Tipping is an emotive subject. Everyone who cruises knows that tipping is expected so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Tips can normally be adjusted at the Purser's desk or reception, but they shouldn't be removed entirely for one bad service experience.

P&O have the lowest suggested gratuities I've seen at £3.10. On our recent cruise with NCL we paid $12pppd which is £7.79.

luci

I fully accept tipping on cruises what i dont agree with is, i am not being given the choice.a tip is given if the person who receives it has gone that extra yard in providing good service,you dont tip for ordinary or bad service.P&O have taken that choice away.

The thing I find most alarming about this "tactic" is that a few years down the road this automatic tip will become included as a right - and the waiters/maids/bar staff etc will be touting for cash tips on top! This already happens in restaurants around here - go out in a party of 6 or more for a meal - automatic service charge but the credit/debit card slip still has a space for the tip to be added on!

The real cheek is that whether it is on cruises or in restaurants, compulsory 'tips' or 'service charges' are just another way for the management to subsidise their staff labour costs. If you add a 'tip' to your card transaction then you have no guarantee that the staff who served you will actually see any of it and I never pay a tip of any sort this way. I now take the attitude that any management imposed tip or service charge is just a way of them trying to put the price up - and I make the decision as to whether I patronise that restaurant or whatever on the basis of the price levied includng the service charge. If it doesn't represents good value then I don't - if it does then I do. And then if I have received good service I do add a cash tip paid directly to whoever has served me.

SM

I totally agree SMa - I have only been on Thomson cruises so far and tipping is 'included' in the pricing - I do however seek out those members that I feel have made my cruise more enjoyable and personally like to tip them, I don't think it's right to enforce tipping, as the OP states why should you pay for something you don't want to? and certainly why should you aid the Cruise companies pay for the their staff

If you are booked onto a cruise with P&O after the tipping charge comes into effect, you will receive a letter from P&O informing you that if you disagree with this extra you can visit the reception desk after you board and this charge will be removed from your account. Tipping is then left up to you.

However, in support of this, I have seen many tables empty on the last night so that passengers do not have to tip their waiters, I also know of an incident where someone tipped their steward £30 after a 90 day cruise, that is 33p a day for looking after your room, bedding, hoovering etc. If you have opted for freedom dining this is already added to your bill and as mentioned P&O are actually the cheapest when it comes to recommended tipping.

But I also agree that if cruise firms paid their workers a decend wage then there should be no requirement for a tip.

£30 after a 90 day cruise - 33p per day !!! I think that is over generous, they do actually receive salaries you know. I am tired of hearing about low pay, great service, going the extra mile etc etc. I work in the security industry where all these things apply but staff do not come within a million miles of a tip.

Not P&O, but I knew when I cruised with Princess that there would be a "hotel charge" added to my bill each day. The best I've just read is that, as I am a solo traveller, I should be doubling that amount, because the poor cabin steward will be missing out

£30 after a 90 day cruise - 33p per day !!! I think that is over generous, they do actually receive salaries you know.

I guess it depends on whether you think that a $1 an hour warrants being called a salary - and having to pay the agent who got you the job, a deposit for uniform, your own flights out tp join the ship etc out of it. Many staff, especially those on some US cruise lines, can end up owing their employer more than they'll earn in their first season! Without tips they are effectively working for nothing and the system is tantamount to one of bonded labour. A fact not unconnected with even UK owned companies registering their ships under flags of convenience so that they can avoid having to be compliant with UK employement law and employing so many staff from developing countries who don't realise before they sign up that the wages are so low and the 'stoppages' so high that they'll not be able to remit that much home after all.

I don't get tips either in my job but then I am paid a very decent wage/salary for the job I do in the first place.

SM

Everbody who has a job is paid the going rate, whether that is greatly underpaid or overpaid, that is the way of the world. Everybody has a choice of whether to take a job regardless of personal circumstances. It is not the customer's responsibility, moral or otherwise to make a voluntary contribrution to increase that person's salary. This is purely between employee and employer. My point is there are many employees who do equally worthwhile jobs and are equally underpaid but do not get tips.

I guess we'll just have to differ on that one - this is one of the reasons why despite thinking about it for a while and browsing this forum on a regular basis because I haven't yet ruled one out completely, I haven't been able to bring myself to book a cruise so far. Not because of the tipping policies as such but because I think that people should be paid a fair wage - not just the 'going' rate - rather than being reliant on tips to bring up their wage up to a reasonable level. I would prefer the companies to scrap the figleave of calling this supplement a 'tip' and just include it in the price and pay staff a decent wage. We could then get back to the situation that applies to most of the holiday industry where it is left to the customers' discretion to decide if they wanted to give staff tips for good service etc.

I do feel a moral responsibility not to take advantage of an exploited workforce. I think that what it boils down to is that I think this isn't just a matter between employer and employee but a 3-way relationship between employer, employee and customer. Prior to this P&O had been on my 'possibly' list for when I could afford their prices because they seemed to be one of the better employers but possibly not anymore. Perhaps, Miss Pink, I should look at Thomson? Though I doubt that any of the cruise lines are losing any sleep over not getting any business from me. Just like me not buying Nestle chocolate doesn't seem to have dented their profits either

SM

SMa.Try having a look at Seabourn Cruises.They are American but operate extensivley throughout Europe and the rest of the world.There are NO mandatory tipping on there cruises.we have been with them twice and will certainly go with them again.By the way it is AI so not your cheapest cruise but you do get the quality.

Ian

Hi RIK, thanks for the tip - I'll have a look at them as you suggest. AI might be the way to go - at least it makes it a lot easier to work out the budget. And after all on a cruise ship you can hardly shop around or patronise the local bars for a bit of local culture

SMa, I must admit I have not quite looked at cruising and employees wages the way that you have described thats's certainly my fault - I know the staff are totally underpaid, when I was on the last cruise with Thomson Spirit the bar staff were fab and got chatting to two chaps who made my holiday special and as such I rewarded them (what I thought was OK) at the end of the cruise, I actually feel quite guilty for not thinking about this properly

I've just been on a Fred Olsen cruise and told them I wanted to tip the people who'd looked after us so they gave us brown envelopes to use for this purpose. The extra tipping is on your account when you get on the ship but you can ask them to take it off if you decide to tip the people yourselves which is what we did.