Cruises in Americas - Tips if purchased in Australia

[geoff2802]

Returning to Princess after a long hiatus...  

Planning a cruise in South America on Sapphire Princess.  My question is whether tips are included in fares on a cruise such as this outside Australia, if purchased in Australia on the Australian cruise contract.  I'm guessing they are not included, but wanted to check.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, geoff2802 said:

Returning to Princess after a long hiatus...  

Planning a cruise in South America on Sapphire Princess.  My question is whether tips are included in fares on a cruise such as this outside Australia, if purchased in Australia on the Australian cruise contract.  I'm guessing they are not included, but wanted to check.  

They aren't included.

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

Returning to Princess after a long hiatus...  

Planning a cruise in South America on Sapphire Princess.  My question is whether tips are included in fares on a cruise such as this outside Australia, if purchased in Australia on the Australian cruise contract.  I'm guessing they are not included, but wanted to check.  

Definitely tips at not included.

[geoff2802]

Thank you both for confirming.  

Makes the Australian pricing look pretty rude even with taking into account 3 for Free.  

Aussie tax! 

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

Thank you both for confirming.  

Makes the Australian pricing look pretty rude even with taking into account 3 for Free.  

Aussie tax! 

Aussie tax?

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

Thank you both for confirming.  

Makes the Australian pricing look pretty rude even with taking into account 3 for Free.  

Aussie tax! 

I don't think it's Aussie tax, they charge what they think the market will bear. The newly released cruises, which will probably be almost all Australian and NZ passengers, were much cheaper than peak season cruises which attract a lot of overseas passengers.

[geoff2802]

6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Aussie tax?

The term commonly used to explain why most things are more expensive here than in other countries, most notably the US.  

[arxcards]

Australian domestic cruises used to incur GST. I believe that is still the case.

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

The term commonly used to explain why most things are more expensive here than in other countries, most notably the US.  

I would say that often the reason things are more expensive in Australia, is the high wages. BTW, I am not saying people should be paid less.

[geoff2802]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I don't think it's Aussie tax, they charge what they think the market will bear. The newly released cruises, which will probably be almost all Australian and NZ passengers, were much cheaper than peak season cruises which attract a lot of overseas passengers.

Of course they will maximise profit, that is to be expected.  And if course we Aussies willingly accept it and we pay more for most things on most occasions.  
The newly released cruises were well priced and I was happy to grab a cabin on one.  Looking forward to it.  

[geoff2802]

6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I would say that often the reason things are more expensive in Australia, is the high wages. BTW, I am not saying people should be paid less.

That is true where staff are under Aussie conditions and there is a big labour component.  I support our working conditions too.  
But on a foreign flagged ship the crew aren’t paid any more when in Australian waters.  
Some of the differences between USD pricing and AUD pricing are pretty huge (adjusting for exchange rates).  
Anyway, end of rant.  You cant take it with you.  

[Aus Traveller]

44 minutes ago, geoff2802 said:

That is true where staff are under Aussie conditions and there is a big labour component.  I support our working conditions too.  
But on a foreign flagged ship the crew aren’t paid any more when in Australian waters.  
Some of the differences between USD pricing and AUD pricing are pretty huge (adjusting for exchange rates).  
Anyway, end of rant.  You cant take it with you.  

The lower prices on US cruise might because of the high level of competition in that market.

 

I have noticed that cruises out of the US are usually priced without fees and taxes. These charges add considerably. Then there are the gratuities ....

Edited April 5, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[Balsam12]

Just to be clear.... from the Princess website, if you purchase from Australia for an Australia or NZ cruise, tips ARE included. For cruises in other regions, you will still need to pay them.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Balsam12

[Balsam12]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The lower prices on US cruise might because of the high level of competition in that market.

 

I have noticed that cruises out of the US are usually priced without fees and taxes. These charges add considerably. Then there are the gratuities ....

US pricing is just plain silly.... you really have no idea of the actual cost until you look at your credit card statement.

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

US pricing is just plain silly.... you really have no idea of the actual cost until you look at your credit card statement.

 

So true. Sometimes you don't even get the taxes till you're literally one button away from paying 🙄. 

[Sparky74]

8 hours ago, Balsam12 said:

US pricing is just plain silly.... you really have no idea of the actual cost until you look at your credit card statement.

 

5 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

So true. Sometimes you don't even get the taxes till you're literally one button away from paying 🙄. 

When we did our trip to Hawaii I quickly learnt that even prices in shops didn’t include taxes. It was added at the register.

 

I know that I’m biased but I much prefer the Australian system where the customer knows the total price from the get go. 
 

I recently booked a transpacific cruise with Carnival. Although the fare included taxes and port fees, it didn’t include gratuities. This surprised me as I was paying in Australian Dollars. As this cruise sails from Seattle we are considering an Alaskan cruise (probably with Princess) beforehand. I'll be aware of taxes and gratuities when considering the prices. 

[Ozwoody]

22 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

I recently booked a transpacific cruise with Carnival. Although the fare included taxes and port fees, it didn’t include gratuities. This surprised me as I was paying in Australian Dollars. As this cruise sails from Seattle we are considering an Alaskan cruise (probably with Princess) beforehand. I'll be aware of taxes and gratuities when considering the prices. 

I have only been on two cruises where gratuities were charged, on the first one a traveller told me you can go to the service desk, and tell them your Australian and wish to reduce the gratuities, as you wish to tip people personally.

In both cases I was able to have the daily charge dropped by 50%.

And then gave the staff I dealt with tip directly.

DO note: the tips in these cases are their real wages, so don't be mean.🙂

[Sparky74]

21 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

I have only been on two cruises where gratuities were charged, on the first one a traveller told me you can go to the service desk, and tell them your Australian and wish to reduce the gratuities, as you wish to tip people personally.

In both cases I was able to have the daily charge dropped by 50%.

And then gave the staff I dealt with tip directly.

DO note: the tips in these cases are their real wages, so don't be mean.🙂

I understand that gratuities are part of the crew’s wages and I consider them part of the cruise fare. When DW and I started cruising there was an option to prepay them and we always took this option. Then things changed and for Australian cruises the gratuities were built into the fare, a much better idea IMHO. 

 

Now that we are considering some “foreign” cruises I just need to be aware and to factor it into our budget. I’ll still

prepay them if that’s an option. I was caught unawares when booking our transpacific cruise on Carnival as I was thinking of it as an Australian cruise which it isn’t despite the fact that we disembark in Sydney. 😁

[NSWP]

Gratuities are really a wage subsidy, the cruise line does not want to pay all the crew wage from their coffers.

 

The real reason why gratuities are included in cruise fare for Australian pax for ships operating in this region is because many Aussies and probably Kiwis removed or reduced the gratuity by joining the conga line at the Purer Desk.  Now you cannot take them off, inbuilt in fare.😁

Edited April 5, 2022 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Gratuities are really a wage subsidy, the cruise line does not want to pay all the crew wage from their coffers.

 

The real reason why gratuities are included in cruise fare for Australian pax for ships operating in this region is because many Aussies and probably Kiwis removed or reduced the gratuity by joining the conga line at the Purer Desk.  Now you cannot take them off, inbuilt in fare.😁

Agreed.

 

Australian cruises include the gratuities in the pricing, but international pax are still charged the gratuities, even though the money goes into the fleet-wide pool and is not distributed to the staff on board the particular ship. In a few cases I looked at (e.g. around Aust) the price charged to an international pax was even a bit more than Aussies paid, allowing for currency conversion. On top of it, the international pax was slugged daily gratuity. My theory is that the cruise line doesn't want the international pax to see that the sky doesn't fall down (and service doesn't diminish) when tips are not part of the equation.🙂

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

When we did our trip to Hawaii I quickly learnt that even prices in shops didn’t include taxes. It was added at the register.

 

First time that happened to us was in Canada, then we visited USA and found the same system (Mexico some how does the impossible and includes taxes in prices🤪). One of the reasons we loved the food truck, only places where the price is what you see on the menu. 

 

4 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

I know that I’m biased but I much prefer the Australian system where the customer knows the total price from the get go. 

 

The explanation I was always told is in the USA the taxes are levied on the seller but since the sellers seem to be passing the cost to the consumer it still seems illogical not to include it. To be honest the whole sales tax system in USA to me seems overly complicated with different rates in states, counties even sometimes suburbs 😱. 

 

3 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

I have only been on two cruises where gratuities were charged, on the first one a traveller told me you can go to the service desk, and tell them your Australian and wish to reduce the gratuities, as you wish to tip people personally.

In both cases I was able to have the daily charge dropped by 50%.

And then gave the staff I dealt with tip directly.

DO note: the tips in these cases are their real wages, so don't be mean.🙂

 

I have heard it is not uncommon for the crew to pool cash tips anyway so unless you know the ship you are on doesn't have that practice it would make tipping directly kind of pointless🤔.

 

Personally though reducing gratuities I always felt is a bit unfair to the behind the scenes staff; giving them less just because I haven't had a personal interaction with them. The way I see it they they also contribute to making my cruise enjoyable and they are just as needed for the cruise to function. When I have wanted to single out a crew member I use the comments form since I have been told that positive customer comments helps crew with career progression, job retention or even getting an actual raise. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by ilikeanswers

[Aus Traveller]

15 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Personally though reducing gratuities I always felt is a bit unfair to the behind the scenes staff; giving them less just because I haven't had a personal interaction with them. The way I see it they they also contribute to making my cruise enjoyable and they are just as needed for the cruise to function. When I have wanted to single out a crew member I use the comments form since I have been told that positive customer comments helps crew with career progression, job retention or even getting an actual raise. 

Behind-the-scenes staff are not part of the tips pool. For instance on Princess, until fairly recently, only the dining room staff, bar-tenders and cabin stewards were part of the tips pool. Not long before COVID hit, the tips pool was extended to include the Housekeeping Department. Laundry, kitchen, deck-hands etc. are not included. They receive a set amount of remuneration in accordance with their contract. Even those in the tips pool, receive a 'guaranteed' amount, the bulk of which comes from the tips pool and is not reliant on the tips paid on a particular cruise. Tips are paid into a fleet-wide tips pool.

 

When auto-gratuities were removed from Australian-based cruises, it was announced that the staff would be paid at a higher rate, one commensurate with what they would receive in other parts of the world where the tips pool operates. The crew love the system.

[ilikeanswers]

6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Behind-the-scenes staff are not part of the tips pool. For instance on Princess, until fairly recently, only the dining room staff, bar-tenders and cabin stewards were part of the tips pool. Not long before COVID hit, the tips pool was extended to include the Housekeeping Department. Laundry, kitchen, deck-hands etc. are not included. They receive a set amount of remuneration in accordance with their contract. Even those in the tips pool, receive a 'guaranteed' amount, the bulk of which comes from the tips pool and is not reliant on the tips paid on a particular cruise. Tips are paid into a fleet-wide tips pool.

 

When auto-gratuities were removed from Australian-based cruises, it was announced that the staff would be paid at a higher rate, one commensurate with what they would receive in other parts of the world where the tips pool operates. The crew love the system.

 

But is that for all cruise lines? It is just  I have always been told laundry and kitchen staff do get something from the tip pool🤔. 

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

But is that for all cruise lines? It is just  I have always been told laundry and kitchen staff do get something from the tip pool🤔. 

I am not sure about all the cruise lines, but I do not know how it operates on Princess. To me, it is not logical that laundry and kitchen staff would be part of the tips pool. They have no interaction with the passengers and can't influence the payment of tips.

 

I see this business model as a way for the company to have their staff wages supplemented by the passenger. After all, the companies started in the US where everyone is used to paying tips every time they turn around. 😁

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

I have only been on two cruises where gratuities were charged, on the first one a traveller told me you can go to the service desk, and tell them your Australian and wish to reduce the gratuities, as you wish to tip people personally.

In both cases I was able to have the daily charge dropped by 50%.

And then gave the staff I dealt with tip directly.

DO note: the tips in these cases are their real wages, so don't be mean.🙂

All a futile exercise. If you reduce or remove the automatic gratuity, then pay them in cash, they are obliged to hand the cash tips back to the pool. A lot of extra effort for the same result. They only get to keep cash tips when they are paid extra to the automatic ones.