Service Reward Letter

Us too ! When we booked they were £6 are they now £7 ? I am going to change them if that is the case back down to £6 because that is what we were told when we booked and we have had no notification that it has changed.

That's fine, as it's optional you can change the amount to what you like.

We remove the AG and pay individually as that's what we've always done.

Having said that you may end up with a letter trying to persuade you otherwise which is the subject of this thread.:)

Interesting conversations! Our own beef about the AGs is that when you make a booking they are one price then are hiked up before the cruise. We were never informed that the £6.00 per person per day had increased to £7.00 per person per day though some people seem to have been advised. Seriously considering altering the AGs to reflect the amount in force at the time of booking.

Actually I'm a little confused now.:confused:

I must admit that I thought they had increased AG to £7.00 pp a little while ago. However I have just checked my on board statement from our recent Oceana cruise last month and it is showing at £6.00 pp.

Also, in our 'Your Holiday Information booklet for that cruise under Service Reward Programme it also says £6.00pp.

So has it literally just gone up to £7.00pp or is it still £6.00pp?

A couple of weeks ago, on Arcadia, our onboard account showed auto gratuities were £6 per day, not £7. I didn’t question why but as always, I left them on and paid waiters and steward a little extra in cash for the excellent service we received.

Thank you for that info. We board Aurora on Saturday so will be interesting to see what happens.

P&O increased the AG to £7.00 pp after we booked our cruise last year, but to be fair our TA did inform us of the change.

As per my previous post I am not sure now whether we were informed by our TA that the increase was to £6.00 or £7.00pp.

However, I do remember receiving an email from our TA at the time informing us of an increase.

Interesting conversations! Our own beef about the AGs is that when you make a booking they are one price then are hiked up before the cruise. We were never informed that the £6.00 per person per day had increased to £7.00 per person per day though some people seem to have been advised. Seriously considering altering the AGs to reflect the amount in force at the time of booking.

You are free to do whatever you feel is correct. P & O Has proved that they are not being truthful here, they state letters have stopped, but members here still getting them, they say can be removed at guest services but then feel they can question the removals.

No one should feel bad about doing what they believe is right, no one should ever allow a Cruise Line. a member here or any business to push you around. If you feel the 6 pounds is the correct number that is your choice and unquestionable.

No one should feel bad about doing what they believe is right, no one should ever allow a Cruise Line. a member here or any business to push you around. If you feel the 6 pounds is the correct number that is your choice and unquestionable.

Exactly, if you decide to remove the AG altogether (as it doesn't have any impact on the staff whether you pay it or not) then that is fine as well.

You are free to do whatever you feel is correct. P & O Has proved that they are not being truthful here, they state letters have stopped, but members here still getting them, they say can be removed at guest services but then feel they can question the removals.

 

No one should feel bad about doing what they believe is right, no one should ever allow a Cruise Line. a member here or any business to push you around. If you feel the 6 pounds is the correct number that is your choice and unquestionable.

If people are removing autogratuities almost as soon as they set foot on the ship as it appears some do, they are doing so without having any evidence of the work of their waiter and cabin steward. I see nothing wrong if, later in the cruise, when they have such evidence, they are given a reminder that they have removed or reduced auto gratuities and the opportunity to revisit their decision. I am sure those who spout legal jargon on these boards would be outraged at being judged with no evidence to support the judgement.

I am confident that those who pay their autogratuities, and if some are to be believed, subsidise those who don’t, agree that those who don’t pay, regardless of whether they ‘give an envelope’ or not, are given the chance to revisit their hasty decision.

If people are removing autogratuities almost as soon as they set foot on the ship as it appears some do, they are doing so without having any evidence of the work of their waiter and cabin steward. I see nothing wrong if, later in the cruise, when they have such evidence, they are given a reminder that they have removed or reduced auto gratuities and the opportunity to revisit their decision. I am sure those who spout legal jargon on these boards would be outraged at being judged with no evidence to support the judgement.

I am confident that those who pay their autogratuities, and if some are to be believed, subsidise those who don’t, agree that those who don’t pay, regardless of whether they ‘give an envelope’ or not, are given the chance to revisit their hasty decision.

I was fully intending to pay AG’s on my cruise next month until I read the thread from an insider (now removed) detailing exactly how P&O distributed (or not) them. I can’t say anything else about it or this post will be removed as well, but suffice to know that I was so appalled and disturbed that I’ve now decided to remove AG’s and pay the equivalent, or more, tips in cash directly to those who deserve it.

If people are removing autogratuities almost as soon as they set foot on the ship as it appears some do, they are doing so without having any evidence of the work of their waiter and cabin steward. I see nothing wrong if, later in the cruise, when they have such evidence, they are given a reminder that they have removed or reduced auto gratuities and the opportunity to revisit their decision. I am sure those who spout legal jargon on these boards would be outraged at being judged with no evidence to support the judgement.

I am confident that those who pay their autogratuities, and if some are to be believed, subsidise those who don’t, agree that those who don’t pay, regardless of whether they ‘give an envelope’ or not, are given the chance to revisit their hasty decision.

I don't see any link between the AGs and service so it is perfectly reasonable to remove them as you set foot onboard.

In fact I would be tempted to write to P&O in advance requesting them not to be added in the first place.

Actually I'm a little confused now.:confused:

I must admit that I thought they had increased AG to £7.00 pp a little while ago. However I have just checked my on board statement from our recent Oceana cruise last month and it is showing at £6.00 pp.

Also, in our 'Your Holiday Information booklet for that cruise under Service Reward Programme it also says £6.00pp.

So has it literally just gone up to £7.00pp or is it still £6.00pp?

Our on board statement for our April cruise on Azura shows £98 for each of us, so £7 pppn applied on 14th April (first sea day after leaving Southampton). It looks like P&O are being as inconsistent as usual :mad:.

I don't see any link between the AGs and service so it is perfectly reasonable to remove them as you set foot onboard.

 

In fact I would be tempted to write to P&O in advance requesting them not to be added in the first place.

Just because you don’t see a link between autogratuities and service does not mean no link exists.

I agree that as the system is set up at the moment, it is reasonable for people to remove autogratuities if they so desire. In my view, it is also reasonable for P&O to offer them the opportunity to reconsider later in the cruise. A simple letter seems to be a reasonable way to do this. It is interesting that you seem to think a letter asking for autogratuities not to be added in the first place is acceptable but not a letter giving people the opportunity to reinstate them when they have had the chance to assess the work of those who receive them.

Presumably, as on this and other threads, you appear to be critical of much that P&O offer, in the future, you will find an alternative holiday or cruise company that come closer to offering you what you want.

Our on board statement for our April cruise on Azura shows £98 for each of us, so £7 pppn applied on 14th April (first sea day after leaving Southampton). It looks like P&O are being as inconsistent as usual :mad:.

Thanks for the information.

Ok. Looking again at my On Board Account Statement it does show £49.00 pp pn for our 7 night cruise on Oceana 12th-19th April.

Therefore £7.00 pp pn, sorry about my previous basic maths error.:o

However Our Holiday Information Booklet for that cruise does state £6.00 pp pd.

Anyway, it looks like it is now and should be 7.00 pp pn.

Just because you don’t see a link between autogratuities and service does not mean no link exists.

I agree that as the system is set up at the moment, it is reasonable for people to remove autogratuities if they so desire. In my view, it is also reasonable for P&O to offer them the opportunity to reconsider later in the cruise. A simple letter seems to be a reasonable way to do this. It is interesting that you seem to think a letter asking for autogratuities not to be added in the first place is acceptable but not a letter giving people the opportunity to reinstate them when they have had the chance to assess the work of those who receive them.

Presumably, as on this and other threads, you appear to be critical of much that P&O offer, in the future, you will find an alternative holiday or cruise company that come closer to offering you what you want.

How very nicely put. Apart from those people who prefer to pay with envelopes, I've wondered why people remove a service charge before they've experienced the service. So the letter does give people the opportunity to rethink what they want to do. I know the cynics on here believe that P&O are ripping us off but no-one has any real proof of that. The poster whose thread was removed could be as was suggested by someone simply a member of staff with an axe to grind. I do remember him saying that he didn't think going back to the old system was a good idea, because today's clientele were not inclined to tip.

If people are removing autogratuities almost as soon as they set foot on the ship as it appears some do, they are doing so without having any evidence of the work of their waiter and cabin steward. I see nothing wrong if, later in the cruise, when they have such evidence, they are given a reminder that they have removed or reduced auto gratuities and the opportunity to revisit their decision. I am sure those who spout legal jargon on these boards would be outraged at being judged with no evidence to support the judgement.

I am confident that those who pay their autogratuities, and if some are to be believed, subsidise those who don’t, agree that those who don’t pay, regardless of whether they ‘give an envelope’ or not, are given the chance to revisit their hasty decision.

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J

Presumably, as on this and other threads, you appear to be critical of much that P&O offer, in the future, you will find an alternative holiday or cruise company that come closer to offering you what you want.

I am perfectly happy with what P&O deliver, so see no reason not to travel with them again (as I have done many times in the past).

For me they deliver a 'cheap & cheerful' product; nothing fancy, but can be picked up for quite reasonable prices.

However unlike some I don't see the staff deliver more than an average 3* service, but at the right price that is fine.

If you don’t remove auto gratuities then you reach your ‘no onboard credit left’ limit sooner and then qualify for 5%, 7.5% or 10% loyalty discount on further sales. May be worth considering if you are thinking about a large purchase in one of the shops.:-)

If you can find anything worth buying in the ship's shops, then please let us know. Overpriced tat in my opinion.

If you don’t remove auto gratuities then you reach your ‘no onboard credit left’ limit sooner and then qualify for 5%, 7.5% or 10% loyalty discount on further sales. May be worth considering if you are thinking about a large purchase in one of the shops.:-)

I suspect that the 100% discount for those whose On Board Credit has remained through removing the service charge might be more appealing for many ;)

I suspect that the 100% discount for those whose On Board Credit has remained through removing the service charge might be more appealing for many ;)

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Our on board statement for our April cruise on Azura shows £98 for each of us, so £7 pppn applied on 14th April (first sea day after leaving Southampton). It looks like P&O are being as inconsistent as usual :mad:.

The same amounts apply to Celebrity too.

And I don’t begrudge the staff one penny of that and reward others during the cruise as and when they deserve if.

Shortly sailing on Cunard and $11.50 pppd will be added, so that’s approximately £8.52 pppd. Again these will be added automatically and I wouldn’t dream of removing them.

We started cruising when envelopes were the only way of distributing gratuities and we hated it.

Firstly, having to have that amount of cash (especially exchanging £s to $) available was a pain, secondly having to track down your servers on the last night (they are busy enough to stop and chat imho), especially if not dining in the MDR on the last night was a tiresome exercise, and thirdly, waiting for your stateroom attendant on the last evening to be able to reward them personally and saying thanks (leaving an enevlope on the dresser is far too impersonal for us) impacts on our final night on board.

So any process of auto or pre paid gratuity is welcomed by us. Interestingly NCL now include gratuity in their ‘Inclusive’ fares and we don’t find them any more expensive when you add in those for RCI or Celebrity for a comparable cruise.

We’ve never experienced sub standard service that would warrant removal of a gratuity over 14 years of cruising, 28 sailings, 6 cruise lines (RCI, Celebrity, MSC, NCL, Carnival & P&O) except for P&O, but that was a weekend sailing and so I’ll reserve judgement until our next one. Although the poor service on that sailing was from bar staff, dining room hosts (not the wait staff), and guest services and of course they are not included in the gratuity being discussed here.

The purpose of this post is to try and provide some sort of comparison in the cost of gratuities on P&O compared to other lines.

Oh dear, it's so easy. We tip our Cabin Steward on the penultimate night - they are always around then. As to the waiters, they are also there on the last night. As to taking cash, I draw the cash from Reception 2 days before we get home. There is no extra charge on my credit card for drawing cash. Lastly, if the cabin steward isn't around, you simply leave an envelope on the bed with his name on it. That's what my friend does who travels alone.

If tips were included in the upfront cost, wouldn't you still give a little tip. We would.

If you don’t remove auto gratuities then you reach your ‘no onboard credit left’ limit sooner and then qualify for 5%, 7.5% or 10% loyalty discount on further sales. May be worth considering if you are thinking about a large purchase in one of the shops.:-)

Some people don't get on-board credit, so have to pay AG's themselves.

Well seems like a bargain to me for a 14 night sailing, we’ve just had £153.79 pp (£307.58 for both of us) added to an upcoming 14 night sailing on RCI, which equates to £10.99 pppd. That’s up from £10.62 pppd. So £196 for 2 people seems a bargain to me.

Sailing with two kids on RCI and Celebrity costs us an additional $812 in grats. That's over $400 to clean our cabin. Not a bad craic for cleaning a cabin for a fortnight. :o

Just because you don’t see a link between autogratuities and service does not mean no link exists.

I agree that as the system is set up at the moment, it is reasonable for people to remove autogratuities if they so desire. In my view, it is also reasonable for P&O to offer them the opportunity to reconsider later in the cruise. A simple letter seems to be a reasonable way to do this. It is interesting that you seem to think a letter asking for autogratuities not to be added in the first place is acceptable but not a letter giving people the opportunity to reinstate them when they have had the chance to assess the work of those who receive them.

Presumably, as on this and other threads, you appear to be critical of much that P&O offer, in the future, you will find an alternative holiday or cruise company that come closer to offering you what you want.

But PO think it reasonable to ADD be fore one has had chance to experience the cruise. Or do we take AG off for the day we did have bad service.

But why ask people to re-consider if, as PO say, staff get the same amount and removing AG does not affect what they get? Unle ss ofcourse it means that PO have to stump up t o pay what is missing in AG pot or actually have to pay their wages not relying mostly on AG from guests.

Just to add I will gladly tip good service, I will not gladly increase PO profits, as the deleted email was intimating.

Sailing with two kids on RCI and Celebrity costs us an additional $812 in grats. That's over $400 to clean our cabin. Not a bad craic for cleaning a cabin for a fortnight. :o