A niggling thought about extra tips

[sweet_successes]

Hi Everyone

 

I know that tipping is a hot issue but i've decided to let everyone know of our expereince on our last cruise.

 

We did leave the auto tips in place as I believe this is a way of saying thank you without too much pressure.

 

Our cabin staff were ok - not great but ok - some mornings they left glasses on the bedside tables - we only got our towels replaced once (even though I requested it a few times) and our bedside tables were never wiped down once. Hubby still tipped them at the end and they didn't even say thanks.

 

In the dining room our wait staff were nice - our head waiter kept asking "everything alright with the ... (starter, entree, main, desert) EVERY NIGHT to everyone on our table. It was beginning to get annoying at the end of the cruise. Come Thursday night they began to ignore us and all at our table (and the table beside us) - it took ages for them to take our order and drinks (nd it was 30 minutes for our dinner order - one couple got up and left and they didn't even notice). On the night of our anniversary we had arranged for our cake to be bought down to the resteraunt to share with our table - we had spoken to the Maitre'd about it and also the head waiter for our table. We had to continualy ask for it and it took about half an hour for them to find it and bring it to the table.

 

We did tip our head waiter and drinks waiter. I did however, come away not feeling happy with the service and will be honest and say I don't know if I would tip extra again unless we get great service (like we got on our 2006 cruise).

 

Sorry, I wasn't going to say anything but it's been eating away at me!!

 

Rach

[AuzzieCruiser]

No, it's good to get it off your chest Rach. It's good to get the negatives, as well as the positives. If this had happened ashore, no doubt you would have walked out. 30 minutes to take an order is a bit rough.:mad:

[Anissa72]

I had posted a little about this also in another posting and some others we were talking about the same thing. We noticed that our stewards stopped being so happy when they realised they werent going to get an extra tip from us and by the last day (Fri) they would hide whenever we came up the hall and the rooms where messy. Our head steward always promised some form of towel animal and never gave our son 1 of them he promised and as for the waiters well they were fine until the last night were peoples food didnt arrive and they just didnt care like they were in the beginning so we know were you are coming from.

 

I think it is good when people speak up as we all have differing opinions and life isnt all rosy so it is good to hear feedback on the cruises whether it is negative or positive.

 

Thanks for your feedback on this issue

[aussie down under]

I have to agree.

We were pleased with our room steward, nothing exceptional, but better than doing it yourself! We always left our room tidy, and tried to make as least amount of work as possible for him to do. We got one towel animal in 13 nights:( . The reason why I cruise! When we cruised on the pacific sky we had animals every night, and felt embarrassed that my clothes were folded up for me! A lady on our cruise did tell me when she was seasick the first day her cabin steward was looking in on her all day and took her down to the doctor. That was above and beyond I believe.:)

Our table waiters were also okay, nothing exceptional. I also felt as the cruise wore on, so did the service. Unless of course if you were young and pretty. Having said that the staff must get tired. Tired of work and tired of passengers. I never complained as I know they have a demanding job.

We personally tipped both cabin stewards and both table waiters on the last night of the cruise quite significantly, but may take your advice Kaz and tell them at the start of the cruise that is what I intend to do.:) Cheers,

Michele

[LuckiePuris]

I reaslise there is good and bad service, but I must say that I have alway shad almost perfect service.

 

Especially on our last cruise on Pacific Sun, our room stewards would always replace our towels daily even without being asked, would always leave additional toiletries in our room because they know how us women can be!

 

From memory, we got a towel animal in our room almost every night.

 

Our rooms were always spotless and they were always friendly, approachable and happy for a chat.

 

They also had no problems with giving us extra beach towels!

 

With our waiters, they too were fantastic. They knew every night at which seats on the table to place wine glasses, remembered to order an entree of chips for our group each night, and also remembered the tomato sauce. They were very willing to answer any questions you had about the meal, and were also more than happy to bring you two desserts when you couldn't decide!

 

I do realise that there are also staff that are less friendly are more interested in the extra tipping, but then at the other end of the scale are the staff like the ones i've mentioned which always waved when they saw you in breakfast and lunch in the dining room (at the other tables with mixed passengers) and staff that are willing to go that extra mile

[ianqld]

A cruise ship is like any other business, you pay for a service. If you don't get the service you expect, complain right away. Don't let it spoil your holiday.

I would not tip if the service was not to the standard I expected. We used autotip and also gave a special tip to our stewarts and waiters because they were friendly and their service was excellent.

I work hard for my money and would not give it to anyone who didn't deserve it, just because it is expected.

Like any workplace some staff take pride in their work.

[Anissa72]

Great responses. We also left the auto tips in place this time. Also realising that they do get tird with the amount of work they have to do. Did hear a story from a someone in the kids club. Apparently they get threatened if they do something wrong that they will be reported to Josh (cruise director) even for something minor! This girl couldnt believe it!

Mind you the ones threatening to tell Josh were phillipinos and the girl getting reported was Australian. She couldnt get over how strict they are! She only done it for a few weeks in the holidays but said the money was okay but not worth being on your feet for 14 days flat!

[Croozin']

We left auto tipping on as it was our first cruise (we went on the Sun) and weren't sure what to do.

 

We did leave a tip and a card for our room stewards, although it wasn't a large amount. We were going to write a card for our waitstaff but didn't end up doing it. We also didn't tip them because we saw a notice when going ashore one day that staff aren't supposed to receive cash gifts and if they are over a certain amount it has to be reported.

 

We didn't get a decline in service over the 11 day cruise - it was consistently excellent, especially with dinner. We also made a point of getting to know them - asking questions about them, getting their recommendations about the food (that was hilarious).

[ianqld]

We also made a point of getting to know them - asking questions about them' date=' getting their recommendations about the food (that was hilarious).[/quote']

 

That's a good suggestion.

My DW loves talking to people, so we ended up having a few short conversations with the staff (kept short so we didn't detain them from their duties and make them run late), about their experiences and working conditions.

Always received a smile and greeting by name as we passed them on the ship.

Just common courtesy, goes a long way :)

[MsMinx]

Thanks for the honest opinion Rach.

 

I'm thinking more and more that i'll just leave the auto tip on this time and make a decision on the final night as to whether i'll add any extras to it.

 

Saying that though i've always tipped both cabin stewards and the waiter and his assistant if he has one. I don't tip the wine steward though, but only because we just simply don't order wine so i'd be handing over money for the sake of it!

 

Looking back on our first cruise I've always kind of regretted giving our waiter as much as we did, purely because we had terrible table mates so spent most nights in the pizzaria! And when we did go to dinner the waiter always made it seem like it was an effort to serve us. He never made any small talk and wasn't fun or friendly in any way. I was really surprised to see that he had been promoted to a management position when we took our 2nd cruise!

 

This was the one and only person who we have regretted tipping a high amount to though. Everyone else has always been wonderful! Our last cabin steward was very shy and didn't say too much but her assistant was out there and a hoot!! He had a smile the width of the ship and always made funny jokes and comments as he passed by :) It's people like that that really make it a fun experience :D

[LouLou28]

We must have had the best staff ever on our cruise! We did take autotip off on the last night, but only so that we could distribute the tips the way we wanted to! Our assistant cabin steward did such a great a job with us that we actually gave him a bigger tip than our cabin steward. (They all got more than they would have if we had left autotipping on). (Mind you we never got any towel animals ... not that I was as aware of them then as I am now!!!)

 

We also had great wait-staff in the dining room ... they were both fantastic and lots of fun - and I do have to say they were fantastic with the kids!

 

We would have tipped all of the staff that we had interaction with if we had received that level of service anywhere in Australia - it was definately above and beyond what we were expecting.

[Skyrules]

On our most recent cruise, we left our auto tipping in place, as we always do, and at the end of the cruise we tipped our cabin staff personally on top of that, as we were more than happy with the service they gave us, but we chose not to tip our waitstaff as we didn't think that we got exceptional service from them.

[fishtaco]

I am sure that the wait staff know who has taken their auto tips off?

Tracey and I got great service right to the end,but some of our table companions had removed their auto tips just b4 the last night and didnt,although I was waiting to tip them (waiters)as other tables were,they vanished,maybe knowing that the tips were not going to come from all on the table?

Maybe its an envelope thing? I had no envelope like other tables and as this was our first cruise was not sure how it was done,others on our table had cruised b4 and just got up and left.I tried to find our waiters after dinner but to no avail,so soon after it was forgotton due to last night celebrations.I do feel sorry that I didnt tip my wait staff and wish that they had hung around a bit longer because I had the cash in my pocket on the ready,but chasing the waiters for the rest of the night was not on my prioity list. If I come across them on my next cruise although they may not remember me,I will thank them in person and add a tip for them at the pursers desk,but they should have hung around like the other waiters,as from my point of view it would have been worth it,because I was ready to have a whip around.

[kaseyoz]

we have had the opposite in that they hang around more on the last night waiting for any extras, wanting to take photos for you etc.

 

we didnt tip the drinks waiters extra on our pacific sun cruise as we hardly saw him but got terrific treatment from the main waiter(he did get extra). The next day at breakfast he came by our table to say farewell, hope you had a good cruise. we felt sorry for him so did end up giving him something, We were two families of 4 so i suppose he did earn it.

[cheznandy]

mmm...I havent cruised every year, but on our last Sun cruise we took the auto tip off, this was the first cruise we had done where auto tips were in place, hadnt joined CC then and was totally disgusted that they made you tip in advance for service you hadn't received yet:confused:

 

I did notice that our service just wasnt the same as the last cruises I had done on the Fair Princess and the Pacific Sky, which were so fantastic, but just put it down to different ship, different stewards etc, now thinking perhaps it was cos we took the auto tip off for all our family of 4? but we tipped at the end, to our wine steward and waiter, our cabin stewards were not that great, so we didnt tip them.

 

We are off in under 3 weeks on the Sun again so will be interesting to see what has changed, hubby is against auto tipping, but we have paid such cheap fares, it seems really "cheap" to take to auto tip off, Andy is adamant he is taking his off until he recieves the service worthy of tipping :p which, is what we do here in Oz:)

 

Will be interesting then to see what service we get if one has left auto on and one has taken it off:rolleyes:

 

We always tip at the end of the cruise, a large amount to those who have enhanced our cruise, doesnt take much, just a smile:)

 

So......it has been a long time, and there have been conflicting reports, and I am only talking about P&O Australia, and I have forgot what was said in previous discussion, do they get to keep the private tips they recieve at the end of a cruise, or is it pooled? I know the auto tips are pooled . yes, its that can of worms again hehe:p

 

Chez

xx

[sailawaysally]

Yes, I was just going to say the same thing, because I had read somewhere that ANY extra tips must be handed over to be added to the 'pool' of tips so everyone gets an equal share. It just seems funny reading that some take the auto tipping off and then hand money over to their personal favourites who have to, if it's true, then hand it on to the 'pool'. Seems pointless if they do have to hand it over. Wish we could find out for sure then we would know whether to leave the autotipping on and adding to it if we want to or if we can just tip extra to the ones we feel have served us well. Money is going here there and everywhere and may just all end up in a 'pool' anyway.

[wombat50]

in regards to auto tipping im doing a sapphire princess cruise next year and i have read they charge $10 /day auto tip plus 15% to your drinks bill know the $10/day you can keep or remove but is the 15% surcharge to drinks the same where you can keep on or remove as it said it gets distributed to bar and waiter staff

[arxcards]

mmm...I havent cruised every year, but on our last Sun cruise we took the auto tip off, this was the first cruise we had done where auto tips were in place, hadnt joined CC then and was totally disgusted that they made you tip in advance for service you hadn't received yet:confused:

 

I did notice that our service just wasnt the same as the last cruises I had done on the Fair Princess and the Pacific Sky, which were so fantastic, but just put it down to different ship, different stewards etc, now thinking perhaps it was cos we took the auto tip off for all our family of 4? but we tipped at the end, to our wine steward and waiter, our cabin stewards were not that great, so we didnt tip them.

 

We are off in under 3 weeks on the Sun again so will be interesting to see what has changed, hubby is against auto tipping, but we have paid such cheap fares, it seems really "cheap" to take to auto tip off, Andy is adamant he is taking his off until he recieves the service worthy of tipping :p which, is what we do here in Oz:)

 

Will be interesting then to see what service we get if one has left auto on and one has taken it off:rolleyes:

 

We always tip at the end of the cruise, a large amount to those who have enhanced our cruise, doesnt take much, just a smile:)

 

So......it has been a long time, and there have been conflicting reports, and I am only talking about P&O Australia, and I have forgot what was said in previous discussion, do they get to keep the private tips they recieve at the end of a cruise, or is it pooled? I know the auto tips are pooled . yes, its that can of worms again hehe:p

 

Chez

xx

Chez,

If you leave the autotips on, and pay extra to those you feel deserve it, they get to keep the extra. If you have taken the AWS off, they are supposed to hand their individually given tips to the pool.

An example of why they are pooled - You have had an excellent meal and service at dinner. Why would you only give your tip to the waiter? Doesn't the chef and his staff deserve a cut as well? If you tip at a restaurant, it is usually pooled for all staff too.

 

This is not to say I approve of AWS - I don't. Just that if you feel the staff deserve to be tipped, it is easiest to pay via AWS. There is some info in the new Princess Australia Q&A book about being able to direct your tips to certain staff, but that is not P&O as far as I know.

 

Cheers

Geoff

[arxcards]

in regards to auto tipping im doing a sapphire princess cruise next year and i have read they charge $10 /day auto tip plus 15% to your drinks bill know the $10/day you can keep or remove but is the 15% surcharge to drinks the same where you can keep on or remove as it said it gets distributed to bar and waiter staff

The 15% drink surcharge can not be removed!

 

Cheers

Geoff

[kaseyoz]

even the soda card has 15 % added. You just look at it as the final price of your drinks. It is nice just to sit there waiting for the show to start and order your cocktail and they bring it to you. Or you do not need to leave the pool for a drink.

we took the tips off on the sapphire and had to fill in a form to say why and was there a problem. we still had fantastic service though. we did have anytime dining.

[jig]

I have been reading these post on different sites for a long time. I am posting here because I am sailing in PO in June on the Dawn.

Whoever wrote that if you remove yourself from the Auto Tipping the tips you give one on one must be pooled is so very true. They write the cabin number on the envelope and anything up to the set amount is pooled. The do get to keep anything over. Small tips to crew are of course kept.

About the 15%. Do you want to walk around with small bills or coins? This makes everything so easy. I fell the only ones who

REALLY object to this are those who stiff the crew. I have been on many cruise where on the last night half don't show up for dinner. I get incensed by that as they seemed to be the most demanding. Not only do we stay in the pool but we have allways giver more if the service was very good. On our last Princess we were treated like Royality. It could be that we were Captians Circle Elite but still every one was great.

Now you can say, Oh American, They tip for everything. well my Girlfriend in Australian, living in Australia and feels the same way as I do.

If you want to feel the difference, go to Doyles at the Quey and sit at a table waiting 45 minutes for your order to be taken and another hour for the food to arrive. On a Tuesday. Reminded me of the old Soviet Union.

The people who work on the ship do the best they can. They should not be forgotten. Remember the cruise line pays for NOTHING. You pay for everything. If the crew are stiffed then the lines will just raise the fares. One way or another we all pay.

Just my 15% of a few cents

[AuzzieCruiser]

My mum was talking to our cabin steward Andy, and she asked him how many cabins he had to service. He said 31!!!:eek: That is a hell of an amount of cabins to service twice a day.

He deserves so much more than the measley $2.00 a day, or whatever amount he receives from us daily.

He remembers my name for some reason??:confused: Always asks my mum where I am etc.

Waiters have been good too. Have yet to catch their names, since we changed dining rooms, and haven't been introduced yet. Perhaps if someone who has sat at Table 3 may be able to help, that is if they are not rotated around the Room/s.

The staff will be definately be receiving extra from us for their wonderful work.:)

Only downside so far, is the flowers we ordered on Saturday haven't turned up yet.:rolleyes: I'll be going down to the Pursers Desk shortly.

PS Apologies for the very bad spelling!! Crap keyboard and the motion of the ship. Well that is my excuse anyway!!:p

[sailawaysally]

Hi Jarrod, always great to hear from someone 'live' from the ship. Hope you get the flowers, and hope you have a great holiday. 31 rooms seems like a lot twice a day, I have trouble doing 6 in our house!!

[donaldsc]

We left auto tipping on as it was our first cruise (we went on the Sun) and weren't sure what to do.

 

We did leave a tip and a card for our room stewards' date=' although it wasn't a large amount. We were going to write a card for our waitstaff but didn't end up doing it. We also didn't tip them because we saw a notice when going ashore one day that staff aren't supposed to receive cash gifts and if they are over a certain amount it has to be reported.

 

We didn't get a decline in service over the 11 day cruise - it was consistently excellent, especially with dinner. We also made a point of getting to know them - asking questions about them, getting their recommendations about the food (that was hilarious).[/quote']

 

 

You say that you left them a "card". Is this something that they can spend or a thank you card? If it is not something that is either hard cash or directly convertable to hard cash, they really do not care for it. What can they do with a thank you card?

 

Also, I can not imagine where it would be said that you should not give them additional cash. All of us (or at least almost all of us) tip with extra cash if the service it good.

 

DON

[cheznandy]

I have been reading these post on different sites for a long time. I am posting here because I am sailing in PO in June on the Dawn.

Whoever wrote that if you remove yourself from the Auto Tipping the tips you give one on one must be pooled is so very true. They write the cabin number on the envelope and anything up to the set amount is pooled. The do get to keep anything over. Small tips to crew are of course kept.

About the 15%. Do you want to walk around with small bills or coins? This makes everything so easy. I fell the only ones who

REALLY object to this are those who stiff the crew. I have been on many cruise where on the last night half don't show up for dinner. I get incensed by that as they seemed to be the most demanding. Not only do we stay in the pool but we have allways giver more if the service was very good. On our last Princess we were treated like Royality. It could be that we were Captians Circle Elite but still every one was great.

Now you can say, Oh American, They tip for everything. well my Girlfriend in Australian, living in Australia and feels the same way as I do.

If you want to feel the difference, go to Doyles at the Quey and sit at a table waiting 45 minutes for your order to be taken and another hour for the food to arrive. On a Tuesday. Reminded me of the old Soviet Union.

The people who work on the ship do the best they can. They should not be forgotten. Remember the cruise line pays for NOTHING. You pay for everything. If the crew are stiffed then the lines will just raise the fares. One way or another we all pay.

Just my 15% of a few cents

 

 

 

Thanks jig, what I needed to hear. So if the auto tips are turned off,the money we tip individually goes into the pool, up to "suggested "tipping amount and they are able to keep anything over that. So if tips are kept on, then I can tip my favourtite crew and they get to keep it?

 

Better start saving for Tahiti:) Did you get your email re change of ports?

 

Chez

xx