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Gratuities go up!


marylizcat
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At £5 it will still be less than P&O, were it is now £6, and way below the very silly amounts expected by the US based cruise lines. At £15pp the AI is also way below what other lines charge, though is something we would not necessarily be interested in as we are not big drinkers.

 

We have felt particularly sad for the staff since the £ took a dive after the brexit vote. OK means we pay more for our holidays, but the crew are loosing out considerably, compared to what they had before, so we have always given extra to all since then and always have to certain staff anyway.

 

That rise is long overdue IMO.

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I don't disagree that the crew are worthy of a decent tip, we have always paid and topped it up significantly anyway as the service is usually good, so the cost is neither here nor there and not the issue.

 

What does aggravate me with all cruise company's is that:

 

1. The trend is towards ever increasing "tips" to cover wage bills so it's no longer what I would understand to be a "tip" based on the service received and so should be added to the price up front. Recently we have paid it with the balance as they always now ask if you want to and Inprefer that to it being on my account.

 

2. The percentage rise while small in terms of cost is large as a percentage - when did anyone else get this percentage pay rise in the last 10 years?

 

3. They always do it just after the main booking season, it's never flagged up a year in advance in the new brochure.

 

4. They notify some customers and not others (in our case perhaps irrelevant as we have already paid before boarding). Will they now add £1 pppn to our onboard account? If they don't do these particular crew members take the hit which would be unfair?

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So some of the crew will get less then and just the luck of the draw unless they have some method to equalise it out.

 

 

 

Yes, they offered us the opportunity to prepay at the lower rate, but I wondered that about the poor stewards who would thus get less. So maybe we will just leave it and pay the new rate onboard.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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We have yet to pay the final payment for a June/July cruise. Haven't heard anything from Fred about this increase, so we will pay the extra with final bill. As a proportion of the holiday it's not too much and we always top up gratuities for good service (rarely anything but excellent). I agree that it is becoming a habit to expect gratuities at a level that one suspects are being used to 'top up' wages - in all hospitality and travel industries.

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The crew won't get less. As I understand it the money goes to Fred and is part of the guaranteed wage paid to crew. So if tips are removed it is Fred that pays the difference.

I have never gone in for cash tipping, usually just leave the auto-gratuities on. But if what you say is the case, wouldn’t the stewards end up with double if we removed the tips and paid them in cash? So we would be doing them a favour by doing things that way?

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I have never gone in for cash tipping, usually just leave the auto-gratuities on. But if what you say is the case, wouldn’t the stewards end up with double if we removed the tips and paid them in cash? So we would be doing them a favour by doing things that way?

 

Cash is king.

 

What's more to the point here though is does Fred Olsen still charge to use a credit card to settle onboard spend?

 

I recently challenged one of my travel agents and they relented even though it was still mentioned on the final invoice.

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Cash is king.

 

What's more to the point here though is does Fred Olsen still charge to use a credit card to settle onboard spend?

 

I recently challenged one of my travel agents and they relented even though it was still mentioned on the final invoice.

No they do not now charge for the use of a credit card. This is a big improvement.

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I see from the P&O forum that their gratuities are also going up, to £7 pppd.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Yes, as I said above they all do it after the main bookings and then tell (some) people.

 

We have still had no notification about this.

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Received notification today. As we have paid the deposit for a June cruise we have the option of paying at the old rate now or paying the new rate after 7 March. We shall pay now - much preferring to reward in cash specific good service at the end of the cruise. Nice of FO to give us the choice, but I suppose our contract requires it.

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We received the e-mail today, but it stresses that it is not mandatory to pay the increased amount.

It says that it as a suggested amount, whether you pay the old amount or the new amount.

I have been cruising with Fred since 2002 and this is the first time they have increased gratuities so I have no qualms about paying the increase. For the service you get it is well worth it.

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  • 2 months later...

I have bumped this back up rather than start a new thread on the subject.

 

There is a long thread on P&O about tips as theirs have gone up to £7pppn. Part of the debate is the assertion that that those who pay the auto tips are left embarrassed on the last night at dinner if they have no envelope to hand over - they have already paid but the staff don’t know that. Also a view that lots of pax remove the auto tips.

 

Has anyone noticed this kind of situation on Fred?

 

I ask because we don’t travel on Fred a lot but when we do we tend to pay our tips along with the final balance for the cruise and that is it done (have already paid this again for the next one). We then tip a bit extra in cash but the amount depends on how good the service has been.

 

I don’t however want to be the one who looks mean on the last night if everyone else is handing over what is effectively the £5pppn.

 

Any more regular Fred cruisers know what happens most often. Are the staff happy enough with the auto tips?

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