New to Princess? Please

[Shelly97060]

Are there tips and service fees like NCL or is it just the tips? I know it is frowned upon but can those be taken off and paid in cash? I don't want to get flamed as I have to do this as I can expense my account but not tips....weird perk of my employer and both Royal and Carnival allow this just not sure about

 

Yes you can do it, but another option might be for you to go online in your cruise Personalizer and prepay your gratuities or gift yourself onboard credit using your personal credit card so it would have no connection to your employer.

 

Just an idea :)

[pablo222]

Hello so pumped just booked British Iles for next June but I have some questions

 

Are there tips and service fees like NCL or is it just the tips? I know it is frowned upon but can those be taken off and paid in cash?

 

I'm curious -- not confrontational, like some of the replies --

if I pay an expense in cash, my employer wants a receipt if

the amount is for more than $25. If I don't have a receipt,

I don't get reimbursed. How does paying in cash work for you?

 

Sadly, gone are the good old days of cashing in business-class air,

so you can bring your spouse if you both travel coach. Those were

the good old days...

[willworkfortravel]

Astro Flyer: I saw your post that Princess allows water and soda to be brought on board. Holland America did not allow that on our last cruise in Mar 2014 and sodas cost over $2 per can. Thank you for the valuable heads up. Will pick up some before we embark.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Astro Flyer: I saw your post that Princess allows water and soda to be brought on board. Holland America did not allow that on our last cruise in Mar 2014 and sodas cost over $2 per can. Thank you for the valuable heads up. Will pick up some before we embark.

 

I'm just curious but does HAL allow any drinks to be brought on-board such as juice, ice tea, etc. ?

[Mrs.Gosse]

I was hoping this wouldn't turn into one of "those" threads..

 

Me too OP but they always do. Sigh...

 

What is the possibility of leaving it on as hotel charge and printing out the princess explanation of gratuities because it makes it sound like a required charge the way they write it...in my opinion. And if azked could you show this or possibly leave it on there and explain that you are fine not being reimbursed for it if they really don't consider this as an expense. Because at this point it sounds like you are going to pay cash on your own anyway so maybe just SEE if they will pay it and worst case scenario you are still out the same cash? In my opi ion their policies make it sound like when you agree to sail princess you agree to pay the hotel charge. Not to mention many hotels charge some fee so it doesnt seem that odd to me to see that on an expense report.

[Mrs.Gosse]

Cabin stewards and waitstaff are required to turn in any cash tips they get -- along with the cabin number of the passenger. If the passenger kept on the autotips' date=' the crew member gets the cash back. If the passenger reduced or took off the tips, the cash gets turned into the tipping pool, and the crew member actually gets less from that cash.

 

If the crew member doesn't turn in the cash, and gets caught, he will get fired. And he/she lives in very small quarters.[/quote']

 

I can see how this can be checked upon witha steward but how does the young girl from the ukraine that was both my bartender and barista all week confirm that my auto tip was on? I tipped her $5 just mintues before getting off the ship. We tipped all the service staff we thought did a great job on the last day. They all seemed extremely grateful and surprised, especially the young girl I mentioned earlier. I feel like if those just went in a pool and they knew fhey were only going to get 2 cents of it they would be appreciattive but not like how we saw.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Cabin stewards and waitstaff are required to turn in any cash tips they get -- along with the cabin number of the passenger. If the passenger kept on the autotips' date=' the crew member gets the cash back. If the passenger reduced or took off the tips, the cash gets turned into the tipping pool, and the crew member actually gets less from that cash.

 

If the crew member doesn't turn in the cash, and gets caught, he will get fired. And he/she lives in very small quarters.[/quote']

 

Yes they are but I've had many cash transactions with crew members over the years (for other reasons) & a few times they've asked me to return later since their supervisor was nearby. In some cases it wasn't a tip but they didn't want to take the change of having it mistaken for one.

If you want the person you're giving it to to keep the whole amount be discrete when you hand it to them.

[caribill]

I can see how this can be checked upon with a steward but how does the young girl from the Ukraine that was both my bartender and barista all week confirm that my auto tip was on?

 

The rule that cash tips cannot be kept if the auto-tip has been turned off only applies to dining room waitstaff and cabin stewards.

 

The bartender and barista, who do participate in receiving their share of the 15% tip added to every sold beverage, can keep any cash tips given to them without any checking about the nightly auto-tip.

[cruzrbachoua]

does anyone know if you are allowed to bring your own soda into the dining room for dinner? Do they charge a fee like they do for the wine?

[Astro Flyer]

does anyone know if you are allowed to bring your own soda into the dining room for dinner? Do they charge a fee like they do for the wine?

 

If I get any drink through Princess, then I take it to dining rooms. However I do not bring drinks to the dining room that I brought on the ship.

 

It's probably up to you about what to do because it's doubtful if anyone would say anything about it. You could read the Passage Contract to see if it's allowed or not. :)

Edited April 2, 2015 by Astro Flyer