Question about gratuities...

[Greytgrey]

I've never cruised Princess before, but on other cruise lines have consistently paid the "suggested" gratuity, and then also tipped as compelled beyond that. Someone over on the Princess subreddit said that they'd talked to Princess crew and been told that the gratuities that are paid through guest services (pre-paid/suggested/mandatory whatever you want to call it) are all factored into their salary and they don't get more if you leave the tips on or less if you don't. So this person worked out a system in which they took off the suggested gratuities and instead paid the individual people they had face-to-face interactions with a certain amount per day, which they said worked out to be a lot less than the suggested gratuities, and plus it made sure that the crew member actually got the cash. 

 

From what I've read, the suggested gratuities are pooled and distributed among crew that includes folks like kitchen and laundry crew, who never or rarely see the public but who also contribute to the positive cruise experience. This person with "the system" said it's not their job to make sure that cruise lines pay people a reasonable wage (which is the same thing people who don't want to tip at restaurants say, and while it's true that corporations should pay their employees a living wage that's neither here nor there when you're actively participating in the business as it presently operates). 

 

So.

 

What say you, experienced Princess cruisers? How do you handle taking care of the people who take care of you when you're on vacation?

Edited September 17, 2023 by Greytgrey
Clarity

[Rick&Jeannie]

First of all...be prepared for a firestorm!  This is one of those topics that absolutely get people riled up.

We pay the gratuities as part of our cruise fare and then (almost always) pay our room steward an extra (nice) tip at the end of the cruise (assuming he/she did a good job.)  We can't possibly support (directly) all of the people who work in the background...so we just trust Princess to "do the right thing" with the tip pool.  Maybe they do, maybe they don't.  (I hope they do.)  But yes, the tips are supposedly pooled fleetwide.  (I don't know the detail of how that works.)

[voljeep]

 @Greytgrey If you book a 'package' - either PLUS or Premier - the CA (crew appreciation) is included in that fare and can not be removed

[Greytgrey]

Just now, voljeep said:

 @Greytgrey If you book a 'package' - either PLUS or Premier - the CA (crew appreciation) is included in that fare and can not be removed

Thank you. I was going to ask about this separately. I haven't bought a package and don't really plan to but I couldn't tell exactly what the Crew Appreciation was. Actually, knowing that it is the suggested gratuities makes the packages MORE appealing to me, so I might need to run some numbers on that. 

[Rick&Jeannie]

We are not big drinkers...but we prefer to book the Plus package mainly because it bundles the things that we would be doing anyway.  We will generally not drink much at all if we are "paying as we go" but since it's included we will branch out and experiment a bit with drinks that we've never tried.  I will ALWAYS go for the internet...we're going to do the gratuities and that pretty much covers it for us.

[Lady Arwen]

We most always get the Plus package, so gratuities are included.  We also tip extra cash to those crew members who provide extra or special services.   This is at your own discretion, of course.

 

I don’t think about how the prepaid gratuities are allocated.  That’s between Princess, the employer, and the crew, the employees.  Both parties have agreed to the terms of their contract.   

[blizzard44ca]

We typically purchase a package that has standard CA included. (We wouldn’t adjust it if we could)

 

In addition, we will either (sometimes both) leave additional cash tip, or specific mention by name on the survey, for those who go out of their way to enhance our cruise experience. This is dependent on the length of the cruise, and how they assisted.

[david63]

First off despite what those who claim to be in the know say I doubt that anyone on here knows definitively how the crew are paid and how tips, be they paid via your account or given to individuals, are dealt with. There will be 1001 different stories on the internet that claim to have been told to various people by crew members - whether any of them are true or not remains uncertain.

 

You will also find that the responses will vary considerably based on the geographic location of those posting - USA having a totally different view on tipping to the majority of the rest of the world.

 

My view is that I pay what is asked of me with an additional tip for exceptional service and what happens after that is of no concern of mine - I have more important things in my life to worry about!

[deliver42]

I really don't care what the crew makes. They all work very hard and deserve everything they get. I don't believe the tips are a part of their salary, and will continue to pre pay the tips at the going rate, and tip additionally as I see fit.

[skynight]

If you run the numbers for the plus fare you will find that if you drink 2, maybe 3 alcoholic beverages per day you break even. It all depends on how many non-alcoholic beverages you consume. Almost all non-alcoholic beverages are included and unlimited, including specialty coffees and espresso drinks, fountain sodas, juices, bottled water and so on. Coffee & tea is free all day in the buffet and in the DRs. Juice is free during breakfast hours. You will also receive 2 casual dining meals per cruise, unlimited wifi/internet and some other things. The plus fare also covers the new one month old fees, the one time $15 Ocean Now app access and the new room service fee of $5/call. The plus fare is $60/day extra.

For information I have always let the auto-tip in place and provided extra cash to the cabin steward at the end of the voyage. That's me. Makes me feel good and I'm certain the cabin steward feels good also.  

[10cruise]

My wife and I will continue to pay the suggested tips along with extra tips for good dining room servers and assistants along with our room steward.  We even tipped a casino worker since she was always so nice during our last cruise.  We appreciate their hard work.  I feel that some people just don't like to tip but this is part of cruising.  Some people are probably just cheap.

[sunviking90]

Here we go….. The thread is officially “hot”

[charliedalrymple]

Your tipping choices are probably going to depend on where you are from.  Europeans and Australians don't have a culture of tipping like the Americans.  Of course, we pay service workers a living wage.

[SargassoPirate]

I cruise with the standard/steerage booking mostly because I can't make the math work for the packages.  I pay the standard gratuity once I'm onboard as part of my daily expenditures.  I don't use the app on board and prefer to order my evening drink(s) from a human.  If that human has it on the ball, I'll tip them a little extra - especially when my butt and my drink start getting to the table at the same time.

 

It's low stress, old school cruising and I enjoy it.

[PacnGoNow]

We are probably about the same as the majority of PCL cruisers.  We pay the suggested tipping amount charged daily on our folio and tip extra when warranted by excellent service!  We still think PCL has the best crews out of all the lines we’ve sailed.

 

Always a hot and controversial topic!

[Cruise Raider]

Being from the US, we would never consider removing the crew appreciation as we believe there are those behind the scenes that contribute to experience while onboard.  I understand there are cultures where tipping is not the norm and I can respect that, as well.  But while in Rome (or on a cruise), do as the Romans do.  We always get at least the Plus Package.  
We also tend to bring goodie bags of treats (individually packaged bags of chips, chocolates, nuts, protein bars, trail mix, etc) for those that have made our trip extra special, but usually only if we leave out of our home port as we are able to easily take an extra piece of luggage.  Some staff may also get an extra cash tip, which they are able to keep but we’ve noticed that, at least at the bars, it goes into a jar to be shared with the crew at that specific bar.  We don’t go overboard with cash tipping, though. For room service, we leave between $3-$5 per delivery.  We usually distribute no more than $100 overall for a 10 day cruise for our favorite waiters, bartenders and room steward  …. some passengers leave a lot more, some leave nothing extra and the choice is always personal.  I’ve never seen waiters complain or give lessened service if people do not leave them extra.  
Oftentimes, we will just ask what they want or need from in port if they don’t get a chance to get off the ship .. they are always hesitant to tell us but we convince them they will just get something they may not want.  😉 

Most important, we always fill out the survey post cruise.  We learned they only get to recognized onboard if we do so within 3 days at the end of the cruise.  
I text myself all the names of the staff that we’ve gotten to know to make sure I don’t forget anyone that gave us extra special care.  

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Cruise Raider

[Ombud]

Although I've toyed with the idea if adjusting CA I keep them as-is, add as needed (setting up my elite tea, same table wait staff inc HW [special diet], steward), and add in a bowl of Ghirardelli chocolates for them to take one as desired (yes that bowl gets smaller and it's not just me).

 

3 minutes ago, charliedalrymple said:

Your tipping choices are probably going to depend on where you are from.  Europeans and Australians don't have a culture of tipping like the Americans.  Of course, we pay service workers a living wage.

As do we in California.  Minimum wage $16 hr [service workers $20 hr next year], company heathcare insurance mandatory, & 401k optional. USA is unfortunately a collection of 50 states with very different ideas

[voljeep]

we leave the CA in place as we have PLUS, then Premier

we are working on a 'bribe bag' to give our steward upon meeting him / her the on embarkation day.

for a little 5 day cruise - so far it contains (and my wife was working on this bag this morning) a thank-you in advance for ... with a $20 inside.  It also contains a nice fingernail clipper set, a mini flashlight, some lip balm, some candies and whatever else she may pick up between now and then.

 

we/she also made up some little bags for certain crew members we come across (Vines, for sure) that include the mini flashlight, lip balm and whatever else she comes across between now and then.  Those people I will tip directly as warrants.

 

Just to be clear, any bags are in addition to cash tips - not in lieu of 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Greytgrey said:

I've never cruised Princess before, but on other cruise lines have consistently paid the "suggested" gratuity, and then also tipped as compelled beyond that.

I'm just curious, which specific cruise lines have you sailed with in the last 8 years or so have allowed you the option of paying their "suggested" gratuity? We have cruised with HAL, PCL, Celebrity, Crystal, NCL, Oceania, and Disney, and none of these lines simply handed out envelopes anymore for you to optionally pay their suggested gratuity amount.

 

However, I do remember having that option back in 2012-2015 to do so, until the major cruise lines started applying predefined gratuities, based on cabin category, to our shipboard account. The only exception to that policy was Crystal. With them gratuities were automatically included in the cruise fare, and thus could not be removed by disgruntled passengers while on the cruise.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

My starting position is one of being a Brit... that is that as a Brit I subscribe to the concept that a tip or gratuity should be an optional payment given because someone did something over and above what would normally be expected of them. It should not be that they have to rely on them to be able to earn a decent wage.

 

OK... with that out of the way you might think that I am one of those that want to withhold automatic Crew Appreciation but I am not. Neither am I one of those that don't tip when abroad such as the USA. No, I tip and I tip well, especially in the USA, because although I wouldn't necessarily tip automatically here in the UK when I am in the USA (or elsewhere abroad) I recognise that theirs is a different system. They rely on those tips and just because I don't think they should have to rely on them they do so I am not going to remove part of their income just because we do things differently here in the UK.

 

So back to crew appreciation... I say to everyone who is considering removing it and tipping individually please don't do that. I do understand why you might want to do that but remember, the crew look after us when we are at sea and for the most part they do it brilliantly. Don't take away their income. If someone does something extra then yes, tip them privately as well. I always leave a decent tip for the room steward and also the bar staff if they look after me. If you feel the urge to remove the CA because of bad service then just think about how much the crew are paid and you might think twice.

[SargassoPirate]

6 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

We are probably about the same as the majority of PCL cruisers.  We pay the suggested tipping amount charged daily on our folio and tip extra when warranted by excellent service!  We still think PCL has the best crews out of all the lines we’ve sailed.

 

Always a hot and controversial topic!

Ditto on the best crew.  While we sail for the itinerary most of the time, with all things being equal we choose Princess.  

[10cruise]

For those of you who like to present a baggie of gifts to your cabin steward along with cash, stop doing that.  Give them extra cash instead.  Most of these workers are there to make money to send back home to family. They really do prefer cash and not miscellaneous gifts which they probably already have and the limited space to keep your gifts.  They, of course, will smile and say thank you but like I just said they prefer the extra cash to send home to help support their families.  It is a nice gesture and thoughtful, but it makes you feel good instead.   

[rosevew]

Be aware that the gratuities are not shared out amongst the crew on the ship that you are on. They are pooled and shared out fleetwide!

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, 10cruise said:

For those of you who like to present a baggie of gifts to your cabin steward along with cash, stop doing that.  Give them extra cash instead.  Most of these workers are there to make money to send back home to family. They really do prefer cash and not miscellaneous gifts which they probably already have and the limited space to keep your gifts.  They, of course, will smile and say thank you but like I just said they prefer the extra cash to send home to help support their families.  It is a nice gesture and thoughtful, but it makes you feel good instead.   

we will continue to do 'US' - you do you

[Happiest when cruising]

1 minute ago, rosevew said:

Be aware that the gratuities are not shared out amongst the crew on the ship that you are on. They are pooled and shared out fleetwide!

Here’s the part that sounds confusing to me.
The part that says it forms part of their compensation- separate from bonuses. To me… that sounds like their basic wage. 
 

I just pre pay them,  or use our OBC, once onboard. I would never consider not paying them. 

 

It’s easy to add extra cash tips, since it feels “free” if it’s paid through credits. 
When Princess removes that option, it will then become a very interesting topic on these boards. 
 

Here’s their information, copied directly from the website. 

All of the Crew Appreciation and Service Charge payments made by all guests on all ships in our fleet are pooled, net of credit card transaction fees. The pooled funds are distributed throughout the year in the form of compensation, including bonuses, to crewmembers fleetwide who interact directly with guests and/or behind the scenes throughout every cruise, including those in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas.