Torfamm

That makes sense to me. I wonder how this pool is affected by cruises out of Australia and New Zealand where gratuities are included in the fares?

The crew appreciation fee has nothing to do with the 18% charge on drinks and other optional purchases like specialty dining that are not included in your cruise fare.

I've always found Take 5 to be less smoky than the piazza area

A quick search shows that tip pooling is legal in the UK. There is no guarantee the the individual who serves you is the one who keeps the amount you tip even if you tip in cash. Are you saying that you don't think the funds paid as crew appreciation are actually paid out to crew members as described in the policy or just objecting to the way the policy works?

This is probably true. What I'm hearing sounds more like an objection to the pooling of the amount paid as "crew appreciation" than to the total paid. Cruisers have always been asked to pay out a recommended amount for crew in addition to their cruise fare, at least on mass market cruise lines as far back as the early 80's when I first started cruising. In the past it was cash divided into several envelopes and handed to individual crew members. I'm not at all sure in thinking about it now that those funds weren't pooled. Everyone assumed that the person receiving the envelope kept the money in the envelope, but it's entirely possible that cruise lines may have been pooling those funds as well.

Just increasing cruise fare would eliminate these discussions and let the cruise line pay the money out however they like without upsetting guests who are bothered by it being called crew appreciation.

I couldn't agree more. The simplest thing would to just add $16 or $17 per day to cruise fares.

I suspect the person who receives it counts on it as part of their wages though just as cruise ship staff do.

This discussion made me realize that I'm not sure that tips weren't pooled in the old days when we were told exactly how much they suggested be placed in each envelope and handed to staff on the last night of a cruise. I've never heard any discussion about whether pooling is new. I have to acknowledge that this policy could actually be more transparent.

It seems to me to be more akin to a service charge than a gratuity based on quality on service when tips are are based on total bill. That's been the norm in North America for many, many years. It seems strange to those from countries that don't tip but most Americans accept easily that a percentage of the bill is to be added to their check when they pay.

I'm curious, do you tip the same amount regardless of the amount of your bill or do you calculate your tip considering the total on you check?

That depends on the restaurant. Tip pooling is a very common practice.

Actually it's not how it works. We often don't know who we are tipping at restaurants. Many times tips are shared among various staff who we may never see or pooled and shared among all employees. The division of those tips is not necessarily based on customer satisfaction or good service. Most commonly in the US the amount people chose to leave as a tip is based primarily on a percentage of the total of their bill rather than on service received. For example, if someone purchases a $10 meal, a normal tip might be around $2 or $3 or if someone feels generous or gets exceptional service, maybe $5. For a $100 meal, the tip is expected to be in the neighborhood of $20. What a server receives in tips depends much more on what customers chose to order than on the service they provide.

To be fair, tips given to servers in restaurants in the US are not uncommonly shared with other staff or pooled. The one advantage from the servers’ point of view would be that they aren’t penalized for the good or bad luck of what their table chooses to order since tips in the US are generally based on a percentage of the check. 20% of a salad and 3 iced teas is much less than a huge steak and three glasses of wine but the effort required isn’t much different.

Same as MDR.

There are plenty of reports of people being turned away for shorts. It’s not common but there are some dining room managers that enforce the no shorts rule. We had one on the Sky not too long ago. A number of men were frustrated and unhappy about it. Probably because they’d never had a problem wearing shorts to dinner before that cruise. I personally have no real interest in what other people wear but unless you are going to be the one at the door to the MDR making that decision, it’s unfair to promise that shorts will be allowed.

I have seen people turned away for wearing shorts to the MDR quite a few times. No one can predict whether the no shorts or ball caps policy will be enforced on any ship on any given night. If eating in the MDR is important to a passenger, they should plan accordingly https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

As long as he meets the minimum standard for smart casual, long pants and a shirt with a collar, he will absolutely be allowed to eat in the MDR on any night.

I disagree. While Princess should of course enforce their policies, passengers should comply without having to be forced to do so. That goes for all policies, not just smoking. No passenger should respond to clearly stated policies by effectively saying, “Make me”.

Do I understand you correctly? Do you not use your phone either? If you do use yours you can just use the app to upload all necessary documents, security photos etc and complete check-in information for both of you

They can look up your reservation for you once you get to the check-in station. Be sure to have your passport and I'd also have a copy of your travel summary and booking confirmation. Just join the Blue Lane line at the terminal.

Why not just use the $100 bills to pay for something like lunch?

In case anyone wants to save it - The document requirements can be found here, including the requirement for the entire party to have passports no matter what the itinerary if minors are traveling with only one adult. https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

I’m sure that may be true. As an example, every guide we used in Vietnam told me it’s illegal for Vietnamese citizens to have US dollars (possibly any foreign currency) and try to exchange them for dong to spend in their own country or deposit in a bank. I found it very interesting trying to imagine how they put USD to use.

I have seen people weighed for horseback riding and helicopter tours.