Big Stevie

Well I cant see why not surely if some people are taking them off altogether then having people pay a set amount is better than nothing. Yes I shall be visiting the reception desk and reducing ours.

 

Also during our last cruise on Ventura we paid the full auto tips and tipped the cabin steward, after reading the posts in this topic we will now not be doing tipping the cabin steward.

I guess different people auto tip for completely different reasons, with each person having their own belief as to what happens to them. Perhaps most mistakingly believe they get evenly distributed amongst all staff. At least those who read this thread will have a better insight into the auto tipping process.

Personally this thread is swaying me from my initial stance of removing the auto tips, to now seriously considering leaving them on.

In our case we booked a cruise in early February before the rise in the tips was announced, I am annoyed that P&O did not say that anyone who had booked previous to the announcement of the tips rising to £5 pppd could pay the original price of £3.95 pppd. To me it shows a lack of respect and is poor customer service.

 

So I intend when we cruise in July to ensure we only pay the £3.95 pp and after that fair enough £5.

Thats a fair point for anyone not happy with the price increase since making their booking, and is an option that I hadn't thought of. I assume you could visit the reception desk onboard and reduce the auto tip to whatever amount you choose? As you say, you could then pay the £5 fee on any future cruise.

kruzseeka & Brian, Thanks for the info regarding excursions, I am copy/pasting everything onto a word document which I will print off and take with me. :)

Stevie - I've been following this thread but can't remember whether you told us where you are going...

Im doing a 14 night Mediterranean cruise from Southampton.

Vigo, Spain • Lisbon, Portugal • Gibraltar, Gibraltar • Monte Carlo, Monaco • Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy • Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy • Ajaccio, Corsica • Seville (Cadiz), Spain • Southampton, United Kingdom

As far as your organised excursions go - I find it is often very easy, more satisfying and very much cheaper to adopt a DiY approach...

As for excursions, I have prebooked a Rome excursion to the Colosseum as this is a place weve wanted to see for years, and due to the transfer time from port to Rome I didn't want to risk missing the ship!!!

As for the others, I will certainly be doing DIY trips when in Gibraltar and Monaco as these are closer to port. Some of the other destinations I have no knowledge of, so may just do a DIY bus tour as you suggest, or even stay on the ship and relax???

google project seaside 1

Just out of interest Stevie, and feel free to tell me it's none of my bussiness, but earlier you wrote this.

 

"But now Im seriously thinking about removing them, and using the money for an excursion for my wife and 8 yr old son"

 

So have you decided to lose one excursion to pay the tips.

To be honest Im still not sure what to do. I made that comment when not knowing anything about how auto tips work, but this thread has opened my eyes a little. But we are still on a tight budget so haven't decided what to do yet. If we leave the auto tips on then I'm quite sure we won't be giving any additional tips away thats for sure.

what they are really keen on is an excellent on the cruise satisfaction form.

Well thats another mystery isn't it. Is this bonus made up from tips? Or is it paid by P&O as a way of topping up their wages if excellent service has been delivered?

Complicated!

 

so theoretically who gets a higher 'salary', a waiter or a steward?

Sounds like the MDR waiters get a lower basic wage but they have the ability to earn more through auto tips, and any extra tips guests give them.

Self service staff earn £200/month and not a penny more (seeing as auto tips dont reach them).

From this thread I think we can summarise as follows..

Main Dining Room waiters and cabin stewards are the only staff that receive the auto tips.

However, they in turn will tip other members of staff (referred to as 'fixing up') that help them do their job, such as the dishwashers that clean and return the waiters silverware (which apparently the waiter owns?) and laundry staff that prepare the clean sheets etc and have them ready for the cabin stewards. Whether the MDR waiters and cabin stewards 'fix up' with anyone else remains unclear, but highly likely. So the tips that the waiters and cabin stewards receive are partly distributed to certain other staff, assuming they themselves have worked well.

There are obviously lots of other staff who probably aren't at the receiving end of any tips, they are just doing their job for whatever salary they get, whether we think thats a low salary or not. It seems that guests that leave auto tips on in the belief that they get spread amongst every member of staff are wrong.

.

Ive read that some folk carry their suits as hand luggage, but this means they have to carry them around the ship with them until their cabin is ready.

Others fold their suit at the last possible minute and put in their suitcase. Once their cases arrive at their cabin they hang their suit up, with minimal creasing.

After 300+ nights at sea I cannot remember any bad service...

Christ on a bike :eek:. 300 nights at see, where were you going? Surely the ship would need to dock somewhere for fuel? :D

The other question regarding auto tips is whether your cabin steward knows that you have elected to pay by this method, or are they non the wiser?

The point is the tips are not tips, they are part of the crews salary. Do what Thomson do, include them in the fare. They are not itemised seperately and as such you can't get them removed. In other words the basic salary is higher. The crew are very happy about this as they have more guaranteed pay and know if they offer excellent service the passengers might well tip them anyway.

 

It seems that P&O want to have a complex solution when a simple one is available.

 

If you get bad service tell the supervisor, thats part of their job.

It may well be part of their salary, but it is a part of their salary that they should only get if they deliver a satisfactory service. Surely if they don't deliver this then they don't deserve that part of their salary? As long as they do their job to a suitable standard then they won't loose out?

The problem with including tips with the cost of the cruise is that it ceases to be discretionary and instead becomes compulsory. Would you be able to get the tips refunded if you received bad service?

Sounds great. I ate at a carvery restaurant last night in preparation for all of the eating I'll be doing on the cruise :D

That explains it then, thanks. So I assume on my cruise that they are the only two restaurants that I'm able to book in advance online?

When trying to book our cruise recently using the P&O website I kept getting the message that my cabin type had sold out. But when doing so via travel agents websites I was able to book.

So do a percentage of cabins get reserved by TA's?

Thanks. I think the buffet would be better for our 8yr old son.

But I do want to experience some of the other restaurants such as the White Room etc. But my personaliser only appears to have two restaurants available.

Well it probably depends upon the cruise but if you want a specific day it might be wise to. On my Oriana cruise I tried to book 7pm and it was booked up every day at that time!

Thanks Sue, so do customers book in advance online, or can it only be done when embarking?

Tell me off if im teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, but do remember your restaurant allocation is for dinner only - you can use any MDR thats open for breakfast and lunch. I have heard of people who thought as 'their' restaurant was closed they were only 'allowed' to use the buffet during the day.

 

Im slightly biased as I think lunch is the meal P&O do best :D

No your not teaching me to suck eggs, I have next to zero knowledge of life on a cruise ship. So your saying I can dine at any restaurant for breakfast and lunch, even the posh ones where you pay extra? Assuming there is a vacancy?

Lynn's revelations seem to make it nonsense that money only goes to waiters and cabin stewards. Perhaps one of the reasons for introducing the auto-tip was to get rid of the antiquated procedures she describes and ensure those behind the scenes get their fair share.

Personally I think that the system referred to in Lynn's revelations make perfect sense, and I hope it continues. Our tips (whether auto or personal) go to a certain few, but in turn they are handed down and distributed amongst other staff.

If the laundry guys do a good job of cleaning the bedding and returning it to the cabin stewards then they in turn help the cabin stewards do their job. The cabin stewards get tips and each hand a small amount to the laundry guys. Assuming that this system works for them, then it works well for me.

In any case, I've now gone from wanting to cancel my auto tips to wanting to keep them on.

The waiters/assistant waiters and cabin stewards all get to keep their tips.

However,There are "Taxes" to be paid. Not to any government body, but to the maitre d, and to the cleaner etc.

Its a small sum paid by each waiter.busboy, but the money does go to some of the people behind the scenes.

 

When i was "Friends" with a Maitre D, I would often stay back and eat with him and some of the dining room staff.

Just to add, What a lovely bunch they are.

 

On the last night,of the cruise (tip night) one senior waiter would be seated at a table, and all the waiters/busboys would call over and pay this small tax. Which in turn would be paid to the maitre d and cleaning staff.

Another "Tax" example, is when the waiter brought his tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen area, you would "Fix up" with the washing up steward,at the end of the cruise, to ensure that your dishes were cleaned, sorted and ready for the waiter to collect.If you didnt pay, in some cases the china/silver belonging to the waiter that didnt pay went "Missing".

 

Its a big list, that goes on, and in addition for the cabin stewards and the chinese laundry guys.

One would bring the linen in trolleys to the different decks/stations and in turn at the end of the cruise, the cabin steward would "Fix Up" with the china man whom does the laundry.

 

Its very much a grey area.

So if you are worried about the money that you give your waiter, Dont be

They really put up with a lot.

bless them

 

 

 

 

 

..

Well that certainly does change my perspective on the matter, thank you. I can understand why such a system isn't made public knowledge to customers. To be honest, I think that's a good system to have in place and is probably steeped in tradition.

Thanks everyone, that explains it nicely.

The White Room is lovely - really special service. You need to book this as soon as you get on board really.

Thanks Sue. Are you saying that all the slots for the 14 days get booked up quickly, and that I need to choose when I want to visit and book on day one?

We have chosen Freedom dining on our Ventura cruise in May, but could someone please clarify the dining options available to us?

With Freedom, is this restricted to a self serve buffet restaurant, or is it in a waiter service restaurant?

I also understand that there are more exclusive restaurants onboard - White Room etc. Is there an additional charge for these restaurants, and can we just turn up on the night and get a table?

Thanks

Steve :)

We used to cancel them then pay directly to staff but then realised that background staff would miss out - now we just leave the auto tips. Saves thinking of what to give, is anyone being missed? Etc.

But thats perhaps the most contentious issue as I don't believe that any of the tips actually go to the background staff, just the waiters and cabin stewards.

Lots of folk seem to leave the auto tips on in the belief that the background staff will get a share, but my research suggests that they dont. These very same people often post on here criticising those that remove the tips, when they themselves aren't necessarily correct.

p.s. if you are on freedom dining as we are, how can it go to your waiter? Will we not have different ones?

We are on Freedom as well, and yes you will have different waiters. If we have different waiters for each and every meal then I doubt I will be tipping them all. But if we find we get the same waiter more than once, and they give good service, then I shall tip them.

As I see it, we have paid for our cruise and we will have a great time, but I refuse to feel guilty about the earnings of the staff, especially as the whole tipping procedure is clouded in mystery and you don't actually know if your waiter keeps your tip or hands it into a 'pool' of tips to be shared with others.

I see the auto tips as just that - 'tips'. Whether these tips go to making up a decent wage for the cabin steward or waiter is of no great concern to me. They will however get tips from me as long as they provide an expected level of service, and I won't know that until the end of my cruise.

Seeing as these auto tips only go to your cabin steward and waiter, then I will be removing them as soon as I board. If they provide a standard of service I expect then I shall tip them in cash periodically throughout the cruise.

I dont like the idea of tipping in advance, I wouldn't ever walk into a restaurant and tip the waiter straight away, in the hope of getting good service. The waiters and room maids in the UK are on low wages, and I dont tip them in advance either.

 

The only downside with paying "direct" is there are a lot of people who work hard who you don't ever see - kitchen and so on ?

But hasn't it already been established that the auto tips don't go to the kitchen staff or to any of the other 'behind the scenes' staff. They only go to your cabin steward and waiters.