Extra Tipping

[Britboys]

I tend to agree with you there Jean. Cases are left outside the cabin doors by the poor guys who are 'at the bottom' of the staff tree! I think pre-tipping is generally much more of an American habit. In terms of the actual word itself, it came from slang language dating back to the 17th century so I think again that an American probably came up with "To Insure Promptness".

I would not feel comfortable pre-tipping personally but in most cases have always tipped a bit more than the suggested amount at the end of a cruise, because the service has always been very good.

Handing out empty envelopes to staff is absolutely despicable.

[NSWP]

I tend to agree with you there Jean. Cases are left outside the cabin doors by the poor guys who are 'at the bottom' of the staff tree! I think pre-tipping is generally much more of an American habit. In terms of the actual word itself, it came from slang language dating back to the 17th century so I think again that an American probably came up with "To Insure Promptness".

I would not feel comfortable pre-tipping personally but in most cases have always tipped a bit more than the suggested amount at the end of a cruise, because the service has always been very good.

Handing out empty envelopes to staff is absolutely despicable.

Indeed, handing out empty envelopes to staff is despicable. As are those non tipping pax who are not seen in the MDR on the last night or two, perhaps not wanting to face their waiters. But then they could be packing their gear away, some but not all.

 

No doubt many of you regular cruisers have seen those empty MDR seats at the end of a cruise, irrespective of the cruise line.

[jeanlyon]

Actually I haven't noticed that, but then I haven't been looking. Strangely for the first time we left the auto-tips in place, but I felt really awkward not giving an envelope to our two waiters. We did give an extra £20 to our cabin stewardess who was really kind when my husband was ill.

 

Next time I think we will again remove the tips and use an envelope. Just feels better to me.

[CCFC]

The following applies to Princess and I would be very surprised if it did not apply to P&O:

 

If you remove the auto-tips your name is put on a list and the staff are informed.

 

If you remove auto-tips and give out additional tips at the end of the cruise they have to HAND IT BACK and it goes to the main fund.

 

If you leave auto-tips on and tip extra at any point in the cruise they can keep it but only once the cruise is over.

 

Confirmed by several stewards on-board and also can be confirmed on the Princess boards.

[jeanlyon]

I don't care if the staff are informed. I have always removed the tips on P&O and also on Fred Olsen up to the last cruise when I left them on. We have always tipped with an envelope to our cabin person and waiters. what they do with it after i give it to them is irrelevant to me.

[CCFC]

Its not up to the staff you give it to either......

[NSWP]

The following applies to Princess and I would be very surprised if it did not apply to P&O:

 

If you remove the auto-tips your name is put on a list and the staff are informed.

 

If you remove auto-tips and give out additional tips at the end of the cruise they have to HAND IT BACK and it goes to the main fund.

 

If you leave auto-tips on and tip extra at any point in the cruise they can keep it but only once the cruise is over.

 

Confirmed by several stewards on-board and also can be confirmed on the Princess boards.

Correct for Princess and most probably the same policy for P&O staff.

[KarateMan]

I would never dream of giving anyone cash up front for anything nor would I ever pay double tips if it were automatically deducted. If I behaved like that I would soon end up bankrupt.

 

Personally I am a sceptic and do not believe 99% of the stories on here about people tipping above and beyond. I believe all the tipping stories are pretentious designed to make the poster look unrealistically virtuous in the eyes of their peers.

 

The strongest evidence against all this exorbitant tipping is that no one could possibly have that much wealth to tip as much as they claim on such a frequent basis.

 

It is just far easier and fairer on everyone to leave service charges as they are. In all the hotels I stay at pre-cruise there is always a service charge added to the bill. To me that is indication that they are taking money for staff and that tipping is not required. Cruise ships now do the same thing. In some cases you pay with the fare and in other cases you pay on your daily account.

 

Besides if people tipped as much as they claim the crew would be so rich that they would not need to work ever again in their lives.

[Josy1953]

We have never reduce/cancelled the auto tips and have usually received exemplary service. We have often felt that P&O's tipp level is low given the level of service that we have received so have given an additional amount to our cabin steward and, on ships without freedom dining, we have also tipped the wait staff if we felt their service warranted it. We would never remove the auto tip because the staff are on such low pay.

[jeanlyon]

I remove the auto-tip and tip the same in an envelope. P&O's tips are cheaper than others, Fred Olsen's are £4 pppd. That seems fine to us. I just prefer to give it personally. Occasionally we might also give a small tip to one of the guys in the bar if they have served us every day, which often happens.

[Brayman]

I remove the auto-tip and tip the same in an envelope. P&O's tips are cheaper than others, Fred Olsen's are £4 pppd. That seems fine to us. I just prefer to give it personally. Occasionally we might also give a small tip to one of the guys in the bar if they have served us every day, which often happens.

 

P&O's are shortly to be increased apparently.

[Sanjam cruisers]

I have read this thread and others in a similar vein on this and other cruise sites with some interest. Both my father and brother served in the Merchant Navy and as a teenager I was desperate for a sea going career but as I was never that great with mathematics it was not to be and I followed a different career path.As a result while on board ship I always speak to the crew which can be very interesting,while they may not be well paid by UK standards they are by their own standards a chef I spoke to at the Pizzaria earned more aboard ship than he did in a five star hotel at home in Goa,while on ship he paid no lodgings,no food bills so in fact the majority of has pay went home, the company paid his travel costs to and from the ship and he got his share of tips, and as long as his work place assessments were up to company standard he would always be offered a further contract.You only have to look at the number and increasing size of current cruise ships are the companies finding it difficult to get new crews.There are a constant queue of applicants at the crewing agencies looking for places and as such the cruise companies can set a high standard in those they recruit for their vacancies. Many contributers to this and other forums who have cruised many times with the same line often remark how they have recognized crew members from previous cruises some time after a number of years surely if the life was that hard or bad there would be a constant stream of new crew members.Two years ago our waiter in the main dining room had been with the line for 17 years.And yes I leave my auto tips on and if I get good service I leave an additional thank you,no one ever tipped me in my occupation but I did not work in a service industry and I do appreciate the ships crew do on the whole work long hard hours and through their efforts I can have a great holiday.

Happy cruising to all and long may it last.

[CCFC]

I remove the auto-tip and tip the same in an envelope. P&O's tips are cheaper than others, Fred Olsen's are £4 pppd. That seems fine to us. I just prefer to give it personally. Occasionally we might also give a small tip to one of the guys in the bar if they have served us every day, which often happens.

 

Tipping in envelopes means they don't get the tip you have given as they have to hand it over so its not a personal tip.

 

The only way you will get a heart felt thank you is if you also leave auto tipping on as that way they get the full amount in the envelope.

 

I didn't realise this until the steward we had looked a bit sullen when we handed over the envelope and then I asked why, he said he had to hand it in even if there was more in there than was expected..

Edited February 11, 2014 by CCFC

[Scotjune]

We now give our steward a decent tip on Day 1, usually for bringing our cases and the little extras we have asked for. We only started doing this a couple of cruises ago but it has certainly made our steward more amenable to finding any extras we request (nothing illegal, just extra decaff coffee and sugar, the biscuits we like, taking the hangers away etc). We also leave our automatic tip on but if they have been especially helpful will also put some cash in an envelope. Having a good steward can really make your cruise

Could not have said it better myself - we do exactly the same as you - with the same results!

[jeanlyon]

Last time I tipped with an envelope, I definitely got a heart felt thank you. I also asked him if he had to hand it in and he told me no with an even bigger smile. So don't know what to believe any more. As I said I left the auto-tip on last time, but felt awkward not giving cash at the end.

[Morgans]

We have been told by stewards themselves that they do not have to hand in their tips, even if auto tip is removed....why would they lie?

[sjcsviola]

I don't know if this can be done but on previous cruises we have removed the auto tip and then tipped at the end of the cruise - we always tip around what the auto tip would have been but in my opinion it's the principal of actually having the option to do it yourself. Having said that, we just booked for the summer and we have decided that for sake of ease (as money is a bit stretched this year) we've pre-paid the tips onto the on board credit (14 nights works out at £55.30 each) by ringing p&o and putting the money on as a gift credit.

P&o don't like customers pre-paying money onto their accounts because they think if customers don't use all the credit then they will ask for the change- personally I like to know that at the end of a 14 day holiday, I'm not going to have an aneurysm when the credit card statement comes through!!! :p

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums