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

[exlondoner]

7 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I know I've mentioned this before but the only packages we buy are the bin end of six offers Cunard have occasionally and then it depends on the wines involved.

On one cruise, our table of eight did our best to demolish the whole offer, so good were the prices on excellent wines.

 

Presumably you don’t find out about these until on board. Do you have to ask about them?

[Victoria2]

24 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Presumably you don’t find out about these until on board. Do you have to ask about them?

Our wine waiter told us about them.

 

In all our days onboard, we've only come across this three times so not very common. The prices were excellent so I was reliably informed by husband and fellow table mates, eg red wine drinkers.

 

My tastes are less sophisticated and fairly narrow so I know little on wine prices as I usually stick to the wines I like. 🙂

 

[buchanan101]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, it always strikes me that they could stop giving obc, and just say gratuities included, probably saving a lot of anguish and fruitless discussion.

They use it as a perk, and change the value of it ...

 

Talking of perks, or parking... Is parking with the Cunard approved parking company at Southampton the best way to go - it's £152 for 7 nights.  I had looked at staying at the Hilton at the cricket ground and taking advantage of their offer for parking, but by the time you add in taxis... just easier (and probably cheaper over) to stay and drive in the next morning.. and quicker to get away after the cruise

 

Edited April 5 by buchanan101

[Victoria2]

Just now, buchanan101 said:

They use it as a perk, and change the value of it ...

 

Talking of perks, or parking... Is parking with the Cunard approved parking company at Southampton the best way to go - it's £152 for 7 days.  had looked at staying at the Hilton at the cricket ground and taking advantage of their offer for parking, but by the time you add in taxis... just easier (and probably cheaper over) to stay and drive in the next morning.. and quicker to get away after the cruise

 

I have no idea on other prices as we never thought of using any other but CPS, as you say, Cunard approved parking.

It's extremely convenient and if you cruise out of one terminal and return to another, your car will be moved for you.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

They use it as a perk, and change the value of it ...

 

Talking of perks, or parking... Is parking with the Cunard approved parking company at Southampton the best way to go - it's £152 for 7 nights.  I had looked at staying at the Hilton at the cricket ground and taking advantage of their offer for parking, but by the time you add in taxis... just easier (and probably cheaper over) to stay and drive in the next morning.. and quicker to get away after the cruise

 

CPS parking is excellent, reliable, and convenient, and everybody smiles, and I would not hesitate to recommend it. But, for the first time for years, we are not using it, because it is about £50 (+ cost of petrol) cheaper for us to get a taxi from and to Bournemouth. Obviously this is only the case with a fairly longish cruise and a shortish journey. For our seven nighter last year, CPS won hands down.

[DCThunder]

Am I correct that there is no ability to pre-pay the auto gratuities?  If so, can it be done via the website?

[Classiccruiser777]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:13 AM, Windsurfboy said:

You can still pay rate applicable at the time of booking if you choose 

Or have the entire service charge removed.

[Host Hattie]

31 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

Am I correct that there is no ability to pre-pay the auto gratuities?  If so, can it be done via the website?

No, they are added to your on board account. 

[david63]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, it always strikes me that they could stop giving obc, and just say gratuities included, probably saving a lot of anguish and fruitless discussion.

I would guess that the main reason for leaving gratuities as an "add on" is to appease our friends from across the pond

[D&N]

4 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Packages seem way too expensive as you'd have to get quite merry to break even on them.

Hopefully we are merry throughout all our waking hours. Life's too short to be sour faced. 🙂

 

You may have seen my recent breakdown of our likely spend. I don't expect five alcoholic drinks in a day to affect us much.

[D&N]

4 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

My OBC firstly covers tips - which was how this thread started; get given $300 by Cunard only to give most of it back..

I wish.

At least ten-fold in my experience!

[2BACRUISER]

On 4/5/2024 at 10:30 AM, buchanan101 said:

My OBC firstly covers tips - which was how this thread started; get given $300 by Cunard only to give most of it back...

This is exactly what our OBC is used for our next 11nt trip.in Brittania works out at $29 a day for 2 of us so we got $330 each OBC so one lot of it will cover gratuities and the rest go towards our drinks bill cheers 🥂🍾

[BklynBoy8]

Ours goes for drinks, laundry by the ship, tours, etc.....