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Service charge ending!

Prefdavid

By Prefdavid,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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chrisg1uk

chrisg1uk

Posted
Posted
Can't believe some think prices won't increase due to this.

 

If so many people removed gratuities whilst on the cruise a change was inevitable.

 

And if they do, there is plenty of choice out there and customers will vote with their feet if prices are not perceived as providing value. P&O are in business like any other to make money. At least it's simpler now. Goo.d change in my view

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kalos

kalos

Posted
Posted
I wonder if they will plug it on that tv show tonight. The one that is on at 8.00 p.m. on channel 22

 

Or that other show from Liverpool . I used to love it when big " J " would say....

" book P&O with me now and I will give you £200 OBC"

Best thing was go on P&O site and they were giving you the very same £200 .

Would have been good if he was offering an extra £200. :)

 

Same as most people on this thread I think it's a good move by P&O, should make cruising a more carefree experience.

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P-L-B

P-L-B

Posted
Posted
Or that other show from Liverpool . I used to love it when big " J " would say....

" book P&O with me now and I will give you £200 OBC"

Best thing was go on P&O site and they were giving you the very same £200 .

Would have been good if he was offering an extra £200. :)

 

Same as most people on this thread I think it's a good move by P&O, should make cruising a more carefree experience.

Agreed, my thoughts to.

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majortom10

majortom10

Posted
Posted
OK but when did you book this. We all know prices on release are the keenest.

 

Not always I phoned Cunard earlier this week asking to upgrade my cabin on a cruise already booked. Knowing the rules that you pay the price when you booked they quoted me a price of over £3500pp for a P2 when currently it was advertised at £2699. So it would be cheaper for me to cancel my cruise lose deposit rebook at £2699 and still save a large amount on £3500. Not surprisingly the P2 at £2699 for 14nt Roundtrip TA soon sold out. P&O are no different there is no guarantee that every cruise booked on release date will never be cheaper in the future nobody ever knows or can guarantee that.

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majortom10

majortom10

Posted
Posted
Fact is,

P&O we're exposed by me regarding this service charge.

 

If Guests will not have to pay increased fares who will suffer definitely not the company but the crew. 2 years back crew used to get new uniforms every contract now they have to reuse.

 

Crew will still expect a tip

 

P&O can make up for this in a number of ways without anyone even noticing

All the restaurants are going to be freedom dining very soon

 

Onlytime will tell but with so many crew member leaving P&O...they will have to come with a better pay structure

 

You are having a laugh many people have complained about auto gratuities either on forums, Facebook, direct e-mail or end of cruise questionnaires since auto gratuities were first introduced on Ventura in 2008.

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daiB

daiB

Posted
Posted
Not always I phoned Cunard earlier this week asking to upgrade my cabin on a cruise already booked. Knowing the rules that you pay the price when you booked they quoted me a price of over £3500pp for a P2 when currently it was advertised at £2699. So it would be cheaper for me to cancel my cruise lose deposit rebook at £2699 and still save a large amount on £3500. Not surprisingly the P2 at £2699 for 14nt Roundtrip TA soon sold out. P&O are no different there is no guarantee that every cruise booked on release date will never be cheaper in the future nobody ever knows or can guarantee that.

 

 

 

That is quite correct no guarantees at all. However in our last 20+ or more cruises the price we have paid has not been bettered later. Perhaps we have been lucky but I somehow doubt that.

 

 

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daiB

daiB

Posted
Posted
You are having a laugh many people have complained about auto gratuities either on forums, Facebook, direct e-mail or end of cruise questionnaires since auto gratuities were first introduced on Ventura in 2008.

 

 

 

A late comer to the ball, perhaps.

 

 

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ONT-CA

ONT-CA

Posted
Posted

This is creating a bit of a quandary in that we have always allowed our ship board credits to pay the service charge. That removed, how now to spend the money, for you can't cash in any unused portion. Drink it I suppose. Ah, there's the rub.

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daiB

daiB

Posted
Posted
This is creating a bit of a quandary in that we have always allowed our ship board credits to pay the service charge. That removed, how now to spend the money, for you can't cash in any unused portion. Drink it I suppose. Ah, there's the rub.

 

 

 

Pass it on to me I never have any problem spending it.

 

 

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KarenandPaul

KarenandPaul

Posted
Posted

I think all P&O will do is greatly reduce the OBC they offer. Price will increase a little maybe , service changes. No sweets. Talk of doing away turn down and chocolates at night. few pence on drinks , The main way they will incoperate the change and make up some of the difference will be a big reduction of OBC

I think a good proportion of people who left auto tips on just paid out of that. “Giveth in one hand take out from over” . That’s how we always felt and had no problem with it been that way. We tipped extra on top for excellence service. Mainly to wine waiter or MDR staff. I think if we had to find £12/14 a day and money was took from credit card. It would of somehow felt too much. But it felt it wasn’t our money tipping but P&O OBC. So tips in a round about were included ! . No logic in that way of thinking but worked for us.

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Selbourne "Live from...." Rare

Selbourne

Posted
Posted
I think all P&O will do is greatly reduce the OBC they offer. Price will increase a little maybe , service changes. No sweets. Talk of doing away turn down and chocolates at night. few pence on drinks , The main way they will incoperate the change and make up some of the difference will be a big reduction of OBC

I think a good proportion of people who left auto tips on just paid out of that. “Giveth in one hand take out from over” . That’s how we always felt and had no problem with it been that way. We tipped extra on top for excellence service. Mainly to wine waiter or MDR staff. I think if we had to find £12/14 a day and money was took from credit card. It would of somehow felt too much. But it felt it wasn’t our money tipping but P&O OBC. So tips in a round about were included ! . No logic in that way of thinking but worked for us.

 

As you say, no real logic in that way of thinking! I have never understood how people can consider OBC to be P&O’s money and not theirs. P&O often use OBC to balance the price I.e. basic cruise price goes up, OBC goes up, basic Cruise price goes down, OBC goes down. That’s why price tracker websites are so flawed as they only consider one part of the deal - the base price. We always consider the price paid to be the net cost of the cruise less OBC.

 

Of course, the ‘net’ price doesn’t remain constant. Like many others on here we have secured the best net prices by booking at launch and they have never been bettered (I’m talking Select prices of course as that’s all we book). One of our cruises is now double the price we paid at launch! On the basis that so many passengers were opting out of auto service charges, I reckon P&O only needs to recoup an average of around £3 per passenger a day to replace the revenue it will ‘lose’ following this change. With ‘fluid pricing’ of this magnitude, it would be impossible to spot how P&O recoups this money.

 

Returning to OBC, we have never had an issue spending ours on Select Dining, drinks, etc etc etc even when we have had £1000 of it for a 2 week Cruise! When it’s used up, you are spending your own money, so the longer you keep hold of it the better!

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FangedRose

FangedRose

Posted
Posted
Come to think of it there were no sweets in our cabin last week on Britannia. We did have chocolates and a “flower” though!

No sweets in April. But a different type of flower which did last 12 days!

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Brayman

Brayman

Posted
Posted
How about an edible flower? They could then do away with the free biccies. I assume a single edible flower is cheaper than loads of biccies that many take home with them

 

what's wrong with people taking them home, they will be consumed by kids if no one else?

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