Difference between Service charge & Gratuities

[Ladder55]

First let me make it clear that this is not a thread to "stir the pot" I had some questions regarding the difference between the 2 that I wanted to get cleared up.

I spoke with someone at NCL and said this applies to all ships and it is not different between ncl and ncla.

 

tips/gratuities=

we all know what these are, no explanation needed, monies you give to an individual for great service which they can keep.they are sole property of the tipped personal.

 

service charge=

now this is where I learned something new. a service charge and a tip is not the same although they may want us to think it is. A tip can not be keep by the employer, that would be fraud, however the service charge is property of the employer and can be kept by the owner(ncl).

dang i hit sumitt before I was done

 

anyhow ncl does state that the service charge is used as compensation for CERTAIN members of the crew and it also supports incentive programs.

I think my concern is that the employees may not be getting as much as we think they are

On my past cruises i have always tipped my room stewards 10 a piece per day,(140 total end of week) which i feel is well deserved, now I feel even better about it. Also tipped extra in the specialty restuarants.

Have I ever taken my service charge off my bill?

Yes= on a 7 day cruise I had 2 days removed, and I had reasons to justify,

 

now they answer i did not get was that if the crew has to turn in cash tips if you remove the dsc for even one day, from what I have read the answer is no, a few website searches said that would be illegal, but we are not dealing with the same laws that would apply to employement here in the states, but I have read people claim that they do , so it would be nice to get the real answer from ncl on this.

 

again this post is for concern that we "think " the $12 pp pd is going to the crew for tips, when actually is seems its not,not all ouf it anyway, i always thought it did, so in the future i would recommend if you have some crew that are giving you outstanding service please tip them more, i know most of you do anyhow, but this has opened my eyes to make sure certain crew that go above and beyond for me, I will make sure they are compensated.

 

I have a real problem with paying for incentive programs for the employee through are dsc, Imo those should come out of ncl's pocket not taken out of the dsc.

[*Wink*]

Interesting.. I just spoke with Mary at NCL at she told me that $12 DSC is divided between the Maitre d, wait staff, and cabin stewards, and that no money is kept by NCL.

 

She also said that the DSC is mandatory, and a pax cannot leave the ship until paid.

 

I asked her what would happen if a pax demanded the DSC be removed, and she said that it's a mandatory charge, and she cannot answer that because it's up to the ship to make a decision.

 

I asked her about NCLA's policy about the DSC and she would not answer those questions because she is not privy to that information.

 

Mary would not give me her last name, but she did say I could use her extension if the occasion called for it.

[fin]

When you attach your check to your 1040, do you also send a letter demanding how the money is to be spent? You want some to go for defense and education but none for stem cell research?

 

No - you pay your money and it is out of your control, other than voting for a rep every two years. So I don't see why you are so het up over what they do with your twelve bucks a day, which is such a small part of the overall cost...less than two drinks.

[G'ma]

To think that any cruise line would keep part of the service charge is ludicrous.

 

This money is divvied up among those who serve the passengers during the cruise. As with other lines, the room stewards, wait staff, busboys and others receive a pre-set portion of this money.

 

The whole tipping discussion is simply silly. Anywhere you travel, tipping is part of the experience. Trying to parse out "who gets what - and when" is unnecessary. Trying to remove this charge is simply the sign of a cheapskate. Nobody can dictate to the cruise company on who should get what and why..... That's their business.

 

The service charge is mandatory....period.

 

If you are under the impression that your favorite employee is not getting a fair share.....then give that person an addition cash tip at the end of the cruise.

 

Nobody would ever ask a waiter in a restaurant how much he/she gets in tips everyday.....or a hair dresser...or a cabbie. It's nobody's business.

[G-Funk]

Wow, it almost seems like nobody knows what is really going on - is that possible? Is it possible that opinions are being posted as fact?

[*Wink*]

Wow, it almost seems like nobody knows what is really going on - is that possible? Is it possible that opinions are being posted as fact?

LOL G ~ I don't think that's allowed on cruisecritic, is it? :D

[Arwenmark]

Ladders,

They do or at least have had to turn in tip money, which they then get back once it is shown that the customer did not try to remove tips.

I watched them do it. Being in a wheelchair I tend to get seated in some interesting places in the dining room and one of them was near the place the waiters came and handed over tips to the Maitre 'd who had a long sheet on which he recorded the waiter the amount and the passenger cabin number it was from.

 

I then enquired of our waiter about it and he said that they do have to turn them in but they are returned as long as the passenger didn't remove the service charge. He also told me there is a list they can see of what cabins DID remove the service charge.

 

Now granted this was after they had instituted the auto service charge but before they STATED in writing that it was mandatory and could only be removed for cause after they had tried to fix any problem.

[Ladder55]

When you attach your check to your 1040, do you also send a letter demanding how the money is to be spent? You want some to go for defense and education but none for stem cell research?

 

No - you pay your money and it is out of your control, other than voting for a rep every two years. So I don't see why you are so het up over what they do with your twelve bucks a day, which is such a small part of the overall cost...less than two drinks.

 

 

you are right, why care

[Ladder55]

To think that any cruise line would keep part of the service charge is ludicrous.

 

This money is divvied up among those who serve the passengers during the cruise. As with other lines' date=' the room stewards, wait staff, busboys and others receive a pre-set portion of this money.

 

The whole tipping discussion is simply silly. Anywhere you travel, tipping is part of the experience. Trying to parse out "who gets what - and when" is unnecessary. Trying to remove this charge is simply the sign of a cheapskate. Nobody can dictate to the cruise company on who should get what and why..... That's their business.

 

The service charge is mandatory....period.

 

If you are under the impression that your favorite employee is not getting a fair share.....then give that person an addition cash tip at the end of the cruise.

 

Nobody would ever ask a waiter in a restaurant how much he/she gets in tips everyday.....or a hair dresser...or a cabbie. It's nobody's business.[/quote']

 

are yoou ok?

its not mandatory.it may say it is, but its not

I never said they are keeping the service charge and pocketing it, I said they are not paying it all to the crew in tips, but using some of it for incentive programs etc. I thought the WHOLE dsc was distributed to the crew.

go read it, i did, its online and in the ncl magazine

[G-Funk]

To think that any cruise line would keep part of the service charge is ludicrous.

 

This money is divvied up among those who serve the passengers during the cruise. As with other lines' date=' the room stewards, wait staff, busboys and others receive a pre-set portion of this money.

 

The whole tipping discussion is simply silly. Anywhere you travel, tipping is part of the experience. Trying to parse out "who gets what - and when" is unnecessary. Trying to remove this charge is simply the sign of a cheapskate. Nobody can dictate to the cruise company on who should get what and why..... That's their business.

 

The service charge is mandatory....period.

 

If you are under the impression that your favorite employee is not getting a fair share.....then give that person an addition cash tip at the end of the cruise.

 

Nobody would ever ask a waiter in a restaurant how much he/she gets in tips everyday.....or a hair dresser...or a cabbie. It's nobody's business.[/quote']

 

This is wrong in so many ways it is funny.

 

Again, here is the exact section of the current NCL cruise contract:

 

"Certain members of Carrier’s crew are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that are funded in part by the service charge paid by each Guest. The charge , which is automatically added to your onboard account and subject to adjustment at your discretion, is intended to reward service provided in all departments and job categories and is distributed to employees according to Carrier's evaluation of job performance. A portion of the service charge collected by Carrier is also used for fleet-wide crew welfare programs."

 

Given that this contract covers transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars across the entire company every week, I choose to believe they pay attention to their contract and it communicates their intent and rules.

[CruisnGram]

How about this solution? When you are on your next cruise, ask your waiters, and your cabin stewards if THEY are happy with the amounts they receive from the DSC or if they preferred it the old way when people tipped them in cash.

 

After all, it IS the crew we're so concerned about on this topic's isn't it? It's not about the amount of money, or whether we are paying for the dining room waiters when we only eat at the buffet, or rather we are in port for 3 days and aren't utilizing the ship, or the fact that none of us are lousy tippers, it's all about the crew right?

 

If they are happy, then pay your $12 bucks a day and let it be. It's between the employer and the employee.

 

CG

[smeyer418]

This is wrong in so many ways it is funny.

 

Again, here is the exact section of the current NCL cruise contract:

 

"Certain members of Carrier’s crew are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that are funded in part by the service charge paid by each Guest. The charge , which is automatically added to your onboard account and subject to adjustment at your discretion, is intended to reward service provided in all departments and job categories and is distributed to employees according to Carrier's evaluation of job performance. A portion of the service charge collected by Carrier is also used for fleet-wide crew welfare programs."

 

Given that this contract covers transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars across the entire company every week, I choose to believe they pay attention to their contract and it communicates their intent and rules.

 

This is newer language and differs from what was said in the past. I noted the new discretionary language at the beginning of the year(and posted a thread on it). I haven't had a detailed discussion with management on it in about 6 months but it does appear that the newer management has made significant changes in the language. whether that means an actual change in what they do I am not sure and as you know I don't trust that the CSR's you get when you call in have any knowledge beyond whats in the book. Up to last year for sure the crew had to turn in any cash that they got when the service charge was removed. Whether that is actually been changed I don't know...yet....

[Mooder]

How about this solution? When you are on your next cruise, ask your waiters, and your cabin stewards if THEY are happy with the amounts they receive from the DSC or if they preferred it the old way when people tipped them in cash.

 

After all, it IS the crew we're so concerned about on this topic's isn't it? It's not about the amount of money, or whether we are paying for the dining room waiters when we only eat at the buffet, or rather we are in port for 3 days and aren't utilizing the ship, or the fact that none of us are lousy tippers, it's all about the crew right?

 

If they are happy, then pay your $12 bucks a day and let it be. It's between the employer and the employee.

 

CG

 

Oh, CG, you're so darn logical! :)

 

I don't know that this is relevant, but it does pertain to crew compensation. We had a very interesting conversation with a bartender and she had worked for other lines and had family at other lines so naturally we asked her what her preference was. She said that NCL pays for their uniforms whereas on other lines the cost of the uniforms comes out of their pay. To her, that was a pretty big deal. I am not naive enough to think she would have complained to us if she was unhappy because I am sure she wouldn't jeopardize her job like that, but it brought up an issue I hadn't given any thought to so I am sure there are many other similar factors. I guess the point I am making is that so many factors go into compensation and employee satisfaction and the DSC is just one, possibly small, part of that.

[Pickels]

All I know is that we've done this since we first started cruising in 2003. And, we also do this when at home. We always tipped our waiter/waitress after a meal. The room steward also got a nicely stuffed envelope. On our very first cruise, we wondered why noone was leaving a tip after a meal. Then we found out that tips are automatically added. So what. Good service deserves an extra tip.[/size][/font]

Last year on RCI, besides giving tips to our waiters, the two waiters at the next table of 15, was so entertaining and personable each night, that we gave them a tip. That just the way I am and the way my dad taught me. :o

[garycarla]

This is what they charge. Might be worth a discussion over a few beers, but it is still what they charge. Period.

 

$12 per person per day. covers wait staff and room stewards, not butler or concierge if you have them.

 

If you order drinks, they will add 15% (or is 18%)? If you use the SPA, they will also automatically add.

 

I may not like it, but it is what it is.

[Arwenmark]

All I know is that we've done this since we first started cruising in 2003. And, we also do this when at home. We always tipped our waiter/waitress after a meal. The room steward also got a nicely stuffed envelope. On our very first cruise, we wondered why noone was leaving a tip after a meal. Then we found out that tips are automatically added. So what. Good service deserves an extra tip.[/size][/font]

Last year on RCI, besides giving tips to our waiters, the two waiters at the next table of 15, was so entertaining and personable each night, that we gave them a tip. That just the way I am and the way my dad taught me. :o

 

 

How very unusual, even those that tip the old fashioned way tip at the end of the cruise not after every meal. But I suppose with freestyle dining it would be hard to pick out those that waited on you at the end which is after all the point of auto tipping, or at least one of the major reasons they started it.

[SJ]

I find it disturbing that part of the DSC should be distributed to the Maitre'd. They are salaried employees and are considered officers. I usually don't tip them for stopping to say hello on the last evening of the cruise. They deserve a tip if they provided services beyond a hello and a how are you.

[smeyer418]

I find it disturbing that part of the DSC should be distributed to the Maitre'd. They are salaried employees and are considered officers. I usually don't tip them for stopping to say hello on the last evening of the cruise. They deserve a tip if they provided services beyond a hello and a how are you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bermuder

This is very interesting and PLEASE don't take this as disagreement, I am just trying to learn. It sounds to me like a management position which would typically be paid more than a direct service person and thus not tipped. What is the thinking in making this a tipped position as opposed to other management positions? And is there an equivalent position for cabin stewards and bar waiters, keeping their work going smoothly? Do those people get part of the tip pool?

 

Again, I'm not saying I disagree with the system. I'm just ignorant. :)

 

normally both the head waiter(and maitre d and the head housekeeper get tipped out of the money you give the waiter or steward. In the past when you tipped your waiter or steward they would "voluntarily" share the tip with the head waiter/maitre D bus boys laundry people etc...under the policy these traditionally tipped or tipped out people are in the tipping pool. This is the way its always been. the Maitre D and head housekeeper are both management of sorts and workers of sorts and this is the way it worked at sea,,,, Its not generally true for the bar people...

 

The Maaitre D is responsible for the smooth functioning of your eating venue, including training the employees and the assignments to your work station- so they do in fact provide you service whether you do it or not. Whether the money goes into the pool or not the waiter will tip out the Maitre D whether you agree with it or not....that is why the employees are just as happy with the situation now(the service charge) as long you leave the service charge on they can keep it....

[iheartbda]

I find it disturbing that part of the DSC should be distributed to the Maitre'd. They are salaried employees and are considered officers. I usually don't tip them for stopping to say hello on the last evening of the cruise. They deserve a tip if they provided services beyond a hello and a how are you.

And that's exacly what they do!

They provide any numbet of services that are not necessarily seen. If the dining room is running smoothly and your waiters offer good service...it's because of the maitre d'. He is the one who coordinates what is going on between the kitchen and the dining room. He is the one who makes sure the waiters are trained and doing their job.

 

In additio to working in the dining room, they also keep things going in the buffet.

 

Just because you don't see him what he does, is not a reason for him to not receive part of the DSC. I don't know what part they get from the DSC on NCL but I know on 2other lines, it was a measly $.75 a day.

 

Sorry smeyer,

You were quicker on the draw and I.:D

[Ladder55]

I find it disturbing that part of the DSC should be distributed to the Maitre'd. They are salaried employees and are considered officers. I usually don't tip them for stopping to say hello on the last evening of the cruise. They deserve a tip if they provided services beyond a hello and a how are you.

 

yep

[smeyer418]

And that's exacly what they do!

They provide any numbet of services that are not necessarily seen. If the dining room is running smoothly and your waiters offer good service...it's because of the maitre d'. He is the one who coordinates what is going on between the kitchen and the dining room. He is the one who makes sure the waiters are trained and doing their job.

 

In additio to working in the dining room, they also keep things going in the buffet.

 

Just because you don't see him what he does, is not a reason for him to not receive part of the DSC. I don't know what part they get from the DSC on NCL but I know on 2other lines, it was a measly $.75 a day.

 

Sorry smeyer,

You were quicker on the draw and I.:D

 

LOL I just copied it from a couple of days ago with a slightly expanded response...you note I credit Bermuda :)

[SJ]

At the risk of being argumentative, what you are decribing is their job which they are paid a salary for. No salaried employee gets tip for a job well done. I don't when I was working, I didn't even get paid for overtime because as a salaried employee, I don't get paid by the hour.

 

To use your logic, we should be tipping the Captain because he keeps the ship running smooth.

 

Please note I have never lower or remove the DSC, so this is not about it being too high and I'm not trying to be cheap.

[smeyer418]

At the risk of being argumentative, what you are decribing is their job which they are paid a salary for. No salaried employee gets tip for a job well done. I don't when I was working, I didn't even get paid for overtime because as a salaried employee, I don't get paid by the hour.

 

To use your logic, we should be tipping the Captain because he keeps the ship running smooth.

 

Please note I have never lower or remove the DSC, so this is not about it being too high and I'm not trying to be cheap.

no they are generally promoted from head waiter and they know they will be getting their tips/part of the service charge. Some wouldn't take it without the tips included. Its part of the way they are traditionally paid...they are minor officers at best. Its the next level up that is fully salaried. You can be as argumentative as you want. They traditional get tips and/or are tipped out by the people under them. I am not thrilled by it either but that is the way it is. Really no salaried employee gets tips? The lead people at starbucks among others...The scheduler at the wedding hall...its all the same thing...

[*Wink*]

I find it disturbing that part of the DSC should be distributed to the Maitre'd. They are salaried employees and are considered officers. I usually don't tip them for stopping to say hello on the last evening of the cruise. They deserve a tip if they provided services beyond a hello and a how are you.

 

yep

 

That's a very "telling" agreement.

 

No surprise to me, though.

[hawaiilvr]

It never ceases to amaze me that this argument comes up over and over again. If you don't like to tip, that is your business, BUT as the father of a waitress who makes $2.13 per hour plus tips, the tips are the difference between earning $10 for a shift or $50. And yes, she has to share her tips with the host, the bussers, and bar staff. It is an American custom and you are not going to single-handedly change that system. Please stay at home and let those who are going to tip use the table.

 

Now on a cruise ship, when your book your cabin and read the contract it states that there is a $12 daily service charge. If you have a problem with that, then don't book the friggin' cruise. Sheesh. It IS that simple. Go to McDonalds or Burger King, and to go Disneyland on vacation, where you won't have to be bothered with tipping. If you have a problem with how the DSC is disbursed, then don't book the cruise with that line and go elsewhere. No one is forcing these folks to work for NCL, so they must be being compensated enough that they come back contract after contract, and if not, they move on. It is NCL's business how they pay and copensate their employees IAW applicable laws and the contract with their employees. I haven't seen a mutiny yet, nor have heard of a strike.