Gratuities on Majestic Princess

[lovedecruise]

Hi, I haven't sailed since before Covid and have just booked a cruise on Majestic Princess, Auckland to Sydney.  From previous sailings on both Princess and Celebrity, the gratuities have been included in the fare, giving cruisers the option to give extra if they so desired.  I was surprised to see on my booking form that we have two charges for gratuities at $16 per day per person.  As they have given us a few OBC in US$, I'm assuming this is in $US as well.  All our past cruises out of Australia and NZ have been in A$.  Is this new with Princess Cruises or have they made a mistake? 

[Hogbay]

Cruises from Australia are in Australian dollars all others are in US$

[arxcards]

7 hours ago, lovedecruise said:

Hi, I haven't sailed since before Covid and have just booked a cruise on Majestic Princess, Auckland to Sydney.  From previous sailings on both Princess and Celebrity, the gratuities have been included in the fare, giving cruisers the option to give extra if they so desired.  I was surprised to see on my booking form that we have two charges for gratuities at $16 per day per person.  As they have given us a few OBC in US$, I'm assuming this is in $US as well.  All our past cruises out of Australia and NZ have been in A$.  Is this new with Princess Cruises or have they made a mistake? 

Are you booked on Majestic Princess for the end of this month? I am presuming you are.

 

In that case, it is the last 5 nights of a $US relocation cruise from Los Angeles to Sydney. $US aboard and daily grats apply. Majestic changes to $AU currency when she ends her relocation in Sydney on 4th November - nothing new for a US to Australia relocation.

[lovedecruise]

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

Are you booked on Majestic Princess for the end of this month? I am presuming you are.

 

In that case, it is the last 5 nights of a $US relocation cruise from Los Angeles to Sydney. $US aboard and daily grats apply. Majestic changes to $AU currency when she ends her relocation in Sydney on 4th November - nothing new for a US to Australia relocation.

Yes, you are right, thank you.  What concerns me more now than the extra gratuities, is discovering the cruise was a 29-night repositioning.  We would pick it up on the last 5 days.  Just wonder if Covid will have been incubating on board for all that time as there have been a fair number of sea days.  Also, we did something similar in the past with Diamond Princess and joined a cruise mid-way in Auckland.  It was such a shambles checking in as no one seemed to take responsibility for organizing it.  A small group of us sat around for ages just waiting.  When we did finally get on board, we had to take our own bags to our cabins and I must say we felt a bit like "gate crashers".  It will probably be the same for this cruise as everyone will have been on board for at least three weeks.

Also hope they restock with some fresh fruit and vegetables in Auckland as they will probably be pretty low on supplies after all that time at sea.

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, lovedecruise said:

Yes, you are right, thank you.  What concerns me more now than the extra gratuities, is discovering the cruise was a 29-night repositioning.  We would pick it up on the last 5 days.  Just wonder if Covid will have been incubating on board for all that time as there have been a fair number of sea days.  Also, we did something similar in the past with Diamond Princess and joined a cruise mid-way in Auckland.  It was such a shambles checking in as no one seemed to take responsibility for organizing it.  A small group of us sat around for ages just waiting.  When we did finally get on board, we had to take our own bags to our cabins and I must say we felt a bit like "gate crashers".  It will probably be the same for this cruise as everyone will have been on board for at least three weeks.

Also hope they restock with some fresh fruit and vegetables in Auckland as they will probably be pretty low on supplies after all that time at sea.

They will be normally be provisioning in Honolulu, and will top-up whatever they need in Auckland. Making the most of their day for suitable restocking also saves time/volume needed on their first turnaround day in Sydney. Hopefully your embarkation will be smooth, and the fruity cough is under control.

[lovedecruise]

6 minutes ago, arxcards said:

They will be normally be provisioning in Honolulu, and will top-up whatever they need in Auckland. Making the most of their day for suitable restocking also saves time/volume needed on their first turnaround day in Sydney. Hopefully your embarkation will be smooth, and the fruity cough is under control.

See you will you be embarking on the Majestic, as we disembark. Enjoy your cruise. We’re hoping the trip across the Tasman is not too rough as we have a front facing cabin. 

[arxcards]

10 minutes ago, lovedecruise said:

See you will you be embarking on the Majestic, as we disembark. Enjoy your cruise. We’re hoping the trip across the Tasman is not too rough as we have a front facing cabin. 

Awesome. We had a forward facing cabin booked for Celebrity Edge early next year, but we chose to cancel it. It was a cruise to Tassie, and we were hoping for a bit of bumpiness.

 

Thanks, very much midship for Majestic for us this time. We had a cabin above the theatre last year, and there was very little movement in moderate seas.

[MicCanberra]

If you are really worried about covid being on board, take the usual precautions and lessen the risk to yourselves.

[lovedecruise]

30 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

If you are really worried about covid being on board, take the usual precautions and lessen the risk to yourselves.

Yes, I have to admit the more I think about it, the more concerned I am.  It's not so much the actual covid, it's the consequences at the end of the cruise.  I'm just worried if we tested positive on arrival in Sydney, we wouldn't be able to fly home to NZ.  We have a disabled daughter in care so need to get back for her and then we'd have to change flights, find accommodation etc.  This is supposed to be a break from caregiving duties, but it's not sounding like a very relaxing holiday if we're forever worried about covid and having to mask up all the time.  I don't think we would have booked had we realised this was a repositioning cruise.  We have a 10-day cooling down period so maybe we should reconsider.  Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, lovedecruise said:

Yes, I have to admit the more I think about it, the more concerned I am.  It's not so much the actual covid, it's the consequences at the end of the cruise.  I'm just worried if we tested positive on arrival in Sydney, we wouldn't be able to fly home to NZ.  We have a disabled daughter in care so need to get back for her and then we'd have to change flights, find accommodation etc.  This is supposed to be a break from caregiving duties, but it's not sounding like a very relaxing holiday if we're forever worried about covid and having to mask up all the time.  I don't think we would have booked had we realised this was a repositioning cruise.  We have a 10-day cooling down period so maybe we should reconsider.  Decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!

If anything, I think you would be safer on a repositioning cruise rather than a 'normal' cruise. If a small number of people come on board with COVID, they will be isolated. On the recent world cruise, there were maybe at least a dozen cabins in isolation after the first four or five days. This reduced until there were none. We completed the cruise without any outbreaks although there was the usual cough going around.

 

On your cruise, with no new people coming on board until Auckland, maybe there wouldn't be any more infections brought on.

 

If you are still concerned, to protect yourself, where you are able to I suggest you use the stairs rather than the lifts. Avoid crowded bars. In the theatre you could sit at the side where it is likely you won't have anyone very close.

[lovedecruise]

23 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

If anything, I think you would be safer on a repositioning cruise rather than a 'normal' cruise. If a small number of people come on board with COVID, they will be isolated. On the recent world cruise, there were maybe at least a dozen cabins in isolation after the first four or five days. This reduced until there were none. We completed the cruise without any outbreaks although there was the usual cough going around.

 

On your cruise, with no new people coming on board until Auckland, maybe there wouldn't be any more infections brought on.

 

If you are still concerned, to protect yourself, where you are able to I suggest you use the stairs rather than the lifts. Avoid crowded bars. In the theatre you could sit at the side where it is likely you won't have anyone very close.

Thank you for that thought. I never considered that any outbreak might be over. I guess eating at the restaurants or ordering room service would also be safer options. We don’t want to shut ourselves away, just want to be vigilant and avoid crowded areas. 

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, lovedecruise said:

Thank you for that thought. I never considered that any outbreak might be over. I guess eating at the restaurants or ordering room service would also be safer options. We don’t want to shut ourselves away, just want to be vigilant and avoid crowded areas. 

Whether you eat the buffet or one of the main dining rooms, you can have a table just for the two of you. You don't have to lock yourselves away in your cabin with room service meals. As I mentioned, I feel the main risks are in the lifts and in the theatre.

[MicCanberra]

I agree that the ships have down a good job in isolating cases onboard but it is only the ones that have been identified as having covid, that said I agree the risk is lower on the longer cruises, further out from the embarkation port.

[arxcards]

Less cases on land also translates to less cases at sea. take precautions for sure, but you still need to enjoy a short holiday.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

Whether you eat the buffet or one of the main dining rooms, you can have a table just for the two of you. You don't have to lock yourselves away in your cabin with room service meals. As I mentioned, I feel the main risks are in the lifts and in the theatre.

And people standing over you in bars talking to friends and coughing heavily. No matter how careful you are to safely distance yourself from others there will always be some self-entitled git who isn't going to let "a bit of a cold" stop them from enjoying their holiday!

 

Actually I shouldn't whinge too much - the FCCs for having to isolate in our cabin after getting Covid on the Round Australia cruise last year paid for a big chunk of our upcoming Japan cruise. Some clouds do have silver linings!

Edited October 11, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

I see covid much like noro virus only easier to catch as it is airborne like coughs, colds and flu's. We will have to live with it on cruises just like on land. Practice good hygiene, keep your distance from people who are obviously ill.

[arxcards]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:49 PM, lovedecruise said:

See you will you be embarking on the Majestic, as we disembark. Enjoy your cruise. We’re hoping the trip across the Tasman is not too rough as we have a front facing cabin. 

Thinking of you today. Are you still planning to be aboard? It appears Auckland weather isn't being kind.

[lovedecruise]

56 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Thinking of you today. Are you still planning to be aboard? It appears Auckland weather isn't being kind.

We are just waiting for word from Princess on what we are to do. We’re meant to board between 12.30 - 3.00 pm but the ship is still out in the harbour. On the port website it is scheduled to berth at 7 pm. As we are driving to the port we have been instructed to wait but we are about four hours away. The weather is terrible here so don’t want to drive thru it in the dark. They have cancelled Tauranga visit and are spending an extra night in Auckland. Maybe they’ll let us board tomorrow. Even if they get in at 7 pm they still have to disembark passengers and get the rooms ready. It will be a rocky ride for sure. 

[MicCanberra]

Good luck, hope the situation improves soon.

[lovedecruise]

28 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Good luck, hope the situation improves soon.

Thank you. Have had notification that we will now embark tomorrow between 12 and 3.00 pm. Looks like the weather will be improving. Hopefully the seas won’t be as rough either. 

[arxcards]

Just now, lovedecruise said:

Thank you. Have had notification that we will now embark tomorrow between 12 and 3.00 pm. Looks like the weather will be improving. Hopefully the seas won’t be as rough either. 

There is only a partial disembark, 900 according to a comment on another topic. That would speed the disembark a bit if passengers are able to get home or onto a flight out - but - for those that need a hotel, there might not be enough rooms, so allowing them to sleep in their cabin for the night is a good thing for them.

 

On the flip side, it would be tough for those who were expecting to check-out of their hotel today.

[Zetta83]

Also those who bought tickets back to US tonight.