Gratuities Going Up $1 Per Day Effective May 21, 2019

[terrydtx]

42 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I do agree that they do deserve gratuities but what about that one chance that you did have to adjust them because of something that really caused the cruise to be unacceptable? By eliminating the option of adjustments or removal you've given them a blank check to perform however they want.

How about the way NCL handles the auto gratuity?  You can not reduce or opt out of the charge while on the cruise. You have to send a letter to NCL corporate after the cruise with a specific reason for reducing the gratuities with the names of any crew members who you believe gave sub par service and deserves your reduction.  This is the best of both worlds, the gratuity charge is almost mandatory but you do have the ability to remove or reduce them if you are truly are aggreged by any crew member. I have cruised with NCL and I haven't seen any less quality of service by crew members that other lines we have used.

[majortom10]

15 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

It is outside of the cruise industry.

 

You don't, but it doesn't really matter cause it's on by default.

 

For those asking why they don't add it to the cruise fare, it's simply marketing.  A $500 cruise fare with $100 in gratuities only requires advertising a $500 cruise fare, not a $600 cruise fare. 

So it doesnt matter that you are paying over $400 (£340 approx) in gratuities and you dont get good service cannot understand the logic in that whatsoever in anybodies mind the whole idea of tip/gratuity is a reward for good service.

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

Higher cruise fares displayed upfront will equate to some people opting not to reserve or search for cheaper options. Lower lead in pricing is a type of social engineering Princess chooses to utilize in regards to their yield management to increase the amount of booking confirmations and ensure higher occupancy levels against their comp set.

Cannot speak about what lead in prices are available in the US but it certainly doesnt apply in UK as brochure/website prices for cruises in 2020/21 in the UK are very high and for that reason many wait until closer to the date of cruise before booking when prices are reduced. My next cruise is British Isles in August and only booked it 1-2 months ago and paid even then £1100 for a 12nt cruise in inside cabin without flights or any offers. Initially when that cruise went on sale in UK for the same cabin Princess were advertising it at over £2000. Then on top of this they expect us to pay over $400 in gratuities.

Edited May 1, 2019 by majortom10

[chamima]

7 hours ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

 

Make the cruise “resort fee/gratuities” non-negotiable, mandatory, and included in the advertised cruise fare.  Non-removable.  Fixed amount.  For everyone.  Make it fair for all.   Does away with those kind of PAXs who remove  grats.

And, of course,  extra tipping is still optional,  at one’s  discretion.

That way customers can decide if that cruise lines fare is within their budget.  Or find another cruise that is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone that advocates for this make it sound so simple but I remember a couple of years ago that either Princess or Celebrity (we sail both so I'm not sure who did this) made gratuities mandatory for people who ate in Anytime dining. The thought process was that those who had the same waiter would establish a relationship and thus want to tip but they didn't want the waiters who served different people every night to suffer any consequences.

People threw a hissy fit and the cruiseline had to rescind that policy.

[kywildcatfanone]

58 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

So it doesnt matter that you are paying over $400 (£340 approx) in gratuities and you dont get good service cannot understand the logic in that whatsoever in anybodies mind the whole idea of tip/gratuity is a reward for good service.

I've been on 20 cruises with Princess, on only one cruise have I remotely thought I had poor service, and then only from the DR staff, not my room steward. 

I agree with what someone else posted about now NCL does it, make them mandatory, and if you have enough evidence and are willing to take the time to make notes, capture names, and write a letter to the cruise line after the cruise, then either you have plenty of free time on your hands, or you have a legitimate complaint against the staff and deserve to have your money refunded.

 

Edit:  And I think the reason the DR service was poor, wasn't really because of the servers, but more of they had too many tables to take care of, another issue I have with Princess and why I don't dine in the DR anymore.  We grew tired of 2 hour dinners.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by kywildcatfanone

[teese]

10 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

Everyone that advocates for this make it sound so simple but I remember a couple of years ago that either Princess or Celebrity (we sail both so I'm not sure who did this) made gratuities mandatory for people who ate in Anytime dining. The thought process was that those who had the same waiter would establish a relationship and thus want to tip but they didn't want the waiters who served different people every night to suffer any consequences.

People threw a hissy fit and the cruiseline had to rescind that policy.

We sailed on Royal back when the kids were tweens and teens and I remember the requirement to prepay gratuities with ATD.  We weren’t frequent cruises then and I don’t remember the curfuffle. 

 

I do remember having a wonderful time on all three of the cruises with royal though. 

[theronald]

We are sailing in Nov.and have a onboard credit of $500 but if I go to prepay gratuities my only choices are credit card.Shouldn't we be able to pay for our gratuities off of our $500 onboard credit ?

Thanks 

[jasbo49]

15 minutes ago, theronald said:

We are sailing in Nov.and have a onboard credit of $500 but if I go to prepay gratuities my only choices are credit card.Shouldn't we be able to pay for our gratuities off of our $500 onboard credit ?

Thanks 

I fully agree with this. I'll bet a lot more people would pre-pay grats if they could apply onboard credit. Just like you do with excursions.

 

Jim

[xDisconnections]

4 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Cannot speak about what lead in prices are available in the US but it certainly doesnt apply in UK as brochure/website prices for cruises in 2020/21 in the UK are very high and for that reason many wait until closer to the date of cruise before booking when prices are reduced. My next cruise is British Isles in August and only booked it 1-2 months ago and paid even then £1100 for a 12nt cruise in inside cabin without flights or any offers. Initially when that cruise went on sale in UK for the same cabin Princess were advertising it at over £2000. Then on top of this they expect us to pay over $400 in gratuities.

It doesn’t apply and yet you choose not to reserve because the price is high? Sounds  like it does apply.

[xDisconnections]

6 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Yet Princess were one of the first to do it in Australia and grew quicker than those followed Suit years later

They were also one of the first to include the taxes/fees in the displayed price prior to cabin selection and clearly that didn’t work out.

[xDisconnections]

4 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

Everyone that advocates for this make it sound so simple but I remember a couple of years ago that either Princess or Celebrity (we sail both so I'm not sure who did this) made gratuities mandatory for people who ate in Anytime dining. The thought process was that those who had the same waiter would establish a relationship and thus want to tip but they didn't want the waiters who served different people every night to suffer any consequences.

People threw a hissy fit and the cruiseline had to rescind that policy.

Royal Caribbean did that for a period of time... another experiment that didn’t work out.

Edited May 1, 2019 by xDisconnections

[majortom10]

29 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

It doesn’t apply and yet you choose not to reserve because the price is high? Sounds  like it does apply.

Sorry but your comment doesnt make sense. In the UK if we book at high price we have to pay that price we cannot re-fare like you can in America and if we cancel we lose deposit as its non refundable in UK. So for that reason it is nevber worth booking Princess cruises early because prices are always so high.

Edited May 1, 2019 by majortom10

[xDisconnections]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry but your comment doesnt make sense. In the UK if we book at high price we have to pay that price we cannot re-fare like you can in America and if we cancel we lose deposit as its non refundable in UK. So for that reason it is nevber worth booking Princess cruises early because prices are always so high.

The principle remains the same... a higher upfront cost will make you look elsewhere.

Edited May 1, 2019 by xDisconnections

[Thrak]

Much ado about something that won't change. Princess has made the decision and implemented the new policy. It won't change. If it's too much to handle then change cruise lines or stop cruising. All this angst does no good for anybody and will have absolutely no effect on how Princess does business. Life is too short to waste it on things of this nature.

[majortom10]

11 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Much ado about something that won't change. Princess has made the decision and implemented the new policy. It won't change. If it's too much to handle then change cruise lines or stop cruising. All this angst does no good for anybody and will have absolutely no effect on how Princess does business. Life is too short to waste it on things of this nature.

Or remove gratuities at reception and then perhaps higher management at Princess and Carnival will get the message. What does the boss of Carnival plc get paid bet he doesnt have to rely on tips because he gets paid crap pay.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by majortom10

[Aus Traveller]

14 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Over $1 million a month and they expect me to pay extortionate gratuity charges to boost poorly paid staff. It is Carnival's job to pay staff a decent wage not mine they are obviously making enough profit to afford it.

 

I come from a country where tipping is not common so I can relate to your comments. However, I think we have to look at the business model used in the cruise industry, not just Princess. Except on Australian-based cruises and on luxury lines, the cost of the fare is kept artificially low by having a major part of the remuneration for some staff, paid as an extra in the form of gratuities. I feel that the term 'gratuity' or 'tip' give the wrong impression. This payment is not for good service, it is the major part of the guaranteed remuneration for some staff. As such, it should be factored in when considering the initial cost of the cruise, just as port fees and taxes are.

[xDisconnections]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

 This payment is not for good service, it is the major part of the guaranteed remuneration for some staff. As such, it should be factored in when considering the initial cost of the cruise, just as port fees and taxes are.

But these are not fully guaranteed in their contract. How can their employer guarantee this monetary amount to them if it is solely dependent upon the actions of others with multiple factors that can determine its outcome? The only way they can would be if Princess is reimbursing the employee each time it is removed which isn’t the likely resolution by the cruise line.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, xDisconnections said:

But these are not fully guaranteed in their contract. How can their employer guarantee this monetary amount to them if it is solely dependent upon the actions of others with multiple factors that can determine its outcome? The only way they can would be if Princess is reimbursing the employee each time it is removed which isn’t the likely resolution by the cruise line.

The stewards' pay for a particular week or two is not determined by how many tips are paid on that cruise. That would be an accounting nightmare.

 

The tips go into a pool and Princess has stated that the pool is "fleet-wide". The staff contract stipulates working hours and also "guaranteed remuneration". The stewards (dining room and stateroom stewards) are part of the tips pool. In addition to other benefits (free medical, transport to the ship, uniforms) they receive a fairly nominal salary from Princess plus a sizeable amount from the tips pool to bring them up to their guaranteed remuneration. 

[xDisconnections]

2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

The stewards' pay for a particular week or two is not determined by how many tips are paid on that cruise. That would be an accounting nightmare.

 

The tips go into a pool and Princess has stated that the pool is "fleet-wide". The staff contract stipulates working hours and also "guaranteed remuneration". The stewards (dining room and stateroom stewards) are part of the tips pool. In addition to other benefits (free medical, transport to the ship, uniforms) they receive a fairly nominal salary from Princess plus a sizeable amount from the tips pool to bring them up to their guaranteed remuneration. 

The salary is the only thing they are guaranteed.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, xDisconnections said:

The salary is the only thing they are guaranteed.

No. They are guaranteed accommodation and food, medical care and transport to and from the ship. There is also a limit on the number of hours they have to work. Princess looks after their staff very well.

[xDisconnections]

Just now, Aus Traveller said:

No. They are guaranteed accommodation and food, medical care and transport to and from the ship. There is also a limit on the number of hours they have to work. Princess looks after their staff very well.

Those are employee benefits per the contract... simply put, the only monetary compensation they are guaranteed is the salary.

[elliair]

12 minutes ago, Kingofcool1947 said:

So, in your case,  do you leave auto gratuities  on?   Adjust down?   Or, do you pull them?    

 

I don't think it's any of your business how, when or why I tip.  I would never ask anyone this question.

[Kingofcool1947]

On 4/28/2019 at 8:07 AM, majortom10 said:

It isnt just a $7pp increase though it makes it a total of $203 for a cple on 7nt cruise and in my eyes at equivalent of £160 approx it is too high especially has they have increased 3% on every drink you purchase.

 

That is a lot of gratuities for just a 7 night cruise.  Imagine  with two adults and a couple of kids!  

Ka ching, ka ching!  ££££!

Edited May 2, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[majortom10]

11 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I come from a country where tipping is not common so I can relate to your comments. However, I think we have to look at the business model used in the cruise industry, not just Princess. Except on Australian-based cruises and on luxury lines, the cost of the fare is kept artificially low by having a major part of the remuneration for some staff, paid as an extra in the form of gratuities. I feel that the term 'gratuity' or 'tip' give the wrong impression. This payment is not for good service, it is the major part of the guaranteed remuneration for some staff. As such, it should be factored in when considering the initial cost of the cruise, just as port fees and taxes are.

Not anymore from the beginning of May all P&O UK cruises have fares with gratuities included in the price, pity a few others cannot go down that road.

Edited May 2, 2019 by majortom10

[majortom10]

9 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The stewards' pay for a particular week or two is not determined by how many tips are paid on that cruise. That would be an accounting nightmare.

 

The tips go into a pool and Princess has stated that the pool is "fleet-wide". The staff contract stipulates working hours and also "guaranteed remuneration". The stewards (dining room and stateroom stewards) are part of the tips pool. In addition to other benefits (free medical, transport to the ship, uniforms) they receive a fairly nominal salary from Princess plus a sizeable amount from the tips pool to bring them up to their guaranteed remuneration. 

If the "guaranteed renumeration" is not met then the shortfall is made up as per contract by Princess that is why it is in their interest to get as many people paying as much tips/gratuities as possible so they dont have to make up the possible shortfall and boost their profits.