Just a couple of questions

[nhcpl57]

We are booked on Crown Princess feb 5th, This will be our first time with Princess (We have always doe Royal).

 

1: Do you have to pay extra to eat in the British pub ?

2: How do we pre pay tips and how much (2 ppl & 7 days)

3: i read here someting about balcony meals ??

4: Any other tips and tricks to help us :)

 

Thank you all :)

[Rauld]

We are booked on Crown Princess feb 5th, This will be our first time with Princess (We have always doe Royal).

 

1: Do you have to pay extra to eat in the British pub ?

2: How do we pre pay tips and how much (2 ppl & 7 days)It is $10.50 a day per person and is automatically but on your shipboard account. This is for wait staff and room steward. The bar tab will add a 15% tip. You can have this taken off you account if you prefer to pay in cash.

3: i read here someting about balcony meals ?? Yes, the do have meals avaialbe for a cost on the balcony. They are very good and worth the price. I just can't remember how much we paid for ours:confused:

4: Any other tips and tricks to help us :)

 

Thank you all :)

 

Enjoy and have a a great time.

[nhcpl57]

i Know on RC we were not able to take our own rum on board with us, i read here it is ok to do that on Princess ??

[Dusie]

The pub lunch is no additional cost except for drinks. It is offered only on sea days and is very good. Princess allows one bottle of wine or Champagne per person, but no hard liquor.

[Coracii]

To add details to Rauld's post, if you do decide to take your auto-tip off, the people that you tip in cash do not get to keep that money. They are required by their contract to turn it into a gratuity pool and that amount is divided among the crew members at the end of the cruise. If they do not turn the cash tip over they can be terminated from their contract and removed from the ship at whatever port they're currently calling. It is much better for the crew onboard to just leave the auto-tip in place. It's a fair amount compared to all the work they do during your vacation. If the auto-tip is left on and the crew members are tipped extra in cash they get to keep 100% of that additional gratuity.

[Toddy709]

To add details to Rauld's post, if you do decide to take your auto-tip off, the people that you tip in cash do not get to keep that money. They are required by their contract to turn it into a gratuity pool and that amount is divided among the crew members at the end of the cruise. If they do not turn the cash tip over they can be terminated from their contract and removed from the ship at whatever port they're currently calling. It is much better for the crew onboard to just leave the auto-tip in place. It's a fair amount compared to all the work they do during your vacation. If the auto-tip is left on and the crew members are tipped extra in cash they get to keep 100% of that additional gratuity.

 

I consider the auto-tip the absolute minimum I would tip for average service. If service is above and beyond, I'll leave additional cash tip at the end of the cruise. If service is below something that would be deserving of the auto-tip, I find a supervisor and attempt to have it remedied (that is my plan, anyway. I've been fortunate enough to never have to do that:D).

[Pam in CA]

For the balcony meals, you can choose between the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast ($25/pp) or the Ultimate balcony dinner ($50/pp). If you want to book one, do it as soon as you board because they do very few (I think only two) per day/evening.

 

As for the tips, Princess doesn't have the option to pre-pay them the way RCCL does. Instead, they are added to your onboard account every night. You can do a workaround and pre-pay by sending yourself an onboard credit as a "gift" before you leave home. The OBC can be used for anything charged to your onboard account, including the hotel service charge.

[Dietemann]

We are booked on Crown Princess feb 5th, This will be our first time with Princess (We have always doe Royal).

 

1: Do you have to pay extra to eat in the British pub ?

2: How do we pre pay tips and how much (2 ppl & 7 days)

3: i read here someting about balcony meals ??

4: Any other tips and tricks to help us :)

 

Thank you all :)

If you are in a mini suite, the auto tip is $11 pp/pd.

[Tralynn]

Here's a tip since your other questions have been answered. Every night from 8 pm until close they have a menu of drinks that are only $2.99. This is available at any lounge or bar area. They are a decent size and a great deal. The menu had a couple of types of beer, some mixed drinks, and a few frozen drinks. It may have had one kind of wine, but I'm not sure about that. The menu is called "The Power Hour Drinks".

[Potstech]

Are those drinks only available at the lounges ad bars or are they available throughout the ship? Who has the list of drinks that one can look at each night? I usually avoid the bar drinks becasue I think they are a little high but 2.99 seems very good. Any further info would be greatly appreciated.

[Tralynn]

Are those drinks only available at the lounges ad bars or are they available throughout the ship? Who has the list of drinks that one can look at each night? I usually avoid the bar drinks becasue I think they are a little high but 2.99 seems very good. Any further info would be greatly appreciated.

The drinks are available any place they serve drinks from 8 pm until closing time. The menu is the same every day. I can't remember all of the specific drinks, only the ones I tried: pina colada, miller beer, rum runner, long island ice tea, but there are several more. They have the menus in most of the lounges. I read about it in the Explorer's Lounge where the menus were readily available on each of the little tables. I ordered several of the drinks poolside in the evening. I was quite happy with the value.

[molme]

On the Power Hour Drinks menu I know that a Singapore Sling is one of the drinks available. The beers are Miller, Miller Lite, Fosters and one other, can't remember. The mixed drinks are all bar brand basic, like rum and coke, gin and tonic, whisky and 7-up, ect. The specialty drinks are Pina Colada, Long Island Ice Tea and Singapore Slings. Just sailed on the Coral and that is what they had on the menu. Definitly keeps the bar bill down.

[Denny01]

For more tips for the OP please expound on the ships tour and special chefs kitchen dining. I'm new too and read some and sounds interesting.

 

Den

[RickEk]

Here's a Power Hour menu... it may vary by ship....