Increase in Hotel and Dining Service Charge (aka Auto-Gratuities)

[majortom10]

15 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

For heavens sake, it was over a quarter of a century ago.

 

Times move on and if you still feel the guilt you must gave felt nearly twenty seven years ago then, well, I don't know what to say other then it's on you to stop feeling a totally unnecessary guilty feeling because you are the only one who can stop it.

 

 

 

I do not feel anything with regards to what happened 27yrs ago my point was to prove that Cunard do muddy the waters and make people feel guilty and have done for years because it is in their interest. The more that cruiser's pay the less they can get away with paying in wages and boost their profits.

[Victoria2]

10 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I do not feel anything with regards to what happened 27yrs ago my point was to prove that Cunard do muddy the waters and make people feel guilty and have done for years because it is in their interest. The more that cruiser's pay the less they can get away with paying in wages and boost their profits.

The only people who feel guilty are those who choose to feel guilty. No one is making them so yet again, up to the individual to feel guilty, or not.

 

In red. Yet another bold statement.

 

Please can I see the proof. The concrete proof and not a major tom fudge.,

[Victoria2]

25 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I agree with you that they should just fold it into the price like P&O do. Perhaps one thing Paul Ludlow could bring it that would go down well!

That would be great. Maybe one day it might happen.

 

[exlondoner]

55 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

What everyone seems to be forgetting is also on top of tips, gratuities or hotel and dining service charge or whatever you want to call it is the charge of 15% on every drink and is also that to be increased as well which would not surprise me.

Well a lot of lines do charge more I believe.

[seasickphil]

I do believe that for most people , the best scenario is like most other cruise lines do presently and that is factor the gratuities into the headline price, that way it takes away much of what is being said now on here, then all of the crew get their tips and us passengers are still paying for them but without all this hoo-ha.

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

I do believe that for most people , the best scenario is like most other cruise lines do presently and that is factor the gratuities into the headline price, that way it takes away much of what is being said now on here, then all of the crew get their tips and us passengers are still paying for them but without all this hoo-ha.

Seems very sensible. In my 1997 brochure tips are included, but there was a different add on, something called port charges.

[D&N]

See if I can remember the points I picked up from recent posts.....

 

I did not forget the 15% on drinks, coffees, hot chocolate and certain teas.

If we go to a cafe for tea/coffee or we go to a lounge and we are served at a table we tip accordingly. It might not be 15% although when giving a round figure it could sometimes be more.

 

I would agree with any move to have the gratuities included in the overall fare paid in advance and then it doesn't need to be included in the onboard spend bill. If you want to additionally reward excellent individual service that is totally your choice.

 

What makes comparisons with land based holidays difficult is that most people wouldn't take a land based trip that resembles a cruise or crossing. Living in a seaside resort the only sort of land trip we might take is a city break, we're going to Rome with friends this year. We have a decent Airbnb near Trevi and will make our own breakfast in the apartment. Lunch is likely to be something quick in between sight seeing. Dinner probably somewhere different each night. The service in most places won't compare with Cunard, although I'm confident we'll enjoy the food. But overall we'll tip far less because the service won't warrant it.

 

 

[Solent Richard]

37 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

I do believe that for most people , the best scenario is like most other cruise lines do presently and that is factor the gratuities into the headline price, that way it takes away much of what is being said now on here, then all of the crew get their tips and us passengers are still paying for them but without all this hoo-ha.

Well on those cruise lines that have adopted this policy it certainly has reduced the queues (Lines for those who prefer) at reception on day one to have them removed.

 

 

[seasickphil]

3 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Well on those cruise lines that have adopted this policy it certainly has reduced the queues (Lines for those who prefer) at reception on day one to have them removed.

 

 

Also like that the crew then get properly rewarded.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

I do not feel anything with regards to what happened 27yrs ago my point was to prove that Cunard do muddy the waters and make people feel guilty and have done for years because it is in their interest. The more that cruiser's pay the less they can get away with paying in wages and boost their profits.

You do rather make it sound as if boosting their profits is inherently bad. Surely it is one of the major things companies should be doing?

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

Also like that the crew then get properly rewarded.

If they do.

[Solent Richard]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

You do rather make it sound as if boosting their profits is inherently bad. Surely it is one of the major things companies should be doing?

Well yes. And that includes our shareholder dividends which I guess we all anxiously await their return.

[seasickphil]

59 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

If they do.

Are you saying cruise lines don't pass on prepaid gratuities to their crew?

[exlondoner]

6 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

Are you saying cruise lines don't pass on prepaid gratuities to their crew?

I assume they do.  If I don’t think it is any more likely with one system than another.

[corporate services]

Take the charges off if you don't agree with them.  I will be taking them off and tipping as I see fit

[seasickphil]

3 minutes ago, corporate services said:

Take the charges off if you don't agree with them.  I will be taking them off and tipping as I see fit

If you do that then the non frontline staff ( cleaners, chefs/kitchen staff etc ) have to survive on the poor basic pay.

[Host Hattie]

3 hours ago, tacticalbanjo said:

I agree with you that they should just fold it into the price like P&O do. Perhaps one thing Paul Ludlow could bring it that would go down well!

I disagree, it is a part of the total cost of the holiday but I'd rather pay at the end of the cruise rather than 3 months before. 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

You do rather make it sound as if boosting their profits is inherently bad. Surely it is one of the major things companies should be doing?

Not under the impression that hotel and dining service charge increase as always been direct payment to staff when clearly it doesn't. Cunard should not take any percentage of that charge but I am convinced they do. Also there is the long held belief, told to me by member of staff, that they have a guaranteed minimum guaranteed wage written into their contracts and if it is not received in tips then Cunard have to make good that promise. Therefore it is in Cunard's interest that cruiser's pay the charges so they don't have to and so increasing profits. Unfortunately Cunard like many cruise lines muddy the waters about tips and is like a secret society. Why don't they just come clean add gratuities to cruise fare so we all pay them and then if staff receive extra from guests in cash they can keep it.

[majortom10]

29 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

If you do that then the non frontline staff ( cleaners, chefs/kitchen staff etc ) have to survive on the poor basic pay.

Then that is a problem Cunard will have to sort out by giving them a decent wage instead of relying on customers as it is not our problem.

[seasickphil]

10 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Then that is a problem Cunard will have to sort out by giving them a decent wage instead of relying on customers as it is not our problem.

It could become a problem, the reason being is if more people remove gratuities then the backroom staff would presumably move on to cruise lines that pay more. While this would be Cunard's problem it could also have a detrimental effect on services provided to us, giving us passengers a worse product. So in reality we all miss out.

[NE John]

Actually, non-US and US non-grill Cunard pax can reverse the Charge. Those under the US Grills Charge waiver pay more than UK Grills pax but we cannot reverse a charge that we never incurred. I cannot call Cunard and ask them to reduce my Grills fare by taking off the Charge waiver allowance. 
Bottom line, I’d rather have the UK way of paying a lower Grills fare and having the option of keeping the Charge or not and paying more tips as needed. 
As for Cunard’s making profits, umm… without Carnival/Cunard making profits, we’d all be out of luck. 

[corporate services]

1 hour ago, seasickphil said:

If you do that then the non frontline staff ( cleaners, chefs/kitchen staff etc ) have to survive on the poor basic pay.

Sorry, but its not my job to pay Cunard's staff.  Carnival should pay their staff a living wage.

[D&N]

For most of my life I've been bemused by a very quaint British disease that causes many people to believe that profit is evil.

 

I've just had a look at a few independent analysis sites views on CCL.

Yes they are back in profit, but debt is so high that it will likely take eight to ten years to pay down to sensible levels. That of course assumes that they don't run into another headwind like a pandemic or major war. Their last dividend was paid in March 2020 and I can't find any indication that it will resume soon.

 

I might have been tempted to buy some stock for the OBC but we'll only be making one 14 night trip per year at most and gains on non European shares are not treated favourably by the tax authorities in France.

[babs135]

We all know the adage 'the straw that breaks the camel's back'. Could this be one of those straws?  Yes, as many of us have said (myself included) If you can afford to cruise you can afford the gratuities, but there comes a point when this could no longer be true. 

A pound here and a pound there soon adds up and if they increase the 15% on drinks that could be the final nail in the coffin for attracting new cruisers. Maybe I'm being overdramatic but I'm sure you get my drift.

It really is time the gratuities were included in the fare then we wouldn't constantly have these discussions

 

 

[corporate services]

5 minutes ago, babs135 said:

We all know the adage 'the straw that breaks the camel's back'. Could this be one of those straws?  Yes, as many of us have said (myself included) If you can afford to cruise you can afford the gratuities, but there comes a point when this could no longer be true. 

A pound here and a pound there soon adds up and if they increase the 15% on drinks that could be the final nail in the coffin for attracting new cruisers. Maybe I'm being overdramatic but I'm sure you get my drift.

It really is time the gratuities were included in the fare then we wouldn't constantly have these discussions

 

 

Totally agree with you.