Teddy123

Personally speaking, I go on holiday to relax, not to get all humpty-doodle about who gets a couple of quid from my tips. I pay it, and get on with my life and holiday.

 

It really is not worth getting into a tizz about it - pay the auto-gratuity which the cruise line has set and get on with life. It is only a Gin and Tonic a day after all.

 

If it was rolled into the fare it comes out of the same wallet anyway so why all of the angst?:confused:

I agree. Get on board, save yourself the trouble of doing anything about the charge, forget about the semantics of whether or not it's a tip (with all that entails), view it as part of the holiday cost, and pay it at the end like everything else on board. It's only because it gets labelled a tip and can be removed that people get so upset about it, for one reason or another. And if you want to reward some specific individuals as well, do so.

Do they?

 

Perhaps you could tell us how they are distributed.

 

Are the tips pooled in a tronc or do they go directly to the staff served by those customers. If the latter how does it work with Freedom Dining where you have a number of different waiters.

 

etc.

It's true: nobody knows for sure. So those removing the autotip don't know what the impact is (althought it seems there are some who don't care anyway). The lack of clarity is just another reason for rolling it into the fare.

We have just disembarked Arcadia after a 5 night to Hamburg (not as good as Amsterdam IMO). We were freedom dining and had to pick between 5.30pm sitting or 8.30pm via e-mail a few weeks before we sailed

You had FD but had to pick a fixed time? This was just for New Year's Eve I assume.

Freedom Dining means you just turn up at the relevant restaurant when it suits you and ask for a table - you can't book in advance. You will be asked if you are happy to share a table, and if so will probably get one straight away (if you are a couple). If you want a table for 2, you may need to wait until one is free, in which case they will give you a pager. You should be aware that it seems to be a "P&O tradition" that the queue outside the restaurant starts 30 minutes before it opens!

When people remove the autotip, EITHER hard-working staff who would otherwise be rewarded, and are paid on the basis they get a tip, miss out (because even if people then tip individually, I simply don't believe it is possible to tip ALL those who would get a share of the autotip) OR P&O make it up, as some here believe, and inevitably pass the cost on, so that future passengers pay more as a result of the autotip being removed by some people.

Increasing the basic fare to cover "service", abolishing autotips, and leaving people free to reward outstanding individuals if they wish is clearly the fairest solution for staff and passengers alike.

It's called Metropolis on the Ventura - can't recall if it's the same on Azura. One nice feature is a series of plasma panels all along the front wall that together show a composite view of a city from round the world - Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong, etc - in real time. Good to sit and watch while waiting for a dinner table for 2 to be free! The Azura panels are larger than Ventura, as I remember, and so slightly better to watch.

I made that mistake a few years ago when I booked on the first day.

 

A few months later, the prices dropped so much that it was cheaper to cancel, lose the deposit, and re-book.

 

We've still got a couple of trips to get out of the way before thinking about another.

 

Stewart

We booked a number of 2018 cruises onboard QM2 in September, going right up to December 2018. Early booking gave us 10% off and the fares were cheaper than those now being promoted by Cunard with its "free upgrade" offer - Princess Grill for the price of Britannia Club in our case. Plus booking onboard gave us $400 extra OBC each. Obviously booking 2 years in advance has some risks, including that the fare really does drop, but we've got the cruises and cabins we wanted at what so far is the best price, so I'm happy!

Room service is available all day and a room service breakfast is available by filling out the card and hanging it on your cabin door handle overnight. Not completely sure, but I think a full English Cooked breakfast is not generally offered on the room service breakfast.

 

Regards John

The ONLY (non-liquid) hot item on the room service breakfast menu is toast! (An advantage of Cunard is they offer omelettes).

You are correct, it is indeed about different outfits.

 

What I cannot understand is why there is a debate about that.

 

'Black Tie' consists of: a dress shirt, dress trousers, dress shoes, a bow tie, sometimes a cumberbund, and a black or white jacket known as a 'tux'.

 

It is not a 'suit' of any kind, black or otherwise.

 

As I've mentioned, all men, in IMHO, look stunning in it and why on earth wouldn't a man want to do that. Us women get most of the comments on how stunning we look, surely it's nice when men can get such comments as well.

 

Happy Christmas and have a fantastic day. :)

We can probably all agree that this is what "real black tie" (for want of a better phrase) consists of. The debate arises because P&O use the phrase "black tie" to describe a dress code that they define as being satisfied by either "real black tie" or a suit.

On previous cruises we were allocated a dining room for Freedom Dining, but earlier this month it was a question of go to whichever you like. And one was open 5.30 to 9.00 and the other 6.00 to 9.30. Also, they were quite willing to give a table for 8 or 10 for exclusive use of a couple. Since we always like a table for 2 and like to eat relatively early, these were great improvements for us and a good move by P&O. (And the food was, overall, better than in Cunard Princess Grill on an earlier cruise - although Cunard scores in other ways).

Whilst I would happily wear Black Tie every evening, I do feel the "after 6PM" dress rule/code is somewhat of a farce.

 

The reason being, who is going to get dressed for dinner before 18:00 when they are on second sitting in the MDR, which is not until 20:30 ? No one I would suggest.

Since the vast majority of people one sees around the ship after 18.00 HAVE dressed according to the code, if the suggestion is true one can only conclude all the late diners stay in their cabin until some time near 20.30.

I agree - the dress code is not always respected and not enforced. On a recent QM2 Transatlantic, several people were jacket-less in the theatre and at least one of our American Cousins was also wearing a "Vote Trump" baseball cap throughout! I did query at Reception if the code was supposed to apply, and they said it was. I suggested some attempt at enforcement might be good.

I think you have touched on a potential drawback to including gratuities in the cost of the cruise. Whilst I would support this, provided I could trust P and O to administer it fairly, possible optional tipping which many would engage in almost by habit, may become the expected norm.

True - but I would expect P&O to make a big selling point of tips being included, so everyone would be aware of it and it would be different to the situation some years ago - and I for one would not then feel that an extra tip was expected/needed unless there were exceptional circumstances. (In any case, I doubt the opinions of anybody on this forum will make a difference to what P&O actually do!)

I refer you to my post number 80. Put the price up and stop all tipping.

I agree that building it into the price would be much simpler and prevent some passengers - deliberately or otherwise - failing to reward those who deserve it (although optional tipping onto should still be accepted, of course).

P&O differed with their answer to this question about their service reward scheme on their Facebook page to what is stated on their website and in the brochures only last week so depending on who you speak no you cannot believe them they are well known for muddying the waters on this subject.

You've said this before and I couldn't see any difference, so could you help us all by being more specific and quoting the bits you think are different? Thanks.

Had the same lack of response from P&O - never tried with Cunard, but there is another option: 0800 0523841

In my view, the cabins on Britannia are smaller than on other P&O ships (a way of getting so many on board!) and on that particular ship, the bigger Superior cabins are a good idea, I think. Certainly avoid A deck for the reasons quoted, and you might also like to avoid being near a lauderette or lift space if you are likely to be disturbed by too many people talking outside your door.

You will find the ship's photographers will want to snap you as you get on board, at several dinners, on shore trips, etc. You then have the choice to buy any or none of these - depending on what you want, this might be an alternative to formal portraits.

Below is a response given by P&O on their own Facebook page on 9th September which I think you will agree differs from their website and in their brochures so it is hardly surprising there is confusion and why people do not trust them to administer the gratuity/service reward scheme.

 

"at present, Waiters, Buffet Staff, Cabin Stewards & Butlers are entitled to payments from the Service Reward Scheme"

I'm finding this discussion very difficult! As far as I can see the Facebook words are entirely consistent with the website words I quoted, and both can be interpreted as meaning a wide range of staff benefit from the SRS. Earlier I was told that the SRS only applies to Club Dining not breakfast staff, and when I asked for evidence of this, I was quoted the very words that I had shown probably mean breakfast staff DO get included. So, I find nothing to change my view that the SRS rewards a lot of people who it would be very difficult to tip individually. Hence, extra tips AS WELL AS SRS are fine, but individual tips INSTEAD OF SRS seems to miss out a lot of deserving people and I'm happy to use SRS.

No it means waiters in Club Dining, not at breakfast, when they all change around.

What is the provenance of this interpretation?

From the P&O website about automatic tips: "Please be assured that 100% of the amount goes directly to the crew members who serve you and make your holiday memorable, as a ‘thank you’ and it is hugely appreciated. This includes the main restaurant (waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter) and also to your cabin stewards or butler, who will have looked after you whilst you are with us." I note it says INCLUDES the waiters, etc - so others that are not mentioned may benefit too - and I also note it that it implies it's waiters, etc for breakfast and lunch, as well as dinner. My ironic comment about the difficulty of tipping all these people individually if one doesn't go down the automatic route stands.

To partly answer one of the questions: I would always urge people to have a balcony, it makes so much difference (clearly, since the non-balcony cabins are always full, not everyone agrees). Suites are nice, but it has to be a judgement about whether the extra benefits (see P&O literature/web site) and cost represent value for money to you. We sometimes take mini-suites or Superior Deluxe cabins, which are a bit of a compromise.

I always admire those who opt out of the automatic tips and adopt a DIY approach - it must be so difficult to remember all those who have served them in the various restaurants (for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner) and bars/coffee shops for the whole of the cruise, and then go round tipping each one! I find it easier to see the automated tips as being, essentially, part of the fare and thus included in the price, as long as I avoid asking for them to be removed.

We've been to Boston before and done most of the Freedom Trail. This time we are thinking of an inside visit to King's Chapel and/or Old North Church. Bearing in mind that several times a week I pass a church REBUILT over 900 years ago, and the revolutionary history means less to a Briton, I'd welcome any views on which is "nicest" and whether it is sensible to visit both - eg they seem to have similar interiors judging from web pictures. Thanks a lot.

Here's a clear answer to the first question: no. Nothing is prescribed and one can progress round it either way. There may be a "traditional way" but everyone can exercise free will. There will be people going in both directions and it is the responsibility of all, whether jogging or walking at a different pace to others, to be suitably considerate.

Failed emergency lighting seems pretty serious and is perhaps getting near to contravening legislation (I don't know and am not an expert). Depending on how much fuss you want to make, this sounds like a "line of attack" to me.