Increase in Hotel and Dining Service Charge (aka Auto-Gratuities)

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

 

How about "I refuse to tip any crewmember who won't enforce the dress code!"

Or a fat gratuity for blocking or a quiet word removal…..  This will be more enjoyable as a spectator sport. 😉

[stefndoug]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:52 AM, Host Hattie said:

I'm not aware of an option to pay them ahead of your cruise on Cunard. 

I have prepaid mine for my upcoming cruise in June.

[bluemarble]

32 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

I have prepaid mine for my upcoming cruise in June.

 

Inquiring minds would like to know. How did you go about pre-paying your hotel and dining service charge? I wasn't aware that was possible to do for Cunard either. Is that something you arranged through the Cunard call center or through your travel agent?

 

Or was that part of one of the promotions where Cunard offers to pre-pay the hotel and dining service charge as part of the promotion? That's fairly common with North America promotions.

 

On a totally unrelated matter, would you mind letting me know what the dress code and theme schedule is for your June 30 QE cruise? That's one of the remaining gaps in my QE 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule document. Your itinerary is a bit of an outlier for QE's Alaska season since it's only seven nights. Thanks for any help you are able to provide with this query. You can find the schedule in the Day Calendar section of your booking in My Cunard.

[stefndoug]

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

 

Inquiring minds would like to know. How did you go about pre-paying your hotel and dining service charge? I wasn't aware that was possible to do for Cunard either. Is that something you arranged through the Cunard call center or through your travel agent?

 

Or was that part of one of the promotions where Cunard offers to pre-pay the hotel and dining service charge as part of the promotion? That's fairly common with North America promotions.

 

On a totally unrelated matter, would you mind letting me know what the dress code and theme schedule is for your June 30 QE cruise? That's one of the remaining gaps in my QE 2023 Dress Code and Theme Schedule document. Your itinerary is a bit of an outlier for QE's Alaska season since it's only seven nights. Thanks for any help you are able to provide with this query. You can find the schedule in the Day Calendar section of your booking in My Cunard.

When I was booking the cruise, I also paid for my gratuities.

 

Theme schedule is 2 formal.  White Ice and Masquerade. 

[bluemarble]

13 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

When I was booking the cruise, I also paid for my gratuities.

 

Theme schedule is 2 formal.  White Ice and Masquerade. 

 

Thanks. I didn't know it was possible to pay the gratuities when you book a Cunard cruise.

 

Is the Ice White on July 1 and the Masquerade on July 5?

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

Thanks. I didn't know it was possible to pay the gratuities when you book a Cunard cruise.

 

Oh, it just occurred to me that it's always possible to prepay any amount you want to be appiled as a credit to your onboard account prior to a cruise. Is it possible that's the situation here, rather than your specifically prepaying the service charge (like you'd prepay for an excursion or a drinks package)?

 

Just thinking out loud here. If that's the case, Cunard could still end up charging you the increased rate for the hotel and dining service charge during your cruise. That would leave you with a net charge of $3 per person per night compared to what you have prepaid into your onboard account to cover that service charge at the current rate.

[Windsurfboy]

Must never forget gratuities  are voluntary,  pay as much or little as you see fit

[stefndoug]

11 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Oh, it just occurred to me that it's always possible to prepay any amount you want to be appiled as a credit to your onboard account prior to a cruise. Is it possible that's the situation here, rather than your specifically prepaying the service charge (like you'd prepay for an excursion or a drinks package)?

 

Just thinking out loud here. If that's the case, Cunard could still end up charging you the increased rate for the hotel and dining service charge during your cruise. That would leave you with a net charge of $3 per person per night compared to what you have prepaid into your onboard account to cover that service charge at the current rate.

It's prepaid gratuities. 

[stefndoug]

12 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Thanks. I didn't know it was possible to pay the gratuities when you book a Cunard cruise.

 

Is the Ice White on July 1 and the Masquerade on July 5?

That is correct.

[stefndoug]

11 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Oh, it just occurred to me that it's always possible to prepay any amount you want to be appiled as a credit to your onboard account prior to a cruise. Is it possible that's the situation here, rather than your specifically prepaying the service charge (like you'd prepay for an excursion or a drinks package)?

 

Just thinking out loud here. If that's the case, Cunard could still end up charging you the increased rate for the hotel and dining service charge during your cruise. That would leave you with a net charge of $3 per person per night compared to what you have prepaid into your onboard account to cover that service charge at the current rate.

I even have the email that says it is prepaid gratuities.  It is listed as a special service order summary as the title of the email.  

[bluemarble]

3 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

I even have the email that says it is prepaid gratuities.  It is listed as a special service order summary as the title of the email.  

 

Thanks for the follow-up. That's the first I've heard of that option. The Cunard FAQ even states the following.

 

"Pre payment of the hotel and dining service charge

 

It is not possible to pre pay this charge prior to boarding the ship, however should you wish, you may pre purchase on board spending money which can be used to cover the cost hotel and dining service charge, bar, wine and salon services charges added to your on board account and other costs you may incur on board."

 

I'll be interested to hear if you end up being grandfathered into the current lower rates for your June cruise as a result of your prepayment.

[bluemarble]

I see the updated rates for the hotel and dining service charge can now be found here on the main Cunard website.

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/the-cunard-experience/service-charges

[stefndoug]

2 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Thanks for the follow-up. That's the first I've heard of that option. The Cunard FAQ even states the following.

 

"Pre payment of the hotel and dining service charge

 

It is not possible to pre pay this charge prior to boarding the ship, however should you wish, you may pre purchase on board spending money which can be used to cover the cost hotel and dining service charge, bar, wine and salon services charges added to your on board account and other costs you may incur on board."

 

I'll be interested to hear if you end up being grandfathered into the current lower rates for your June cruise as a result of your prepayment.

it shows as being prepaid, so I would assume I am grandfathered in. I had no choice for prepaying.  Because of the rate I got it at, I had to prepay.

[david,Mississauga]

We have gratuities paid by Cunard as one of the perks for our Alaska cruise on 20 June. Cunard quoted the amount which was in effect at that time. Now that it is $3 higher I am curious whether we will be charged the difference.

 

Of course it doesn't matter because we won't fret about it.

[D&N]

Just an objective view of how the new rate for Britannia Staterooms compares with what we might do in hotels and restaurants.

 

At sea, we would take breakfast, lunch and dinner in the MDR.

 

If we are in London and visit a cafe serving a filling cooked breakfast we would tip at about 10% usually £1.00-£2.00. If we are out to lunch or dinner at home, although French tradition is that you only leave loose change because most menus quote prices as "service compris" we usually tip at 10% as we would have done in the UK so long as the service was as expected, so that is usually €10-€15.

If we were staying in a full service hotel, where the towels were replaced daily and beds turned down etc, we would tip at £2-£5 per night.

Of course we never go out for 40 meals in 14 days. And when we visit London we stay in a Premier Inn or Travelodge (they are the nearest to where we need to be) and hang towels up to dry so they last the 2 nights we are there. The cleaning staff do not appear to make the same effort that is normal on a ship and London prices are 5 times what we'll pay in a few weeks time in Scotland.

 

Cunard's "Hotel and Dining Service Charge" would broadly equate to what we would tip on a similar land based trip.

 

Others may of course take a different view.

[TouchstoneFeste]

13 hours ago, D&N said:

we usually tip at 10%

 

Well said, @D&N. And of course those of us from the US routinely tip 20% for most services. Compared with what we leave for tips in New York and London (sometimes at restaurants and hotels where the service is not up to Cunard's standards), that makes the auto-gratuities a bargain. It leaves room in our "tipping budget" for additional amounts for special service.

[ovccruiser]

Interestingly, P & O UK https://www.pocruises.com/service no tipping required. Also part of the Carnival group why can one cruise line increase charges and the other not charge at all?

 

I can see long queues at the Pursur's desk 😁

Edited April 3, 2023 by ovccruiser

[PORT ROYAL]

43 minutes ago, ovccruiser said:

Interestingly, P & O UK https://www.pocruises.com/service no tipping required. Also part of the Carnival group why can one cruise line increase charges and the other not charge at all?

 

I can see long queues at the Pursur's desk 😁

Would that be on a PO ship, for the kind and fair pax to voluntary pay the additional difference between lines?

[exlondoner]

3 hours ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

 

Well said, @D&N. And of course those of us from the US routinely tip 20% for most services. Compared with what we leave for tips in New York and London (sometimes at restaurants and hotels where the service is not up to Cunard's standards), that makes the auto-gratuities a bargain. It leaves room in our "tipping budget" for additional amounts for special service.

Why do you tip at all in London if the service is not good?

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, ovccruiser said:

Interestingly, P & O UK https://www.pocruises.com/service no tipping required. Also part of the Carnival group why can one cruise line increase charges and the other not charge at all?

 

I can see long queues at the Pursur's desk 😁

Surely that is the point of their having different lines. They do different things. P&O’s drinks are cheaper too, but their food apparently not as good.

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Why do you tip at all in London if the service is not good?

"Not up to Cunard's standards" does not equal "not good"

[Bell Boy]

6 hours ago, ovccruiser said:

Interestingly, P & O UK https://www.pocruises.com/service no tipping required. Also part of the Carnival group why can one cruise line increase charges and the other not charge at all?

 

I can see long queues at the Pursur's desk 😁

 There is no such thing as a 'Free Lunch', Gratuities on P&O have already been incorporated  in the initial booking price.  No different to other cruise lines  that promote 'All Inclusive' .  

[Windsurfboy]

We'll never agree on tipping. 

 

All I can say there is no correlation between expected tipping levels and service, if  there was , then service in USA would be best in world. Quality of service is mainly  culture ,  and of course staffing numbers.

 

Some cultures are good at service , some not, some are excellent 

 

Some companies good at service some not,  again some excellent. 

 

Cunard is good,  but not exceptional.  So to me service not as good as Cunard , couldn't be classified as good , it would be acceptable, but again what is acceptable depends on what you pay.

 

. Cunard operates on the margins of staff to passengers ratio for good service.  Of course it's better than many cheaper lines, but not up with luxury lines. And nowhere near luxury hotels . 

[TouchstoneFeste]

17 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

All I can say there is no correlation between expected tipping levels and service, if  there was , then service in USA would be best in world.

 

Well now we've derailed into "what is good service?" and I should be adult enough to just leave it alone ... but I'm not :)

 

Minimum wage for food service workers in the US is $2 per hour, FYI.

 

On Cunard I've only ever eaten in the Grills (only one trip under my belt), but we had constant attention from our waiter and his assistant, and regular visits by the sommelier and the maitre d'. This is what I meant by "Cunard standards". Not that Ol' Betty Lou at the diner doesn't do a good job, just that she's overworked and maybe has a busboy to help fill the water glasses.

 

 

[Pear Carr]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

We'll never agree on tipping. 

Agreed! You are either in or out with/without additional tips. I also think we cannot compare like for like given UK never have gratuities included unlike some USA/other nationalities. Do what you feel is right for you.