removing gratuities/service reward scheme

i'm currently on britannia and wanted to remove tips as we have done before and pay our waiters and room attendant directly i don't know if english is a foreign language to all the staff at the pursers desk but they are going out of their way to stop us from doing this we have never had a problem in the past they gave us a form earlier which is for adjusting the amount not stopping it last week they told us it was 4 or 5 forms to fill in and couldn't be done until the 2nd week of the cruise????

anyone managed to remove it recently?

We have never tried to remove the gratuities/service charge but we noticed on our cruise in July that they were not added to the bill until the middle of the second week. At the time we cynically thought that maybe they were doing this because the 10% discounts did not come off our purchases so early because we were buying everything with OBC which did not get used up until the gratuities had been added and as we know the 10% is not applied to gratuities but the gratuities do take up some of the OBC. I am now thinking that maybe by leaving it until 2 or 3 days before the end of the cruise they are hoping that fewer people will remove/reduce their gratuities because they may forget about it as they don't see it on their bill until the end.

Sorry, I think it's wrong to remove these gratuities as it goes to more folk than you receive direct service from. Actually in the scheme of things the £5.50 a day is small and should be considered and built in as part of your cruise cost.

Fully understand the desire to tip those who we feel have made your cruise just that bit more special, but what about all the behind the scene guys and gals. Like us, many folk put there hands in there pockets and give extra and don't withdraw them at the desk.

There is another point. By with drawing your tips, the overall pool becomes smaller and in the long run, the £5.50 will rise for the rest of us.

I can only see a case for withdrawing if you have received poor service. And, then only against the individual concerned which can be made known at the desk when you fill in your paper work.

First of all I agree that you should have to be able to ask to remove the tips; but as far as I was aware that if you remove to auto amount and tip directly, they have to turn in the amount anyway so it goes into the tip pool.

I think the individuals only get to keep it if you've kept the automatic charge on.

Personally I'd prefer it if the whole tipping thing would just be wrapped up in the fare and the staff were paid a decent wage rather than the over complicated present system.

I agree that it shouldn't be a barrier to remove it. The cruise contract says these are discretionary and i wouldn't jump through form filling hoops to exercise the right to remove them if I was so minded.

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It would be interesting to know just many passengers actually just roll with the default gratuities on P&O. Given the service reward is voluntary and is meant to reward those who provide great service then opting out of the auto payment and taking the time to directly tip and thank crew members seems far more benefical...

We deleted the auto tips on the Arcadia a couple of weeks ago, we changed the amount to zero that was all. One form no problems

Sorry, I think it's wrong to remove these gratuities as it goes to more folk than you receive direct service from. Actually in the scheme of things the £5.50 a day is small and should be considered and built in as part of your cruise cost.

Fully understand the desire to tip those who we feel have made your cruise just that bit more special, but what about all the behind the scene guys and gals. Like us, many folk put there hands in there pockets and give extra and don't withdraw them at the desk.

There is another point. By with drawing your tips, the overall pool becomes smaller and in the long run, the £5.50 will rise for the rest of us.

I can only see a case for withdrawing if you have received poor service. And, then only against the individual concerned which can be made known at the desk when you fill in your paper work.

A lot depends on the wage structure, the back room boys get better paid than those in the spotlight

I can see no reason for removing auto tips unless passengers want to feel better about themselves by handing over money and getting a gracious thank you. As they have to hand in their cash tips then this achieves nothing. If you want to tip extra, leave the auto tips and leave extra if you wish. P&O tips are around half the US lines. In reality they should be part of the cruise price but we don't seem to be getting there on the mainstream lines.

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Great, another tips argument :D

Simple solution - include it as a non itemised part of the fare and the arguments all end :)

Anyway I can't see any valid reason to remove the daily charge. Unless of course your intention is to tip directly less than the daily amount and of course the crew member has to hand it in to the pool. Or not tip at all in which case you should be ashamed of yourself. Or you like the socially superior feeling of doling out moneys to the peasants :rolleyes:

Ooops :eek:

P&O should follow NCL and not allow you to reduce the daily charge onboard. You have to apply and fill in forms after the cruise ;)

ps - bad service is not an excuse, that is what the management structure is for, complain to the supervisor.

How would one feel if your manager came up to you at work and said; "We are having a change to your terms of employment, Mr Sw285 - we are not paying you your normal salary into your bank account. We are paying out in cash instead at the end of the month what we think you're worth" I expect you might wonder if this is just a managerial cost saving exercise where they just say nobody has worked well this month or put the effort in so we are not paying any money out to anyone this month.

Lol John

We deleted the auto tips on the Arcadia a couple of weeks ago, we changed the amount to zero that was all. One form no problems

A lot depends on the wage structure, the back room boys get better paid than those in the spotlight

So the pool boys who put out the loungers, the guys who toil in the laundry, the assistants that help the cabin stewards .. errr do you tip them!, the lads in the galley that do the fetch and take, I could go on. Removing the tips is all about rewarding your own pocket and not about the crew.

Of course P&O could find alternate ways of handling the tipping, but this isn't about that, it's about finding a way to avoid paying, period. Hope it gives you a warm feeling.

I disagree. We have been cruising for quite a few years, long before auto tips came in. We always tipped the recommended amount and usually a little bit more for our cabin steward. We dislike the auto tips and always remove them and carry on the way we always have. It's not about giving less. It's about the fact that it's a "tip", not a flaming service charge. Also, the backroom staff do not get these tips, it's for cabin stewards, waiters, Maitre d'it. We also tip the wine waiter and he already gets a percentage of what you buy.

I tip my hairdresser, any taxi driver and also waiters in a restaurant. It's a way of saying thank you, not a charge. To my mind, if this service charge was wrapped it up in the fare, so you didn't know it was there, we would still use an envelope and tip.

i'm currently on britannia and wanted to remove tips as we have done before and pay our waiters and room attendant directly i don't know if english is a foreign language to all the staff at the pursers desk but they are going out of their way to stop us from doing this we have never had a problem in the past they gave us a form earlier which is for adjusting the amount not stopping it last week they told us it was 4 or 5 forms to fill in and couldn't be done until the 2nd week of the cruise????

Great, another tips argument :D

 

Anyway I can't see any valid reason to remove the daily charge. Unless of course your intention is to tip directly less than the daily amount and of course the crew member has to hand it in to the pool. Or not tip at all in which case you should be ashamed of yourself. Or you like the socially superior feeling of doling out moneys to the peasants :rolleyes:

 

Ooops :eek:

 

P&O should follow NCL and not allow you to reduce the daily charge onboard. You have to apply and fill in forms after the cruise ;)

 

However, as this will degenerate into a slanging match on the thread, I'll go and get the popcorn and watch from a distance now that I've made my feelings known, as I always do!:D

It shouldn't descend into a slanging match. Everybody does it their own way. Interestingly, our next cruise on Fred, the drinks and tips are included and I think they all will go this way soon. The more upmarket cruiselines don't have auto tipping. It's included. Seabourn, Azamara.

I disagree. We have been cruising for quite a few years, long before auto tips came in. We always tipped the recommended amount and usually a little bit more for our cabin steward. We dislike the auto tips and always remove them and carry on the way we always have. It's not about giving less. It's about the fact that it's a "tip", not a flaming service charge.

 

I tip my hairdresser, any taxi driver and also waiters in a restaurant. It's a way of saying thank you, not a charge. To my mind, if this service charge was wrapped it up in the fare, so you didn't know it was there, we would still use an envelope and tip.

And we have been cruising for many many years too.

As an officer said to me some years ago, some people can buy the ticket, but they can't afford the cruise. Folk who want to tip directly (do they!) and yet can't afford a few extra pounds to put in an envelope while leaving the auto tips in place, should reflect on their, umm I won't say the word.

We do both and like to ensure all who serve us whether in front or back of house are rewarded for providing a wonderful experience.

Bal

I disagree. We have been cruising for quite a few years, long before auto tips came in. We always tipped the recommended amount and usually a little bit more for our cabin steward. We dislike the auto tips and always remove them and carry on the way we always have. It's not about giving less. It's about the fact that it's a "tip", not a flaming service charge. Also, the backroom staff do not get these tips, it's for cabin stewards, waiters, Maitre d'it. We also tip the wine waiter and he already gets a percentage of what you buy.

 

I tip my hairdresser, any taxi driver and also waiters in a restaurant. It's a way of saying thank you, not a charge. To my mind, if this service charge was wrapped it up in the fare, so you didn't know it was there, we would still use an envelope and tip.

I agree entirely.

Just include the service charge / tip into the cost of the cruise and there wouldn't be any arguments.

We would still put a tip in an envelope at the end of the cruise for good service.

This isn't about tips being included in the cost of the cruise, it's all about not giving a tip if you can get away with it.

What difference would it be if the cruise fare was increased by £77 pp for a two week cruise. Would folk who currently delete the gratuities, say oh! thats great I'll use the white envelopes. I have my doubts!! I recall in the days of the white envelope very clearly, you would see folk scuttling out of the dining room when their waiters backs were turned or stewards saying, they put toilet paper in the envelope!!

Come on, embrace the auto tips and give more if you want to for special service.

Bal

It really annoys me that some people think that just because you remove the tips, you don't tip. That might be true of some, but not of others.

Baleena, I think you miss the point. If the cruise says "tips included" then you don't need to tip, although some do. If the autotipping is a service charge, then it should be included in the fare and used to give the staff what they need. Then people who want to can still tip of they want on top of the service charge. A tip is not a service charge. A service charge is compulsory, a tip is discretionary.

I can see no reason for removing auto tips unless passengers want to feel better about themselves by handing over money and getting a gracious thank you. As they have to hand in their cash tips then this achieves nothing.[/COLOR] If you want to tip extra, leave the auto tips and leave extra if you wish. P&O tips are around half the US lines. In reality they should be part of the cruise price but we don't seem to be getting there on the mainstream lines.

 

 

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Hi, just checking on this one as alarm bells are sounding! We keep the automatic gratuities, but we also give additional tips to those staff who have been really 'special' as a personal 'thank you' at the end of the cruise. Are you saying that they have to hand those over?

No I think it was said they could keep them. Another interesting point is that on a couple of cruises where we had a lot of OBC, we left the auto tips on, but then on the last night we felt awkward not giving an envelope. Now you shouldn't have to feel like that, but we did.

I always admire those who opt out of the automatic tips and adopt a DIY approach - it must be so difficult to remember all those who have served them in the various restaurants (for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner) and bars/coffee shops for the whole of the cruise, and then go round tipping each one! I find it easier to see the automated tips as being, essentially, part of the fare and thus included in the price, as long as I avoid asking for them to be removed.

No I think it was said they could keep them. Another interesting point is that on a couple of cruises where we had a lot of OBC, we left the auto tips on, but then on the last night we felt awkward not giving an envelope. Now you shouldn't have to feel like that, but we did.

I know what you mean, because we like to say a personal 'thank you' to some staff who have been really 'special' on our cruise too. No easy answer to this one and each one to their own opinions :)

I am totally against their Gratuity System, either it is truely voluntary or it is a Service Charge. Telling someone that they should pay £150 at the end of a two week holiday to reward their staff because we don't pay them enough is ridiculous.

I definitely don't trust P&O, there are too many examples of poor employment standards exposed in recent years. If you want to be sure then give your cash directly to those employees as discreetly as possible.

If you want to be sure then give your cash directly to those employees as discreetly as possible.

A 'hand shake' is very useful ......