Spoke to P&O regarding their 40% increase in automatic gratuities.

[terrierjohn]

John still no one knows for certain. Therefore I will pay my auto tip as usual. And consider that the staff on freedom dining must be the ones losing out.

 

I know I am doing the correct thing and I do not care what others do.

 

 

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Dai, I used to feel exactly the same until I saw the light, I guess it takes a little longer for the penny to drop in the North East.;)

[grapau27]

Hi...as this thread is showing there will never be full agreement on this subject. For me the sooner the " service charge" is included in the fare the better...as the " service charge is clearly to subsidise their wages and not for any service received ...or not received....service is a basic requirement of the job ....doesn't require any extra acknowledgement... only if they have done above and beyond. As I have stated before I have worked in the service industry on extremely low pay for long hours and a smile....courtesy and treatment of people was part of it....didn't expect any extra " tip" for doing that.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I emailed P&O twice and received a phone call in regard to including gratuitys in the cruise price and believe they are looking at it.

[janny444]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I emailed P&O twice and received a phone call in regard to including gratuitys in the cruise price and believe they are looking at it.

 

Hi....I think the poll that was held on here a short time ago gave an indication of what the majority would like to happen....even though it was a " limited" poll. I think P&O should add it as a question on their questionnaire as to what people prefer to do regarding the service charge/tips/gratuities/wage supplement and act accordingly to the results but I am not holding my breath that they will change anything.

[grapau27]

Hi....I think the poll that was held on here a short time ago gave an indication of what the majority would like to happen....even though it was a " limited" poll. I think P&O should add it as a question on their questionnaire as to what people prefer to do regarding the service charge/tips/gratuities/wage supplement and act accordingly to the results but I am not holding my breath that they will change anything.

The lady from P&O led me to believe they do listen to guests opinions.

Maybe if everyone wrote additional comments about gratuitys on the cruise survey they might act.

[Bobblehat71]

Hi....I think the poll that was held on here a short time ago gave an indication of what the majority would like to happen....even though it was a " limited" poll. I think P&O should add it as a question on their questionnaire as to what people prefer to do regarding the service charge/tips/gratuities/wage supplement and act accordingly to the results but I am not holding my breath that they will change anything.

 

Be careful what you wish for. You can be sure they wont just add the basic daily cost of the tips to the price of a cruise.

[kersh]

That could be true or not but removing auto tips if you are on freedom is in my opinion depriving the staff as very few will tip every night.

 

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Dai, I am still not understanding why we deprive waiters on freedom dining of their tips if like the OP wrote that P & O do not reduce the wage if we Remove the auto service charge. The autoservice charge is shared out between everyone depending on the feedback from the scores at the end of the cruise. Even on freedom dining I could tip the waiters in cash as we do tend to sit in the same area most nights.

 

Up until now we have always left the auto charge on but it now seems the crew are better off if we remove it and pay in cash. Am I being very blond?

 

Sue

[daiB]

Dai, I am still not understanding why we deprive waiters on freedom dining of their tips if like the OP wrote that P & O do not reduce the wage if we Remove the auto service charge. The autoservice charge is shared out between everyone depending on the feedback from the scores at the end of the cruise. Even on freedom dining I could tip the waiters in cash as we do tend to sit in the same area most nights.

 

Up until now we have always left the auto charge on but it now seems the crew are better off if we remove it and pay in cash. Am I being very blond?

 

Sue

Sue my answer was a general one I am sure that people will tip in person on freedom but most will remove the auto tips and then not tip every night.

 

By the way I do not believe all that is posted on here with regard to how the system works.

 

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[daiB]

Dai, I used to feel exactly the same until I saw the light, I guess it takes a little longer for the penny to drop in the North East.;)

Or we see it sooner and don't believe some of the misinformation posted on this and other threads

 

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[janny444]

Be careful what you wish for. You can be sure they wont just add the basic daily cost of the tips to the price of a cruise.

 

Hi....that may well be the case but on our cruise in September " tips" are already included and the price we paid didn't seem " over the top"

[insanemagnet]

Dai, I am still not understanding why we deprive waiters on freedom dining of their tips if like the OP wrote that P & O do not reduce the wage if we Remove the auto service charge. The autoservice charge is shared out between everyone depending on the feedback from the scores at the end of the cruise.

 

If passengers in Club dining remove the optional service charge and tip in cash then there is less money for P&O to distribute through their Service Reward Scheme.

 

The waiters in Club are thrilled if the passengers they serve give them cash tips instead of paying the optional service charge as although they receive less from the Service Reward Scheme, they have the cash on top.

 

On the other hand those waiters in Freedom suffer the reduction in the distribution from the Service Reward Scheme due to the passengers in Club not paying the optional service charge, but don't receive the cash tips the Club passengers handed out.

[pisces14]

Be careful what you wish for. You can be sure they wont just add the basic daily cost of the tips to the price of a cruise.

I still think it's the best way to go. Then people can tip any member of staff if they wish with the knowledge that they have already paid for the service provided.

[Balaena]

If passengers in Club dining remove the optional service charge and tip in cash then there is less money for P&O to distribute through their Service Reward Scheme.

 

The waiters in Club are thrilled if the passengers they serve give them cash tips instead of paying the optional service charge as although they receive less from the Service Reward Scheme, they have the cash on top.

 

On the other hand those waiters in Freedom suffer the reduction in the distribution from the Service Reward Scheme due to the passengers in Club not paying the optional service charge, but don't receive the cash tips the Club passengers handed out.

 

The thing is, although those waiters in freedom don't get the same number of cash tips as their club counterparts, the system of rotating the waiters from club to freedom and visa versa occurs on a number of occasions during their contracts, so all in all they all get the same opportunity for cash in hand.

Bal

[Selbourne]

The thing is, although those waiters in freedom don't get the same number of cash tips as their club counterparts, the system of rotating the waiters from club to freedom and visa versa occurs on a number of occasions during their contracts, so all in all they all get the same opportunity for cash in hand.

Bal

 

That’s an excellent point and, frankly, one I hadn’t considered.

[emam]

Don't forget the buffet staff also get a share of the auto grats.

[daiB]

Don't forget the buffet staff also get a share of the auto grats.

 

 

 

No they don’t only MDR staff and cabin staff not the buffet but I do believe that all the waiters do a stint in the buffet over their contract.

 

 

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[emam]

Question asked of P&O:

You say that the money goes to stewards, waiters, buffet staff and butler's.





Reply:

I can confirmthat 5 ranks of staff are included within the Service Reward programme,these include Waiters, Assistant Waiters, Head Waiters, Cabin Stewardsas well as Butlers depending on your cabin grade.

[daiB]

Question asked of P&O:

You say that the money goes to stewards, waiters, buffet staff and butler's.





Reply:

I can confirmthat 5 ranks of staff are included within the Service Reward programme,these include Waiters, Assistant Waiters, Head Waiters, Cabin Stewardsas well as Butlers depending on your cabin grade.

 

 

 

Correct but these are the staff in the MDR and not the buffet. Remember it replaced the system of giving staff their tips in an envelope as per the booklet you got in the cabin. No mention of the buffet staff was made then or has been made since.

 

 

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[terrierjohn]

Correct but these are the staff in the MDR and not the buffet. Remember it replaced the system of giving staff their tips in an envelope as per the booklet you got in the cabin. No mention of the buffet staff was made then or has been made since.

 

 

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We have often seen our MDR evening waiters working in the buffet at breakfast, and several posters have said that P&O regularly rotate the wait staff around all the restaurants.

[emam]

Correct but these are the staff in the MDR and not the buffet. Remember it replaced the system of giving staff their tips in an envelope as per the booklet you got in the cabin. No mention of the buffet staff was made then or has been made since.

 

 

So how did people pay the waiters with the envelopes. By that I mean, there is more than one waiter serving you on a night, do they only pay one waiter?

 

Some people only use the buffet throughout their holiday and don't go down to the MDR. I can see why these people would remove their auto grats, why should they pay for waiters in the MDR if they don't use it.

 

I have a few questions but will post them in a new thread.

[wowzz]

The waiters serve in both the MDR and the buffet, so even if you only use the buffet, they will still be around, clearing plates etc.

 

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[grapau27]

I still think it's the best way to go. Then people can tip any member of staff if they wish with the knowledge that they have already paid for the service provided.

If the extra charge was put onto the cruise price it would mean 100% of people were paying it so it doesn't have to be much added.

[daiB]

Correct but these are the staff in the MDR and not the buffet. Remember it replaced the system of giving staff their tips in an envelope as per the booklet you got in the cabin. No mention of the buffet staff was made then or has been made since.

 

 

So how did people pay the waiters with the envelopes. By that I mean, there is more than one waiter serving you on a night, do they only pay one waiter?

 

Some people only use the buffet throughout their holiday and don't go down to the MDR. I can see why these people would remove their auto grats, why should they pay for waiters in the MDR if they don't use it.

 

I have a few questions but will post them in a new thread.

 

Well the 2 waiters worked as a team so it was standard practice to give the envelope to the lead waiter.

 

In the buffet there was a box to put tips. Remember very few people would only use the buffet. Certainly the few times I have been in there were more staff than passengers

[terrierjohn]

 

Well the 2 waiters worked as a team so it was standard practice to give the envelope to the lead waiter.

 

In the buffet there was a box to put tips. Remember very few people would only use the buffet. Certainly the few times I have been in there were more staff than passengers

Dai, you need to circulate around the ship a bit more, the buffet is always full for breakfast, and on our recent Caribbean cruise on Ventura it was extremely well patronised in the evening, especially on Indian/Asian nights.

We chatted with the head waiter in there one night and he said they normally serve about 500/600 most nights, and up to 800/900 on popular menu evenings.

[emam]

When we were on, we would have our evening meal after 8.00 p.m. Previous to that I would go for a cup of tea and take it out onto the deck. There was always lots of people in the buffet and also later on as we headed back to our cabin to get ready, we had to walk through the buffet and again it was always quite full.

[Brayman]

No they don’t only MDR staff and cabin staff not the buffet but I do believe that all the waiters do a stint in the buffet over their contract.

 

 

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Unlike DaiB to be wrong - this from the P&O FAQs on tipping:

This helps reward the waiters and buffet staff as well as your cabin steward or butler, who greatly appreciate your recognition of their hard work.