Are Gratuities going up AGAIN next week ?

[SadPanda]

Interestingly on the P&O website, it no longer says "optional". It doesn't say that you can increase or decrease the £6 per person like it used to?

 

"A discretionary daily amount of £6.00 is added to your on-board account for each guest aged 12 and over.

 

The Service Reward appears on your folio as a ‘service charge’ and is confirmed in your holiday information booklet, accessed through your Cruise Personaliser. Of course, if you want to personally reward a crew member in addition to this, feel free to do so.

 

i think an auto tip for anyone under 18 is an outrageous liberty to be honest.

[insanemagnet]

Interestingly on the P&O website, it no longer says "optional". It doesn't say that you can increase or decrease the £6 per person like it used to?

 

If P&O don't want to tell customers how to vary the "discretionary" charge then customers could either to tell them on embarkation they don't want the charge added to the card, or alternatively do a chargeback afterwards for an unauthorised charge.

[robanddiane]

Really don't know which way we prefer. We always leave the tips on for easiness but still feel that we would rather tip individuals who have provided the service. We have already prepaid for our Allure of the seas cruise in May and this was £131 for a 7 night cruise which makes the £6 a day seem very cheap. We have also sailed with Thomson where everything is included in the cruise fare and the service has always been superb. If we had to make a choice I would probably say go the Thomson way and make everyone the same and stop the volatile threads on every forum.

[jeanlyon]

Coulldn't agree more. Make tips part of the price. But then people would still tip with an envelope!

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Coulldn't agree more. Make tips part of the price. But then people would still tip with an envelope!

Why? When the next generation start cruising they won't be used to tipping so it will die out.

[grapau27]

Coulldn't agree more. Make tips part of the price. But then people would still tip with an envelope!

I agree it should be part of the price as long as crew are paid a decent wage the guilt trip feeling sorry for them should stop and then we can feel free to tip or not as we see fit if our cruise is enhanced by exceptional service.

 

Love RCCL and P&O.

[happy v]

Interestingly on the P&O website, it no longer says "optional". It doesn't say that you can increase or decrease the £6 per person like it used to?

 

"A discretionary daily amount of £6.00 is added to your on-board account for each guest aged 12 and over.

 

The Service Reward appears on your folio as a ‘service charge’ and is confirmed in your holiday information booklet, accessed through your Cruise Personaliser. Of course, if you want to personally reward a crew member in addition to this, feel free to do so.

I've just checked on my C.P. and it does say "if you want to vary the amount please contact reception."

[mickey89]

I agree it should be part of the price as long as crew are paid a decent wage the guilt trip feeling sorry for them should stop and then we can feel free to tip or not as we see fit if our cruise is enhanced by exceptional service.

 

Love RCCL and P&O.

We have just returned from a Celebrity cruise, the cabin steward is now responsible for 14 cabins without an assistant. The gratuities due to him at the end of a 14 day cruise was $102 per 2 person cabin, simple maths gives that a total of $2800 per month.

Thats a decent wages by anyones standard and a good reason to say Auto Gratuities have got out of hand and I for one will be canceling all auto tips and giving a sensible tip to those that service us well.

[grapau27]

We have just returned from a Celebrity cruise, the cabin steward is now responsible for 14 cabins without an assistant. The gratuities due to him at the end of a 14 day cruise was $102 per 2 person cabin, simple maths gives that a total of $2800 per month.

Thats a decent wages by anyones standard and a good reason to say Auto Gratuities have got out of hand and I for one will be canceling all auto tips and giving a sensible tip to those that service us well.

With auto tips he doesn't have to do anything special so he can manage 14 cabins no problems,and why not if he is earning that much.

 

Love RCCL and P&O.

[peteukmcr]

i think an auto tip for anyone under 18 is an outrageous liberty to be honest.

Why? Do they not eat? Do they not sleep in a bed? Do they not use a bathroom? Do they not shower and use towels? Do they not dispose of rubbish or drink from glasses? Need I go on? Of course they should pay a service charge, as should every single soul occupying a berth on board IMHO.

 

I don't understand those people who say that there should be no gratuity charged for a certain age group. Surely they all do the above and more in some cases due to their age.

[SadPanda]

Why? Do they not eat? Do they not sleep in a bed? Do they not use a bathroom? Do they not shower and use towels? Do they not dispose of rubbish or drink from glasses? Need I go on? Of course they should pay a service charge, as should every single soul occupying a berth on board IMHO.

 

I don't understand those people who say that there should be no gratuity charged for a certain age group. Surely they all do the above and more in some cases due to their age.

 

we will have to agree to disagree ;)

[daiB]

Why? Do they not eat? Do they not sleep in a bed? Do they not use a bathroom? Do they not shower and use towels? Do they not dispose of rubbish or drink from glasses? Need I go on? Of course they should pay a service charge, as should every single soul occupying a berth on board IMHO.

 

 

 

I don't understand those people who say that there should be no gratuity charged for a certain age group. Surely they all do the above and more in some cases due to their age.

 

 

This is no good I agree with you again.

 

 

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[tinsoldier]

What I don't understand about customers who remove the auto tip and justify it by saying they want to reward staff who serve them directly is that these staff are part of a team. Part of the reason they served you so well is because that team was functioning well, not just an individual within the team. Leaving auto tipping on ensures that the whole team gets some reward rather than simply the public facing part of the team.

 

 

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[insanemagnet]

We have just returned from a Celebrity cruise, the cabin steward is now responsible for 14 cabins without an assistant.

 

Is that all?

 

On my last cruise the steward took significantly less than 1/2 hour a day on my cabin (at most 15 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 in the evening). So 14 cabins isn't going to rush them off their feet.

 

What I don't understand about customers who remove the auto tip and justify it by saying they want to reward staff who serve them directly is that these staff are part of a team. Part of the reason they served you so well is because that team was functioning well, not just an individual within the team. Leaving auto tipping on ensures that the whole team gets some reward rather than simply the public facing part of the team

 

You are overlooking some people want to decide the reward for the people that serve them, rather than leave the decision to the company that employs them.

 

You may be ecstatic with the service you received from the people that served you and happily handed over your £12 a day. However the others at your table or in your neighbouring cabins may have thought the service not up to scratch so marked them down on the 'happy sheet'. Now your waiter and cabin steward gets nothing and your money goes elsewhere. Are you happy about that?

 

The other reason is that some consider the amounts of the service charge to be disproportionate, and well beyond what is a 'tip' and is actually a wage.

Edited March 29, 2017 by insanemagnet

[peteukmcr]

we will have to agree to disagree ;)

So those under 18 do eat, do sleep in bed, do use a bathroom, do use towels, do drink from glasses, and do dispose of rubbish? Don't they? If not, then I'm not sure what the under 18's do on a cruise other than exist and of course then perhaps they shouldn't pay a service fee/gratuity.:rolleyes:

 

And if the excuse is that they didn't pay for the cruise, nor spend any money on the cruise because that this the responsibility of the adults with whom they are travelling, then that's easy, those who paid for the cruise and are paying for those under 18 whilst on board are responsible for the payment of the gratuities.

[brian1]

We have just returned from a Celebrity cruise, the cabin steward is now responsible for 14 cabins without an assistant. The gratuities due to him at the end of a 14 day cruise was $102 per 2 person cabin, simple maths gives that a total of $2800 per month.

Thats a decent wages by anyones standard and a good reason to say Auto Gratuities have got out of hand and I for one will be canceling all auto tips and giving a sensible tip to those that service us well.

Hi,how did you arrive at that figure and what proof do you have,cheers,Brian.

[peteukmcr]

Is that all?

 

On my last cruise the steward took significantly less than 1/2 hour a day on my cabin (at most 15 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 in the evening). So 14 cabins isn't going to rush them off their feet.

So you stand there and time your steward do you? How do you know it was at most 15 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 in the evening? A time and motion inspector comes to mind standing over them with a clipboard.

 

How many passengers in your cabin? Did you have Pullman beds in use? Did you have a balcony? Did you have a suite? Did you keep your cabin neat and tidy? Did you have special requests of your steward for daily provisions such as ice? Did you leave many glasses/plates that needed clearing. All these can add to the time it takes a steward to clean and prepare a cabin.

 

Just because you timed your steward taking less than 30 minutes to deal with your cabin, it doesn't mean that this is the time it takes them to deal with all their allocated cabins. A cabin with 4 or more guests will take more than one holding 2 guests. In those cases at least twice as much bed linen, towels, toiletries etc.

 

If it takes on average 30 minutes per cabin, that's 7 hours for 14 cabins. So that's the time taken to clean and tidy the cabins. Then there's the clearing of the rubbish taken from the cabins, the delivery of bed linen and towels to the laundry. Do you think that those just get there on their own?

 

Then there's the replenishing of their trolleys for the next round of cleaning with bed linen, towels, glasses, toiletries. Do you think that happens automatically?

 

What about the delivery of letters, envelopes, tour tickets, these are also jobs for a room steward.

 

I suggest you have a very limited understanding of the role a room steward undertakes to make you nice and comfy in your cabin and I think you're being very demeaning to room stewards to suggest that taking care of 14 cabins isn't going to 'rush them off their feet' .

 

How many hours do/did you work 7 days a week? I work 7.5 hours a day, but only 5 days a week and it isn't anywhere near as physical as the work the room stewards undertake.

[insanemagnet]

So you stand there and time your steward do you? How do you know it was at most 15 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 in the evening?

 

Breakfast for me is grab a coffee and drink. Every day from leaving the cabin to coming back to pick up the stuff for the day the steward had been in and done. Evenings, on a couple of occasions I had got as far as the bar before needing to go back and get something. On both occasions the steward had been in and done.

 

Was I surprised. No, because frankly there was almost nothing to do.

 

Now if you leave your room like a pigsty and it takes the steward ages to deal with, then I suggest you leave a hefty tip as an apology.

[grapau27]

So those under 18 do eat, do sleep in bed, do use a bathroom, do use towels, do drink from glasses, and do dispose of rubbish? Don't they? If not, then I'm not sure what the under 18's do on a cruise other than exist and of course then perhaps they shouldn't pay a service fee/gratuity.:rolleyes:

 

And if the excuse is that they didn't pay for the cruise, nor spend any money on the cruise because that this the responsibility of the adults with whom they are travelling, then that's easy, those who paid for the cruise and are paying for those under 18 whilst on board are responsible for the payment of the gratuities.

Possibly the fact under 18s get most things free in the UK has a bearing on it.

TBH i always pre or autopay my service charge but the main hot topic of all this is if cruise lines added the service in to the cruise cost everyone would have contributed and all of us wouldn't be talking about it.

 

Love RCCL and P&O.

[grapau27]

Breakfast for me is grab a coffee and drink. Every day from leaving the cabin to coming back to pick up the stuff for the day the steward had been in and done. Evenings, on a couple of occasions I had got as far as the bar before needing to go back and get something. On both occasions the steward had been in and done.

 

Was I surprised. No, because frankly there was almost nothing to do.

 

Now if you leave your room like a pigsty and it takes the steward ages to deal with, then I suggest you leave a hefty tip as an apology.

Actually well said.We personally leave our cabins like we would leave our bedroom with bed made,cups washed breakfast tray neatly piled up and left next to door dirty towels in a pile and we use all our own toiletries so for us we try to make it easy for him because i know they have a lot of rooms where a lot of work is needed.

Cabin stewards have my respect.

 

Love RCCL and P&O.

[HikingPete]

We have just returned from a Celebrity cruise, the cabin steward is now responsible for 14 cabins without an assistant. The gratuities due to him at the end of a 14 day cruise was $102 per 2 person cabin, simple maths gives that a total of $2800 per month.

Thats a decent wages by anyones standard and a good reason to say Auto Gratuities have got out of hand and I for one will be canceling all auto tips and giving a sensible tip to those that service us well.

 

That all goes to him... Not to any of the staff in the MDR? Any behind the scenes staff?

[daiB]

That all goes to him... Not to any of the staff in the MDR? Any behind the scenes staff?

The $102 is about a third of the total auto tip on that line.

 

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[HikingPete]

The $102 is about a third of the total auto tip on that line.

 

 

Do cabin stewards receive a third of the service charge? What proportion do waiters, bar staff, buffet staff, cleaners, etc get?

[janny444]

These threads on tipping/service charge/gratuities... whatever you want to call them.....make me want to shake my head in disbelief at some of the comments but until cruise lines incorporate them in the price the debate will go on and on and on.

Personally I think that would be the best way but of course the initial price wouldn't be as attractive but until they do why should anyone feel "obliged to tip". If people want to leave auto tip on...that's ok...if people want to tip directly....that's ok....if people don't want to tip at all...that's ok .

I worked in a service industry when younger ...forty odd hours for less £50...in today's money. If anyone wanted to leave me a tip....thank you....if people didn't want to tip me that too was ok...the following week I didn't think that last week you didn't tip so I won't give good service. I entered the job knowing full well what hours and money I would receive...I wasn't forced into it...I accepted through choice. Giving good service was part of the job...not something extra to be paid extra for.

[shot2bits]

First sensible thing I've read on this thread Janny444.

We have cruised with P&O before as well as Celebrity and Thomson. Although Thomson are probably at the lower end of those three, at least when you have made your final payment, that's it. No extra £xxx plus for tips'. If you're AI, even better, no bar bill either. IMO I'd rather have a higher headline price than feel I was racking up a bill day on day. So called tipping doesn't come naturally to me and many other Brits and personally, I find the whole exercise vaguely embarrassing.

 

 

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