OK we just did our first cruise and here is my lesson learned

[skynight]

23 minutes ago, Gwendy said:

I love Australia .  We are not natural tippers. When we pay for a cruise it is inclusive of gratuities.  No need to decide whether to take them off or leave them.  It’s all sorted.

In Australia the gratuity pool is just part of the fare. With Plus fares you basically have the same situation. There most likely is a financial purpose in the North America market to separate out gratuities into a pool. If not then it is just a carry over and easier replacement from when cash was placed in envelopes and handed out on the last day. 

[caribill]

47 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

A lot has changed. Now they state the entertainment dept is is the tip pool too. 

What is a Crew Appreciation?

The crew appreciation is a daily (adjustable) amount added to your onboard account and pooled in order to recognize the many crew members in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas and entertainment areas throughout our fleet who contribute to the guest experience. The daily amount of the Crew Appreciation is based on stateroom category: $14.50 per guests in Interior, Oceanview and Balcony, $15.50 per guest in Mini-Suite and Club Class, $16.50 per guests in Suites.

 

Interesting changes in that paragraph:

 

"Bar" -- they are supposed to have their own tipping pool from the 18% service charge added to all beverage orders and the Beverage Package.

 

"Onboard Revenue Areas" - Does this mean those working in the Boutiques, photo department, flower department, casino, Sanctuary, etc. are now included? When was the last time anyone gave a gratuity to someone in the jewelry shop on board?

 

Originally the pool only included cabin stewards and food service personnel. With the addition of then other employees to the pool, the amount of money to be distributed to cabin stewards and food personnel appears to be reduced.

[voljeep]

my wife learned a lesson about the auto-tip/gratuity for spa services - she caught it in time, and her additional tip was removed.  Never had that repeated, and never went back to the spa, either - too much talking and 'hard sell of products' for her to enjoy the treatment...

[HaveDogWillTravel]

8 hours ago, devonuk said:

be fair I now prefer the cruise lines that have a ‘no tips’ policy then there’s no issues.

I make no judgement on your choices. Simply giving a point of information.

On these cruise lines you are paying auto grats as part of the fare. On these lines it is mandatory and can not be removed. It is not  listed as a line item but it is in the price automatically.  

[geocruiser]

For me, I love the pre-paid  tips.  Then I can give extra in cash at the end of the cruise to those who did extra for me..

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Well there you go. Thanks for the update. I wonder why then I paid an extra 18% gratuity on each of the 5 bottles of wine I purchased on this cruise? I guess that goes into the crew appreciation bucket as well. That explains also why we haven’t seen a sommelier in the MDR on our current 18 day cruise on the CB. The DR waiters are doing that job to.

 

Would it be possible for you to post the link to where you read that? I can’t seem to find it on the Princess website.

I found what Princess posted on their website which pretty much agrees what was @cruzsnooze and others have posted.

 

https://www.princess.com/html/global/disclaimers/crew-appreciation/

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

I have not seen a sommelier in the DR on a Princess ship going back as far as 2000 and probably even before that. Maybe way back Princess had sommeliers. 

My apologies. Obviously, a bad assumption on my part. We’ve recently been cruising on Celebrity where they do have them in all of their restaurants. 

[Jetstreamer]

2 hours ago, Gwendy said:

I love Australia .  We are not natural tippers. When we pay for a cruise it is inclusive of gratuities.  No need to decide whether to take them off or leave them.  It’s all sorted.

 

The only time I ever removed the gratuity was on a Golden Princess Australia cruise in 2019. It really got my back up that we had gratuities added to our account because we are from the UK, whereas the other 90% of people onboard, being Australian, didn't pay.

 

And before anyone says I paid less for my cruise, I compared prices on the booking day between UK and AU site and AU site was actually a tad cheaper grrr!

[Happiest when cruising]

4 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

That steward must have loved you!! That's a huge tip for a 4-day cruise.

60.00 would have been very close to amount he would have spent,  if he had left the crew appreciation on, depending on his cabin level choice. Of course, the difference is that it isn’t shared with the other crew. 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Happiest when cruising

[GoHuskies!]

Well, if it’s a Brit thing to not tip except for those people who please you, then it’s going to stiff the poor people who have to crawl into the watermaking boilers every few cruises to chip and scrub out the scale—the people in the laundry who work around the clock to clean your soiled sheets—those who you see cleaning, painting and varnishing around the ship—the grease monkeys adjusting, oiling, crawling all over the machinery below deck keeping the engines running, the water flowing, the toilets flushing, —need I go on?  How many more workers can you imagine on the ships?  Some are cleaning the anchor chain as they pull it up.  Some are replacing the many pieces of equipment that you use/abuse.  Princess spreads the gratuities among all of them, as they said, “behind the scenes”.

And I certainly don’t subscribe to the idea that this is a Brit thing—some of my family are Brits and they are generous and thoughtful citizens of the world, possibly not like some Brits to whom I shall not refer.

[MJSailors]

   Just MHO- If you can afford a cruise, you can afford to tip those who make the cruise comfortable for you. 

We have given additional cash tips to our steward, some wait staff and the staff in the Sanctuary if we have enjoyed that area on any Princess ship.

      By the way- there is /was a four day Alaskan cruise offered by Princess ? Did not know such cruises were available. Is this since Covid ?

MJ

[devonuk]

1 hour ago, GoHuskies! said:

Well, if it’s a Brit thing to not tip except for those people who please you, then it’s going to stiff the poor people who have to crawl into the watermaking boilers every few cruises to chip and scrub out the scale—the people in the laundry who work around the clock to clean your soiled sheets—those who you see cleaning, painting and varnishing around the ship—the grease monkeys adjusting, oiling, crawling all over the machinery below deck keeping the engines running, the water flowing, the toilets flushing, —need I go on?  How many more workers can you imagine on the ships?  Some are cleaning the anchor chain as they pull it up.  Some are replacing the many pieces of equipment that you use/abuse.  Princess spreads the gratuities among all of them, as they said, “behind the scenes”.

And I certainly don’t subscribe to the idea that this is a Brit thing—some of my family are Brits and they are generous and thoughtful citizens of the world, possibly not like some Brits to whom I shall not refer.

The difference is I and many others only tip for good service and to whom I want to. If you really think tipping by Brits is a big thing then watch how many tip coach drivers, tour guides etc. on excursions compared to Americans, they certainly won’t be retiring early on the proceeds. 

[JonlLee]

I am wondering if we can get it refunded now that it is after the fact

 

or at least adjusted 🙂

 

I trying to reach their 1800 number and check .

 

this is unbeknownst to me,. it wasn't explained during booking for I may have skipped over it. 

I tend to read all the small print. but may be this one is really small LOL

 

[cruzsnooze]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Well there you go. Thanks for the update. I wonder why then I paid an extra 18% gratuity on each of the 5 bottles of wine I purchased on this cruise? I guess that goes into the crew appreciation bucket as well. That explains also why we haven’t seen a sommelier in the MDR on our current 18 day cruise on the CB. The DR waiters are doing that job to.

 

Would it be possible for you to post the link to where you read that? I can’t seem to find it on the Princess website.

It's in the FAQ's under the far left "booked guests"

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by cruzsnooze

[cruzsnooze]

48 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

   Just MHO- If you can afford a cruise, you can afford to tip those who make the cruise comfortable for you. 

 

MJ

So what I hear you saying is that if I can afford filet mignon I shouldn't order a hamburger?  Value is what I measure , not how much I can afford. Most people don't don't walk into a car dealship and pay the sticker price, they negotiate when possible, that's because smart people don't like getting ripped off.  The gratuity onboard as suggested is a rip off IMHO. The number of people in the pool include some areas I feel are unwarranted like entertainers and revenue staff which would be cruise directors (think Bingo and game shows for a fee like deal or no deal). Everyone is entitled their opinion and free to express it so let's agree to disagree on some issues. 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, GoHuskies! said:

then it’s going to stiff the poor people who have to crawl into the watermaking boilers every few cruises to chip and scrub out the scale—the people in the laundry who work around the clock to clean your soiled sheets—those who you see cleaning, painting and varnishing around the ship—the grease monkeys adjusting, oiling, crawling all over the machinery below deck keeping the engines running, the water flowing, the toilets flushing, —need I go on?  How many more workers can you imagine on the ships?  Some are cleaning the anchor chain as they pull it up.  Some are replacing the many pieces of equipment that you use/abuse.  Princess spreads the gratuities among all of them, as they said, “behind the scenes”.

Sorry, but the auto gratuity pot does not include the majority of those workers you mention. They are paid a salary by Carnival, and get nothing extra.  

[scooter6139]

1 hour ago, MJSailors said:

 

      By the way- there is /was a four day Alaskan cruise offered by Princess ? Did not know such cruises were available. Is this since Covid ?

MJ

 

Part of Discovery's Sampler.  Was a 4 Night/5 Day out of Vancouver -Ketchikan-Seattle.  Basically a repositioning cruise to get it set for the Alaska season.

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, JonlLee said:

I am wondering if we can get it refunded now that it is after the fact

 

or at least adjusted 🙂

 

I trying to reach their 1800 number and check .

 

this is unbeknownst to me,. it wasn't explained during booking for I may have skipped over it. 

I tend to read all the small print. but may be this one is really small LOL

 

 

You probably will not be refunded an adjustment for your generous tip.  Did you check your room account on your Medallion app?  Or stop by the kiosk for a printout?  Or ask Customer Service Desk for a printout? Prior to leaving the ship?  

 

I see that you are new to Cruise Critic.  Welcome.  You will learn lots from the more experienced posters.

[AE_Collector]

4 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

 

Part of Discovery's Sampler.  Was a 4 Night/5 Day out of Vancouver -Ketchikan-Seattle.  Basically a repositioning cruise to get it set for the Alaska season.

Nothing new. We did a Vancouver Ketchikan Seattle 4 day on Princess in 2009. The PVSA requires a ship going from say LA to Seattle to do summer Alaska cruises must also go to a foreign country. So they do a LA to Vancouver and then they do a Vancouver to Seattle. But they also generally want to do 7 day cruises that start/end on a weekend thus they may do a 3, 4, 5 or 6 day cruise to get into that routine.

[AE_Collector]

8 hours ago, Happiest when cruising said:

60.00 would have been very close to amount he would have spent,  if he had left the crew appreciation on, depending on his cabin level choice. Of course, the difference is that it isn’t shared with the other crew. 

Except presumably there were two people at $14.50 a day so $120 total versus the $60 cash left. 

[Happiest when cruising]

8 minutes ago, AE_Collector said:

Except presumably there were two people at $14.50 a day so $120 total versus the $60 cash left. 

Aha! Smart thinking. 

[capriccio]

13 hours ago, skynight said:

I have not seen a sommelier in the DR on a Princess ship going back as far as 2000 and probably even before that. Maybe way back Princess had sommeliers. 

Princess had sommeliers when we started cruising with them in 2007 but by 2010 (or so) they were gone.

[AE_Collector]

37 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Princess had sommeliers when we started cruising with them in 2007 but by 2010 (or so) they were gone.

That’s about what I thought as well. We started in 2006 and they were around for our first couple of years, maybe until 2010.

[suzyed]

22 hours ago, devonuk said:

I don’t actually need to do anything. As I said this maybe a cultural thing re tipping. On my last trip on the Sky I had a long conversation with my cabin steward about tips and following this I will do what I see fit to do. I will not under any circumstances ‘pay’ for poor service blindly. It is not a mandatory charge and to be fair I now prefer the cruise lines that have a ‘no tips’ policy then there’s no issues. The standard of waiting, bar, customer service etc. on the Sky was woeful at times. My cabin steward was great, he got a very good tip and I’m satisfied with that. Whether he shares this or not is his/her issue. 

Which cruise lines have "no tips" policy?  

[suzyed]

14 hours ago, voljeep said:

my wife learned a lesson about the auto-tip/gratuity for spa services - she caught it in time, and her additional tip was removed.  Never had that repeated, and never went back to the spa, either - too much talking and 'hard sell of products' for her to enjoy the treatment...

I agree!