TenneSea

On 5/29/2024 at 12:11 PM, JimmyVWine said:

It's would be best to look at this from 50,000 feet the way the people who run the business do.  They have obviously looked at this from every angle.  Some of their findings would include:

• In areas of the world where tipping is not the custom, we can build the added crew wage into the basic fare and people will accept that. No further Crew Appreciation will be required.   It will look like our company is paying the crew a living wage, but in the end, the customer is doing that through higher fares.  Customers in this part of the world will accept this model.
• In areas of the world where tipping is the custom, we are better served by offering low fares and adding on a mandatory Crew Appreciation to boost the crew's wages.  If we build that cost into the basic fare while correspondingly doing away with the Crew Appreciation and other cruise lines do not follow suit, we will lose business. Cruise price comparison websites will not account for this change and our prices will appear facially higher.  By adding on the Crew Appreciation, our crew will earn a living wage based in part on their salary and in part on the mandatory Crew Appreciation.  We get to the same place as the model listed above, but do so in a less direct way.  Customers in this part of the world will accept this model.
• Our crew members will earn more money and be happier if we make the Crew Appreciation mandatory as well as adding on an 18% charge to items ordered on board. If we go back to the "envelope" system, too many people will conveniently forget to hand out envelopes and our crew will suffer because of it.  And with Medallion Ordering, guests will be served by countless crew members each cruise, and short of the guests walking around with a wad of singles, those crew members will not get rewarded.  And we want to sell our cruises as being "cashless".  
• Best yet, let's build out packages that bundle all of the nickel and diming into one daily fare and place Crew Appreciation into those packages.  People will know up front what they are paying and what they are getting.  Our marketing team can put together glossy one-pagers that show how beneficial the packages are.  Make sure to throw in color photos of garish-looking ice cream sundaes.   

I doubt the crew members saw any increase in pay.  Probably less.

On 5/29/2024 at 10:54 AM, whitecap said:

And how are you not understanding that I don't go to restaurants that use my "tip" as a wage booster.  Just because the State says its ok for an employer to pay less than the minimum wage, take the employee's "tips" and use it to supplement their wage, doesn't make it right.  I tip to say thank you for great service, not be an extra employer paying a portion of their wages.  I tip my room steward for giving me good service, not to allow Princess to "pool" my money and then disperse it to whomever they want, on whatever ship they may be on, throughout the year!  Raise the price of the cruise fare by $300, pay a good wage and tell your customers that there is no tipping.  Don't tell them it is "crew appreciation" and do whatever the heck you want with it.  By the way, did you find where the chicken is? 🤔 

Couldn't read the label.

On 5/29/2024 at 10:00 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Do you really think that the cruise lines have not test-marketed this concept?  Or restaurants for that matter?  I can guarantee you that the system is the way it is because the cruise line knows that if it charges $1,120 up front instead of $1,000 with $17 per day for 7 days added on as gratuities, it will sell fewer cruises.  People seem to think that they know the industry better than the people who actually run it.  When you go to a restaurant and see a steak on the menu for $40, if you order it, you are going to pay $48.  You aren't being cheated, or hoodwinked, or deceived.  And the $8 gratuity that you pay is not a "reward" for the server.  It is part of their pay.  We live with this reality every day.  The system is working.  If it weren't, it would change.  Businesses change to evolve to the better.  If they don't, they fail. We have to trust that the people running multi-billion dollar businesses actually have a grasp on this. 

"Trust" ... such an interesting word.

On 5/29/2024 at 7:41 AM, whitecap said:

I believe that most cruisers believe that by paying the gratuities, they are tipping those crew members on their cruise who provided good or exceptional services.  They very well may not be.  The gratuities paid, as stated in the Princess paperwork, go into a pool, controlled by Princess and distributed by Princess throughout the fleet!  Your room steward may never see a dime of the gratuities you paid and the same for those in the dining room who served you so well.  

If I go to a restaurant and the wait staff does an excellent job, I don't hand the owner extra money to be put in his or her pocket, to be distributed, throughout the year to all those who work at the restaurant.  Why should it be any different when cruising.  With the exception of our very first cruise (we are now over 50), we have always removed the gratuities, obtained small envelopes from Customer Service desk, and given tips directly to the persons who went above and beyond to see to it that we enjoyed our cruise.  

I think you will find that most restaurants now pool all tips given to the wait staff.

On 5/29/2024 at 8:14 AM, cruising.mark.uk said:

This, I think, is what causes the confusion.

 

Go back to post 1.  Princess are not calling the charge that this thread is about a gratuity.  They are calling it 'crew appreciation / service charge'.  That is the daily per person charge, which varies by cabin type.  Actually, I think the text quoted in post 1 gives a very clear and transparent explanation of how Princess uses those charges.   And I don't think anyone should be shocked that part of what they pay for their cruise is used for staff salaries / wages.

 

All cruise lines rely on customers to pay crew salaries.  I agree that in an ideal world that would all be included in one overall cruise fare.  But, for commercial / cultural reasons, that seems rare, apart from P&O in the UK and some of the very high end lines.  Other lines have daily service charges / crew appreciation charges and explain how those provide an element of crew compensation.  On some lines (e.g. MSC and Costa) those charges are mandatory and cannot be changed or removed.  On others, they can be adjusted.  I think it is pretty clear that these are not 'tips or 'gratuities'.

 

We're on a Princess cruise at the moment.  There is a separate 'gratuities' line entry on every food / beverage / service bill (typically 18 per cent, but adjustable).  That is the equivalent of what you are referring to in terms of land-based restaurants, not the crew appreciation / service charge that this thread was about originally.   

 

We have met many many fantastic staff on this 4-week cruise.  And most of the ones with whom we have interacted tell us they have been with Princess for multiple contracts over years and years.  Clearly, they are happy with what and how they are paid by Princess.  I know that we have contributed to them receiving a salary with which they are happy by paying our daily service charge as part of our package and the additional 18 per cent on goods and services not covered by that.  For us, it is just part of the cruise fare in the same way that when we go to a restaurant at home, an element of our food bill pays staff wages across the whole company and an element of our supermarket bill pays staff wages across the whole supermarket chain.  Those who wish to provide an additional gratuity to individual named staff members are welcome to do so.

<" Princess are not calling the charge that this thread is about a gratuity.  They are calling it 'crew appreciation / service charge'">

Wow, that's a pretty fine line there.  Do you speak lawyer-speak ?

1 hour ago, ecs66 said:

When you toured Port Isaac last week, did the taxi take you to the pub where "Louisa" had her baby on Doc Martin?

No, we just stayed in town, walking around.

Ooops, forgot the New Forest map:

The whole green part is New Forest.

In Beaulieu, there is a famouse Motor Museum which my husband very much enjoyed.  Most of those images are on his phone.  If anyone would like to see them, just ask and I will post them. 

Also in Beaulieu and connected to the Motor Museum (all owned by Lord Montagu family) is the home and gardens of their home.  We went through as much of the home and garden as they open to the public. 

We stayed one night but spent 2 days in Beaulieu which is in New Forest.  (pronounced: Bew-Lee) Here are some pics of Montagu Arms which was s-t-u-n-n-i-n-g.  We LOVED it there. 

Note: one day in NF is enough to see the horses, cows, etal roaming.  They are everywhere.

We saw lots of babies !

And cows

On to New Forest.  Here is a general map of the Forest and you can see how close it is to Southampton.  If I had a day to spend pre or post cruise and were chooseing between Isle of Wight and New Forest, it would be a really tough decision but I just might prefer New Forest.

Horses and cows and donkeys and sometimes pigs roam freely all over.  They block roads, wander onto hotel properties, into car parks and they are just so beautiful.  They aren't wild but clearly are the priority creatures in NF.  If driving, you will just have to wait until they decide to walk off of the roads.  They have the right of way.   I just found it so interesting.  Here are some shots:

We absolutely loved Yarmouth.  Little English town.

I love the little village churches scattered all over England.

And, of course, the pubs:

Bouncing back to the Isle of Wight.  We had lunch at this great little waterfront cafe "Gossip Cafe"  Great food.

Then for dinner, we went to the Terrace.  OMG !  So amazing.  The weather was just perfect and both of these are in Yarmouth on the IOW.  We chose Yarmouth so we could grab the ferry to Lymington which is in New Forest.  It was walkable from our BnB in Yarmouth.  

Pics from the Terrace:

Bruchetta:

Roast Chicken:

Yes. Taxis are plentiful on the Isle of Wight at the ferry terminal.  Are you going to West or East Cowes (Osborne House is in East Cowes).

Last year we went to East Cowes.  This year West Cowes.  The taxi from West Cowes Red Jet terminal to Yarmouth was 50 pounds.

Two little people playing on the beach.

This truly has to be one of the most special places on earth.

The last port of the cruise was LeHavre (Normandy).  I booked it as soon as it was available as I didn't want to miss this opportunity.  It did not disappoint.  The tour was 10 hours, 5 hours of that was on a bus.  Tiring, but a very unforgetable day.  The French countryside was beautiful which helped to make the hours on the bus fly by.

Next stop on the cruise (after Falmouth) was Portland/Weymouth.  There is a pretty reliable shuttle from the ship to the town of Weymouth.  There is really nothing to do in Portland, so do go to Weymouth if you want to stretch your land legs.  Not much in Weymouth really either.  I heard there was a nice shopping area.  We walked to the beach and it was pretty.  I only took a few shots.  It is worth the walk from the shuttle drop off to the beach if the weather cooperates.

1 hour ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@TenneSea Thank you for posting your pics- loved seeing Portwenn especially! I am enjoying your reports immensely.

Random question about the ship breakfast location, please and TIA. I will be boarding this ship next month and would like to be ready to "hike" all the aft, or ...? Is it being served in the Palm dining room? 

Yes, breakfast was served in the Palm Dining Room.  Pretty scaled down menu for breakfast from pre-covid days when every day was different with some choices to be made. We went 3 days and one menu item changed every day, the rest stayed the same.

We're off to the Cotswolds today.  I expect to have some down time this afternoon and hope to post more on the cruise ports/and shows.  We also visited New Forest which is close to Southampton.  I'm hoping the pictures I post will pique some interest for future cruisers to spend a day or two there pre or post cruise.  It was facinating and so uniquely beautiful !

Sail Away from Falmouth.

The port after Ireland was Falmouth, England.  We hired Abacus Taxi (highly recommend) to drive us to Port Isaac for a quick visit to see where the Doc Martin series was shot.  

Here are some of the pictures from that day.