Gratuities

[Pete Leonard (Bruno)]

I was at sea in the '50's when pure cruise ships were rare, except for the Monarch of Bermuda and Queen of Bermuda which operated from the US anyway. With the P&O we would do 3 Aussie trips per year and about 3 months cruising from the UK. We found that the bulk of our cruise passengers were either hoteliers or bookmakers and various other villains who did not want to declare all their income to Inland Revenue. As such they would chuck money around as if it were going out of fashion. As stewards we obviously benefitted from this largesse. But we still had to work for it. As a BR I thought nothing of working a 14 hour day even though we were limited to claiming only two hours a day overtime, it was called 'providing service' and it paid off.
I have never been on a cruise as a passenger, never had the desire to. But if offered a passage on an old tramp I would jump at the chance. If I were to go on a cruise ship I would object strongly to paying a fixed sum in lieu of tips. To my mind this is a disincentive to providing service, knowing that whatever you did you were limited by whatever the purser decided to dole out. Most stewards were good at summing passengers up as soon as they came aboard and knowing the ones who would appreciate just that bit of extra service and rewarding it accordingly. On the ships I served on the majority of the crew were from the Indian sub continent. Although by our standards they were probably poorly paid but were considered well off back in their own country. So the Goanese galley staff,pantry men etc.were usually content with their lot, and would be happy with a couple of bottles of Guinness if they did you a favour.I found things completely different on my one spell with Cunard. I found there that you got nothing from these people unless you paid for it. This made for a very uncomfortable atmosphere for me and I was glad to get back to the old P&O.
Cheers, Pete

[Graham Payne]

Thanks Bruno & Neville, you answered my question, I was unaware the catering staff on the old P&O ships in the 50'or 60's were limited to 2 hrs a day overtime. as a Deck boy etc up to an AB we were paid OT for whatever hrs we worked.

[colin twine]

i have been on two cruies both on p.o the oriana and will be going on her again in september iv only used the returant once i much prefer the help yourself resturant we were able to opted out of the tipping by going to the reseption. we then tiped those we wanted to as my wife and i enjoy a tipple or two we spent our money in the bars

[Captain Kong]

Thats right Clancy, when you join the ship just tell the Pursers Office you do your own tipping and not to be taken out of your account like $14 a day each for you and the wife, or Someone elses wife. that is $28 a day for the two of you. that is £18 a day.
I just give an envelope with a few dollars in to the BR and the Table waiter at the end of the trip.
I had a complaint with Cunard on the QE2 and got £3,000 compensation so that is half the cost of a trip to Oz on the new one for the two of us.

All the years I spent at sea, between 1952 to 1995 I never ever once got a tip.
At the landing stage in Liverpool on a Cunard or CPR Empress, the deck crowd had to hump the passengers heavy trunks up on deck and down the gangway onto the stage and the Steward carried the ladies hat box and got a big tip.
The only tip I ever got was, "Get wise to yourself kid."

Bruno wrote,...We found that the bulk of our cruise passengers were either hoteliers or bookmakers and various other villains who did not want to declare all their income to Inland Revenue.

In the late 40s and 50s. my uncle Jack, had a lot of amusement arcades and a Boarding house in Blackpool. At the end of the Season he always took all his family to Cape Town for three months every winter by Union Castle and always paid the fares for six of them in cash. [ He never took his brother, my Dad or any of us. ]
Then one day the Revenuers turned up at his home in Blackpool and wanted to know why he always paid thousands of pounds to U.C. in cash.
They searched his property and found virtually millions stashed away in a secure room, stacked to the ceiling with notes. After the court case he went to live in the States.Long dead now. I never got a penny off him. I went to one of his cafes in an arcade and he charged me two shillings for a cup of coffe. I said, you come to our house and Mother cooks you a big dinner for free. he said, Aye but this is business lad.

[colin twine]

just got back from aus brian tryed to drink monties dry ---i didnt tip the airline pilot

[Pete Leonard (Bruno)]

Hi Graham
you have probably laid one misunderstanding to rest with you post. I have seen once or twice complaints from Deck dept. members that they felt they were losing out because the stewards were copping the tips. They seem to forget that as watchkeepers they could earn a fair bit in overtime for any other work carried out. As I said previously we worked the hours voluntarily to provide that bit extra service. There were always the ones who did not provide the service but these were the ones who might have been seen crying at the end of the voyage. Having said all this my greatest desire before I went to sea was to be a deckhand but they discovered that I was colour-blind. It was a great disapointment to me, but I was determined to go so took the only option.
heers, Pete
.

[Captain Kong]

Hi Clancy, Hope you had a good trip to Monties, I am going next year in February. In Monties again. Havent been for three years now.

You were right, didnt tip the pilot what about the Trolly Dollies, I never tip them either. So why should I tip someone on a ship. They can either do the job on wages or get a shore job, what is their problem, Why should we keep the third world workers in money to feed their half dozen kids or more.

I have flown on third world aircraft, such as Philipine Airways, West African Airways Ngu airways and because they are on a plane we dont tip, stick them on a ship and we have to tip. WHY.???

[happy daze john in oz]

I never got a bar account up to $1700 Aus John and I was an Engineer with Union Castle . I tried a couple off times though !

Rob I did some time as officers steward with UCL and from memory the engineers were the best drinkers around. As for my current bar account, quite easy when you consider the prices they charge. One Gin and Tonic plus one vodka and lemonade $15. A decent bottle of wine between $25 and $30. Half a litre of draught beer $8. Bottle of champagne, Christmas day New years day at $55 a time.Then $ 95 for take ashore duty free and it soon adds up over 13 nights. Could have had a bottle of Dom Perignon for $199.

[Neville Roberts]

its a shame that some people think that tipping is a town in china

[robpage]

I agree with tipping Neville , whole heartedly , but for the extra not for what i have already paid for as the normal .

If you tip for the normal then the engine room should be on a backshees for getting to port on time , The deckhands for doing a nice mooring ,

What is normal should be in the fare charged , like linen , food , air conditioning . I use Easy-jet and Flybe , I pay extra for luggage , for priority boarding , a fortune for a sandwich , I know their rules , the seat is in the fare and that is it , you get no extras ,. and the cabin crew gets no tip .

But if i was paying effectively $10Aus for a pint of beer , thnen I would regard the company as making about $9 profit on that , to enable them to pay great wages to the barman , so he wouldn't be getting a tip either .

I know this is one of my Rants but I still remember that in teh seventies we fought for faiir wages .
Let me quote from the TUC in November 2010
date: 22 November 2010
embargo: 00.01hrs Tuesday 23 November 2010
Unions call on government to halt poverty wages at sea

Ministers must act to close a legal loophole which allows shipping companies to discriminate against overseas workers employed on UK ships by paying them as little as £2 an hour, maritime unions the RMT and Nautilus International, and the TUC said today (Tuesday).
The unions are concerned that an exemption under what was then the Race Relations Act (and which has now been replaced by the Equality Act 2010) fails to protect foreign seafarers from discrimination, despite EU law which prevents unfavourable treatment on the grounds of nationality.
Not only does this legal loophole allow UK shipping employers to pay poverty wages to overseas seafarers, it also makes it harder for UK workers to find jobs on British vessels.
Several years ago the RMT and Nautilus complained to the EU about the then UK government's failure to apply the Race Relations Act to ratings employed on British ships.
The unions and the TUC are now seeking an urgent meeting with Shipping Minister Mike Penning to persuade him to implement regulations outlawing pay discrimination on ships with a British flag, and so avoid being taken to court by the EU and paying a large fine if found to be in breach of the law.
The unions say that many of the seafarers in receipt of poverty wages are from the Philippines or India, and work either on domestic ferry routes or on ships sailing to and from the gas and oil fields in the North Sea.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: 'It is time to outlaw the ships of shame. It is a national scandal that employers are exploiting this loophole to deny seafarers a living wage.
'We will continue the fight to stop this outrage which allows companies to wrap themselves in the respectability of the British flag while treating their workforce like slave labour. It is time for the government to act to end the super exploitation that is taking place in UK waters.'
Nautilus International General Secretary Mark Dickinson said: 'All EU/EEA nationals on UK ships are entitled under EU law to equal treatment and it is therefore necessary for the government to align UK law with European law without delay to avoid sanctions from Europe.'
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'The government should play fair at sea and end the loophole that allows foreign crew on ships in UK waters to be so shoddily treated.
'If it doesn't act, ministers could be taken to court by the EU and run the risk of the country being fined millions of euros at a time when the public finances are under great strain.
'Some shipping owners have threatened to register their boats under the flags of other countries if the law is changed, but ministers should ignore this blatant attempt to cry wolf, do the right thing and call time on poverty wages.'

That says it all to me