sable1 Posted December 26, 2020 Author #26 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Thanks to everyone who responded. I knew you would be able to help. Happy New year to all. Joanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted December 26, 2020 #27 Share Posted December 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Hawaiidan said: I dont think you get to choose how your gratuities get used...... I don’t care which one goes to gratuities and which one to OBC. If I am not mistaken then the status PPG goes to gratuities and TA PPG goes to OBC (which can be refundable?) Not sure because no matter how much OBC we have we always spend it (for Xmas presents for family) - it’s free money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted December 27, 2020 #28 Share Posted December 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, Paulchili said: I don’t care which one goes to gratuities and which one to OBC. If I am not mistaken then the status PPG goes to gratuities and TA PPG goes to OBC (which can be refundable?) Not sure because no matter how much OBC we have we always spend it (for Xmas presents for family) - it’s free money. No. if you decide to accept TA's offer to "pay" your gratuities, it appears on the invoice as the TA's "gratuities" (e.g., it may say OCAPP next to the $) and then any Oceania "in lieu" (of the usual O Club gratuities coverage) SBC (e.g., $250/cabin) will appear as $125 "in lieu" O Club SBC per each of the two guests in that cabin. And, none of this money is refundable. BTW, If the TA also gives you refundable SBC (e.g., commission sharing), you will not see it on the Oceania invoice (but you'll want to make sure that you have it in writing on the TA's invoice and/or in an email. Then, on embarkation day, you'll get a card (or letter, etc) stating the gift of refundable TA SBC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted December 27, 2020 #29 Share Posted December 27, 2020 3 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said: No. if you decide to accept TA's offer to "pay" your gratuities, it appears on the invoice as the TA's "gratuities" (e.g., it may say OCAPP next to the $) and then any Oceania "in lieu" (of the usual O Club gratuities coverage) SBC (e.g., $250/cabin) will appear as $125 "in lieu" O Club SBC per each of the two guests in that cabin. And, none of this money is refundable. BTW, If the TA also gives you refundable SBC (e.g., commission sharing), you will not see it on the Oceania invoice (but you'll want to make sure that you have it in writing on the TA's invoice and/or in an email. Then, on embarkation day, you'll get a card (or letter, etc) stating the gift of refundable TA SBC. Thanks FF As I said, I don’t really care. If I have 2 PPGs one goes to gratuities and the other as OBC in full value - it doesn’t matter to me which goes where as they are of equal value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #30 Share Posted January 1, 2021 I'm interested in what hawaiidan said about gratuities. Is it true that the daily gratuities charge does NOT ALL go to the crew members? If true, I might change my strategy and give money to the people that serve me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 1, 2021 #31 Share Posted January 1, 2021 24 minutes ago, zteamtwo said: I'm interested in what hawaiidan said about gratuities. Is it true that the daily gratuities charge does NOT ALL go to the crew members? If true, I might change my strategy and give money to the people that serve me. AFAIK they go to the crew tip pool to be divided up accordingly If you give it personally to a staff member they have to hand it in to the "tip pool" anyway We would tip extra to those that made the cruise extra special & now we get PPG we still give extra $ to the room steward YMMV 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted January 1, 2021 #32 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, zteamtwo said: I'm interested in what hawaiidan said about gratuities. Is it true that the daily gratuities charge does NOT ALL go to the crew members? If true, I might change my strategy and give money to the people that serve me. I went back and read what HD said and I don't think he was saying that at all. What made you think that? It's best to just leave the system as is and not try to reinvent the wheel. Although there are many people that you don't personally see, rest assured that some of your gratuity money is going to them, and they are working a job that directly impacts your cruise enjoyment. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted January 1, 2021 #33 Share Posted January 1, 2021 16 minutes ago, ORV said: ...It's best to just leave the system as is and not try to reinvent the wheel. Although there are many people that you don't personally see, rest assured that some of your gratuity money is going to them, and they are working a job that directly impacts your cruise enjoyment. Agreed. And you can always add personal tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #34 Share Posted January 1, 2021 ORV. HD can speak for himself, but I read "it is true that SOME of the gratuity MIGHT go to employees from the cruise lines revenue".. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #35 Share Posted January 1, 2021 To me, that might mean that the cruise line can distribute all or a portion of the total gratuities they collect. Hope we get clarification on this. Also, clarification on ---if you give a tip to crew members, they cannot keep it and must turn it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pinotlover Posted January 1, 2021 #36 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Let’s not over think this. A cruise ship is not a restaurant or bar. Their compensation is established by their rank and terms of their contract. Unlike a restaurant or bar, they don’t get paid less for an undersold cruise, nor more for a full one. Any tip a cruiser gives directly to a crew member stays with that crew member. Extra tips given to the main desk goes into the general pool. With the typical excellent service we usually tip our room stewards, butler, and have additionally tipped bartenders and waitstaff. That money stays with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #37 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Thanks Pinotlover. We do what you do on our past cruises. However, I still would like to know--does the cruise line distribute ALL of the daily gratuities it collects? OR, can it keep some of those daily gratuities for themselves? Thanks for answer about, ability for crew members to keep cash you give them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #38 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Thanks Pinotlover. We do what you do on our past cruises. However, I still would like to know--does the cruise line distribute ALL of the daily gratuities it collects? OR, can it keep some of those daily gratuities for themselves? Thanks for answer about, ability for crew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zteamtwo Posted January 1, 2021 #39 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Pinotlover. Do you give the daily gratuities AND give individual cash tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted January 1, 2021 #40 Share Posted January 1, 2021 39 minutes ago, zteamtwo said: Thanks Pinotlover. We do what you do on our past cruises. However, I still would like to know--does the cruise line distribute ALL of the daily gratuities it collects? OR, can it keep some of those daily gratuities for themselves? Thanks for answer about, ability for crew members to keep cash you give them. Just so I understand; you are going to take what Pinot tells you, but not what LHT said? They are saying exact opposites. Who is right? I don't know, I've seen people on Cruise Critic post it both ways, with both camps claiming they were told by "someone who knows". Are you sure you're not agreeing with what you want to believe? Personally I don't care how Oceania does their accounting or what their internal polices are. I do know that if the employees didn't feel it was fair then they probably wouldn't be there. This is why I don't worry about it, leave the gratuities in place, (or at least I did before I got them included) and tip extra for those that go above and beyond. I don't just randomly tip or throw extra money at every worker on the ship, as some that post on Cruise Critic would have you believe they do. I just can't fathom why anyone would remove their gratuities short of a major service meltdown. And then why punish all the workers for something one or two might do? 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted January 1, 2021 #41 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, zteamtwo said: ORV. HD can speak for himself, but I read "it is true that SOME of the gratuity MIGHT go to employees from the cruise lines revenue".. Perhaps you are better at translating Dan speak than I am, but I don't see what you said in his statement at all. And if he is saying that, how would he really know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 1, 2021 #42 Share Posted January 1, 2021 i believe the tip pool is distributed to the crew the line may hold some for a crew fund that has to do with Bereavement & welfare fund ..do not quote me I give my tips & never ask what they do with it As long as you leave on the auto tip then the crew member gets to keep the cash tips people give them but they have to report it If people remove the auto tip then pay the staff directly it must be put in the Tip Pool We give extra tips in an envelope with a note of thanks along with our cabin number so the Purser can see that it goes to the crew member In a restaurant do you ask if the management gets a share before you tip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted January 1, 2021 #43 Share Posted January 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, LHT28 said: i believe the tip pool is distributed to the crew the line may hold some for a crew fund that has to do with Bereavement & welfare fund ..do not quote me I give my tips & never ask what they do with it As long as you leave on the auto tip then the crew member gets to keep the cash tips people give them but they have to report it If people remove the auto tip then pay the staff directly it must be put in the Tip Pool We give extra tips in an envelope with a note of thanks along with our cabin number so the Purser can see that it goes to the crew member Curious with your extra tips, the way you said it imply that you give the envelope to the Purser versus just leaving it in your cabin or handing it directly to your steward. If that interpretation is accurate I am curious as to why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 1, 2021 #44 Share Posted January 1, 2021 27 minutes ago, KirkNC said: Curious with your extra tips, the way you said it imply that you give the envelope to the Purser versus just leaving it in your cabin or handing it directly to your steward. If that interpretation is accurate I am curious as to why. I give the envelope to the crew member so when they report the extra cash to the purser they can see we did not remove the auto gratuity so the staff member will get to keep what we have given them AHH you say but what if the staff member just pockets the cash ..who is to know Other crew members know & it could cost them their jobs Some crew have been with Oceania for many years Since you do not always have the same wait staff at meals or regularly eat in the buffet all the gratuities for that dept are shared No need to avoid the dining room on the last night to stiff the servers 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatbush Flyer Posted January 1, 2021 #45 Share Posted January 1, 2021 We bring "thank you" cards and do reward (beyond the stated gratuities which our O Club level covers) exceptional service with the note and added $$ to deserving individuals. If we know the GM well and it is a longer cruise, I'll also make sure to have a personal conversation about 1-2 standout performers - particularly if they've been with the company for a long time and may be in line for a promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted January 1, 2021 #46 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Thanks, makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare pinotlover Posted January 2, 2021 #47 Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) I’ve only stated what has been reported to me by our Butlers and other wait staff. What’s given in cash directly to a crew member is theirs. There is no reporting those amounts to anyone ( mostly)*. The distribution of what goes into the general fund is up to Oceania. There are numerous recognition programs and other funds to which those gratuities go. All the funds are not equally distributed to all crew members . One butler told me that that the general cruise pool is rarely paid into by more than 50% of the cruisers. A cruiser receiving PPG, either from status or Oceania promotions to the TA does not mean money actually flows into the pool. It only means that cruiser doesn’t pay into the pool. *On a side note, whose effects I I witnessed, the crew ( aside from O) maintains a quasi database on the past cruisers for their benefit, especially the Butlers. If and how well one tips, personal preferences and peculiarities are there for the staff to better serve you. To coin a phrase “ it’s all in the computer “. Edited January 2, 2021 by pinotlover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted January 2, 2021 #48 Share Posted January 2, 2021 The bottom line is if you do not get PPG either leave the auto tip on or don't Your chocie If you want to tip the crew in person you can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted January 2, 2021 #49 Share Posted January 2, 2021 5 hours ago, LHT28 said: The bottom line is if you do not get PPG either leave the auto tip on or don't Your chocie If you want to tip the crew in person you can Agreed, we always do both. The crew work so hard to make our time onboard enjoyable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sable1 Posted January 2, 2021 Author #50 Share Posted January 2, 2021 Update. On our 10 day cruise, TA PPG remain. Oceania Gold status gives us $125 SBC p.p. Haven't asked about our 35 day cruise in December. Joanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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