Thread: NCL: You can not remove the service charge/tips $12pp/day

"Notice they say they "automatically charge", which in my book is the same thing as mandatory."

Yeah, I don't define mandatory and automatic as the same thing and luckily neither does Carnival. LOL.

I did forget about the gratuities needing to be pre-paid for cruises to no-where and Barbados, but even on these, like I said if however unlikely you boarded the ship and every crew member that saw you spat on you and called you nasty names, you could remove the gratuities (or get a refund), unlike the policy of NCL.

It is odd that Barbados itenaries must have pre-paid gratuities, I wonder what the reasoning is on that?

Carnival automatically adds the gratuities. If you want to remove them you have to go down to guest services and ask to remove them. Then you will be questioned as to why you want them removed and what was wrong to do this.

On NCL you can also remove the daily service charges. I spoke with John O'Hara on the Jewel (Hotel Manager) and he told me that when someone asks to remove their charges he personally visits them to see what the problem was. Are they cheap or was there a problem with the staff that needs to be corrected. If there is a staff problem then he wants to know as I'm sure every Hotel Manager on every ship does.

If you think the $12 is $2 too much then don't sail Royal Caribbean either as they have increased their gratuities also.

I don't know what ship you have been on that you were not satisfied with your service but I have only been dissatisfied once and I did not wait until the last night to go downstairs and complain and have my charges removed. I took care of it on the first day and service got so much better I ended up tipping more at the end. This is the way the cruise line would like it resolved. When you remove your gratuities - everyone suffers as it is pooled money.

It was a 2008 Carnival Miracle sailing. They changed the itenary 2-days before the cruise. That did not bother me all that much, but the rest of the passengers on the ship were unhappy and the crew did not respond well. Few of the crew members were friendly and I saw a bartender slam a glass on the bar shattering it with glass flying everywhere. I'm not sure what made the bartender so mad. But that to some degree represented the crew on the ship, I suspected they knew or were expecting poor gratuities so they did not care. We did another Carnival Cruise this past Christmas (again on the Miracle) and every thing was great.

On Carnival, you can have your Sign & Sail account be a cash account where you tip everyone with Cash on the last night of the cruise, they don't encourage a cash account though, but you can choose this still.

Yeah, I have never sailed with NCL, but I did speak with 2 NCL cruise reservationists that repeated that the $12pp/night was not a gratuity but a mandatory service charge.

We are planning a sailing on Royal Carribean this next Christmas. There reservations advise me that the $12pp/night was their recommended gratuity but adjustable (up or down) and not mandatory if service expectations were not met. So, I guess I don't really think $12pp/night is too much, at least in our case. But, I am skeptical of NCL based on talking with other cruisers and their policies.

I have been on NCL Jewel and the Epic and I can not say enough about the service I received on the ship. While I don't think I ever met my cabin steward on the Epic his service was impeccable. I left him a note the first night asking for extra pillows and blanket and when I returned from dinner there is was. My cabin was never dirty and cleaned at least twice per day and always turned down at night. Dining staff was wonderful. In fact, if I had to compare dining staff I'd have to say that I've had worse service on Independence of the Seas compared to Epic. So it's all our own judgement.

I sailed on NCL for the first time this past September on the Spirit. What a great cruise it was and the service from staff was exemplary. I don't think I've ever had better service on any cruise, staff bent over backwards to help with many things. I would not say the mandatory service charge lessens the service. I knew when I booked the cruise that the $12pp/pd was expected and just rolled it into the cost of the cruise. I appreciated not having to concern myself with tipping.

Carnival also puts the charges on your account, though I hear you can lower them, I could never imagine doing such a thing. I've never had service that bad. Some are better than others, and we may tip over an above, but I would never remove tips for the hard working staff, unless something really egregious happened with a staff person.

Originally Posted by alphakitty

" I could never imagine doing such a thing."
"unless something really egregious happened with a staff person"

You just imagined doing such a thing. LOL...

Yeah, I suppose it just boils down to how you view these charges: Gratuity or Service charge. If you view it as service charge (as NCL does) then it might as well be added to the overall cruise to be up front (otherwise their being deceitful). If you view them as a gratuity, then the rules for the definition of "gratuity" should apply and they need not be posted to the overall cruise price up front.

Happy cruises.
Ron