Saga holiday passengers told to pay £8 a day in tips

Saga holiday passengers say they were urged to pay £8 a day in tips
Tourists felt they were effectively asked to ‘pay the crew’s wages’
Crew on some liners compile a ‘spit-list’ of those who do not tip
Saga said customers should ‘use their own discretion’ when tipping

Tom Kelly for the Daily Mail

Published:
17:50 EST, 14 November 2014

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Updated:
11:16 EST, 15 November 2014

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Passengers on a Saga holiday have complained they were effectively asked to ‘pay the crew’s wages’ after being urged to tip £8 a day.

Travellers on the ‘all-inclusive’ tour of the Croatian Dalmatian islands were allegedly told by a guide that the gratuity was the company’s ‘own recommendations’ which would be shared among the ship’s crew of seven.

But with 30 passengers on board for the eight-day cruise, they calculated this worked out as £274 per crew member.

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Passengers on board a Saga holiday complained they were effectively asked to ‘pay the crew’s wages’ after they were urged to tip £8 a day

‘All the passengers felt that this was a con,’ one traveller on the MV Emanuel said.

‘The general conclusion was that Saga was not paying the crew’s wages, but was asking the passengers to pay them instead.’

The seven-night holiday, which costs up to £1,250 per person, is advertised as including travel insurance, return flights and transfers, full board, local wines, beers and soft drinks with lunch and dinner throughout the cruise, excursions and a free bar open 11 hours a day.

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The tour includes the Unesco World Heritage sites of Dubrovnik and Split, national park of Mljet and the islands of Brac and Hvar.

Saga said customers are told to ‘use their own discretion’ on how much to tip.

A spokesman for the firm said: ‘We pay the commercial market rate for chartering the ships on these holidays. In the light of this complaint, we will be reminding the ship owners of our policies regarding gratuities.’

The payment of tips on cruises is a long-running issue between some cruise companies and their customers. Many tour operators that are not all inclusive automatically add tips from adult guests to bills, typically of around £3-£6 a day.

In most cases the amount can be altered or completely removed if requested. However, some cruise lines send passengers a letter to their cabin asking them to reconsider if they ask to have the tips taken off the bill.

The holiday tour visited Unesco World Heritage Sites such as Dubrovnik (pictured) and Split in Croatia

Crew on some liners are said to compile a list of people who have removed their gratuities – nicknamed the ‘spit-list’ – which is posted in staff communal areas.

Costa holidays automatically add a fixed service charge of £5.50 per person per day to bills and 15 per cent on drinks bills for all guests over 14. Those aged between four and 14 are charged half that amount.

The company warns: ‘The service charge is used by the company to incentivise staff who perform hotel duties and to continually improve the quality of service offered on board Costa ships.

‘The service charge is an integral part of the total price of the cruise and therefore the amount cannot be altered.’

Crews on US-based cruise companies have been known to express disappointment when asked to join cruises leaving the UK because Britons are believed to be worse tippers than Americans.