Tipping

[spareroomgirl]

Going on med fly cruise 25/06/2014. Not cruised with p&o before, been on others. With tregard to tipping, do we have to have it automatically put on our account or can we ask for envelopes at the end of the cruise.

[davecttr]

Going on med fly cruise 25/06/2014. Not cruised with p&o before, been on others. With tregard to tipping, do we have to have it automatically put on our account or can we ask for envelopes at the end of the cruise.

Either, it will be automatically added to your account or go to reception to get it removed and use envelopes.

[soobs]

We have it removed from our OBA and tip as and when we get a good service we always spend more than they add to the OBA, we tip in $$ and like being able to tip the people who often don't get tips.

[majortom10]

We have it removed from our OBA and tip as and when we get a good service we always spend more than they add to the OBA, we tip in $$ and like being able to tip the people who often don't get tips.

 

We have always tipped in £££s whether be it at end of cruise in envelopes or by it being automatically added to our OBA. We now prefer the latter and leave the gratuities to be added to OBA it saves a lot of problems and P&O are one of the cheapest cruiselines for automatic gratuities.

[jeanlyon]

We have it removed from our OBA and tip as and when we get a good service we always spend more than they add to the OBA, we tip in $$ and like being able to tip the people who often don't get tips.

 

Why dollars? It's a British line and the dollar is dropping on a daily basis?

[simonpjd]

I would imagine the staff would probably prefer US$ . It is taken in most countries almost as readily as the home currency. The only places where I have used GBP easily in the last few years have been Gibraltar and Port Stanley.

[daiB]

I would imagine the staff would probably prefer US$ . It is taken in most countries almost as readily as the home currency. The only places where I have used GBP easily in the last few years have been Gibraltar and Port Stanley.

 

 

Only for the winter Caribbean based ships. Any based in Europe or UK will not find $US very handy.

 

I have heard before that it is best to give in pounds as this is most convenient to them. But by far the best way is to leave the auto tip on and then if you want to get rid of your unused currency pass that over.

 

 

 

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[MadBrewer]

......We now prefer the latter and leave the gratuities to be added to OBA it saves a lot of problems and P&O are one of the cheapest cruiselines for automatic gratuities.

 

Definite +1 here for this statement. I have heard that some lines enforce that tips received from the 'opt outs' are collected and put in the tip-pool to be shared out. I don't know how true this is but following the protocol in this instance is a no brainer for me personally.

[soobs]

I tipped in US $ because that is what this forum recommended I did!! I also checked with the staff on board that they were happy with ££ and the answer was yes.

We were in the Caribbean though.

[daiB]

I tipped in US $ because that is what this forum recommended I did!! I also checked with the staff on board that they were happy with ££ and the answer was yes.

 

We were in the Caribbean though.

 

 

If you are in the Caribbean late in the season then US may be of little help as the staff will have to change them back to sterling to send the money home. Early in the Caribbean season may be OK.

 

Some staff spend very little and send most home.

 

 

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[shallwe]

If you are in the Caribbean late in the season then US may be of little help as the staff will have to change them back to sterling to send the money home. Early in the Caribbean season may be OK.

 

Some staff spend very little and send most home.

 

Home isn't always the UK. Our cabin steward had worked for P&O for 11 years but he and his family lived in India. $$ may be better in this case?

 

Saying that, I used the automatic gratuities as it was my first cruise and had no idea about tipping conventions and amounts.

[daiB]

Home isn't always the UK. Our cabin steward had worked for P&O for 11 years but he and his family lived in India. $$ may be better in this case?

 

 

 

Saying that, I used the automatic gratuities as it was my first cruise and had no idea about tipping conventions and amounts.

 

 

Home is not the UK for 95% of the crew. They do their banking in and send money home from Southampton hence my earlier post. That is why giving in £'s is best for cruises from the UK.

 

 

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[daiB]

QUOTE=shallwe;42012713]Home isn't always the UK. Our cabin steward had worked for P&O for 11 years but he and his family lived in India. $$ may be better in this case?

 

 

 

Saying that, I used the automatic gratuities as it was my first cruise and had no idea about tipping conventions and amounts.

 

 

Home is not the UK for 95% of the crew. They do their banking in and send money home from Southampton hence my earlier post. That is why giving in £'s is best for cruises from the UK.

 

 

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[zib_zib]

Tip with what ever currency you like £,$ or € as the crew travel the world and go ashore when we do.

It's only money. It will be spent where ever you or they are :)

 

 

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[Gilpet]

There were a lot of rumours flying around last year about the staff not getting their "auto-tips" if they hadn't got a high enough score on the passenger questionnaire. Obviously nobody can know the truth of this but I certainly got the impression from talking to a couple of the staff that it was true. As far as I'm concerned if the staff meet/exceed MY standards then I will tip them, I don't expect somebody else to make that decision on my behalf, especially if I have already paid the money to P&O. I don't imagine that they refund the auto-tips if they aren't paid to the staff therefore I now have the auto-tips removed and tip myself..........and yes, I always tip over and above the recommended amount so I'm not trying to save money.

 

Gill

[I Luv Crusin]

I'm starting to plan our next cruise for 2017. I know much can change but we normally pre-pay tips and then tip extra as warranted. I'm looking at P&O for our trip but also Princess.

[Brayman]

There were a lot of rumours flying around last year about the staff not getting their "auto-tips" if they hadn't got a high enough score on the passenger questionnaire. Obviously nobody can know the truth of this but I certainly got the impression from talking to a couple of the staff that it was true. As far as I'm concerned if the staff meet/exceed MY standards then I will tip them, I don't expect somebody else to make that decision on my behalf, especially if I have already paid the money to P&O. I don't imagine that they refund the auto-tips if they aren't paid to the staff therefore I now have the auto-tips removed and tip myself..........and yes, I always tip over and above the recommended amount so I'm not trying to save money.

 

Gill

 

You will be interested to see what Christopher Edgington had to say on the matter a few weeks ago:

 

P&O TIPS

P&O Cruises Hi John,

 

There have always been a lot of questions and concerns over the way that we operate tipping and where your money goes. Firstly, I would like to assure you that 100% of money received from passengers is distributed to our crew members, not one penny of it is taken by P&O Cruises for either profit or for administration costs.

 

The tips that you pay on board are distributed to your cabin steward, butler, head waiter, waiter, assistant waiter or junior waiter that have worked so hard to ensure that you have enjoyed your holiday. It does not go to any members of bar staff or wine waiters as they are remunerated through a different scheme. Should you wish to recognise any other member of crew then you should feel free to do so.

 

We base the distribution of the tips on a number of different factors, factors around service that our crew members provide to our passengers. Some of this distribution is linked to the scores that crew receive through the customer service questionnaires that are handed out during the cruise, and are dependent on whether they meet or exceed your expectations. Crew members are fully aware of the way that the tips are distributed and what service standards are expected. When we set the scheme up we worked with our crew members on the dynamics of it.

 

We introduced this way of managing our tips to ensure a consistent and fair process for our crew and it has worked successfully, the charge has always been and will always remain discretionary and remains one of the lowest in the hospitality industry.

 

In order to remain fair and open with you, we will be making a change to our tipping amount in the next few months, this will see a rise to a suggested amount of £3.95. As always, any amount remains recommended and can be removed, changed or indeed increased.

 

Best regards

Christopher Edgington

Director, P&O Cruises

Edited March 13, 2014 by Brayman

[alvin moondust]

We use automatic tipping and to be honest it was not that expensive, less than we expected in fact. We also tipped our excellent and very helpful cabin steward directly on a couple of occasions.

 

We dont like the way that Royal Caribbean expect to load tips on to everything in typically American fashion. We are not skinflints but adding 15% to a glass of pop dispensed from a machine is unreasonable in our view. Its a shame because my partner refuses to consider RC because of her view on tipping. We tend to spend quite a bit on board but we also want to feel like we are getting value for money.

[Gilpet]

You will be interested to see what Christopher Edgington had to say on the matter a few weeks ago:

 

P&O TIPS

P&O Cruises Hi John,

 

We base the distribution of the tips on a number of different factors, factors around service that our crew members provide to our passengers. Some of this distribution is linked to the scores that crew receive through the customer service questionnaires that are handed out during the cruise, and are dependent on whether they meet or exceed your expectations. Crew members are fully aware of the way that the tips are distributed and what service standards are expected. When we set the scheme up we worked with our crew members on the dynamics of it.

 

Thanks Brayman, that does go some way to allay my fears! However, I'm not happy that other people's opinions could influence the amount of tips that (for example) my stateroom attendant receives, even if the money I have paid is distributed amongst other staff. I think I'll stick to tipping for myself.

 

Gill