Have P&O finally lost the plot

I have just received an email from P&O about our forthcoming fly cruise on Oceana in May. It informs me that as from March this year, gratuities will be charged at $6 a day. Whatever happened to the charges being made in Sterling? Methinks a correction may be looming. Or maybe not.

Brian

Just had the same message.

Either P&O has reduced the service charge from £5.50 to £4.95 ($6), or someone has pressed the $ symbol instead of the £.

If it is the latter, another 10% increase in the service charge made after people have booked will simply cause more people to opt out of paying the optional charge.

Most definitely 6 GBP - a minion has made a very basic error and the amendment will be sure to follow. P&O are not going to dollars without telling customers !!!

Received the same email for our (first P&O) cruise starting 2nd April. I thought it was going to tell us which cabin we had been allocated but in fact it was a price increase!

Still a lower cost compared to the American ships we have previously cruised with, though hopefully this doesn't reflect poorer service.

We had the same e-mail. First of all I thought it was for the Cunard cruise we have booked and thought they must have put their's down substantially,then realised it was a P & O error.

Unfortunately I also think it will mean more and more people opt out leaving the likes of us to subsidise them.

I will opt out of paying the increase, and pay the amount that was in force when I made my original booking. In cash terms the amount is negligible, but I do not believe it is correct to alter the amount post booking.

Sent from my XT1032 using Forums mobile app

Or everyone could just pay $6. :)

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I'm inclined to agree with wowzz, and reset it to the amount it was when we booked. We book local theatre tickets up to a year in advance, and would be most annoyed if, sometime after booking they said the price had increased, and they wanted us to pay another £5 a ticket. Surely, the same applies here. P&O need to get real.

Brian

In cash terms the amount is negligible

I don't think a 10% increase is negligible, and I doubt the staff will fully benefit from the increase.

Notifying an increase like this after many people have booked is a cynical move by P&O.

We have not yet received the email so I will eagerly await it. We have only 2 cruises booked, next week 12 days on Ventura and 7 days tho the fjords in August on Azura, I don't think that an extra £12 for the Ventura cruise and £7 for the Azura cruise is going to break the bank but as Insanemagnet has said it may mean that more passengers will opt out and we will continue to subsidise them. I think that I may look more closely at the service we get and if it is not up to scratch then I will reduce the tips instead of just saying that it is not much so why bother. P&O really need to roll the tips into the cost of the cruise so that we all pay.

I just looked at the website and the FAQ section has not been updated yet so anyone planning to book who takes a look there will be misled

Have just received my email for May 15th cruise on Oriana and it says 6 GBP.

I will opt out of paying the increase, and pay the amount that was in force when I made my original booking. In cash terms the amount is negligible, but I do not believe it is correct to alter the amount post booking.

 

 

Agree.It is discretionary after all.

I don't think a 10% increase is negligible, and I doubt the staff will fully benefit from the increase.

10% is less than the fall in the GBP/USD rate since last June. If the tip pool is in USD then the recipients will have been feeling quite hard done by recently: the increase will go some way towards offsetting their loss.

I'd much prefer the advertised price to include tips/better basic pay for crew/whatever, but until that day comes we're stuck with auto-tips or cash handouts to salve our consciences. Or we book on the lines which do include tips as a matter of course and take a hit on higher upfront fares.

until that day comes we're stuck with auto-tips or cash handouts to salve our consciences. Or we book on the lines which do include tips as a matter of course and take a hit on higher upfront fares.

You have overlooked the other option, which I suspect will increase.

We have just returned from Britannia and for the first time we are questioning the whole tipping thing. Neither our Cabin Steward or our waiters did anything to warrant a tip really, it should be a tip for good service not a service charge which the auto tip is really.

We had zero interaction with our waiters beyond ordering and saying thank you, normally we have a bit if a chat with them but this was not reciprocated at all and I would say they did a satisfactory job, thats all. Almost the same with the cabin steward, no real chat at all, just doing her job to a satisfactory standard. We paid our auto tip this time but next time I think we will cancel the auto tip and pay in envelopes an amount we think justified but based on this time it won't be £12 per day.

I heard many people say that they were cancelling their tip as the service was lacking - all the staff seemed very sullen and just doing their jobs, nothing you could fault but no spark at all. We didn't feel that Britannia seemed a 'happy ship' from a staff perspective.

I also think it should be put onto the cost of the cruise as it is then fairer on everyone, as many do not pay anything.

I've not had my email yet.....

10% is less than the fall in the GBP/USD rate since last June. If the tip pool is in USD then the recipients will have been feeling quite hard done by recently: the increase will go some way towards offsetting their loss.

 

I'd much prefer the advertised price to include tips/better basic pay for crew/whatever, but until that day comes we're stuck with auto-tips or cash handouts to salve our consciences. Or we book on the lines which do include tips as a matter of course and take a hit on higher upfront fares.

I don't recall P&O reducing the autotip when the £ strengthened considerably against the $ a few years ago!

Neither our Cabin Steward or our waiters did anything to warrant a tip really, it should be a tip for good service not a service charge which the auto tip is really.

...

next time I think we will cancel the auto tip and pay in envelopes an amount we think justified but based on this time it won't be £12 per day.

Some interesting points you raise.

Regarding the cabin steward, on my last cruise they spent around 15 minutes a day on the room, ten in the morning and five in the evening.

To be honest it was no more or less than I would expect from a chain hotel. Was their activity worthy of a tip in the real meaning of the word?

The range of waiters in the MDR (Freedom Dining) were very variable. Some were good, most acceptable, and a small minority less so. The kind of service where you would live with a 10% service charge added to the bill.

I think the problem is for some fares the gratuities can now account for well over 10% of the cruise cost, and some people ask if that is reasonable.

We arrived back from Britannia this weekend and whether we were just lucky but we had no complaints regarding staff. Our cabin steward looked after our room well and provided us with a new ice bucket daily. I think he said he has 18 rooms to service (although I may have misheard) he worked from - he had about 4 hours off in the afternoon but worked hard either side of that free time. Our main waiter, Nelson, couldn't have looked after us any better and his assistant Noel was very quiet but did a good job. Our sommelier, Dennis, was lovely and a happy chappy whether we saw him in the dining room or when he was working on the lido deck. The two waiters in the Crystal Room - Karan and another guy who we didn't manage to read his name tag, where both lovely guys who welcomed us nightly and knew our names and preferred drinks in no time at all.

Personally I would prefer tips to be prepaid in whichever manner the cruise line chooses. I know staff rely on the tips to make up their wages and working away from home in ten month stints think they deserve to be paid well for it. Until the day comes when staff don't rely on tips then we are happy to include any cost for tips in our projected cost of Cruising.

We have always left our tips in place, but since last summer we decided to leave one set of our tips on the account and have the other set removed and shared out with the staff who have looked after us well personally. When we did this through reception this time the receptionist said the envelopes would definitely be welcomed by the staff and that they didn't have to turn the cash over as it is sometimes rumoured. We feel this way that at least by leaving half tips in place then the people who provide a service but we don't see get some bonus but we also like to tip personally and this allows us to do this.

Everyone has their own way of doing things but I often think if everyone paid the service charge/tips/staff subsidy or whatever you want to call it upfront when booking then the true cost to the customer would only need to be half the amount of the voluntary tips as those that do tip are subsidising those that don't.

Our cruise for two weeks including flights cost less than £100 per night per person so I understand that something has to give and don't think it should be at the cost of the staffs wages. However we've also paid more than double that amount pp and still been happy to tip.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Our cabin steward looked after our room well and provided us with a new ice bucket daily. I think he said he has 18 rooms to service (although I may have misheard) he worked from - he had about 4 hours off in the afternoon but worked hard either side of that free time.

I do wonder what state some people must leave their rooms if the cabin stewards are so hard worked.

As I mentioned before, on my last cruise the cabin steward was done inside 10 minutes in a morning, enough time for me to leave the cabin, grab a coffee and come back.

Evenings even less time.

Is it the existence of the tips that leads people to leave their cabin in a state that takes the stewards so much time to deal with.

Just had an email from my TA....it is for cruises departing on or after 27 March...and this is the 4th time this has happened...3 times with P & O and once with Cunard.

Whilst I dont actually have a problem with the amount of the increase, like others I do find the sneaky practice of increasing the amount after booking leaves a slightly bitter taste...!

I don't want to start a tipping debate- they go on too long!, but I always leave the tips on, even on the more expensive cruise lines(tipwise) but this time I will leave the £5.50 in place but have the increase removed. I don't agree with being told after I have paid in full for my cruise that something has increased in price. If I book another P and O cruise in the future then I will pay the £6 as I will know about it beforehand. If only it was included in the fare, then this increase after payment couldn't happen!

We arrived back from Britannia this weekend and whether we were just lucky but we had no complaints regarding staff. Our cabin steward looked after our room well and provided us with a new ice bucket daily. I think he said he has 18 rooms to service (although I may have misheard) he worked from - he had about 4 hours off in the afternoon but worked hard either side of that free time. Our main waiter, Nelson, couldn't have looked after us any better and his assistant Noel was very quiet but did a good job. Our sommelier, Dennis, was lovely and a happy chappy whether we saw him in the dining room or when he was working on the lido deck. The two waiters in the Crystal Room - Karan and another guy who we didn't manage to read his name tag, where both lovely guys who welcomed us nightly and knew our names and preferred drinks in no time at all.

 

Personally I would prefer tips to be prepaid in whichever manner the cruise line chooses. I know staff rely on the tips to make up their wages and working away from home in ten month stints think they deserve to be paid well for it. Until the day comes when staff don't rely on tips then we are happy to include any cost for tips in our projected cost of Cruising.

 

We have always left our tips in place, but since last summer we decided to leave one set of our tips on the account and have the other set removed and shared out with the staff who have looked after us well personally. When we did this through reception this time the receptionist said the envelopes would definitely be welcomed by the staff and that they didn't have to turn the cash over as it is sometimes rumoured. We feel this way that at least by leaving half tips in place then the people who provide a service but we don't see get some bonus but we also like to tip personally and this allows us to do this.

 

Everyone has their own way of doing things but I often think if everyone paid the service charge/tips/staff subsidy or whatever you want to call it upfront when booking then the true cost to the customer would only need to be half the amount of the voluntary tips as those that do tip are subsidising those that don't.

 

Our cruise for two weeks including flights cost less than £100 per night per person so I understand that something has to give and don't think it should be at the cost of the staffs wages. However we've also paid more than double that amount pp and still been happy to tip.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Is it definitely correct that they don't have to hand over any personal tips if you remove the tips from your account ?

I have always left the tips on and paid a bit extra on top. I like your idea of half and half . We have had some wonderful waiters in the past and I would be happy to give them personally a bit more

I do think its a bit naughty increasing them on less than 3 weeks notice though I am sure they are banking on the fact that most people will find 50p per day negligible

When Princess increased the tips they were only increased for new bookings. Ours stayed the rate we booked at. Why can't P and O do that?

Why can't P and O do that?

Because they don't need to.

You can pay the old rate, pay the new rate, pay nothing, pay ten times the amount. You can do whatever you want as the amount is a discretionary amount.

Anyway, if the argument is the staff will suffer if they are not paid, won't they suffer if existing bookings are kept at the old rate.