crew appreciation gratuities and princess plus

[SwapSeasons]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:34 PM, rickays said:

We have just returned from doing a US cruise that we booked in Australia.  After checking with customer service onboard, we were informed that the plus fare includes crew appreciation.  The reason this doesnt show up when booking in Australia is  because there is no computer code as Australians have it included automatically.  Was told to for future overseas cruises with plus fare just go to service desk and they can enter code.

Thanks @rickays this is fantastic.

Has anyone else been successful asking service desk onboard to enter a code to fix this ie Australians paying Princess Plus fare to also have gratuities included? 

Edited May 5, 2023 by SwapSeasons

[trinitygirl]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:34 PM, rickays said:

We have just returned from doing a US cruise that we booked in Australia.  After checking with customer service onboard, we were informed that the plus fare includes crew appreciation.  The reason this doesnt show up when booking in Australia is  because there is no computer code as Australians have it included automatically.  Was told to for future overseas cruises with plus fare just go to service desk and they can enter code.

Wow, that is so interesting.  I have prepaid my gratuities because I was told they were not included in my plus fare.  Does anyone know if this means that if the service desk enters the code, the money I have prepaid will sit on my cruise account as OBC I can spend on other things like the spa?

[trinitygirl]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:48 PM, Lizabu said:

It looks like your gratuities are not included. I booked princess plus too and this is what that screen looks like under my account:

 

I just had a look at my summary and it is different than that.  It shows as follows:  

 

 

SPECIAL SERVICES

SERVICE	QUANTITY	PRICE	TOTAL	PASSENGER
Food Allergy*	1	$0.00	$0.00
Vegetarian Diet	1	$0.00	$0.00
MedallionNet 1-device WiFi	1	$283.29	$283.29
Plus Beverage Package	1	$1,941.66	$1,941.66
Prepaid Crew Appreciation	1	$439.43	$439.43

[rickays]

28 minutes ago, trinitygirl said:

I just had a look at my summary and it is different than that.  It shows as follows:  

 

 

SPECIAL SERVICES

SERVICE	QUANTITY	PRICE	TOTAL	PASSENGER
Food Allergy*	1	$0.00	$0.00
Vegetarian Diet	1	$0.00	$0.00
MedallionNet 1-device WiFi	1	$283.29	$283.29
Plus Beverage Package	1	$1,941.66	$1,941.66
Prepaid Crew Appreciation	1	$439.43	$439.43

Have just finished another cruise in USA with plus fare and this time crew appreciation was applied automatically (it wasn’t charged to onboard account) so maybe they now have the computer program sorted.  It never showed as prepaid like above maybe because you prepaid extra?

[donaldsc]

On 10/12/2022 at 8:26 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

How would you suggest Princess hire and train enough people.  At home grocery shelves are half empty because of no stockers.  Since it takes a year to really get completely knowledgeable how does Princess or any other employer do that today?

 

You get and set up a personal relationship w a GOOD and KNOWLEDGEABLE travel agent and let them worry about then details.  When you book your cruise do not TA shop to save a few bucks because you need that good TA when issues arise as they will inevitably do.

 

DON

[Lizabu]

2 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

I just had a look at my summary and it is different than that.  It shows as follows:  

 

 

SPECIAL SERVICES

SERVICE	QUANTITY	PRICE	TOTAL	PASSENGER
Food Allergy*	1	$0.00	$0.00
Vegetarian Diet	1	$0.00	$0.00
MedallionNet 1-device WiFi	1	$283.29	$283.29
Plus Beverage Package	1	$1,941.66	$1,941.66
Prepaid Crew Appreciation	1	$439.43	$439.43

They changed how it looks in February 

[SwapSeasons]

6 hours ago, rickays said:

Have just finished another cruise in USA with plus fare and this time crew appreciation was applied automatically (it wasn’t charged to onboard account) so maybe they now have the computer program sorted.  It never showed as prepaid like above maybe because you prepaid extra?

Excellent. Hopefully Princess will now fix the bookings in our online accounts, so that cruisers from Australia (going to USA) don’t still see the option to pre-pay gratuities when they’ve paid the Princess Plus fare. It feels like a trick to pay even more than we need to.

[Taykee1]

Just now, SwapSeasons said:

Excellent. Hopefully Princess will now fix the bookings in our online accounts, so that cruisers from Australia (going to USA) don’t still see the option to pre-pay gratuities when they’ve paid the Princess Plus fare. It feels like a trick to pay even more than we need to.

Sorry I’m confused, I actually paid for the crew appreciation on top of the plus package. Do I go to service desk when I board and ask for refund. 

[SwapSeasons]

8 minutes ago, Taykee1 said:

Sorry I’m confused, I actually paid for the crew appreciation on top of the plus package. Do I go to service desk when I board and ask for refund. 

Based on what we’ve learned from Rickays, my suggestion to you @Taykee1 is, if your cruise hasn’t yet started, call Princess and get a refund of your pre-paid gratuities, before you leave Australia. Personally, I wouldn’t give an explanation, just say you’ve changed your mind about pre-paying.

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by SwapSeasons

[rickays]

24 minutes ago, SwapSeasons said:

Excellent. Hopefully Princess will now fix the bookings in our online accounts, so that cruisers from Australia (going to USA) don’t still see the option to pre-pay gratuities when they’ve paid the Princess Plus fare. It feels like a trick to pay even more than we need to.

I still see the option to pre pay crew appreciation even on an Australian cruise when it’s already included in fare

Edited May 5, 2023 by rickays

[SwapSeasons]

12 minutes ago, rickays said:

I still see the option to pre pay crew appreciation even on an Australian cruise 

Is this with Princess Cruises? 
I have 3 Princess cruises booked. The first is Australia ports only, the 2nd is Australia/NZ, and the 3rd is USA. Only the USA cruise has an option to pre-pay gratuities.

[Jakdgr]

We are on a Mediterranean cruise in September - my package was changed over to Princess Plus by Princess and I also get the pre-pay gratuities button. We always prepay on past cruises but I  haven’t selected it yet due to mix messaging I’m seeing in CC - Rickays, thanks for your comments here.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Jakdgr

[trinitygirl]

1 hour ago, SwapSeasons said:

Excellent. Hopefully Princess will now fix the bookings in our online accounts, so that cruisers from Australia (going to USA) don’t still see the option to pre-pay gratuities when they’ve paid the Princess Plus fare. It feels like a trick to pay even more than we need to.

that's the thing.  I HAVE paid extra - it was showing there as owing so I paid it.  And now I think I am going to ring and see if they can convert it to OBC so I can spend it on treats instead....

 

[trinitygirl]

37 minutes ago, SwapSeasons said:

Is this with Princess Cruises? 
I have 3 Princess cruises booked. The first is Australia ports only, the 2nd is Australia/NZ, and the 3rd is USA. Only the USA cruise has an option to pre-pay gratuities.

That is because in Australia and NZ (any cruises where the onboard charges are charged in Australian dollars), gratuities are included in the cruise fare - it has nothing to do with Princess Plus or not, they just include gratuities/crew appreciation in the overall cost, because the whole concept of tipping is not really part of our culture and it causes stress.  Celebrity does the same thing for the same reason.  They don't mention it - they just don't mention gratuities at all in this market.  But that has caused the issue we are talking about here - where we have booked overseas cruises in Australia or NZ, it seems the system does not know how to include gratuities.

 

[SwapSeasons]

2 minutes ago, trinitygirl said:

That is because in Australia and NZ (any cruises where the onboard charges are charged in Australian dollars), gratuities are included in the cruise fare - it has nothing to do with Princess Plus or not, they just include gratuities/crew appreciation in the overall cost, because the whole concept of tipping is not really part of our culture and it causes stress.  Celebrity does the same thing for the same reason.  They don't mention it - they just don't mention gratuities at all in this market.  But that has caused the issue we are talking about here - where we have booked overseas cruises in Australia or NZ, it seems the system does not know how to include gratuities.

Thanks @trinitygirl, yes, I understand all of this. My response was to Rickays who said they still see the option to pre-pay gratuities even on an Australian cruise. I wanted them to know that I don’t see this option for my Australian cruises booked with Princess. 

[trinitygirl]

So I called Princess to find out what the official story was and according to the operator I spoke to, nothing has changed. Australians who book international cruises in US dollars with the Plus package, have to pay gratuities separately.   So I am going to leave my pre-paid gratuities as they are, and find out what story is when I board the Enchanted in August.    I have added a note to my itinerary so I don't forget to query this with the service desk onboard.  Even though they are pre-paid, the operator reminded me that I can always ask for the funds to be converted to OBC once onboard. 

[SwapSeasons]

@trinitygirl have a fabulous cruise in August. Afterwards, would you mind letting us know how you went regarding this issue please?

[trinitygirl]

4 hours ago, SwapSeasons said:

@trinitygirl have a fabulous cruise in August. Afterwards, would you mind letting us know how you went regarding this issue please?

I have added this to my itinerary too!

[caribill]

6 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

So I called Princess to find out what the official story was and according to the operator I spoke to, nothing has changed. Australians who book international cruises in US dollars with the Plus package, have to pay gratuities separately.   So I am going to leave my pre-paid gratuities as they are, and find out what story is when I board the Enchanted in August.    I have added a note to my itinerary so I don't forget to query this with the service desk onboard.  Even though they are pre-paid, the operator reminded me that I can always ask for the funds to be converted to OBC once onboard. 

 

To keep it simple, I would ask for the pre-paid gratuities to be cancelled and refunded now. If you do have to pay them, let them be on your account for end-of-cruise payment.

 

Don't over estimate the ability of on board staff to resolve issues like this no matter what shoreside people promise.

 

Most people who pre-pay gratuities when they do not have a package, do so to avoid a big bill at the end of the cruise or to avoid an announced increase in gratuity rates.

 

Unless there is some foreign exchange rate benefit to pre-paying now , I would wait until you are onboard to find out if the gratuities really are or are not included in the package you paid for.

 

The number of posts in multiple threads that have said staff on board could not do what land staff said could be done should convince you to not wait until on board to straighten things out.

[trinitygirl]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

To keep it simple, I would ask for the pre-paid gratuities to be cancelled and refunded now. If you do have to pay them, let them be on your account for end-of-cruise payment.

 

Don't over estimate the ability of on board staff to resolve issues like this no matter what shoreside people promise.

 

Most people who pre-pay gratuities when they do not have a package, do so to avoid a big bill at the end of the cruise or to avoid an announced increase in gratuity rates.

 

Unless there is some foreign exchange rate benefit to pre-paying now , I would wait until you are onboard to find out if the gratuities really are or are not included in the package you paid for.

 

The number of posts in multiple threads that have said staff on board could not do what land staff said could be done should convince you to not wait until on board to straighten things out.

I would definitely be better off if I do have to pay extra for gratuities, leaving it prepaid.  At least at the moment, bc the exchange rate has increased about 15% since I paid AND because I paid before they increased the gratuities.  So I will wait and see and hope for the best.  I am also really not willing to do the refund thing again.  I am still waiting for a refund from January! Two of the three refunds were paid back finally in the past fortnight but there is still one outstanding.  The whole process has left me deeply unimpressed with the administration/customer service.

[caribill]

10 hours ago, trinitygirl said:

I would definitely be better off if I do have to pay extra for gratuities, leaving it prepaid.  At least at the moment, bc the exchange rate has increased about 15% since I paid AND because I paid before they increased the gratuities.  So I will wait and see and hope for the best.

 

Both are excellent reasons for waiting to see what will happen.

[Zeikah]

Hi all,

 

I realise that this is a old post but just wondering if have any Aussies recently have any experience with this in the plus package.

 

I had paid the extra as it was an outstanding amount on my account. I was looking on my app today for my upcoming Alaskan cruise in May and under packages it states that it is included. I phoned Princess but they say it is not included. (couldn't explain why it says it is on my app)

 

I have asked for my pre paid amount to be refunded then see what happens onboard. If I still need to pay nothing is lost.

 

Thanks

[trinitygirl]

33 minutes ago, Zeikah said:

Hi all,

 

I realise that this is a old post but just wondering if have any Aussies recently have any experience with this in the plus package.

 

I had paid the extra as it was an outstanding amount on my account. I was looking on my app today for my upcoming Alaskan cruise in May and under packages it states that it is included. I phoned Princess but they say it is not included. (couldn't explain why it says it is on my app)

 

I have asked for my pre paid amount to be refunded then see what happens onboard. If I still need to pay nothing is lost.

 

Thanks

Hi there, I cruised out of Rome in August and Southampton in November 2023, booked and paid in AUD but onboard folio charged in USD.  I had the Plus package for both cruises.  I prepaid the crew appreciation charge for both cruises via my online account back in 2022 shortly after booking.  Once on board I took this thread to guest services to ask if CA was included in my Plus package so that I had paid twice. I was told both times that CA was not included in the AUD version of Plus.  I was also told that I was able to turn my prepaid CA to OBC if I didn’t want to pay the CA charge (but needless to say I did not do that).   Hope that is clear? 

[Zeikah]

21 minutes ago, trinitygirl said:

Hi there, I cruised out of Rome in August and Southampton in November 2023, booked and paid in AUD but onboard folio charged in USD.  I had the Plus package for both cruises.  I prepaid the crew appreciation charge for both cruises via my online account back in 2022 shortly after booking.  Once on board I took this thread to guest services to ask if CA was included in my Plus package so that I had paid twice. I was told both times that CA was not included in the AUD version of Plus.  I was also told that I was able to turn my prepaid CA to OBC if I didn’t want to pay the CA charge (but needless to say I did not do that).   Hope that is clear? 

Thanks for your response. Yes that clears it up. I have already asked for a refund but will now just let them put it on my onboard account