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Princess Cruises Increases Gratuities

AlaskaGolden

By AlaskaGolden,
in Princess Cruises

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Redwood10D

Redwood10D

Posted
Posted
Thanks to our upcoming Roll Call as posted by loonline (thanks Rhonda and Brian!), it was just announced that the gratuities automatically billed to guests on their stateroom portfolios will be increased.

 

Effective on voyages departing on or after January 1, 2016, the gratuity charge will be $13.95 per guest for mini-suites and suites, and $12.95 per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms.

 

The current charges per day are $12 per person for mini-suites and suites, and $11.50 per guest in all other staterooms per day (including children).

 

All guests who have pre-paid their gratuities before October 15, 2015, will have their current daily gratuity amount protected. If you have a cruise sailing after January 1, 2016, you may want to prepay your gratuities before October 15 in order to lock in to the older rates. This can be done by logging in to your cruise personalizer and choosing the pre-pay option when prompted.

 

Above was copied in part from another site I can't mention here.

 

Wow, thanks a lot! We have a 15 day cruise in Feb. and this will save us a bit for spending elsewhere! Besides I think this was a good time for us to exercise the pre-pay option.

 

Thanks again for the info-

 

Redwood

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pcur

pcur

Posted
Posted

This may be a dumb post, but has everyone on this thread checked if their cruise is eligible for the 3FF promo going until 10/29/15? If you got the free drinks package, then it's worth much more. But, if you didn't, you might want to see if the 3FF promo can be applied, check the cabin rates, etc.

 

I just called Princess and they said the 3FF promo WILL cover the increased gratuity amount.

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Steelers36

Steelers36

Posted
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If they manned up they would have just made it $13 and $14. Wimpy pricing IMHO. Sorry on stuff like that I hate 95 cent pricing.

 

framer

 

Agree ... but why stop there? Virtually all of their cabin pricing is $x99, or $x49, or $yy9. When we are talking hundreds and thousands of dollars, why moneky around with a $1. It's been this way in US and Canada for years and somehow retailers think they are psychologically fooling us.

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pcur

pcur

Posted
Posted (edited)
Agree ... but why stop there? Virtually all of their cabin pricing is $x99, or $x49, or $yy9. When we are talking hundreds and thousands of dollars, why moneky around with a $1. It's been this way in US and Canada for years and somehow retailers think they are psychologically fooling us.

 

Yeah, like they don't know we have been mentally rounding up for about 50 years. It's so much easier to say "x dollars" than "x-ninety-nine".

Edited by pcur
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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted
Agree ... but why stop there? Virtually all of their cabin pricing is $x99, or $x49, or $yy9. When we are talking hundreds and thousands of dollars, why moneky around with a $1. It's been this way in US and Canada for years and somehow retailers think they are psychologically fooling us.

 

The reason is that research in retail has shown that for some (not all but some) it actually des make a difference.

 

When I worked in retail I was involved in a store where some research was carried out.

 

Good were put on two ends in the shop one at 9.99 the other 10.00 after a week the prices were swapped. Both weeks the 9.99 end sold more stock than the 10.00 end, so I am afraid there is a reason they do it.

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WisCruiser2

WisCruiser2

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I think 15% is hefty. Social Security goes up 1%-3% depending on the cost of living index.

 

If gratuities have not gone up in 6 years, that's less than a 3% raise each year, hardly "hefty." Also, if you pre-pay now, the crew will not get that extra gratuity from you -- unless you plan to hand out tips to all the staff who share in the tipping pool!

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caribill

caribill

Posted
Posted

 

Effective on voyages departing on or after January 1, 2016, the gratuity charge will be $13.95 per guest for mini-suites and suites, and $12.95 per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms.

 

The current charges per day are $12 per person for mini-suites and suites, and $11.50 per guest in all other staterooms per day (including children).

 

All guests who have pre-paid their gratuities before October 15, 2015, will have their current daily gratuity amount protected. If you have a cruise sailing after January 1, 2016, you may want to prepay your gratuities before October 15 in order to lock in to the older rates. This can be done by logging in to your cruise personalizer and choosing the pre-pay option when prompted.

 

 

It is posted under Gratuities under FAQ: ONBOARD EXPERIENCE.

 

Of course, everyone should be expected to reread the FAQ every couple of days to make sure nothing has changed.:rolleyes:

 

And passengers who not read the FAQ daily and do not look at Cruise Critic would never know they could pay soon and save some $$$.

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TwoCruisers

TwoCruisers

Posted
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I found the new gratuity information on the Princess web site under “FAQ: ONBOARD EXPERIENCE”, as mentioned by others here, but there is no reference to the old gratuity rate being grandfathered in by prepaying before Oct, 15. Please let me know where I can find this information.

 

Thanks

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globrcircler

globrcircler

Posted
Posted
I found the new gratuity information on the Princess web site under “FAQ: ONBOARD EXPERIENCE”, as mentioned by others here, but there is no reference to the old gratuity rate being grandfathered in by prepaying before Oct, 15. Please let me know where I can find this information.

 

Thanks

 

Two: I agree it does not state that in the personalizer. It does state automatic gratuities will increase from $11.50 to $12.95 for cruises departing after January 16. That's a difference of $1.45 per day. I am scheduled for March 6. Haven't decided if I will go ahead and pay now or not. It's a difference for me of $10.15.

Carolyn in Texas

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abbydancer2003 "Live from...." Rare

abbydancer2003

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Hmm, we have a 7 day Alaska in May in a mini-suite. I read this and thought I'd prepay, but the I realized that we might then have left over OBC. We get FCC, stockholder and 25.00 "thank you". We booked with sip and sail, so there is no outlay for drinks, which which most of what we buy on board, and only one 25.00 charge for a specialty restaurant (we get one meal included). What happens if we don't use the entire OBC?

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caribill

caribill

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Posted
Hmm, we have a 7 day Alaska in May in a mini-suite. I read this and thought I'd prepay, but the I realized that we might then have left over OBC. We get FCC, stockholder and 25.00 "thank you". We booked with sip and sail, so there is no outlay for drinks, which which most of what we buy on board, and only one 25.00 charge for a specialty restaurant (we get one meal included). What happens if we don't use the entire OBC?

 

Some OBC is considered non-refundable and some is considered refundable. Not sure what "thank you" OBC is (loyalty credit?, OBC from a TA, other), but the other two are non-refundable so unused amounts would be forfeited. You might want to check out the jewelry boutique on board.

 

A specialty restaurant meal for one is unusual for a perk. Are you sure the amenity is not for two?

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abbydancer2003 "Live from...." Rare

abbydancer2003

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Posted
Some OBC is considered non-refundable and some is considered refundable. Not sure what "thank you" OBC is (loyalty credit?, OBC from a TA, other), but the other two are non-refundable so unused amounts would be forfeited. You might want to check out the jewelry boutique on board.

 

A specialty restaurant meal for one is unusual for a perk. Are you sure the amenity is not for two?

 

Thank you is the loyalty, sorry about the mis-name. And the Specialty for 1 is part of the Sip and sail.

 

We might do an excursion, so maybe I'll prepay 1 and save 14.00 instead of 28.

 

Thanks!!!

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