How as a result of the latest increase do you intend to tip on their next P&O Cruise?

[insanemagnet]

Just received a phone call from P&O and had a nice conversation with guest relations who assured me P&O are listening to guests concerns regarding gratuitys.

So they achieved their aim of making you feel better, but not actually changing anything.

[grapau27]

So they achieved their aim of making you feel better, but not actually changing anything.

Actually they were very interested in my comments.

[NoFlyGuy]

Well done grapau27 for making the effort of contacting P&O, maybe it'll make no difference but a least you and others tried.

I'm a little ashamed now that I didn't add my voice.

[grapau27]

Well done grapau27 for making the effort of contacting P&O, maybe it'll make no difference but a least you and others tried.

I'm a little ashamed now that I didn't add my voice.

Thanks,they seemed particularly interested in adding gratuitys into the cruise price and saving Guest Services on board the extra work when people go to cancel autogratuities.

[Selbourne]

Well done grapau27 for making the effort of contacting P&O, maybe it'll make no difference but a least you and others tried.

I'm a little ashamed now that I didn't add my voice.

 

Not too late. I only sent mine a few days ago. No call yet but I have no doubt that, if it comes, they will listen intently, be very pleasant and say nice pacifying things and then do absolutely nothing! I fear that the only way to bring about the change that most of us seek (all costs absorbed within the cruise fare) will be if very large numbers of passengers remove the discretionary service charge.

[grapau27]

Not too late. I only sent mine a few days ago. No call yet but I have no doubt that, if it comes, they will listen intently, be very pleasant and say nice pacifying things and then do absolutely nothing! I fear that the only way to bring about the change that most of us seek (all costs absorbed within the cruise fare) will be if very large numbers of passengers remove the discretionary service charge.

The more that email in the better.

They seemed particularly interested in adding gratuitys into the cruise cost.

[Eglesbrech]

I'm definately for including the service charge in the price so that everyone pays and have contacted P&O to share my views.

 

That said the thought occurs that is the deposit is a percentage of the total cost and the service charges are included do they refund the service charge element, for example if someone has to cancel (or indeed after final payment has been made). I doubt it but on balance Inwould still prefer it to be included like Marrella (TUI) etc.

 

At least this time if they say that the change is being made based on customer feedback we will know that it is true :).

[insanemagnet]

Actually they were very interested in my comments.

Of course they sounded interested, as the purpose of the was to pacify a regular customer and not enter into an argument with them.

 

The key issue is whether any changes result, and I will bet they will not as P&O make too much money from the current situation to change it.

[emam]

Buffet staff are included in the tipping pool. I don’t know the precise numbers that the pool is divided between but would suggest it would more than 250. Keep in mind also that we know that a sizeable number of passengers remove the service charge or reduce it. Few will admit to it but lots do. So the overall tipping pool is far less than suggested and probably divided by a lot more people. Then factor in the fact that their basic wage is less than the U.K. minimum wage and they work around 50% more hours than most people in the U.K. do. There is a very strong arguement to suggest that service charges should be scrapped and cruise prices increased and that would be my position. But trying to justify not paying them on the grounds that the staff must be paid too much is a stretch too far I think.

 

Job application for a waiter.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work for one of the world’s leading Cruise brands. Life on board involves working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for the 4 or 6 months that you are on board. Your ten hours will be split between morning, afternoon and evening activities.

 

 

Junior waiter.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work for one of the world’s leading Cruise brands. Life on board involves working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for the time that you are on board. Your ten hours will be split between morning, afternoon and evening activities.

[Josy1953]

The more that email in the better.

They seemed particularly interested in adding gratuitys into the cruise cost.

They were interested in including gratuities in the cruise price but I assumed that was because it was the proposal that I had put in my email.

 

They were also interested as to why I thought that people were reducing or cancelling the gratuities, my perception of standards on the ships in recent years compared to the early years of my cruise life. I did say that standards have dropped to level where I am starting to think that they are close to being unacceptable and that is because someone has decided that P&O should be come a low cost cruise line.

 

What I did not say was that while I think that standards have dropped quite a long way I don't think that you can compare today's standards with the eighties standards because the cost of the cruises now are not much higher now than they were then so I think that standards have had to fall just to mitigate what could be considered the drop in prices.

 

We can only hope that they are truly interested in our opinions and will look at the gratuity situation and do something about it. In the mean time we have decided to go with Celebrity for our summer cruise this year where we feel, based on our experience last year, despite higher prices they are better value for money.

[wowzz]

Job application for a waiter.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work for one of the world’s leading Cruise brands. Life on board involves working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for the 4 or 6 months that you are on board. Your ten hours will be split between morning, afternoon and evening activities.

 

 

Junior waiter.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work for one of the world’s leading Cruise brands. Life on board involves working 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for the time that you are on board. Your ten hours will be split between morning, afternoon and evening activities.

From my conversations, most waiter work a 9 month contract. Makes the job even more (un)attractive.

 

Sent from my SM-T700 using Forums mobile app

[grapau27]

They were interested in including gratuities in the cruise price but I assumed that was because it was the proposal that I had put in my email.

 

They were also interested as to why I thought that people were reducing or cancelling the gratuities, my perception of standards on the ships in recent years compared to the early years of my cruise life. I did say that standards have dropped to level where I am starting to think that they are close to being unacceptable and that is because someone has decided that P&O should be come a low cost cruise line.

 

What I did not say was that while I think that standards have dropped quite a long way I don't think that you can compare today's standards with the eighties standards because the cost of the cruises now are not much higher now than they were then so I think that standards have had to fall just to mitigate what could be considered the drop in prices.

 

We can only hope that they are truly interested in our opinions and will look at the gratuity situation and do something about it. In the mean time we have decided to go with Celebrity for our summer cruise this year where we feel, based on our experience last year, despite higher prices they are better value for money.

We still try do at least 1 mini cruise a year with P&O but sail mainly with RC where as D+ we have a choice of 2 lounges where members can have 3 hours of unlimited free drinks between 5.30- 8.30pm.

[Shineson]

Well, here’s the relevant part of the alleged answer to my question as to whether staff were negatively impacted if passengers removed the gratuity

 

If passengers chose to reduce or remove the amount of the service charge then we feel that this is ultimately their choice as we do not wish to be implying that this is compulsory. If you were to choose to remove the service charge from your account then this would not reflect badly on your cabin steward or impact on them. Each staff member is paid a standard wage and the tips are provided as an additional bonus which staff are fully aware of.

Clear as mud, eh?

I specifically asked for a clear reply; unsurprisingly I did not get one.

I will try a follow-up but don’t hold out a lot of hope.

 

 

OK, for what its worth (and I'm probably going to confuse everyone more than ever), but here's my understanding of what happens to the staff when passengers remove gratuities - based on candid discussions with some of the staff onboard, but also with a few, back in their homeland. As an example, I'll use cabin stewards. They are each allocated a certain number of cabins that they are responsible for. The cruise line identify what % of the daily service charge (DSC) is allocated per cabin to the cabin steward - lets say £1 per day, per person - Total £2. So a steward who is responsible for 10 cabins (20 passengers) could expect to receive a £200 service bonus at the end of a 10 day cruise. However, when a passenger in one of his cabins removes the DSC from their account, the Steward is immediately 'down' on his bonus and goes into a sort of negative equity. For arguments sake, I'll say that out of the 10 cabins he looks after, 4 (8 people) have removed their DSC - that's a shortfall at the end of 10 days of £80. Maybe some passengers remove the DSC because they prefer to 'tip' in person with cash at the end of the cruise. But before your cabin steward can retain any of his 'cash' tips, he has to make up his shortfall of £80. Unless his 'cash' tips exceed £80, he's not allowed to keep them. And yes, if you ask the Steward outright whether he will be able to keep any cash tips you decide to give him, he will say yes. He's not going to say no, and risk you not giving anything because you are averse to paying more to the cruise line. The staff onboard cruise lines work as a 'Team'. The front of house staff can only shine for us, because they are backed up by a great number of backroom staff who also rely on a service bonus. That's why they all adhere to the standard service bonus being maintained by handing in their 'extra' cash tip to make up any shortfall. Of course, you will see a very happy Steward if ALL his cabins leave the DSC alone, and if he goes above and beyond on service for you, then it is personal choice whether you pay him/her extra.

 

My vote goes to everyone factoring in the DSC when booking their cruise and leaving it alone onboard. If you think its too expensive - choose a cheaper cruise.

[NoFlyGuy]

Pay the new DSC? Why a 40% increase in suggested DSC in such a short space of time. Inflation may have picked up a bit but not to that extent! Shooting themselves in the foot as more and more passengers will have had enough and just remove them in IHO.

[Shineson]

Pay the new DSC? Why a 40% increase in suggested DSC in such a short space of time. Inflation may have picked up a bit but not to that extent! Shooting themselves in the foot as more and more passengers will have had enough and just remove them in IHO.

 

Fine, everyone has that choice to make. Just be aware that it’s the staff that you are disadvantaging, and not the cruise line. I actually agree that the hike in DSC is pretty high, but that means I probably wouldn’t book my next cruise with this line. That’s the only way to make your voice heard by the people who make the decisions.

[kalos]

Pay the new DSC? Why a 40% increase in suggested DSC in such a short space of time. Inflation may have picked up a bit but not to that extent! Shooting themselves in the foot as more and more passengers will have had enough and just remove them in IHO.

 

Fine, everyone has that choice to make. Just be aware that it’s the staff that you are disadvantaging, and not the cruise line. I actually agree that the hike in DSC is pretty high, but that means I probably wouldn’t book my next cruise with this line. That’s the only way to make your voice heard by the people who make the decisions.

 

As you say NoFlyGuy "Shooting themselves in the foot as more and more passengers will have had enough and just remove them" is what it seems P&O seem intent on doing .

The only persons who seem to be happy is P&O themselves and if you do your option the they just say "That's fine we did say it's at your discretion."

 

Also as you say Shineson keep the DSC in place and the crew and P&O are happy but to keep hiking this charge up at P&O's whim serves only to disgruntle the passengers who are expected to pay this "at your discretion fee".

That now leaves people removing the fee or as you say you probably would not book your next cruise with P&O as you think "That's the only way to make your voice heard ".

I take it that you hope that your course of action would hit P&O in the pocket if others followed suit as well.

If that was to be true then knowing P&O they would take to cut backs ,which now would possibly be very well the staff you are disadvantaging as well as P&O.

 

There are no easy answers and I do not claim to have any who knows what will make P&O rethink the DSC they have in place .

 

I do think other options are open but probably will not happen . P&O say they make the shortfalls up so maybe if everyone refused to pay a penny more than £5 per day that would hit P&O but not the staff .

P&O could raise it to what they like, if everyone held firm and gave £5 only.

Also your end of cruise questionnaire you was to give all staff top marks to give them full payment of DSC but then mark the overall cruise down to the lowest mark ,giving the reason of these unfair payments .

Just my idea's guys and no better than your thoughts :)

Edited March 10, 2018 by kalos

[grapau27]

As you say NoFlyGuy "Shooting themselves in the foot as more and more passengers will have had enough and just remove them" is what it seems P&O seem intent on doing .

The only persons who seem to be happy is P&O themselves and if you do your option the they just say "That's fine we did say it's at your discretion."

 

Also as you say Shineson keep the DSC in place and the crew and P&O are happy but to keep hiking this charge up at P&O's whim serves only to disgruntle the passengers who are expected to pay this "at your discretion fee".

That now leaves people removing the fee or as you say you probably would not book your next cruise with P&O as you think "That's the only way to make your voice heard ".

I take it that you hope that your course of action would hit P&O in the pocket if others followed suit as well.

If that was to be true then knowing P&O they would take to cut backs ,which now would possibly be very well the staff you are disadvantaging as well as P&O.

 

There are no easy answers and I do not claim to have any who knows what will make P&O rethink the DSC they have in place .

 

I do think other options are open but probably will not happen . P&O say they make the shortfalls up so maybe if everyone refused to pay a penny more than £5 per day that would hit P&O but not the staff .

P&O could raise it to what they like, if everyone held firm and gave £5 only.

Also your end of cruise questionnaire you was to give all staff top marks to give them full payment of DSC but then mark the overall cruise down to the lowest mark ,giving the reason of these unfair payments .

Just my idea's guys and no better than your thoughts :)

When the girl from guest relations rang me i was given the impression that adding gratuitys into the cruise fare was being considered probably because a lot of people are cancelling their service charge.

I explained for the British market it would be a great PR scoop to advertise tips included,

Lets see what develops.

[kalos]

When the girl from guest relations rang me i was given the impression that adding gratuitys into the cruise fare was being considered probably because a lot of people are cancelling their service charge.

I explained for the British market it would be a great PR scoop to advertise tips included,

Lets see what develops.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Lets hope P&O do the right thing :)

[grapau27]

Thanks for the update.

 

Lets hope P&O do the right thing :)

Thanks,lets hope so.

[NSWP]

If P&O UK move to included service charge/gratuities, the overall price of the cruise is sure to rise a bit, like it did on P&O Australia and Princess Australia ships. Not everyone would be entirely happy with a price rise, in particular the 'remove tips brigade.':halo:

 

Just my two bobs worth.:(

[Josy1953]

If P&O UK move to included service charge/gratuities, the overall price of the cruise is sure to rise a bit, like it did on P&O Australia and Princess Australia ships. Not everyone would be entirely happy with a price rise, in particular the 'remove tips brigade.':halo:

 

Just my two bobs worth.:(

Those of us who always pay the full amount will be happy because we will no longer be subsidising those who are not paying.

[grapau27]

If P&O UK move to included service charge/gratuities, the overall price of the cruise is sure to rise a bit, like it did on P&O Australia and Princess Australia ships. Not everyone would be entirely happy with a price rise, in particular the 'remove tips brigade.':halo:

 

Just my two bobs worth.:(

Marella include the tips and are not cheap but most people remember

Tips Included.

If P&O did this it would be good PR for them and those of us who tip extra would know it is a proper tip to who we want to give or not.

[grapau27]

Those of us who always pay the full amount will be happy because we will no longer be subsidising those who are not paying.

Very true.

[insanemagnet]

Those of us who always pay the full amount will be happy because we will no longer be subsidising those who are not paying.

By that do you mean P&O, who choose not to pay their staff and hope their customers will?

[Shineson]

Those of us who always pay the full amount will be happy because we will no longer be subsidising those who are not paying.

 

Spot on - me too. I'm incredulous at the number of tight fisted people who believe they have enough moral highground, to remove the DSC, and make themselves feel better about it by blaming the low wages paid by the cruise line !! We are where we are folks. You booked your cruise knowing its price & knowing the % DSC they charge. OK, so now P & O have hiked up their charges way beyond what to many of us is reasonable. If you haven't paid for your cruise yet - cancel if you feel so strongly about it, and book on another line that sets a reasonable level of DSC, or as I have done, book on an 'All Inclusive' cruise whose top line price for my cruise was acceptable to me - end of.