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

[Florry]

So you tip them double? and what do you do when they're not? I really wish people would just state they're too cheap to tip rather than coming up with excuses. If you're going to do it, own it.

 

 

A tip is not a mandatory payment therefore it is down to the individual to decide how to tip. If anyone makes the choice not to comply with the P&O system and tip in an alternative way that is their right, it is not their responsibility to ensure every P&O employee gets a salary.

There have been thousands of comments on tipping threads over the last few years and no amount of insult throwing, insinuations or accusations will change anything.

I respect the personal choice of each passenger as there are a myriad of points of view on this topic.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Josy1953]

So you tip them double? and what do you do when they're not? I really wish people would just state they're too cheap to tip rather than coming up with excuses. If you're going to do it, own it.

The waiters have always worked in the buffet at lunch and breakfast when the MDR does not need so many waiters so why would anyone tip them twice ?

 

Why do you assume that those who choose to tip individually are being cheap? I would imagine that some people cancel their tips and pay nothing but I would never assume that is what all people who cancel their tips do.

Personally my husband and I leave the auto tips on but it is an individual choice for everyone and tips are not compulsory.

 

The real baddies in this are P&O who should bite the bullet and either increase the cost of the cruise and abolish all tips or they should add them to everyone's account and not allow them to be removed.

[bee-ess]

A tip is not a mandatory payment therefore it is down to the individual to decide how to tip. If anyone makes the choice not to comply with the P&O system and tip in an alternative way that is their right, it is not their responsibility to ensure every P&O employee gets a salary.

There have been thousands of comments on tipping threads over the last few years and no amount of insult throwing, insinuations or accusations will change anything.

I respect the personal choice of each passenger as there are a myriad of points of view on this topic.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Well said

[jeanlyon]

Yes Josy well said. I tip as I said, the same amount I would on auto-tips. We have left autotips on when we had loads of OBC, but before autotips we always used envelopes and just prefer it.

[CarlaMarie]

So you tip them double? and what do you do when they're not? I really wish people would just state they're too cheap to tip rather than coming up with excuses. If you're going to do it, own it.

 

I don't understand why you would accuse people of being 'cheap'. Nobody here has said they take auto grats off and pay less or not pay them at all.

 

We take them off and pay them to the staff in person as that is how we prefer to do it. We pay the exact same amount as we would on auto-grats to the cabin steward and our waiters.

 

Often our waiters find us at lunch at one of the restaurants or buffet and serve us there also - we will then add a little extra to their tips. If we are served by other staff and they do a very good job then we tip these as an extra, including room service and our wine waiter.

[MicCanberra]

I don't understand why you would accuse people of being 'cheap'. Nobody here has said they take auto grats off and pay less or not pay them at all.

 

We take them off and pay them to the staff in person as that is how we prefer to do it. We pay the exact same amount as we would on auto-grats to the cabin steward and our waiters.

 

Often our waiters find us at lunch at one of the restaurants or buffet and serve us there also - we will then add a little extra to their tips. If we are served by other staff and they do a very good job then we tip these as an extra, including room service and our wine waiter.

I am not criticising anyone but that seems like an awfully complicated way of tipping compared with just leaving them on and not having to worry who gets what.

[grapau27]

I am not criticising anyone but that seems like an awfully complicated way of tipping compared with just leaving them on and not having to worry who gets what.

I totally agree.

When i do give anyone an extra cash tip i thank them and often say i have prepaid (RC)or autopaid (P&O) so there is no confusion that it is all theirs to keep.

[terrierjohn]

Whilst not pointing a finger at anyone I do wonder what it is that makes some passengers want to tip in person rather than via the auto tip. I can understand that this might add to the relationship with waiters and stewards, but I find that being pleasant and understanding of them during the cruise does that anyway.

However my main concern is that tipping only the MDR wait staff and your own cabin steward could be limiting the range of staff that rely on tips to make up their wages, whereas even a flawed computer algorithm will more accurately allocate the basic tip amount. Then if I feel that an individual has given excellent service I can give them a little extra in cash, which I feel is much more equitable.

[MicCanberra]

I totally agree.

When i do give anyone an extra cash tip i thank them and often say i have prepaid (RC)or autopaid (P&O) so there is no confusion that it is all theirs to keep.

Agreed.

[blueboo]

Whilst not pointing a finger at anyone I do wonder what it is that makes some passengers want to tip in person rather than via the auto tip. I can understand that this might add to the relationship with waiters and stewards, but I find that being pleasant and understanding of them during the cruise does that anyway.

However my main concern is that tipping only the MDR wait staff and your own cabin steward could be limiting the range of staff that rely on tips to make up their wages, whereas even a flawed computer algorithm will more accurately allocate the basic tip amount. Then if I feel that an individual has given excellent service I can give them a little extra in cash, which I feel is much more equitable.

 

Agree with you (wish there was a like button on here ) But seriously P and O need to sort this out...it causes so much angst for people. Giving cash tips seems so archaic nowadays, too much like the servant and master from days of yore...I don't need people bowing and scraping, just cheerful and polite is fine by me and they would probably be more cheerful and polite if they all got paid fairly .I like the auto tips it just seems so much easier.

[pete14]

Agree with you (wish there was a like button on here ) But seriously P and O need to sort this out...it causes so much angst for people. Giving cash tips seems so archaic nowadays, too much like the servant and master from days of yore...I don't need people bowing and scraping, just cheerful and polite is fine by me and they would probably be more cheerful and polite if they all got paid fairly .I like the auto tips it just seems so much easier.

 

Presses the virtual ‘like’ button.

[Clodia]

I too prefer the auto tip as I always find the envelopes thing a bit embarrassing. I was on Club Dining on my last cruise and noticed that there are lots of envelopes still being handed to waiters on the last night. OK, some people have chosen to tip this way but it makes you feel you ought to give extra even if you've opted for auto tips and honestly I didn't feel the service I got on my table merited extra. Freedom Dining of course isn't like that; I think pretty well everyone on Freedom does auto tips because it's too complicated unless you get the same table each night.

I give a little extra to my Cabin Steward if I feel he or she has gone "over and above" though.

[Goosebear Mum]

I’d love to know what your stewards do when they go that ‘bit extra’. Ours (5 cruises) have been friendly and cleaned sufficiently. They are so busy what time have they for anything else? what else have yours done over and above that? :)

 

I’d like the auto tips to be included in the cruise price and part of their wage/bonus. Tipping (or bribing) for expected service is not the British way. Then tips for outstanding or extra service can be given by us, as deserved, on top. On one cruise when I did not have good service in the MDR, that auto tip which felt mandatory, left a bitter taste.

[MicCanberra]

I’d love to know what your stewards do when they go that ‘bit extra’. Ours (5 cruises) have been friendly and cleaned sufficiently. They are so busy what time have they for anything else? what else have yours done over and above that? :)

We were having a little party on our balcony to celebrate our anniversary, so we asked our room steward for some (8) Champagne glasses and two ice buckets to be delivered to the room a few hours before the guests would arrive. When it was time to set up he had delivered the glasses and the ice buckets and even an extra table, all was good. Just before the party was about to start, he then delivered a whole range of Canapés (enough to feed 20) along with 3 bottles of their sparkling wine. That was service above and beyond the duties of his employ and he was tipped extra for it.

 

I’d like the auto tips to be included in the cruise price and part of their wage/bonus. Tipping (or bribing) for expected service is not the British way. Then tips for outstanding or extra service can be given by us, as deserved, on top. On one cruise when I did not have good service in the MDR, that auto tip which felt mandatory, left a bitter taste.

That may be the case now but it was England that sent the tipping culture to America.

 

From one source -

The origin of tipping is lost, like so many things, in the Mists of Antiquity. There’s evidence that tipping goes back at least to the age of the Romans, but human nature being what it is, it could just as easily date from the invention of money.

Luckily for us, etymologists have managed to come up with a selection of deeply fascinating etymologies for the phrase “to tip.” The dullest and most likely has it coming from the Latin stips, meaning “gift.” In the days of Geoffrey Chaucer and Middle English, “to tip” meant simply “to give”–as in “tip me that cheate” (“give me that thing”), immortal words penned by one Samuel Rowlands in his 1610 Beadle of Bridewell.

The most charming explanation refers us back to the days of Dr. Johnson and his eighteenth century circle of wits. Upon entering his local coffeeshop for a session of epigram-flinging, Dr. Johnson (or rather, one presumes, his flunky, Mr. Boswell) would drop a few pence in a box labeled “To Insure Promptness” (“T.I.P.”–get it?) in order to encourage a greater display of vigor on the part of the generally listless attendants.

Tipping spread from England to colonial America, but after the revolution it was frowned upon (temporarily) as a hangover from the British class system. One only tipped one’s social inferiors, which, lest we forget, did not exist in the brave new world. Unfortunately, the working class eventually got around to swallowing its pride, and tipping returned with all the fervour it possesses today. Even the Communist countries have not entirely succeeded in eliminating the practice. These days, of course, taxi drivers and waitpersons depend on tips for a substantial part of their income. If you didn’t tip, presumably they’d expect to be paid more, and your restaurant bills and taxi fares would consequently be higher. The fifteen percent standard is mostly a question of what the market will bear. In New York, the figure these days is twenty percent; European restaurants generally add a ten percent gratuity to the bill.

[FluffyFiFi]

I am on holiday, I do not want to spend time making up envelopes or slipping money to some staff and not others. £6 a day is reasonable and as we prefer freedom dining, specialty restaurants as well as the buffet there is no issue with missing anyone. The cabin stewards are usually excellent although on one cruise we were disappointed and we questioned removing tips in the future but we have never had an issue again so they are just left on, it works for us and keeps things simple. I usually leave an extra tip out for the cabin steward if I ask for the fridge to be emptied or anything else beyond their usual remit as that seems fair. Some people remove the service charge because they want to save money, others remove as they like to feel grand handing over envelopes, others remove as they don’t trust the system and some will tip who they want as that is just their way. We will all have our own ideas as we will all have different views so each to their own. In a restaurant on land I tip at least 10% but I don’t then worry if it will go to the waiter or into a general pool and I am not going to overthink it on a cruise as how P&O reward their staff is between them and their employees.

[mercury7289]

FluffyFiFi

 

Agree.

Well done.

[snee]

I think it would be better if P&O did not add the tips but let you add the £6 per day if you would like to or tip as you see it and not have to ask to have them removed

[Josy1953]

I think it would be better if P&O did not add the tips but let you add the £6 per day if you would like to or tip as you see it and not have to ask to have them removed

I would guess that it would go one of two ways :

There would be even longer queues at reception asking to have the £6 per day added to their account - extra work for P&O on-board staff.

or

Fewer people would actually pay any tips - P&O may be forced to include tips in price in order to pay the staff a reasonable wage.

[Millers]

Could all those who tell us they always leave tips on, confirm they do this out of their on board credit.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[grapau27]

Could all those who tell us they always leave tips on, confirm they do this out of their on board credit.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It is better for P&O to take the auto gratuitys from OBC first because loyalty members,in my case get 7.5% off my seapass account bill once obc is used up.

[Josy1953]

Could all those who tell us they always leave tips on, confirm they do this out of their on board credit.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We always leave the tips on regardless of how much OBC we have. We left the autotip on when we had no OBC on the 2 occasions when we did a last minute saver.

[Millers]

Still, by taking it out of your OBC, P&O are paying your tips

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Eglesbrech]

Could all those who tell us they always leave tips on, confirm they do this out of their on board credit.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

No as we tend to book later so don't get OBC.

 

I fail to see the difference though if it does come from other pax OBC as they could still choose to not tip and have that money to spend in a bar or shop etc.

 

Once it is OBC it belongs to the pax not P&O and they can do with it as they like so the company is not paying the tips IMO.

[grapau27]

No as we tend to book later so don't get OBC.

 

I fail to see the difference though if it does come from other pax OBC as they could still choose to not tip and have that money to spend in a bar or shop etc.

 

Once it is OBC it belongs to the pax not P&O and they can do with it as they like so the company is not paying the tips IMO.

Exactly right.

Loyalty discount doesn't come into effect until after obc is used up anyway.

[Jan5174]

I’m fascinated by all the tipping posts. We have been on quite a number of P&O ships and I always take off the auto tips. I fail to understand the ‘tipping’ culture at all. The crew, cabin stewards, chefs, waiters etc etc should all be paid a fair wage for their work. I don’t receive tips in my profession, and I bet most other people don’t either. I object when visiting the States, because of the expectation that every bar tender, waiter, doorman , driver should receive at least a 10% tip.

We have been fortunate to be in suites on several cruises, and have had the services of a butler. I have not tipped at any time, despite them providing excellent service on all occasions. If an automatic tip was added to the initial price, then I would probably pay this and still travel, but no way am I tipping in any other way. The crew on the ship are dong their job, should be paid accordingly and it is not my job to ‘make up ‘ their wages !