A couple of general questions

[Cruisedreamer1]

1. Does anyone one know how tips are distributed among the crew?

2. We will be on the Regatta shortly and wondered if requested, will lido blankets be available for use on this deck? Most of our cruise will be in warm weather but we expect one or two days a bit breezy on the lido deck where we like to hang out and read in the shade.

 

Thanks!

[ORV]

I've never worried about #1, I figure that's between the worker and Oceania. 

#2. Which one is the Lido deck? Never seen one of those on Oceania. Do you consider that 9 with the Pool, 10 above it, or 11 where the walking track is? 

 

I have noticed some blankets on the pool deck area. 

[vlthom]

27 minutes ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Are you referring to the Promenade Deck?  Or the pool area?  O has some blankets available -- but are not always consistent with their availability.  Cooler weather usually brings them out, though.

 

[Cruisedreamer1]

Pool area is what I was referring to about the blankets. On the Coastal cruise, one had to ask for them. I always thought the pool deck was called the lido deck.

 

In terms of the tipping amounts, of course we leave it to  O to distribute. I just wondered who gets what and up to what level it is distributed. Do the officers participate in the distribution?

[osandomir]

I don’t think the officers participate. Though, I never questioned who was included in the pool. We always tip above for the good service provided.

[Flatbush Flyer]

On 4/9/2024 at 12:42 PM, Cruisedreamer1 said:

Pool area is what I was referring to about the blankets. On the Coastal cruise, one had to ask for them. I always thought the pool deck was called the lido deck.

 

In terms of the tipping amounts, of course we leave it to  O to distribute. I just wondered who gets what and up to what level it is distributed. Do the officers participate in the distribution?

Lido Deck? That would be on the Love Boat.

[slw207693]

1.  Since Covid, Oceania has collected and kept the gratuities that are added to you bill.  They have guaranteed a higher salary for the employees.   You can give cash or gifts to your  individual cabin stewards, restaurant servers, bar staff, etc who you feel had provided you good service is theirs to keep.   They are not required to report it unless it’s an outrageous amount.   They are allowed to have 1 bottle of wine or 4-6 beers in their cabins.  No spirts allowed and if given any, they must turn it in to security.   
 

2.  Yes, lovely fluffy navy blue throws are kept onboard.   You can ask pool attendants, your cabin steward or butler and they will make sure you get one.   You can put them with the used towels when you are finished with them.  

[pinotlover]

As stated above, the crew is not allowed to keep Oceania branded wine as gifts or gratuities. You can’t leave them that bottle of wine or champagne, provided to you by Oceania. They must turn that in.

[jonthomas]

On 4/10/2024 at 9:11 PM, slw207693 said:

1.  Since Covid, Oceania has collected and kept the gratuities that are added to you bill.  They have guaranteed a higher salary for the employees.   You can give cash or gifts to your  individual cabin stewards, restaurant servers, bar staff, etc who you feel had provided you good service is theirs to keep.   They are not required to report it unless it’s an outrageous amount.   They are allowed to have 1 bottle of wine or 4-6 beers in their cabins.  No spirts allowed and if given any, they must turn it in to security.   
 

2.  Yes, lovely fluffy navy blue throws are kept onboard.   You can ask pool attendants, your cabin steward or butler and they will make sure you get one.   You can put them with the used towels when you are finished with them.  

 

not everyone will agree with you that the automatic tips are kept and used to pay salaries.

and therefore you have to give additional tips for everything and everyone...yes if you pull out the included tips, $18 pp per day...that is a large sum added daily to your account, if you pull that out, you would certainly feel obliged to reward those that serve you well by other means....

 

the whole idea of included gratuities ( daily deductions ) was to free you up from those envelopes and the need  to make decisions .and chase after people....awful....just done ever want to go back to that......

 

those that still chose to do the envelopes, gifts and such really undermine the idea of included tipping...

 

a situation comes to mind from our last cruise on the Vista in the Carib....there would be a few areas of the pool deck where it seemed that the pool attendants were gathering, flocking, mobbing, call it what you will....

 

on closer examination why....there was a cruiser or two who were handing out bills for every glass of water that was brought, every towel etc....

 

  the staff was so busy dealing with this  ridiculous practice that it was difficult for anyone else to get attention....

 

we also experienced on a couple of occasions, being told similar stories by the staff in the Terrace Cafe....single mother, several children back home, O paying very little, have to pay their own bills for training, etc and not being reimbursed by O....etc....we could almost predict how the stories would go...yes of course many have these situations, but the stories were very similar in a variety of ways, using the same English terms...

 

there are those who ruin a perfectly good system of included gratuities by their seeming generosity, grandiosity....etc...it encourages a climate of competition for tips, not a climate of good service...

 

perhaps there are many that are new to O and not sure about how to properly handle the tipping issue...

 

and then there is the story of the lady who is supporting her butler's entire family back in India....

[Cruisedreamer1]

I WOULD NEVER PULL MY TIPS.  just wondered how the tips were distributed. Our stewards and wait staff work very hard everyday.

[Techno123]

11 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

I WOULD NEVER PULL MY TIPS.  just wondered how the tips were distributed. Our stewards and wait staff work very hard everyday.

All of the staff work very hard and the ones at the greatest disadvantage in the 'let's throw money at the people who serve us' culture are those behind the scenes - if it wasn't for them, the people we see would not be able to do such a good job.
 

I'm with @jonthomas as a Brit I find the whole, out of control tipping culture imported from the US very uncomfortable. I would much rather pay a higher price for my cruise (tips included) and know that ALL of the hard working staff are receiving a higher salary.😁

[Harters]

Completely agree, Techno.

 

You'll be pleased to know that O has recently changed its Simply More arrangements to include gratuities in the cruise price for the UK (and wider European?) market as has been the case for the Australia and New Zealand market for some while. This change comes as a result of discussions with the UK  cruise travel agent industry which had been calling for it. It's good to know that O is responding to the different culture in the hospitality industry outside North America.

[Techno123]

@Harters - thank you. Yes we spotted that - have booked a Med 10 nighter on Vista in August under the new Simply More scheme - comes with a free bottle of factor 50 sun cream 😂😂

[Vineyard View]

4 hours ago, Harters said:

Completely agree, Techno.

 

You'll be pleased to know that O has recently changed its Simply More arrangements to include gratuities in the cruise price for the UK (and wider European?) market as has been the case for the Australia and New Zealand market for some while. This change comes as a result of discussions with the UK  cruise travel agent industry which had been calling for it. It's good to know that O is responding to the different culture in the hospitality industry outside North America.

I wish they would do this for the US market. 
it seems as if they are somewhat mirroring Viking….and V doesn’t include gratuities here either. 
 

[ORV]

There's a reason why those countries now have it rolled in to the price. They know exactly who are removing the tips at Guest Services. This will put an end to that. FWIW, anytime I'm in the UK I honor their method and don't tip anyone. 

[Harters]

31 minutes ago, ORV said:

anytime I'm in the UK I honor their method and don't tip anyone.

Indeed, old fashioned cash tipping is very much a minority interest here. Many restaurants have replaced it with a discretionary service charge (tends to be 12.5% in the London area, 10% elsewhere) which, of course, you have to actively ask for it to be removed from the bill. FWIW, my brother in law  drove a taxi for about 10 years up to Covid. When he started, most customers would tip at about 10%. When he finished, it was rare to get any tips during a shift. Not even of the "keep the change" varierty. He tells the story of driving football superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, who waited for his ten pence change on the fare. We do indeed have a very different attitude in Europe towards tipping, from the American attitude. I'd read of porters at Miami cruise terminal almost demanding a tip from passengers arriving for their cruise, to "make sure their bags got on board". 

[Techno123]

@Harters can you actually take your own bags to the ship in Miami? We have only sailed once from there and our bags were taken in a van from the hotel but in every other port we have sailed from we have got out of our taxi and dropped our cases off with the crew then taken carry on luggage onboard with us. To be honest I would rather lug my own luggage than be forced to tip in case my bags are held to ransom 😜😜.

 

and re the tipping in the UK, I do actually still tip in restaurants if the service has been good and I still round up the taxi fare, but leaving from Heathrow, the card machine gave me the option to tip up to 20% 😱

[Harters]

27 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

can you actually take your own bags to the ship in Miami

Yes. Maybe the hotel van thing was part of your deal with the hotel or cruise line. Our travel agent had booked the hotel for us and, rightly, said there'd be no need for a transfer company - it'd be easy just getting a metered cab from the airport to hotel and then hotel to port. Simples. 

[Jancruz]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

There's a reason why those countries now have it rolled in to the price. They know exactly who are removing the tips at Guest Services. This will put an end to that. FWIW, anytime I'm in the UK I honor their method and don't tip anyone. 

plus1

Jancruz1

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, ORV said:

There's a reason why those countries now have it rolled in to the price. They know exactly who are removing the tips at Guest Services. This will put an end to that. FWIW, anytime I'm in the UK I honor their method and don't tip anyone. 

If a service provider has done an extraordinary job, I still tip in the UK et al. supposed “no tip” locations (which, ironically, often tack a “service charge” on the bill anyway). BUT, very often a use $USD (so they’ll remember US folks are the nice ones). 😉😎

[Techno123]

58 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If a service provider has done an extraordinary job, I still tip in the UK et al. supposed “no tip” locations (which, ironically, often tack a “service charge” on the bill anyway). BUT, very often a use $USD (so they’ll remember US folks are the nice ones). 😉😎

Where is everyone getting the idea the UK is a no tip country?  We do tip for good/excellent service but not just because the person providing the service turned up for work 😂 and in fairness, in the UK, US dollars aren't much use unless the person being tipped is planning to visit the US at some point. We can change them to pounds but it's a rubbish exchange rate.  I will tip (for great service) in the currency of the country I am visiting UNLESS there are economic reasons not to when I tip in US dollars 😜

Edited April 13 by Techno123

[Harters]

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

BUT, very often a use $USD (so they’ll remember US folks are the nice ones).

Ah, yes, American cultural imperialism. Have you even considered for one moment what an insult that would be to your server, to receive a tip in a foreigner's currency, rather than their own.. Nasty. Just plain nasty. Shame on you. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, Harters said:

Ah, yes, American cultural imperialism. Have you even considered for one moment what an insult that would be to your server, to receive a tip in a foreigner's currency, rather than their own.. Nasty. Just plain nasty. Shame on you. 

And therein lies the difference (though the insult you imagine may only be in your head). If a European diner has only Euros in their pocket and chose to leave them as a tip in an American port city restaurant, the server would be appreciative of the kind/generous gesture and, along with all the other foreign currency s/he regularly receives (just like on a cruise ship), take it to the bank for conversion on their next visit.

 

As for your “cultural imperialism” comment, call it whatever you want. I couldn’t care less about anyone who, when a service person has “gone above and beyond,” refuses to recognize that effort with something tangible like money (whatever color it is). 

[1985rz1]

On 4/10/2024 at 8:11 PM, slw207693 said:

Since Covid, Oceania has collected and kept the gratuities that are added to you bill

How do you know this?  Please provide a source.

[clo]

5 hours ago, Techno123 said:

in the UK, US dollars aren't much use unless the person being tipped is planning to visit the US at some point. We can change them to pounds but it's a rubbish exchange rate.

Which is another topic entirely. I ask people who want to use dollars to tip, how would they like it if they got tips in pounds. They don't seem to reply to that 🙂