Rise in Tips ?

[deck boy]

What a load of rubbish if you wish to tip someone do so if not don,t end of story P&O have no right to tell you what to tip its all mind games they know what they are doing are they losing money no bit like british gas

[deck boy]

Best thing to do is to not allow people to opt out of auto tipping make it part of the conditions that way we are not paying for those who do not tip

[deck boy]

or don't bother cruising

[davecttr]

On our last night I give our cabin boy 20$ as he and a few others were going to the harbour light in barbados when they finished just as a gesture and a bit of beer money

cabin boy? I thought they were called stewards.

 

IMO the 'tips' part of the fare should be included in the headline price or made compulsory. Then we won't have people stuffing envelopes with tea bags or tipping 10 euros for a fortnight cruise and wondering why the 'boy' looked a bit upset.

 

It is rumoured that if you get the auto tip removed whoever you tip has to hand the money in to the tipping pool anyway, on pain of dismissal.

 

Cruise tips are part of wages and the reason for the increase is the cheapskates who get the auto tip removed. There is NO reasons for removing autotips other than you are going to stiff the staff or the feeling of superiority in doling out cash to the slaves. ;)

 

ps - £10 per day is more suitable.

Edited March 7, 2015 by davecttr

[jake 26]

On our last cruise we were at the Baltic / Ligurian lunch and seated with a senior officer from the hotel dept. The subject of autotipping came up and he said he was disappointed at the large number of people queuing to remove the tips on day one.

I asked if that meant the intended recipients received a shortfall. He said No the company makes up the shortfall because of contractual agreements.

I therefore think the increase is to cover that.

[PurpleMoonlight]

I asked if that meant the intended recipients received a shortfall. He said No the company makes up the shortfall because of contractual agreements.

I therefore think the increase is to cover that.

 

That makes a lot of sense.

 

I bet it will backfire though.

 

The higher it is the more likely people will refuse to pay.

[jojo67]

I think the change should be dependant on when you booked and not when you travel. If you booked when gratuities were detailed at £3.95 then that's what you should pay surely? P&O can't move the goalposts after people have booked and expect them to be happy. We travel as a family of 5 so any increase is 5 fold for me.

[Big Stevie]

I think the change should be dependant on when you booked and not when you travel. If you booked when gratuities were detailed at £3.95 then that's what you should pay surely? P&O can't move the goalposts after people have booked and expect them to be happy. We travel as a family of 5 so any increase is 5 fold for me.

 

I agree.

 

Money is tight for us and we are considering our forthcoming Med cruise to be quite a luxury for us, compared to our usual touring caravan holidays. We are at our financial limits already.

 

By the time we board the ship we will be able to afford the £3.95/day/adult auto tips by offsetting it against our OBC, but this will be at the expense of one of the excursions, as we cant afford both.

 

One thing I can't afford to do though is to pay the tips in advance, before the price increase. So I will have to pay the new higher price. But now Im seriously thinking about removing them, and using the money for an excursion for my wife and 8 yr old son instead.

 

So I either pay the auto tips and miss out on an excursion, or I buy an excursion for the family instead. Maybe some of you might say that if we can't afford to pay the tips then we shouldn't be going on the cruise in the first place?

Edited March 7, 2015 by Big Stevie

[caber]

Don't worry about what some people on this board say. There are a lot of very rude people posting these days.

Whether you book through P&O or a travel agent, I have never been told when booking a cruise about the hotel charge or whatever you call it. I know about it of course as I have been cruising for many years but the majority of people, especially ones who don't know about Cruise Critic or the like, are very surprised when checking their onboard account for the first time. How many of us read all the small print.

Go and enjoy your cruise and do whatever suits you.

Edited March 7, 2015 by caber

[PORT ROYAL]

I agree.

 

Money is tight for us and we are considering our forthcoming Med cruise to be quite a luxury for us, compared to our usual touring caravan holidays. We are at our financial limits already.

 

By the time we board the ship we will be able to afford the £3.95/day/adult auto tips by offsetting it against our OBC, but this will be at the expense of one of the excursions, as we cant afford both.

 

One thing I can't afford to do though is to pay the tips in advance, before the price increase. So I will have to pay the new higher price. But now Im seriously thinking about removing them, and using the money for an excursion for my wife and 8 yr old son instead.

 

So I either pay the auto tips and miss out on an excursion, or I buy an excursion for the family instead. Maybe some of you might say that if we can't afford to pay the tips then we shouldn't be going on the cruise in the first place?

 

Understand your quandry of either/or.

Consider this.

Pay the gratutities, settle your onboard account by credit card and pay the bill over 12 months. Problem solved:) Simples:D

 

This way you take the excursions and the deserving staff are rewarded. A win win :)

 

PS. By utalising the credit card, it will enable your family to enjoy the occasional drink and speciality dining.:D

Edited March 7, 2015 by PORT ROYAL

[Big Stevie]

Understand your quandry of either/or.

Consider this.

Pay the gratutities, settle your onboard account by credit card and pay the bill over 12 months. Problem solved:) Simples:D

 

This way you take the excursions and the deserving staff are rewarded. A win win :)

 

PS. By utalising the credit card, it will enable your family to enjoy the occasional drink and speciality dining.:D

 

You make a fair point but I always ensure I settle my cc bill in full each month so I can manage my finances and avoid interest payments:)

Edited March 7, 2015 by Big Stevie

[tjwa]

I'm sure Port Vale isn't regulated by the FSA so spend your money how you want to.

[Big Stevie]

i'm sure port vale isn't regulated by the fsa so spend your money how you want to.

 

:d:d:d

[PORT ROYAL]

I'm sure Port Vale isn't regulated by the FSA so spend your money how you want to.

 

Totally concur with your totally intuitive statement above, as one does believe that Port Vale is a UK Soccer Club, and therefore not covered by the FSA regulations.:D

[tjwa]

ooops - typo.

[Victoria '82]

I have to say that I believe in the auto tipping system .. well I did until a recent cruise. Speaking to a cabin steward .. not ours but a lad we had known from before .. he was saying his biggest worry was the Q&A form .. if 3 out of his 20 cabins mark him down as less than excellent he loses his bonus (our tips from the pool) from ALL his passengers. He was saying that some folk are really awful and try as he does to go beyond passenger expectations, if they mark him down he loses out terribly.

So, I guess at least if you cancel auto tips and give an envelop at the end of a cruise you can be content that at least your tip has been received.

[tjwa]

I have to say that I believe in the auto tipping system .. well I did until a recent cruise. Speaking to a cabin steward .. not ours but a lad we had known from before .. he was saying his biggest worry was the Q&A form .. if 3 out of his 20 cabins mark him down as less than excellent he loses his bonus (our tips from the pool) from ALL his passengers. He was saying that some folk are really awful and try as he does to go beyond passenger expectations' date=' if they mark him down he loses out terribly.

So, I guess at least if you cancel auto tips and give an envelop at the end of a cruise you can be content that at least your tip has been received.[/quote']

 

Yes, that was said to me by a steward on Adonia.

[oakworth96]

I agree.

 

Money is tight for us and we are considering our forthcoming Med cruise to be quite a luxury for us, compared to our usual touring caravan holidays. We are at our financial limits already.

 

By the time we board the ship we will be able to afford the £3.95/day/adult auto tips by offsetting it against our OBC, but this will be at the expense of one of the excursions, as we cant afford both.

 

One thing I can't afford to do though is to pay the tips in advance, before the price increase. So I will have to pay the new higher price. But now Im seriously thinking about removing them, and using the money for an excursion for my wife and 8 yr old son instead.

 

So I either pay the auto tips and miss out on an excursion, or I buy an excursion for the family instead. Maybe some of you might say that if we can't afford to pay the tips then we shouldn't be going on the cruise in the first place?

 

 

A good and honest post!!! We have done two cruises around the Caribbean and we book our trips in port with local operators as many others do saving money that way. It's a way of enjoying the the same cruise but a bit cheaper [emoji6]

 

Bob

[BrianI]

As I understand it, there is a separate bonus scheme based on the results of the questionnaires. This is paid by P&O and is separate from the autotips.

 

I also understand that any cash tips up to the value of the autotip have to be paid into the pool. If this were not the case, then the person would receive cash tips plus a share of the autotips.

 

What is not made clear is how the auto tips are distributed amongst the staff. Does everyone receive the same amount or do some receive more than others.

 

On the old system, it was £1.50 for your cabin steward and 1.60 for your two waiters so maybe it's a similar proportion, but who knows what it is.

 

It's this lack of clarity which brings the system into disrepute and allows untrue rumours to develop.

 

In the meantime, it suits us to leave the autotips on but there will be no extras.

Brian

[tjwa]

I was told by our steward that if he doesn't achieve 100% on the guest satisfaction survey the auto-tip goes into P & O coffers.

[daiB]

I was told by our steward that if he doesn't achieve 100% on the guest satisfaction survey the auto-tip goes into P & O coffers.

 

 

Sorry that is wrong. If a cruiser has paid an auto tip the cruise company cannot withdraw that tip. It is not their money. They have a bonus scheme which the company pays into this is why the surveys are so important.

[tjwa]

That is what I was told and I prefer to believe the steward.

[davecttr]

The steward was likely trying to get you to give an excellent mark so he would get an additional bonus.

 

I did not give the steward on my last cruise an excellent mark because he was not excellent. He cleaned the cabin perfectly but did not seem to understand that as i was the earliest out of my cabin in the morning i did not appreciate him ignoring the 'please make up my cabin' tag and most days not cleaning the cabin until after 12 noon. He did clean early for a couple of days when i mentioned it and then reverted back to his own timetable. i was getting the cabin bed turned down for the evening after 9pm some nights as well.

On reflection i should have contacted his supervisor.

 

On all my other P&O cruises the cabin was cleaned by the time i came back from breakfast.

Edited March 7, 2015 by davecttr

[Victoria '82]

Thing is when we started cruising cabin stewards would have a max of 10 cabins to look after, now it is between 20 and 22. Trying to look after that number must be a trial and while some folk might want their cabin prioritised its not really fair, and then mark them down on the Q&A. Excellent on all cabins does not give them an additional bonus, it gives them a living .. mark them down for little reason and they really do lose out.

These guys really do work hard seven days a week and to lose their auto tip because just 3 folk take umbrage for little reason, it is unfair.

For my money I have always given a little extra but from our next cruise I will cancel the auto tip, get £150 from reception (2 weeks) and give it to the people who have given me good service.

Having completed in excess of 100 P&O cruises I now know that the tipping pool is only shared with those who's questionnaire shows excellent apart from the 2 passengers who might regard their service less than.

Does P&O subsidise the tipping pool, of course not, they make the service targets really high so that only the best as per the Q&A get the tips .. the rest of our money stays in the pool.

Another flyer has been that the steward has to reveal what he gets in tips from those who cancel the auto tip .. this is not the case at all.

[Big Stevie]

There's some really interesting posts in this thread.

 

I guess that the only thing that's for certain about tipping is that the whole subject is clouded in mystery. And for this reason I don't think it's appropriate to judge others for the way they tip or don't tip, as it's difficult to say with any certainty exactly where your tips go.