Remind me please.....suggested tips for butlers and stewards?

[Harry Peterson]

Not looking to argue about tipping or not, but I think we're mostly agreed about removing auto gratuities.

 

I'd be interested, though, as someone who always used to leave them on, in what's recommended to be a decent tip for the butler and the room steward?

 

Thanks.

[mercury7289]

usually £100.00 each but every ones different

[majortom10]

I thought P&O were still charging £7pppd at the moment automatically charged to your account . If so I wouldnt tip anyone anything unless they had gone well above expectations for a particular reason. Once they are removed across all the ships then I wouldnt tip any extra as it defeats the object of including them in the price. If everyone still tipped extra then butlers/stewards and waiters would become to expect it as the norm and are then getting tipped twice.

Edited April 1, 2019 by majortom10

[Harry Peterson]

39 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I thought P&O were still charging £7pppd at the moment automatically charged to your account . If so I wouldnt tip anyone anything unless they had gone well above expectations for a particular reason. Once they are removed across all the ships then I wouldnt tip any extra as it defeats the object of including them in the price. If everyone still tipped extra then butlers/stewards and waiters would become to expect it as the norm and are then getting tipped twice.

I take your point entirely, but we've removed the auto tips because they now go straight into P&O coffers without the staff ever seeing them. Staff are paid on performance, regardless of what we pay or don't pay to P&O.

 

I'd still like to give them something though for their good service.

 

All changes shortly of course.

[AndyMichelle]

35 minutes ago, docco said:

I take your point entirely, but we've removed the auto tips because they now go straight into P&O coffers without the staff ever seeing them. Staff are paid on performance, regardless of what we pay or don't pay to P&O.

 

I'd still like to give them something though for their good service.

 

All changes shortly of course.

I think a good guide is what the auto gratuities would have been, so, for instance a 7 night cruise for the 2 of us, we would split the £100 between the relevant crew, although we always find the odd waiter or barman that goes above and beyond that takes us over...

Its nice to see that you still appreciate good service Docco, despite the issues you have had.

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I think a good guide is what the auto gratuities would have been, so, for instance a 7 night cruise for the 2 of us, we would split the £100 between the relevant crew, although we always find the odd waiter or barman that goes above and beyond that takes us over...

Its nice to see that you still appreciate good service Docco, despite the issues you have had.

Andy

Thanks. The ground level staff, as always, are great, but the further up the chain the worse it seems to get. One of the key problems is the total failure to inform and empower customer-facing staff, and senior management is just atrocious.

[arendale1]

When did you remove the auto gratuities? Can it be done at any time? And did you give a reason?

 

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, docco said:

Thanks. The ground level staff, as always, are great, but the further up the chain the worse it seems to get. One of the key problems is the total failure to inform and empower customer-facing staff, and senior management is just atrocious.

It probably highlights P&Os biggest asset, the service staff, very low down the ladder but couldn't be more helpful and professional.

If only they could carry that work ethic and attitude further up the chain, we would all be a lot happier.

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

11 minutes ago, arendale1 said:

When did you remove the auto gratuities? Can it be done at any time? And did you give a reason?

 

It can be done at any point in the cruise but I did it after the complete failure to address the issue which caused the entire ship to lose all the advertised TV channels. They disappeared not long after we left Southampton and they've still not been reinstated.

 

There have also been other issues relating to the state of repair of the ship, and I mentioned those also on the form that has to be completed.

 

I don't want the butler or the steward to suffer though (even though removing the auto gratuities doesn't affect them) so I'd rather see them get a bit extra than allow P&O to profit from their failures.

Edited April 1, 2019 by docco

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, arendale1 said:

When did you remove the auto gratuities? Can it be done at any time? And did you give a reason?

 

As Docco says, it can be done anytime, but we tend to do it early as I believe it is added to your account daily.

You do fill out a basic form but we give the reason as 'we prefer to tip good service individually'.

We always left them on but too many people said the staff did not receive them, so changed our mind.

 

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

5 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

It probably highlights P&Os biggest asset, the service staff, very low down the ladder but couldn't be more helpful and professional.

If only they could carry that work ethic and attitude further up the chain, we would all be a lot happier.

Andy

How very true. The underpaid overworked staff who provide Carnival with high profits are the people keeping the whole show afloat.

 

Middle and senior management is a disgrace though, and basing itself I'm sure on the Ryanair model. 

[arendale1]

Thank you for your replies Andy and docco 🙂

[majortom10]

You ask for them to be removed at reception and you dont have to if you dont want to give a reason why you are cancelling them.

[PrincessPete]

For what it's worth (which probably isn't much with auto gratuities ending soon!) I was told by a middle ranking Officer on our recent 28 nighter on Oriana that over 75% of passengers on our cruise had removed the gratuities. 

Certainly when I removed ours the pile of forms was VERY high!

I can only agree about the service provided by the crew - our waiters and stewardess plus several bar staff were so incredibly helpful that we spent far more on giving them tips than if we had left the auto ones on. And we didn't begrudge a penny of it as the service was so outstanding.

Kind regards Peter

[davemorton]

Has this changed recently please, as I always thought the tips were distributed among the staff and always left tips on.  Im away in a couple of weeks time, and will be tipping in person if this is the case. 

[AndyMichelle]

12 minutes ago, davemorton said:

Has this changed recently please, as I always thought the tips were distributed among the staff and always left tips on.  Im away in a couple of weeks time, and will be tipping in person if this is the case. 

I thought the same, but it seems not.

We removed the tips on our last cruise and tipped directly, as many other passengers seemed to do.

Nobody batted an eyelid at reception and the recipients seemed very happy to receive the cash. They prefer pounds as this is the currency on ship.

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

12 hours ago, davemorton said:

Has this changed recently please, as I always thought the tips were distributed among the staff and always left tips on.  Im away in a couple of weeks time, and will be tipping in person if this is the case. 

It's changed in the last year or so. Not one penny of the auto gratuities goes directly to the staff. Removing them does not affect them in any way.

 

Anything you give them personally is a bonus. 

[jeanlyon]

Agree.  I have always removed the tips and paid personally.  Will be glad when they are no longer there and I can do as I like.

[vwgolf]

Well this is all news to me! I've always left the auto-tips on in the (now mistaken) belief that these were distributed to the crew, including those that don't normally get tips. If this is not the case then I shall definitely ask for them to be removed and give tips personally to the stewards and serving staff.

[terrierjohn]

8 minutes ago, vwgolf said:

Well this is all news to me! I've always left the auto-tips on in the (now mistaken) belief that these were distributed to the crew, including those that don't normally get tips. If this is not the case then I shall definitely ask for them to be removed and give tips personally to the stewards and serving staff.

This has long been a contentious issue, but I think the fact that P&O have eventually agreed that gratuities are no longer required just confirms my view that the auto grats had no real impact on wage levels, and were solely there to bolster the cruise line profits.

[NSWP]

Auto tips are finished from May.  Now included in cruise fare and non negotiable.  Probably because may pax removed them.

[miaandmum]

i sail on saturday and will remove auto gratuities.  should i tip daily or is there an envelope left out on the last night?

[daiB]

On 4/2/2019 at 9:38 AM, docco said:

It's changed in the last year or so. Not one penny of the auto gratuities goes directly to the staff. Removing them does not affect them in any way.

 

Anything you give them personally is a bonus. 

No nothing changed last year at all. There were some deluded people who tried to persuade everyone that they had inside information that the auto tips did not go to the staff. This was wrong. 

 

But I am glad it’s changed as it stops all the chatter from those who would not tip and wanted to ease their conscience by persuading others that the staff did not get the tips. Which of course they did.

[daiB]

On 4/4/2019 at 12:48 PM, vwgolf said:

Well this is all news to me! I've always left the auto-tips on in the (now mistaken) belief that these were distributed to the crew, including those that don't normally get tips. If this is not the case then I shall definitely ask for them to be removed and give tips personally to the stewards and serving staff.

The auto tips are given to the people you want to tip the cabin stewards and waiters. Remember they were brought in to deal with freedom dining as people would not tip their waiters every nigh as they changed tables.

 

All the garbage about the staff not getting the tips was put forward by those who did not like tipping at all.

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

All the garbage about the staff not getting the tips was put forward by those who did not like tipping at all.

This was never supposed to start all that argument again - I thought, like most people, that the point had finally been accepted.

 

However, since it seems to have passed you by, and just for the record, the auto-tips go straight into P&O coffers to increase profits and therefore dividend payments to Carnival shareholders (so as one of those, thanks for the contributions!).

 

They do not go to the staff - staff are now paid according to customer feedback (which is why they're so keen to get 100% feedback) and what they get does not depend in any way on whether or not a customer leaves the auto-tips in place.

 

In fact, removing the auto-tips and handing them instead to the staff (as we did) actually improves the very low pay of the staff because they get the money instead of Carnival shareholders - in addition to their bonus payments based on feedback.