Gratuities , NCL making it harder to remove them !

While I cannot say this is 100% confirmed the rumour mill has it the NCL are going to make it very difficult to remove the gratuities from your on board account in 2016

I myself am sick to death of the way they are implemented , this is not having a go at NCL, there are others, take Celebrity for instance, for most of the 2016 cruises and in to 2017 there is only “select” dining left, forcing us to leave the gratuities on the account. For a one week cruise this is not always a big issue , around £60 per person , try booking the Ultimate Australia trip when passengers are 29 nights on board, different story altogether, it adds another £ 260.00 each

Now I do not mind the gratuities, I understand they get distributed to all of the crew , so we are told, not that we actually ever see that happen. And there are so many people behind the scenes that make the running of the ships so efficient and enjoyable. Just put it in the price ?? Many of the luxury cruise lines do this , and it works, Thomson Cruises at the other end of the scale , nothing added ??

Personally I think it should also only be for the first full paying guests , when the baby of 11 months old has to pay the same I feel the old British sense of fair play coming over me, that is just a total insult, what could they possible know ??

Anyway , getting back to NCL, you can remove this service charge at the time of booking, what they have mentioned , and still not confirmed , is they will charge your on board account when you get on , and then only AFTER you get back can you go down the route of getting them refunded, with forms to complete, correspondence to be entered into . I fear they are expecting most people not to bother, don’t know much about the Brits then ?

Do you have thoughts about this ?