jake 26

As you suggested earlier PurpleMoonlight if the tipping cost rises more people will remove them. So that could lead to a self defeating spiral for P&O.

RCI have been doing promotions with 'free drinks' and included gratuities at inflated cruise prices and have successfully sold them.

I think the only answer for P&O is to increase the cruise price by £5pppd which will hardly be noticeable, and then do an advertising campaign promoting ' Gratuities now included'.

That way everyone pays, and the current anomalies are eradicated.

On our last cruise we were at the Baltic / Ligurian lunch and seated with a senior officer from the hotel dept. The subject of autotipping came up and he said he was disappointed at the large number of people queuing to remove the tips on day one.

I asked if that meant the intended recipients received a shortfall. He said No the company makes up the shortfall because of contractual agreements.

I therefore think the increase is to cover that.

It's a few years since we went to Martinique but, at the time, we were taken aback as to how poor it was compared with the likes of Barbados. I hope things have changed. Also, we went there on a Sunday and the place was totally shut, not even a corner shop open! Few tours ran as I recall. Those on the ship could not believe that in such a poor country the locals were not interested in relieving 2000 plus passengers of their money. Let's hope they have woken up!

We were amazed at how modern everything now is. They have a new motorway and good interconnecting roads. I think they may still take the US dollar but the main currency is the euro.. France has invested millions in recent years.

Outside of Fort de France people are very friendly but rarely can you find English spoken. We visited in 2014.

Martinique is much more affluent and developed than many of its neighbouring Caribbean islands. France has invested in its industry and road infrastructure quite heavily. It is very French.

I would recommend you get out of Fort De France and explore. P&O did a full day Discover Martinique tour which we thoroughly enjoyed (great lunch Inc) The island is quite beautiful and known as the Island of Flowers.

The auto tip is applied at £3.95 pppd. You can have it removed or adjusted at the reception desk.

We've just returned from 23 nights on Ventura and we left ours on and paid extra to 2 people at the end because the service was so good all round.

People were queuing after we called at Malaga, where we had a big changeover, to remove tips. After chatting to some of the staff it appears that was expected for the transatlantic leg as a lot of pax joined who had purchased the cruise at low prices, and they don't tip at all in many cases.

I can see the autotip becoming a fixed charge.

We've just returned from Ventura, and we ate in the Beach House on 2 occasions.

There is a cover charge of £5 pp.

The menu is quite extensive and some items carry an extra charge such as the lava rock fillet steak which is £2.50, and the king prawns which are around £2.00.

However the portions are large and we thought it was great value.

You don't have to prebook, its just turn up as before.

I think it has had an effect on numbers as we went around 7 - 7.30 on both occasions and got a table immediately.

Wow!!!! What a treat! I am so pleased for you Jake and this is really uplifting. It is great to see your loyalty rewarded in such a magnificent way. Make sure you and your wife have a wonderful wonderful time.

PS Does a butler comes with the Penthouse suite???

Many thanks Scriv.

Yes we will have a butler, but I'm not sure that we'll make use of him, though they are obviously trained.to be of great assistance so I'm sure he will be an asset. It will be an education.

We are obviously looking forward to it all.

Just to add to the mix.

We booked fairly late - in late June for the 23 nighter on Ventura next week. We are unable to book earlier because my wife has cancer checks each 3 months, and the cancer is not covered on our insurance.

We booked Select because we wanted a particular cabin situation and dining preference.

We booked a Superior de luxe balcony on D deck, but have since been upgraded to a penthouse suite, which is beyond our dreams.

Loyalty was mentioned in the phone call we received from P&O, we are Baltic with 3000+ points.

Sunseeker

I can't help but viewing your initial post as an over reaction. 100lbs of luggage between you for 14 days in the Caribbean! Surely enough when you wear light shorts/tops in the daytime. Most dinner suits are fairly light and the ladies certainly don't wear heavy dresses on formal nights.

You aren't taking beach towels and hair dryers etc so where is the weight problem?

My luggage for the Carib has never exceeded 18Kg and my wife's 20 Kg.

The H&S limit for cases is 23Kg so P&O are allowing you the max for 1 case. Many airlines limit you to 15 or 20Kg.