Tag Archives: tipping

NCL Service Charge Increase.

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Norwegian Cruise Line is hiking its daily service charge from $12 to $12.95 per person for categories up to mini-suite, effective for sailings beginning March 1.

The suite category charge is going to $14.95 per person, per day. Norwegian noted suite passengers get the additional services of a concierge, butler and dedicated wait staff. (However, a tipping note on the cruise line’s website suggests that more may be expected—’for guests using concierge and butler services, we recommend they consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.’- see below for Norwegians tipping note)

Passengers who’ve already booked a cruise and are sailing after March 1, or who plan to book a cruise now through Feb. 28, can choose to pre–pay their service charges at the current rate by Feb. 28. Those with existing cruise reservations who have already pre–paid their service charges at the current rate will not be affected.

Norwegian said it last adjusted the service charge in 2009.

Tipping Note,

What about Tipping?
Guests should not feel obliged to offer a gratuity for good service. However, all of our staff are encouraged to “go the extra mile,” and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities entirely at the discretion of our guests who wish to acknowledge particular staff members for exceptional or outstanding service. In other words, there is genuinely no need to tip but you should feel free to do so if you have a desire to acknowledge particular individuals.
Also, certain staff positions provide service on an individual basis to only some guests. We encourage those guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. For example, for guests purchasing bar drinks the recommended gratuity is 15 percent. For guests purchasing spa treatments the recommended gratuity is 18 percent. Similarly, for guests using concierge and butler services, we recommend they consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

How the cruise lines compare

Cruise line  Suggested tip for adults (per night) 
Carnival Cruise Lines £7.30
Celebrity Cruises £7.30 (£7.60 for AquaClass and Concierge Class cabins; £9.50 for suites)
Costa Cruises £6 in Europe; £7 for Caribbean cruises
Cunard Britannia category cabins £7; Grills category suites £8.25 (increasing to £7.30 and £8.60 from April 2013)
Cruise & Maritime Voyages £5; £4 (over 16 nights)
Disney Cruise Line £23 (3 nights); £30.50 (4 nights); £53.40 (7 nights)
Fred Olsen £4
Holland America £7.30; £7.60 for suites
MSC Cruises £6 (8 nights in Europe); £5.15 (over 9 nights in Europe)
Noble Caledonia Included on Island Sky and Caledonia Sky. Varies depending on cruise line for other cruises booked through Noble Caledonia
Norwegian Cruise Line £7.60
Oceania Cruises £9.20; £13 suites with butler
P&O Cruises £3.10 (increasing to £3.50 From March 28 to April 24)
Princess Cruises £7.30; £7.60 for mini suites and suites
Royal Caribbean £7.40; £8.80 (Grand Suite or above)

as of February 2013, as stated on the Times guide to gratuities and tips

 

Cruise Ship Tipping Etiquette

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Cruise Ship Tipping Etiquette

 By John Honeywell

Nobody wants to talk about tips on cruise ships. Making new friends over the dinner table, passengers are happy enough to reveal what a bargain they got with their last-minute fare and they’ll swap advice about the best place to buy duty-free cigarettes in Gibraltar or booze in the Caribbean.

But who would want to show themselves up as mean and tight-fisted over the gratuities which are in most cases an essential part of the pay-packets of cabin stewards and restaurant waiters?

That doesn’t stop the passengers queuing up at the reception desk on day one of a cruise to demand that the automatic daily charge for tips is removed from their on board account. Good luck to anyone who has a pressing problem they need to speak to the purser about. Bathroom flooded or bed unmade? Television not working or wardrobe door hanging off? Sorry, you’ll have to wait.

It might not be a subject for discussion but tipping is certainly one that raises temperatures, among the Brits at least. We’re not talking about our American cousins here; they are happy to shower dollar bills on everyone from bellboys to barbers. And I have a very good friend – as British as John Bull – who would always hand out a generous tip on day one with the promise that there was plenty more where that came from if he was looked after properly.

But try checking what the tipping arrangements will be on your next cruise and you’ll discover the cruise lines themselves are reluctant to make a song and dance about the subject.

The details are in the brochures and on the websites. It’s just that they are tucked away in the small print and hidden among the FAQs.

  • P&O’s rates are going up from £3.10 per person per day to £3.50, effective on different ships from different dates, starting with Oriana on March 28 and Aurora last to join the party on April 24.
  • Fred Olsen Cruises add £4 a day, while on Norwegian the cost is $12 (£7.50). On Royal Caribbean the extra charge is $11.65 (£7.35) per passenger, rising to $13.90 (£8.75) in a suite.
  • For Cunard’s Britannia-class passengers it’s going up from $11 a day to $11.50 (£7.25) and for those travelling in Princess Grill or Queens Grill the increase is from $13 to $13.50 (£8.50).

Cunard say it has been some time since the rates were increased, and that the charges are “benchmarked against many other leading cruise lines.”

If you’re travelling with an ultra luxury line, for example Seabourn, Crystal or Silversea, gratuities are included.

Elsewhere, Thomson, Saga, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery are also gratuity-free zones.

All of which is worth bearing in mind when working out the cost of your next cruise.

Royal Caribbean switches to automatic gratuities

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Royal Caribbean switches to automatic gratuities

By Phil Davies

Royal Caribbean switches to automatic gratuitiesRoyal Caribbean International is to charge passengers an automatic daily gratuity for crew members in the dining room and housekeeping staff who are traditionally tipped.

The line will join others in including automatic gratuities in bills from March 1. The company confirmed that the new policy will apply fleet-wide.

Royal Caribbean will add an automatic daily gratuity of $12 or $14.25 for passengers in suites to onboard accounts of each guest to be shared by waiters, stateroom attendants and other housekeeping services personnel. This new gratuity replaces the previously optional tipping guidelines.

The line previously recommended a total of $11.65 per passenger, per day or $13.90 for suite guests and they could pay via their onboard account or in cash.

The change brings the company into line with a policy adopted by rivals Carnival Cruise Lines, P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Norwegian Cruise Line.

All of the competitor cruise lines allow passengers to go to the guest relations desk onboard and ask to change the automatic gratuity charges if they feel service is not up to the expected levels.

Staff on a number of lines have suffered from a reduction in voluntary tips, with British passengers known to be among the most reluctant to pay gratuities.

Royal Caribbean passengers who have previously pre-paid their gratuities for forthcoming cruises will not be affected by the change.