That really could of been a “Tipping Point”

For those of you who follow my updates you may recall that I have posted about the topic we all love to hate “Gratuities” in the past. Here is the link if anybody wants to read it –

https://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-blogs/harryatthehelm/whats-your-tipping-point/

Since then things have changed a great deal with Norwegian Cruise Line and Marella including in the price you pay for the cruise on all cruises at no extra cost and now even P&O Including on all sailings from May 2019 onwards. Things certainley seem to have taken a turn for the better with more and more lines moving away from the traditional way of paying tips on your cruise.

For those who dont know most of the cruise lines will charge a daily amount which will be added to your onboard account and is roughly around £8-12 per person per day. Prices do differ and some are in Euro’s, Some Sterling and other in Dollar’s.

What we have found as the cruise industry changes and moves more in a modern way with people not wanting to pay extra charges or like me happy to pay a charge but not be dictaed what that is and who that should go too. I like to see what I am getting for my money first from a service and standard point of view and tip accordingly ( Just my opinion I’m not saying that is right or wrong )

So………..Having said all that Imagine my surprise when I heard one of the major cruise lines was to introduce Mandatory, yes Mandatory Gratuities that could not be removed. MSC who I say as cruise line who will go on to be one of the very biggest and most modern cruise ships decided for some unknown reason that they would introduce this again in my opinion very outdated policy!

“Dear agent,

Please note that for all departures from 31st March 2019, service charges will be mandatory and cannot be changed or canceled.

The payment of service fees serves to ensure the highest quality standards for our guests. MSC Cruises believes that there is no fair system guaranteeing that all crew members will be paid for their exceptional service, which is why the service charge is now mandatory.

This was not communicated in the best way with rumours all over social media in forums and guests already booked receiving emails stsrting with the above. All of this sent us as agents into a bit of a minor meltdown as we agreed that surely they could not apply to customers who had already booked and would go down like a lead balloon to those looking at booking.

Thankfully after a while and I’m sure after a lot of negative feedback from the UK market common sense has prevailed for us here in the UK and this now wont come into effect! As we do a huge amount of bookings for MSC I for one breathed a very big sigh of relief as I’m sure many of you will of too.

I really dont think that would be the way forward for any cruise line and even if like some you believe that the cost is part of the fare with the none charging cruise lines. I still think this is the way to do it as people just do not like to see extras and especially madatory charges on top of what they pay for the cruise.

What do you think would this of been a very bad idea or do you think it would of been fair?