rely on the booklet, but happily did not have occasion to test it. I need to know before I book another cruise.

[greywillow]

I need to know before I book another cruise.

Why? Anticipating a problem before you even book?

[Thrifty]

I have found that the problems I've anticipated rarely cause me any substantial grief. It's the unanticipated ones that sometimes do.

[garycarla]

Thrifty: Not sure what the issue is. It looks like the extract above came right from the NCL webpage.

 

You will be charged $10 per day to cover service charges. With very rare exceptions, this should be considered mandatory. They will add 15% to drink charges. You can tip extra if you want.

 

What kind of problem did you have?

[cruizinwithkids]

Here is the policy on the Service Fee:

 

Service Charges

Service charges and gratuities are not included in the cruise fare. A fixed service charge is added to each guests' onboard account as follows:

• $10 per person, per day
  
• $5 per person, per day for children ages 3-12.
  
• No charge for children under 3.

Service charges cover the services rendered onboard by the stateroom steward and dining personnel (waiter, busboy, maitre'd).

This is a fixed service charge, not a gratuity, and therefore is not adjustable. We encourage guests with any concerns about the service they receive while on board to please bring them to the immediate attention of our reception desk staff on board.

Gratuities

NCL Bars ……..15% gratuity added to menu

NCLA Bars….. NO gratuity added, guests may add their own if they choose.

All Spas………..18% gratuity added for all services.

Any additional gratuities are completely at the passenger's discretion. Concierge and butler services are available to guests in suites and we recommend those guests consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

 

This is not current. NCLA bars do add a gratuity now. It became effective during the first week or two of February. I can't comment on the accuracy of anything else.

[Thrifty]

garycarla: My problem is that for months the service charge situation has been confusing to me. At times, different sources seemed to give different answers. The information in mylesf's post could resolve the confusion once and for all if it is the definitive, exclusive statement of NCL service charge policy, but if there are other differing statements, in the contract of carriage, in the cruise booklets, etc., then I shall still not be sure. I don't see why anyone would question my right to ascertain what I'll be buying before I book a cruise.

[garycarla]

sorry if i was short.

 

For the past two years based on my experience or 5 cruises and what I have read here on the boards, it is $10 per person per day. Nothing different.

 

Have you read or heard something different?

[Cosmopolitan]

garycarla: My problem is that for months the service charge situation has been confusing to me. At times, different sources seemed to give different answers. The information in mylesf's post could resolve the confusion once and for all if it is the definitive, exclusive statement of NCL service charge policy, but if there are other differing statements, in the contract of carriage, in the cruise booklets, etc., then I shall still not be sure. I don't see why anyone would question my right to ascertain what I'll be buying before I book a cruise.

 

A valid question/concern.

 

From what I understand, when the $10.00 PP/surcharge originally came into effect, when we first started cruising (NCL)..the charge could be removed if passengers did not believe the crew (which encompasses many of the staff) met up to their standards. I.E...the crew involved in the $10 surcharge.

 

Apparently (IMO), many passengers wanted the charge removed from their account. NOT that they would tip those who deserved a tip = no tip to any crew :-( These passengers just wanted the charge removed...good or bad service...no intention of tipping anyone :-(

Consequently, the "good" crew (on NCL most of them are great) would not receive any tip.

 

I believe the same passengers who "duck-out" on the last (tip) night of any "regular seating time dinners" on any other cruise line..may be the same who want the $10 svc., charge removed on NCL:(

 

NCL then began stating that "if" you had a problem with any of the staff that was included in this surcharge tip...you must go to the front desk and inform them of your complaint asap so that they had a chance to "fix" the problem and/or the surcharge would not be removed from your bill.

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

Having said all of the above...NCL does need to "update" their booklets....the website is current, the books are not...so you do have a "valid" point..in trying to understand it all.

 

Happy cruising:)

[Thrifty]

garycarla: Nothing to be sorry about. I accepted your post as being well-meaning. My confusion had nothing to do with the amount, which is a bit less than I used to tip, so I'm not at all inclined to complain. (When I didn't know what was proper, I tended to tip a bit more out of inexperience.) My confusion was about how fixed it was, which seems to have changed over the past few months, but I was never able to fathom exactly how or when. Do you happen to know what the "very rare exceptions" are?

[ZoneHPH]

garycarla: Nothing to be sorry about. I accepted your post as being well-meaning. My confusion had nothing to do with the amount, which is a bit less than I used to tip, so I'm not at all inclined to complain. (When I didn't know what was proper, I tended to tip a bit more out of inexperience.) My confusion was about how fixed it was, which seems to have changed over the past few months, but I was never able to fathom exactly how or when. Do you happen to know what the "very rare exceptions" are?

 

i think your inquiry was answered completely. and now you are digging for those exceptions. just sounds to me (and i could be wrong) that you wanna know what the rare exceptions are so that you can prepare to "experience" a rare exception, "thrifty".

 

cosmo...you gave an excellent response! cheers!

[Thrifty]

Zone HPH: I can assure you that I have no intention of claiming an "exception" and I don't think I said anything that indicated I would. I was just surprised by the suggestion that there were any exceptions at all after reading mylesf's post outlining the policy, which doesn't seem to allow for any exceptions, so I inquired further. I can manage without my inquiry being answered completely, so I will just thank all who have tried to answer it and let it go at that.

[salty dingo]

I think the OP just wanted to know if they deduct tips from the onboard account. They do.

[sac2]

thanks for all your help but im still wondering if i could remove that tipping surcharge on the first day i rather tip on my own also i dont eat in the dining room at all..i prefer the buffet a personal choice

[falken]

thanks for all your help but im still wondering if i could remove that tipping surcharge on the first day i rather tip on my own also i dont eat in the dining room at all..i prefer the buffet a personal choice

 

Offical Policy: No, you can not remove the service change.

 

Unoffical hearsay: Yes, you can have it removed if you insist.

 

Cruise Critic General Opinion: You are a CHEAP for even asking that question.; You should pick another vacation instead of cruising.; You can not expect to be pampered on your cruise for less than $10 pp/day.; How could you even consider stealing money from all those people?.

[johnql]

thanks for all your help but im still wondering if i could remove that tipping surcharge on the first day i rather tip on my own also i dont eat in the dining room at all..i prefer the buffet a personal choice

 

Even if you eat in the buffet for all meals, I don't feel you should remove the automatic tips. The tips are shared by all the wait staff, including the buffet staff. Also, many behind-the-scenes personnel share in the tip pool. It's not possible to tip everyone who deserves a tip in person. Besides, if you remove the automatic tips, anything that you give someone in cash is required to be turned into the tip pool anyway. Only tips that go beyond the automatic tip are allowed to be kept by the specific person who received it.

[newmexicoNita]

does ncl automatically take out tips from the credit card they have on file...or its up to the person to tip staff...thank you

They will take $10 per day, per person for adults and $5 for children. If you want to tip extra that is acceptable but certainly not required or even expected. We usually tip our cabin steward a little more and maybe a cocktail server or someone else we think has gone above and beyond.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

mylesf: May I ask the source from which you extracted the policy on the service fee? The reason I ask is that, when I embarked on my recent NCL cruise, the contract of carriage to which someone referred me seemed to make the service charge mandatory, whereas the booklet NCL sent me did not seem to. I assumed that I could rely on the booklet, but happily did not have occasion to test it. I need to know before I book another cruise.

sounds to me, like here we go again: Do I really have to tip? Brochures are often outdated as they are not printed every other week. Mandatory, that depends! Yes, they are supposed to be just that but if the service you received was totally below par and you made attempts to have the problem addressed then you can do something about it. For me, I wouldn't even question whether it is mandatory or optional as we all know how hard most of the crew works to make our vacation a memorable one.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

thanks for all your help but im still wondering if i could remove that tipping surcharge on the first day i rather tip on my own also i dont eat in the dining room at all..i prefer the buffet a personal choice

 

Certainly not for that reason. Do you realize the tips are split several ways and those wait people that work the restaurants also work the buffets from time to time. The auto tipping is so much easier than trying to chase down everybody at the end of the cruise. Of course if you don't eat in the dining room I guess you feel you do not have to tip as much; not so!!!! Sorry if I come across as a crank on this subject, but everytime I see someone ask these questions I do see CHEAP, how can I get out of this? When you eat at a buffet on land, don't you leave a $$1.00 per person or something like that? The ship is the same.

 

Nita

[mylesf]

My post on the service fee came from NCL and is current. To the person that said they now add a tip on the NCLA product is not the case, unless Hawaii changed their law. The law there states that no service fee or tip can be built into the price of adult beverages!

[CC Help Michell]

thanks for all your help but im still wondering if i could remove that tipping surcharge on the first day i rather tip on my own also i dont eat in the dining room at all..i prefer the buffet a personal choice

 

NCL's policy is that those who serve meals in the buffet deserve a share of the service charge money, along with those who serve in the dining room (there is a good bit of overlap among them, anyway -- those who serve in the dining room often also serve in the buffet), so good news! You won't have to go through the hassle of removing tips, or tip cash every time you use the buffet (which from your post above I assume is what you intended to do? Because you wouldn't be planning just to tip nothing to the crew members, would you?). Your auto tip will reward all those who serve you (wherever on board you dine). You can leave it on your onboard charge and not think about it again, and know that base tips for your steward are also covered.

 

I don't THINK you were saying that you didn't intend to tip at all, but if that really is your intention, NCL probably isn't the line for you... because of Freestyle dining, the pooled service charge is really pretty vital to making the onboard service system work, which is why this is called a "service charge" and not a "gratuity."

 

PS I agree, I thought Cosmo's explanation above was spot-on.

[Tefloncruiser]

Okay but here's MY question....WHEN do you tip? I understand the $10 pp per day but, if you have concierge or butler service, do you tip as you go along or just at the end of the cruise?