Obc

[grapau27]

12 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I have done nearly 30 cruises on P&O over 18yrs and never had exceptional service to warrant paying on top of the normal gratuities.

 

20 P&O cruises since Aurora in 2003 and I have to agree with you although we have always tipped in our 49 cruises overall.

Edited December 9, 2018 by grapau27

[travelholics]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

I have done nearly 30 cruises on P&O over 18yrs and never had exceptional service to warrant paying on top of the normal gratuities.

 

I am a first time cruiser on Pand O, previously taken 2 Holland America cruises. We are travelling to the Baltic on 26th May   and confused by the tipping policy. Are P and O covering gratuities as a bonus or have they raised the prices in order to cover tips. Always happy to reward service that goes beyond the expected but not clear at present what sort of service charge is included

[P-L-B]

14 minutes ago, travelholics said:

I am a first time cruiser on Pand O, previously taken 2 Holland America cruises. We are travelling to the Baltic on 26th May   and confused by the tipping policy. Are P and O covering gratuities as a bonus or have they raised the prices in order to cover tips. Always happy to reward service that goes beyond the expected but not clear at present what sort of service charge is included

If you take a look at this thread it should hopefully make it clearer.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by P-L-B

[travelholics]

11 minutes ago, P-L-B said:

If you take a look at this thread it should hopefully make it clearer.

 

 

Thanks for your help. It is confusing as tipping policies vary so widely around the world. I now interprete this that tips are not expected but may be given for exemplary service. Looking forward to experiencing the Arcadia.

[P-L-B]

27 minutes ago, travelholics said:

Thanks for your help. It is confusing as tipping policies vary so widely around the world. I now interprete this that tips are not expected but may be given for exemplary service. Looking forward to experiencing the Arcadia.

Your interpretation is correct.

Hope you have a great cruise. 😁

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, grapau27 said:

20 P&O cruises since Aurora in 2003 and I have to agree with you although we have always tipped in our 49 cruises overall.

Always paid gratuities in envelopes as it was in "good old days" and auto since then and have only tried to reduce my gratuities once after an awful cabin steward on one cruise. Was told by reception you could reduce the amount or remove altogether but then the waiters would suffer which I didnt want to do as they had been very good. Was advised to leave gratuities on and make a formal complaint about steward which is what we did.

[jeanlyon]

We have always tipped with an envelope and will continue to do that.

[majortom10]

14 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We have always tipped with an envelope and will continue to do that.

After May it will be included in either your cruise fare or in increase in onboard prices so in effect you will be paying twice which P&O will love. I will not be paying any extra unless I receive exceptional service which I very much doubt I will. After a period of time we will be back to square one where P&O state gratuities included but people still want to give tips in envelopes which is a very outdated practice. I bet if you go to a land based hotel or restaurant you dont put your tips in envelopes.

Edited December 10, 2018 by majortom10

[Eglesbrech]

The change is set for May however some earlier cruises are already advertising as “service charge included” as early as March as a “special offer”.

 

Effectively the service charge is already dead in the water and P & 0 are aware of it.

[Selbourne]

On 12/9/2018 at 12:47 PM, coxy said:

has any body else noticed that when the tips are removed there seems to be no more obc offered 

Having kept detailed records of the prices paid and OBC offered for all our cruises, I have found that the OBC offered since the abolition of service charges is less than comparable cruises booked previously (comparable cruise length and cabin type, booked at launch), particularly the last batch of cruises to be released. Like many others, I wasn’t naive enough to believe that the service charge revenue wouldn’t be recouped somehow (P&O is a business, after all) and OBC seems to be the main route. 

[grapau27]

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Having kept detailed records of the prices paid and OBC offered for all our cruises, I have found that the OBC offered since the abolition of service charges is less than comparable cruises booked previously (comparable cruise length and cabin type, booked at launch), particularly the last batch of cruises to be released. Like many others, I wasn’t naive enough to believe that the service charge revenue wouldn’t be recouped somehow (P&O is a business, after all) and OBC seems to be the main route. 

We booked a 7 night P&O cruise last week in a balcony cabin for next Summer and got £80 obc on our select booking.

[ONT-CA]

On 12/10/2018 at 12:57 PM, jeanlyon said:

We have always tipped with an envelope and will continue to do that.

 

We did until such time as we were advised that many sealed envelopes when opened contained nothing.  To those mingy passengers, better to have bypassed the ritual altogether.  So how to bridge that sometimes embarrassing moment in presenting crass cash?  The French have an expression for it, "pourboire" for a drink.  If as I often do spend  £10 for a drink for myself, why then not also buy one for those employees who have helped make your cruise more enjoyable , passing the folded bill to them saying "thank you, have a drink on me".

[daiB]

4 minutes ago, ONT-CA said:

 

We did until such time as we were advised that many sealed envelopes when opened contained nothing.  To those mingy passengers, better to have bypassed the ritual altogether.  So how to bridge that sometimes embarrassing moment in presenting crass cash?  The French have an expression for it, "pourboire" for a drink.  If as I often do spend  £10 for a drink for myself, why then not also buy one for those employees who have helped make your cruise more enjoyable , passing the folded bill to them saying "thank you, have a drink on me".

 

When we tip ‘extra’ we write our names and cabin number on the envelope

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, daiB said:

 

When we tip ‘extra’ we write our names and cabin number on the envelope

That is what I do too.

I do know people who we have no time for who put little cash in the envelopes,then make a big show of handing  envelopes out in the MDR and don't put their names on because they are tightwads and think it's funny.

[jeanlyon]

On 12/10/2018 at 6:11 PM, majortom10 said:

After May it will be included in either your cruise fare or in increase in onboard prices so in effect you will be paying twice which P&O will love. I will not be paying any extra unless I receive exceptional service which I very much doubt I will. After a period of time we will be back to square one where P&O state gratuities included but people still want to give tips in envelopes which is a very outdated practice. I bet if you go to a land based hotel or restaurant you dont put your tips in envelopes.

If I go to a restaurant, I tip in cash to the person who serves me.  I have never tipped in a hotel.  You never see the people who service the room.  My two cruises that I have booked for 2020 are cheaper than the two in 2019!!

Edited December 23, 2018 by jeanlyon

[grapau27]

23 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

If I go to a restaurant, I tip in cash to the person who serves me.  I have never tipped in a hotel.  You never see the people who service the room.  My two cruises that I have booked for 2020 are cheaper than the two in 2019!!

In hotels abroad I tend to give the maid a little cash tip.

In Orlando Florida I leave a couple of dollars with a thank you note each morning and we always get plenty of towels and bathroom amenities and don't have them pounding on our door early like they used to do before we used to leave a tip.

On the ship I will always give an extra cash tip where it is justified.