The changes, and there have been a bunch, have been handled poorly to say the least. The latest issue is the changing of port times without any notification. Our Tortola departure time next month has been moved up. Yes it is only by an hour but the way things are being handled speaks volumes about the way they are handling customer services.
FWIW, the DCL cruise we are sailing in October, they have switched two of the port days about two weeks ago. Our friends on that sailing, who have sailed DCL twice, got an email informing them of the change. We never received the email or any notification (and yes I've checked my spam and trash). I wouldn't have known about the change if not for my friends, or my own logging into the reservation to see it. And there were quite a few upset people who were on the first sailing on the Magic after the big dry dock a couple years ago, when they cancelled the sailing the day before it was supposed to happen. Don't get me wrong, LOVE LOVE DCL, but just wanted to point out that they haven't always handled changes the best way possible.
As for the gratuities they are grand-fathered at the old rate if you pre-pay before you sail. The extra $1.50 per person per day isn't really much when you are talking about paying thousands for a cruise. Again it has been handled poorly. If that is a deal breaker then you are going to be pretty limited in the options for vacations.
It will not be long before DCL also raised the gratuities. We've all been sailing on the $12 per day for many many years now. Guaranteed it will be raised sooner, than later. Palo and Remy both went up $5 additional dollars this year. I remember the days when Palo upcharge was $10. And there was quite a bit of discussion when DCL started adding the auto gratuity to the spa services maybe a year or two ago as well. Like NCL, if you were pre booked or pre paid, you were grandfathered at the old rate. I didn't think the gratuity increase on NCL was handled poorly. I got an email July 17 informing me of the change. It states: (copy and paste here)
Dear xxxxx,
Norwegian Cruise Line is adjusting its daily service charges, effective for all sailings that depart on or after August 1, 2015.
The new rates are:
$13.50 per person per day for any category up to a mini-suite stateroom
$15.50 per person per day for any suite category
Any guest that has made a booking by July 31, 2015 will have the option of prepaying their service charges at the current rate if done prior to the final payment due date. Guests with existing cruise reservations who have already pre-paid their service charges at the current rate will not be affected.
Norwegian's daily service charges make it easy for guests to provide gratuities to key onboard staff who provide superior guest service during the cruise, including their room steward, restaurant servers and behind-the-scenes support staff. Guests who are sailing in Suite categories also receive the services of a concierge, butler and dedicated wait staff.
Sincerely,
Norwegian Cruise Line®