Anybody used free champagne/gratuity yet?

[remydiva]

Which I obviously never received.

 

was also done through several email offerings...

[waltd]

How the H did I miss this one? :eek:

 

Pia I think you have to stay home more then 2 days out of the year to see some of these promotions. :)

[AryMay]

The sale wasn't just promoted with emails/postcards...It (the Royal Inauguration Sale) was also highlighted on the Princess website homepage...and in several threads on CC. Here is one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1854408&highlight=free+gratuities

 

The promotion was only for selected sailings.

 

We are first time Princess cruisers and switched our 10 day cruise on the Emerald from February to December to take advantage of this offer. With the lower cruise cost AND the free gratuities we saved several hundred dollars.

[Coral]

I received a post card for "free gratuities" for some Alaska sailings (no champagne). That same week, I got some flash email specials which was considerably less than the post card I had received even factoring in free gratuities.

 

I am guessing Princess pays the crew.

[Pia1913]

was also done through several email offerings...

 

Either I missed them all or just overlooked it/tossed it because it wouldn't apply to my time frame. Sometimes hard to squeeze in an extra cruise. ;)

[pablo222]

What proof so you have that they're not paying the crew?

 

That there is an opportunity. Proof enough.

[Iamcruzin]

Princess tends to send less brochures and e-mails to people who already have half a dozen future cruises booked.

 

Why waist the postage and a possible chance of alerting someone who already paid full price?;)

[RickEk]

Yes, it was the Royal Inauguration Sale... and the champagne is Nicolas Feuillatte. Maybe not a $60 bottle of champagne, but much better than the cheaper stuff they usually serve at the Champagne Waterfall.

[Pia1913]

Pia I think you have to stay home more then 2 days out of the year to see some of these promotions. :)

 

Joe, you are sooooooooooooo funny. hahaha We are home 2/3 of the year. I think. :p

[monakayk]

Pia,

 

Below is the e-mail we received from PCL Our friends who are joining us on Nov. 29th Emerald Princess cruise booked using this sale-perk.

 

[Pia1913]

Pia,

 

Below is the e-mail we received from PCL Our friends who are joining us on Nov. 29th Emerald Princess cruise booked using this sale-perk.

 

 

Thanks, Mona. I really don't recall receiving this, but won't swear to it. Since I was already booked on the Royal for 30 days I probably didn't or wouldn't give it more than a glance.

[monakayk]

Thanks, Mona. I really don't recall receiving this, but won't swear to it. Since I was already booked on the Royal for 30 days I probably didn't or wouldn't give it more than a glance.

 

Your Welcome, Pia. Glad I still had it and could post it for you to see.

[Mrs Moho]

Yes, it was the Royal Inauguration Sale... and the champagne is Nicolas Feuillatte. Maybe not a $60 bottle of champagne, but much better than the cheaper stuff they usually serve at the Champagne Waterfall.

 

 

The is part of the email we received off Princess in the UK - hence the reason I said $60 bottle of champagne

 

This email should be read in conjunction with Princess Cruises 2013-14 Worldwide 2nd edition brochure and 2013 Mediterranean & Scandinavia brochure which contain important information including Booking Conditions which you must read before booking. Fares are cruise only, subject to availability based upon 2 adults sharing the lowest available grade stateroom type specified and include Government Fees and Taxes. Prices are correct at the time of email being sent, and may go up or down. Offer applies to new bookings only, with non-refundable and non transferable deposit. *OFFERS: 12 nights from £699 per person is based on cruise number R336 and R333, 14 nights from £795 per person is based on 3337A. Up to $800 per couple free on board spending money is based on cruise numbers D317/D411. Voyages of 10 days or more will also receive onboard spending money of varying amounts, please see individual voyages for details where amounts are specified per couple. Please note free onboard spending money is for the first 2 passengers in a stateroom only. Free Nicholas Feuillate champagne to the value of $60 and is one bottle per stateroom and applies to all cruises featured. Free balcony upgrades are on European cruises featured only as indicated on the individual cruises, based on upgrading from the highest available unobstructed Oceanview grade stateroom to the lowest grade Balcony stateroom. For Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises featured: Up to £600 per couple flight saving is available on the cruises of 20 nights or more, £400 per couple flight saving is on cruises of 14-15 nights, £300 per couple flight saving is on cruises of 10-11 nights. All flight savings are only available when booking through Princess Flight Select. Please note if you arrange your own flights you will not be eligible for this offer. Flight savings promotions on Caribbean and Panama Canal voyages are from the Caribbean Calypso promotion, which is combinable with this offer. Please visit princess.com/calypso for full terms and conditions on this offer. All offers apply to new bookings made by 20 June 2013, subject to availability. Please quote code RX6 when booking.

[Genessa]

Which I obviously never received.

 

I never received it in the mail or on line, either, but happened to book a cruise I saw in other promotional stuff and ended up with a better price, thanks to the included gratuities.

[DMRick]

We started out with free grats and champagne but changed before final payment when our cruise worked out cheaper paying the grats when they had a special.

We have won champagne in the past and traded it for 6 cans of soda at one of the bars.

 

It's interesting that the current promotion actually works out to be $12 per cabin cheaper than the free tips and champagne promotion (factoring tips back in), which is probably on the high end of what a bottle of the champagne is worth. However, it also requires Non Refundable Non Transferable deposits, which the free tips and champagne offer didn't, which is why we did book under that one.

[cruisehappy001]

[quote name='DMRick']We started out with free grats and champagne but changed before final payment when our cruise worked out cheaper paying the grats when they had a special.
We have won champagne in the past and traded it for 6 cans of soda at one of the bars.[/quote]

We went to book a cruise during this "Royal" promo and found that the pricing to get this particular promo was jacked up higher than the regular pricing before. It would have cost us much more overall to get the free grats compared to other pricing. Sometimes a sale (wolf??) comes dressed in sheep's clothing. I am glad that I watch the pricing quite often when considering a cruise. ;)

Mark