Service reward charge increases

[Whynd1]

I'm sure that will cause some discussion but we'd 23rd March h the so called service reward charge is to increase to £7 per day.

This comes after two recent increases.

Lindsey

[Ranchi]

Hmmm! My car insurance increases every year...wonder if the mechanism is the same?

[Grando]

Interesting, we are due on Azura on 23rd March and we have not (yet) been informed about this increase.
Doreen

[Mamil1]

A service charge of £6 per guest per day will be chargeable to cruises departing before the 22 March 2018. For cruises departing the 23 March and thereafter, the charge will be £7 per guest per day.
Yes it’s going up again.

[GillD46]

Still very cheap.

[Whynd1]

I've just checked my paperwork and in July 2016 it was £5 , then in November 2016 it went up to £5.50.
The next cruise was June 2017 and it went up to £6 now it going to be £7.

I can't work it out but that's quite a steep percentage increase.
I think P and O will run the risk of passengers opting out more leaving the few who do not to pay these increases.
Some passengers will also look for five star service if they are being asked for to pay more.

[Meg 50]

it is time to add it to the fare - and to make it service inclusive

[GillD46]

it is time to add it to the fare - and to make it service inclusive

I do agree with this.

[Grando]

Just looked at our holiday information booklet and it says service charge £6 and that is what we will pay or cancel it and do our own thing! Agree it should be included in the price of the cruise.
Doreen

[Manoverboard]

It continues to go up to compensate the staff for those passengers who fail to tip at the suggested levels ... inclusion is certainly the way to go but it will be a higher rather than a lower rate. Example being OV vs P&O.

[screwy]

I wont be paying it and i dont care if it is cheaper than oher cruise lines. Lets not get carried away with the standard of service...it's good,not exceptional, no better than in a 5 star hotel, would you pay that amount in a hotel.?? Dont think so. time to add it to the fare.

[Whynd1]

Actually I'm inclined to agree with you Screwy. It's good service not five star.
I wasn't expected to pay tips at Warners last month.

I do leave tips but cash in an envelope, I won't have P and O dictating how much I wish to pay.
I always go back to the fact that a tip is discretionary for good service.

Imagine if you haven't family with children over 12: years for a 14 night cruise that's a hefty wedge on top of your cruise price.

Lindsey

[Grando]

Just received this from Thomas Cook
Important information regarding the Service Reward Programme

We have recently made a small change to our Service Reward Programme.
During your time on board, you'll be looked after by lots of people - waiters, buffet staff, cabin stewards and butlers, who'll go out of their way to make each moment of your holiday special. We know that rewarding good service every time it happens just isn't convenient, so our Service Reward Programme provides a simple, one-off way for you to say 'thank you' for all the service you receive. For cruises departing 23 March 2018 onwards, this amount changes for each guest aged 12 and over, to 7.00GBP per day. The Service Reward appears on your folio as a 'service charge'.
Of course, if you want to personally reward a crew member in addition to this, feel free to do so. And, if you wish to vary the amount, or let us know about the service you receive, please contact Reception on board.

Doreen

[Gill W]

We are Fred Olsen's Balmoral in just over three weeks time. A couple of days ago, I had an email from them inviting me to pay my gratuities up front, at a cost of £4 per person, per day. If I decided to to pay the gratuities on board, the charge will be £5 per day.

I phoned them, and paid the gratuities up front.

But it raises a few points in my mind.

Compared to P&O, the Fred Olsen gratuities are low.

As I've paid a lower amount, does this mean the staff will get a lower gratuity? I suspect there's a pool of money allocated for gratuities, so I doubt if it'll make any difference.

I've paid gratuities up front without knowing what the service is actually like. However, I'm sure the service will be fine and paying up front means it's done and dusted and I can forget about it. (but it's still weird tipping before the actual cruise)

Overall, I think it's time for the gratuities to be added to the fare and have done with it.

[Stephen]

I wont be paying it and i dont care if it is cheaper than oher cruise lines. Lets not get carried away with the standard of service...it's good,not exceptional, no better than in a 5 star hotel, would you pay that amount in a hotel.?? Dont think so. time to add it to the fare.

[Ray B]

Wow ! this is good, nice to see a topic that generates a rash of posts, has been a bit slow of late. Now, Dress code anybody.

[Manoverboard]

So, Ray B .... are you asking if anyone has any tips for conforming to the Dress Code ?





.

[Ray B]

just don't go there moby.

[Ray Scully]

Clever and effective ploy by P&O to trawl back OBC

[Ranchi]

Or else there is some ‘bad news’ released/buried elsewhere.

[poole boy]

screwy post_
I wont be paying it and i dont care if it is cheaper than other her cruise lines. Lets not get carried away with the standard of service...it's good,not exceptional, no better than in a 5 star hotel, would you pay that amount in a hotel.?? Dont think so. time to add it to the fare.

I totally agree with screwy on this and the way I feel at the moment I will join her in not paying it

[Whynd1]

It's nice to see so many posts, as we have been quiet for a while.

Wishing you all a good weekend

Lindsey

[AileenB]

We are concerned about the lack of detail from P&O as to how the automatic tips are distributed amongst those who serve us. There are no guarantees that the tips will go to the people we want. P&O should be much more transparent as to how our money is distributed. It's all a bit too vague for us. We work out how much our automatic tips would be for a cruise, take that in cash and share out that money to the staff ourselves.

[Whynd1]

Me too

Lindsey

[Mervyn and Trish]

I have no problem with the principle of gratuities which have long been a part of cruise culture to make up for very low basic wages for long hours. However, as the cruise market changes, I think the time was come to raise wages, covered by the basic fare, and do away with tips altogether.

It is clear looking on Facecloth, where many of the "new" cruisers post, that they don't understand the past culture, don't realise the bargain they're getting with cruise prices that have been going down in real terms for years, and for the most part remove the automatic gratuities without a second thought on their first day aboard, before they find out if the service is any good or not.

It is also clear from the number of increases to the level of gratuities over a very short time that what I predicted would happen is indeed taking place. Every time the level increases another tranche of people says "enough is enough" and decides not to pay. Like the economics of increasing taxes, the higher they are, the more people will avoid them, and the lower the gross income becomes.

If there is no change to the policy the last person on the ship to continuing paying will be forking out £15,000 a night to cover all the rest!

And it ain't gonna be me!