What's going on with P&O UK with TIPPING

Here we go - we are off and running !!!

Please P&O include tips in the price so no more debates on who gets what and how much. In my opinion the most staff do a wonderful job. We have had great conversations with the cabin stewards over the years, but I would not ask them about tips. I have no problem paying the tips and giving extra where someone has earned it. The staff are frightened to admit to anything regarding tips although on our last cruise the cabin steward mentioned several times about the questionnaire at the end of the cruise, marks had to be excellent or else they would not get their bonus.

P&O UK do not include tips in the price, unlike P&O Australia.

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And to address one small point from the OP, no, they do not have to pay for room and board. That is against international law, and UK law (since they are signatory to the Manila Labor Convention), and any crew member who feels his rights under the MLC are being violated can report to any agency in the UK government who will then point them to the proper agency (Maritime and Coast Guard Agency) who have the right to detain the ship until the allegation is investigated and resolved.

Great to know and thank you for the info.

Please P&O include tips in the price so no more debates on who gets what and how much. In my opinion the most staff do a wonderful job. We have had great conversations with the cabin stewards over the years, but I would not ask them about tips. I have no problem paying the tips and giving extra where someone has earned it. The staff are frightened to admit to anything regarding tips although on our last cruise the cabin steward mentioned several times about the questionnaire at the end of the cruise, marks had to be excellent or else they would not get their bonus.

IMHO opinion this is the problem: if P&O treated its cabin stewards fairly and did not make their share of the auto tips dependent on performance, the stewards would not mention it to passengers and there would be no need to speculate. On every P&O cruise we have been on (4 in the last 6 years) the steward has asked us to grade him (we've only had male stewards) as excellent at the end of the cruise, otherwise he won't get the tips. In our experience almost every P&O steward takes great pride in his work, so is this carrot and stick approach really necessary?

From talking to our stewards they have all joined the company because they want to better themselves/earn more money than they would at home/save up money to set up their own business etc. They are on short contracts that are not automatically renewed, so they know if they don't do a good job their time with the company will be short-lived.

We have had the occasional steward who has mentioned the end of cruise questionnaire, but not a regular occurrence.

This was an e-mail response from P&O in March last year explaining how their Service reward scheme worked in relation to auto grats.

If I may explain a little in relation to the gratuities, I can confirm that 5 ranks of staff are included within the Service Reward programme, these include Waiters, Assistant Waiters, Head Waiters, Cabin Stewards and Butlers. Members of staff are rewarded for their individual behaviour and service, along with Team work. Scores that they receive from the end of cruise questionnaires plus comments from their peers and leaders are all taken into consideration and I cannot therefore confirm what specific share they receive, as this would differ depending on individual circumstances. This being said, all staff members are rewarded in the same way regardless of the fact that some passengers within their care may choose to remove the automatic gratuities.

Any tips which you pay to a member of staff directly are theirs to keep and do not need to be declared or pooled with other members of staff.

Clearly it would make far more sense for P&O to include the auto grats in the basic price, they can then do what the heck they want as regards bonus's for excellent service, within any constraints of employment laws.

We have also just returned from the Britannia "Christmas" Cruise. Our cabin steward had no hesitation in telling us that he had worked for P&O for 17 years and he cleaned 18 cabins one of which was a suite. Basically he did the minimum required and did nothing extra for us. We had asked if he could empty the fridge - No. We asked if he could remove the spare life jackets - No. He was quick to tell us that he needed the top mark on the Questionaire so he could receive his share of the tips.

Incidentally he managed to clean a cabin for new passengers in about 20 minutes, no wonder that viral infections were rife around the ship.

I wish they would too.

We have had the occasional steward who has mentioned the end of cruise questionnaire, but not a regular occurrence.

This was an e-mail response from P&O in March last year explaining how their Service reward scheme worked in relation to auto grats.

If I may explain a little in relation to the gratuities, I can confirm that 5 ranks of staff are included within the Service Reward programme, these include Waiters, Assistant Waiters, Head Waiters, Cabin Stewards and Butlers. Members of staff are rewarded for their individual behaviour and service, along with Team work. Scores that they receive from the end of cruise questionnaires plus comments from their peers and leaders are all taken into consideration and I cannot therefore confirm what specific share they receive, as this would differ depending on individual circumstances. This being said, all staff members are rewarded in the same way regardless of the fact that some passengers within their care may choose to remove the automatic gratuities.

 

Any tips which you pay to a member of staff directly are theirs to keep and do not need to be declared or pooled with other members of staff.

 

Clearly it would make far more sense for P&O to include the auto grats in the basic price, they can then do what the heck they want as regards bonus's for excellent service, within any constraints of employment laws.

So, if the auto tips are shared equally and each individual member of staff can keep whatever is paid to them, can someone help me get my head round the following.

2000 people on the ship. 1500 keep the auto tip and 500 choose to give to the individual staff member. Is the money from the 1500 shared among all the staff so a member of staff could get that share plus direct tips - meaning that they would get more than someone who does not get any direct tips?

I asked a lady on a P&O cruise how old she was and she refused to answer. I assume it's because P&O do not allow passengers to give out this sort of information.

 

Just saying.

 

John

I like it. She probably would take 10 years off anyway lol.

We have also just returned from the Britannia "Christmas" Cruise. Our cabin steward had no hesitation in telling us that he had worked for P&O for 17 years and he cleaned 18 cabins one of which was a suite. Basically he did the minimum required and did nothing extra for us. We had asked if he could empty the fridge - No. We asked if he could remove the spare life jackets - No. He was quick to tell us that he needed the top mark on the Questionaire so he could receive his share of the tips.

Incidentally he managed to clean a cabin for new passengers in about 20 minutes, no wonder that viral infections were rife around the ship.

Very good post.

99% of our CS have been male and my wife and i agree they never seem to hoover the cabin especially under the bed because we have noticed things that a hoover would have removed and i end up picking the bits up myself.

The occasion we had a Chinese lady CS on Harmony of the seas we saw her several times hoovering and once she had moved the bed and was busy hoovering underneath when we walked into the cabin

So, if the auto tips are shared equally and each individual member of staff can keep whatever is paid to them, can someone help me get my head round the following.

 

2000 people on the ship. 1500 keep the auto tip and 500 choose to give to the individual staff member. Is the money from the 1500 shared among all the staff so a member of staff could get that share plus direct tips - meaning that they would get more than someone who does not get any direct tips?

The money from the 1500 will be shared among all the eligible crew. why should a steward have his share reduced when he has no control over the passengers removing the autotip. However all the shares will be smaller. If more and more passengers remove the auto tip it increases in price to compensate for the fall in revenue.

Among your 500 who remove the auto tip I thing significant numbers don't tip anything. This is why I think it should be included in the fare so EVERYONE pays it.

The money from the 1500 will be shared among all the eligible crew. why should a steward have his share reduced when he has no control over the passengers removing the autotip. However all the shares will be smaller. If more and more passengers remove the auto tip it increases in price to compensate for the fall in revenue.

 

Among your 500 who remove the auto tip I thing significant numbers don't tip anything. This is why I think it should be included in the fare so EVERYONE pays it.

My sentiments too.

The money from the 1500 will be shared among all the eligible crew. why should a steward have his share reduced when he has no control over the passengers removing the autotip. However all the shares will be smaller. If more and more passengers remove the auto tip it increases in price to compensate for the fall in revenue.

 

Among your 500 who remove the auto tip I thing significant numbers don't tip anything. This is why I think it should be included in the fare so EVERYONE pays it.

Thank you for your response. So it looks like we are creating inequality all round. Some crew get a percentage of the auto tips, whilst others get that same percentage plus direct tips.

Cruisers, some just pay auto tip, some pay auto tip and extra if they think worthwhile, some pay direct which could be more or less than the auto tip and others pay nothing. This does not seem fair to me. I do not mind paying the tips and additional where appropriate but I do object to subsidising my fellow traveller who has withdrawn their tips.

Not sure there is anything you can do about it. You are quite right, some pay auto, some auto plus, some in envelopes and some don't tip.

So, if the auto tips are shared equally and each individual member of staff can keep whatever is paid to them, can someone help me get my head round the following.

 

2000 people on the ship. 1500 keep the auto tip and 500 choose to give to the individual staff member. Is the money from the 1500 shared among all the staff so a member of staff could get that share plus direct tips - meaning that they would get more than someone who does not get any direct tips?

So P&O the customer service team claim, but crew contacts from other Carnival Corporation brands say something very different.

Those contacts say that staff need to hand in cash tips so they are included in the pool and remove this inequity.

If the contracts didn't demand this you would get all the staff panhandling for cash tips so they got paid twice.

Please P&O include tips in the price so no more debates on who gets what and how much. In my opinion the most staff do a wonderful job. We have had great conversations with the cabin stewards over the years, but I would not ask them about tips. I have no problem paying the tips and giving extra where someone has earned it. The staff are frightened to admit to anything regarding tips although on our last cruise the cabin steward mentioned several times about the questionnaire at the end of the cruise, marks had to be excellent or else they would not get their bonus.

The staff on Celebrity were the same way..kept emphasising for us to mark excelllent on questionnaire so they would get their tips...kind of negates the point of the questionnaire though

... as I always note on the questionnaire. Do you think anyone reads the comments?

I also always say I think fares should be tip inclusive - it is so much more British!

My sentiments too.

And mine

Thank you for your response. So it looks like we are creating inequality all round. Some crew get a percentage of the auto tips, whilst others get that same percentage plus direct tips.

Cruisers, some just pay auto tip, some pay auto tip and extra if they think worthwhile, some pay direct which could be more or less than the auto tip and others pay nothing. This does not seem fair to me. I do not mind paying the tips and additional where appropriate but I do object to subsidising my fellow traveller who has withdrawn their tips.

This is why they should either be compulsory or included in the cruise fare because i agree it is not fair that some tightwads can shaft the crew and fellow honourable passengers.

When the gratuities changed, a few years ago, P&O did say that some of the money would be held back. There was such an outcry that P&O retracted, and said that our money would be paid to the intended staff, and that any extra cash would remain with the crew member. I haven't heard that this has been altered since.

Oops

On RC our chief engineer cc friend told us what happens.

The basic is $85 a month but they are contracted to get a minimum of $615 a month with tips so if the tips were less RC would make up the difference.

He also said the average was $1000-$1500 per month.

This is agreed with seafarers union etc and more or less observed with all cruiselines.

For the work they do, they deserve it and more, shows just how the cruise lies are screwing the employees and the tax office.

My sentiments too.

Ditto.

For the work they do, they deserve it and more, shows just how the cruise lies are screwing the employees and the tax office.

I totally agree thats why we autopay tips on P&O and prepay tips on RC and always tip a considerable cash amount to crew too.