Change In PBP?

[chamima]

Someone just posted on another thread that on the Royal in April they had changed the PBP so that if you ordered a drink over the $12 limit you only paid the difference between that drink and $12 - not the WHOLE price of the drink as you have had to do in the past.

We are wine drinkers and have looked at some nicer glasses of wine but feel it's a waste to order them when we have the package.

I'd be thrilled with this change.

 

Anyone else heard of this?

[chamima]

7 hours ago, ExploringTheGlobe said:

I was on the Royal in April.  The bartenders told me they changed the policy for drinks over the $12 so you can now just pay the difference.  Say a drink was $15 it would cost one of your 15 daily drinks + $3.  I did not test it out nor do I know if other ships are following suit. 

 

[fishywood]

Don't believe it until you see it in writing. Sounds a lot more like bartenders schmoozing for tips than an actual policy update.

[Astro Flyer]

I know that the Princess website can be slow making changes but currently here’s their stated policy that exceeding the $12 limited results in paying full price.

 

“Items selected that exceed the $12.00 USD or $16 .00 AUD price are charged at full menu price”.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[SeaLaRae]

16 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

We were on the Emerald Princess in May and they had the new policy of “paying the difference” in place.  It was nice to try the higher priced wines.

[chamima]

7 minutes ago, fishywood said:

Don't believe it until you see it in writing. Sounds a lot more like bartenders schmoozing for tips than an actual policy update.

 

But how would the bartender justify a $3 charge to his/her supervisor?

If they were just schmoozing for tips they would have given the passenger that higher priced drink for free.

[chamima]

1 minute ago, SeaLaRae said:

We were on the Emerald Princess in May and they had the new policy of “paying the difference” in place.  It was nice to try the higher priced wines.

 

 

We're on the Emerald for 28 days next February .

This is wonderful news!!!!!

Thank you!

[cruiserdru]

We can only hope that the difference pricing approach will be the new rule. I sure would be happy if that were the case.

 

Not sure that reports from two ships is enough to say this is a sure thing.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sheesh!  For the $$$ they already charge ALL drinks regardless of price should be included!

[fishywood]

11 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

But how would the bartender justify a $3 charge to his/her supervisor?

If they were just schmoozing for tips they would have given the passenger that higher priced drink for free.

 

Ring up any drink (not the actual one ordered) priced at $12. Key in the difference as an extra gratuity.

There are regular crew competitions between two ships of the same class for items such as "highest net amount of extra tips written onto bar chits". So this could have been the supervisor's doing in the first place.

[chamima]

5 minutes ago, fishywood said:

 

Ring up any drink (not the actual one ordered) priced at $12. Key in the difference as an extra gratuity.

There are regular crew competitions between two ships of the same class for items such as "highest net amount of extra tips written onto bar chits". So this could have been the supervisor's doing in the first place.

 

 

And how would they justify the 18% gratuity on that "gratuity"?

(On Celebrity, where the "pay the extra" is policy you pay the  extra plus the 18% gratuity - I'm sure Princess is doing the same.)

[fishywood]

1 minute ago, chamima said:

And how would they justify the 18% gratuity on that "gratuity"?

(On Celebrity, where the "pay the extra" is policy you pay the  extra plus the 18% gratuity - I'm sure Princess is doing the same.)

Have you never written in an extra tip on a bar chit?

It is done so after the gratuity on the drink cost is calculated. You aren't charged a further percentage on it.

 

The slip will read that the passenger purchased a drink priced at $12. The auto service charge will be $2.16. The $3 (or whatever the menu difference is) would be fraudulently added to the gratuity, not to the cost of the drink. I guarantee you every bar server knows how to do this within hours of beginning their first contract. And supervisors treat it with a wink because it makes them look good.

 

[lx200gps]

On the Royal in May, this new "...pay only the difference..." policy was absolutely in effect. We took advantage of it a few times, at a number of bars and Specialty restaurants. The small $2 or $3 difference charges showed up on our statement account with no issues. GREAT new policy for those of us who usually travel with the PBP

[Astro Flyer]

36 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

On the Royal in May, this new "...pay only the difference..." policy was absolutely in effect. We took advantage of it a few times, at a number of bars and Specialty restaurants. The small $2 or $3 difference charges showed up on our statement account with no issues. GREAT new policy for those of us who usually travel with the PBP

To me that’s the best policy just like the wine package where we only pay the amount exceeding the $45 maximum.

 

Hopefully the experiences on the Royal & Emerald will go fleetwide.

[skynight]

Maybe it's a test.

[pms4104]

54 minutes ago, skynight said:

Maybe it's a test.

Like the Ruby trial charging $ for faster boarding?

Edited June 20, 2019 by pms4104

[LoriPhil]

I was spoiled by only Celebrity cruise which included their beverage package where you paid the excess over package price for a higher-priced drink vs total beverage price (a very nice way to sample new single malt scotches!), so I'm hopeful to see this practice carried over to Princess for our SNS special in 2020.  Fingers crossed! 

[beg3yrs]

We experienced the same on the Sapphire Princess in March and April. Only paid the difference for drinks over $12.

[Host CJSKIDS]

One bartender was doing that in Vines on the Caribbean Princess in May. It showed up as another $3 plus the tip charge.  We asked about it at other bars and we were told absolutely not.

[SDWalt]

Just was on the CB for 2 weeks.  They charged the entire price for wine over $12.  You'd also be hard pressed to find a Merlot or Pino Noir on the wine list that was less than $12.  Translate, there were no red wines by the glass that you could buy that were included in the PBP.  All were more than the $12 limit when gratuity was included.  I just gave up and paid the piper.

 

Probably a better choice would be pay the corkage fee and bring all your own wine on board.  Cheaper than paying $12+ for a glass.

 

Walt

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, SDWalt said:

Just was on the CB for 2 weeks.  They charged the entire price for wine over $12.  You'd also be hard pressed to find a Merlot or Pino Noir on the wine list that was less than $12.  Translate, there were no red wines by the glass that you could buy that were included in the PBP.  All were more than the $12 limit when gratuity was included.  I just gave up and paid the piper.

 

Probably a better choice would be pay the corkage fee and bring all your own wine on board.  Cheaper than paying $12+ for a glass.

 

Walt

BYOW is also cheaper than buying bottles on board.

[NoWhiners]

41 minutes ago, SDWalt said:

Just was on the CB for 2 weeks.  They charged the entire price for wine over $12.  You'd also be hard pressed to find a Merlot or Pino Noir on the wine list that was less than $12.  Translate, there were no red wines by the glass that you could buy that were included in the PBP.  All were more than the $12 limit when gratuity was included.  I just gave up and paid the piper.

 

Probably a better choice would be pay the corkage fee and bring all your own wine on board.  Cheaper than paying $12+ for a glass.

 

Walt

 

OMG, seriously--no merlot on the PBP? We will be on CB in February and merlot is my go to wine. And I won't be happy if I have to pay for a glass of wine, when I already have the PBP.

 

Do you think they ran out of lower cost merlots? It doesn't make sense to not have any that are covered by the PBP. Merlots are everywhere, across the cost spectrum.

 

We will be bringing our own but that is for evenings on the balcony 

[Astro Flyer]

Here’s a link to the new Princess wine list...I counted 23 types of wine by the glass with 2 over $12 but this is the only Merlot listed by the glass ($12):  Decoy Merlot, 2015

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/Wine-Menu.pdf

[caribill]

3 hours ago, SDWalt said:

Just was on the CB for 2 weeks.  They charged the entire price for wine over $12.  You'd also be hard pressed to find a Merlot or Pino Noir on the wine list that was less than $12.  Translate, there were no red wines by the glass that you could buy that were included in the PBP.  All were more than the $12 limit when gratuity was included.  I just gave up and paid the piper.

 

Probably a better choice would be pay the corkage fee and bring all your own wine on board.  Cheaper than paying $12+ for a glass.

 

Walt

The $12 limit is the price not including the gratuity.

[happy cruzer]

Footbolt and Ancient Peaks would be good choices for a nice Red by the glass.