2018 USD to AUD Exchange Rate on AUD Sea Princess Cruise

[mfanderso]

We are sailing on the Sea Princess in March. Our personalizer has where we can pre-pay our tips. They are priced in USD on the personalizer. Would it be better to pay our tips ahead of time or pay them once on board in AUD?

[GJCruiser]

Reading the posts earlier in this thread and other places I question if we should stop the auto-gratuity. It sounds like our cruise fare includes the tips but because we purchased through a non-Australian TA our personalizer still shows the gratuity. I am OK with that if the crew gets the gratuity that we pay but I wonder if that is true as it sounds like their pay is increased while in Australia.

[travelbug615]

Reading the posts earlier in this thread and other places I question if we should stop the auto-gratuity. It sounds like our cruise fare includes the tips but because we purchased through a non-Australian TA our personalizer still shows the gratuity. I am OK with that if the crew gets the gratuity that we pay but I wonder if that is true as it sounds like their pay is increased while in Australia.

 

I am asking myself the same questions? I don't understand why Princess would not be consistent in how gratuities are collected for the staff?

[Haboob]

We are sailing on the Sun in March. Our $100 stockholders' onboard credit was posted as only $100AUD with no extra consideration for exchange rate. It definitely feels like a rip off.

 

"The devil is in the details". Google "Carnival Shareholder Benefits" for the PDF, and you'll discover each homeporting region sets its own OBC: North America / UK / Continental Europe / Australia.

 

So, on 7 thru 13 day cruises on a ship homeported in Oceana, you never had a US$ 100 OBC. Instead, Carnival-Australia issued it's AU$ 100 OBC. (Carnival-UK would have issued £60, etc).

 

 

Cheer up, you're getting the same OBC as on Seaborne ;) Think how they must feel getting the same as a lowly Princess passenger (or, worse, Carnival passenger)

Edited January 22, 2018 by Haboob
Typo

[Shaggydoggy]

There are no auto-gratuities for passengers who book through an Australian travel agent. People who book in USA or the UK have the auto-tips added to their account daily. However, they can remove them if they wish and they need not feel guilty doing so. The crew are paid at a much higher rate than on ships where the auto-gratuity applies.:)

 

We booked our trip for Australia in the USA, can we request to have gratuities removed and if so how? Not trying to be tight but if they ( Aussies) are paid more,,,,

[SinbadThePorter]

I am asking myself the same questions? I don't understand why Princess would not be consistent in how gratuities are collected for the staff?

 

My opinion (and others in CC have disagreed with me) is that new Australian consumer laws introduced in 2010 required all advertised fares to show the total all inclusive price. i.e. The price advertised must include all taxes, fees, gratuities, etc. When you pay the advertised price, that is it, no other payments are necessary to cruise.

 

Once that happened there was no point in talking about gratuities/day as they were already included in the fare. As a result the prices of cruise tickets bought in Australia for Australian cruises were generally raised to cover the extra expense and since gratuities no longer existed, wages of staff were generally increased. Whether wages were increased enough, no-one other than the cruise lines really knows.

 

But this Australian law only applies to tickets sold by Australian companies operating in Australia, selling in Australia.

 

So if you buy your cruise ticket outside of Australia, you are subject to the terms and conditions that apply from your place of purchase. In the US, that will include paying gratuities, but in theory at least, the cost of the fare should be less.

[diane.in.ny]

There are no auto-gratuities for passengers who book through an Australian travel agent. People who book in USA or the UK have the auto-tips added to their account daily. However, they can remove them if they wish and they need not feel guilty doing so. The crew are paid at a much higher rate than on ships where the auto-gratuity applies.:)

 

Thank you for this information. I was wondering about this.

[aussiecruiselover67]

Sea Princess is an Australian ship every thing is in AUDollars and when a ship embarks from any Australian port we don't pay gratuties

 

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[GJCruiser]

Sea Princess is an Australian ship every thing is in AUDollars and when a ship embarks from any Australian port we don't pay gratuties

 

IF the cruise was purchased in Australia. If purchased in other parts of the world, gratuities are still charged.

[hoopslover]

IF the cruise was purchased in Australia. If purchased in other parts of the world, gratuities are still charged.

We booked the Majestic Princess for our October cruise from Princess USA website. The gratuities are included according to our booking summary.

[GJCruiser]

We booked the Majestic Princess for our October cruise from Princess USA website. The gratuities are included according to our booking summary.

 

If you booked during the '3 for Free', your gratuities are paid.

 

We have two upcoming Princess cruises from/to Sydney, purchased through a USA TA, and we have auto gratuities shown on our personalizer.