HaveDogWillTravel

I was informed of this policy at a “In the life of a bartender “ behind the scenes tour that Cherry Pie ( yes that’s her name) -the Bar Manager on Emerald - did in September this year. It totally hit me why the crew I sailed with month after month with in 2021 and 2022 didn’t seem to be getting the reviews I wrote about them (always about a week after getting off). I was very sad about that. I now do them within the 3 day limit for crew on board to get the feedback.

Oh goodness gracious no! I would never, ever ask any crew member that! However, after 2 years of taking lots and lots of excursions with crew, hosting them in our home port of SF when their ship is in town and then of course the days at sea, they volunteered information about this. It was just part of conversations that developed over time. Talking about retirement, talking about plans for the future and so on. I was gobsmacked when I was told and it took me an over year before I even mentioned it to others. I think everyone is entitled to form their own reaction to this information or to even just not believe it. There is no right or wrong reaction.

You’ve been very good and accurate information so far. I saw you mentioned it’s been awhile since you last sailed Princess so I’ll add a few tidbits. It’s been reported that those with phones that aren’t iPhones have more issues with Princess ap. But if you have an iPhone it really “should” work beautifully. If you know how to check for updates to the ap then do that. If not, then deleting the ap and downloading it again will accomplish the same thing. To board the ship you really could show up with your passport (and any other documents required like visas) and they would take care of everything at the pier. So while it’s nice to have a travel summary (it really does give great detail about what is included in your fare), medallion (btw this does not activate until you are checked in onboard), luggage tags, and all, if you don’t have these things you will still board. I hope that helps you relax about getting things to work. Once on board, go to the Ocean Now desk and ask for help with the ap. If you go right when you board it should not be crowded. They will help you get on the ship’s intranet and fix any settings on your phone that are interfering with the ap. That ap and the medallion really are “all that”. @CruiseRaideris correct that, at least for iPhones, the bugs have been worked out and it is just a great user experience you can chat with crew, watch the muster drill, arrange dining, order food & drinks to wherever you are (even your cabin), look at the deck plans and my favorite Find my shipmate! I love the locator function. I can see where my friends are & in what venues and join them (or not).

CVP’s do not sell those big hotel/cruise packages. Any CVP you get by contacting Princess will be legit but there are varying degrees of quality in their work. We are not allowed to share our CVP’s names on this board. You can get recommendations at a meet and greet on board. I don’t use FB much at all, but I believe that there is a Princess Cruise Vacation Planner page there.

I’ve had the same fabulous CVP for years. We’ve sailed twice with him and his DH. He said if I book the packages within 30 days of making the booking he does get commission on it. So now I always book with it and remove it at final if I’ve decided not to have it. He also said his commission is based on both number of booking and the price of the bookings. I know they get health insurance as well. That was not a CVP. @Rick&Jeannieare correct about this person being from an outside sales group. They are sanctioned by Princess and that cruise package is legit. Next time you sail go to the meet and greet and ask for CVP recommendations.

Hmmmmmm. Interesting

Thanks for corroborating this.

No crew members salary changes if CA are removed. I think you’ve been around long enough perhaps to have close relationships with crew who would feel comfortable discreetly discussing this with you privately? Get your own corroborating evidence if you need it. It’s not my place or yours to tell folks how to react to this information. Each persons’ reaction is private and theirs to have.

This is something I have a good idea about but I do not have enough evidence yet to support it. And I’m not sure it really matters to me.

The money is pooled across the fleet & is used to pay staff their base salary. So yes it goes to the staff. It just isn’t given as an extra amount outside of the base. Again just want to make sure I am clear in what I’ve shared. I think what anyone chooses to do with this information is entirely up them and personal.

Hi there 😀 I need to make sure I am not misunderstood in what I have shared here. Just to be clear I have never had a crew member recommend adjusting or removing the automatic tips. Never. I was simply given information that they did not receive any extra income from the gratuities collected- CA, the 18% added to drinks and such- . I waited until I had a lot of corroborating evidence. I was happy to read the multiple people who have piped in on this thread and another one who have also been told this. I think it’s great that everyone can react to this information how ever they want. I have no desire to try and convince anyone of anything. It’s just an FYI post.

Hi there😀I don’t want to speculate on what % of passengers buy fares with CA built in that are not removable. I think it’s reasonable to surmise that the accountants at Princess have done the math and would not base an entire wage system on the unpredictable standard fare cruisers who can remove tips. It would seem prudent to base salaries on what the historical income from the packages has been. However, once a contract is signed salaries can not just be lowered. Princess could reduce future contracts but they have to compete with other cruise lines for the same employees so there is that bit keeping things even. I think we’ve all noticed that Princess is trying to make the Plus and Premier packages more and more appealing by adding things that costs them little to nothing. I personally (and seriously just my opinion) don’t think the group of standard fare passengers who will remove tips and give the $ directly to crew is large enough to move the needle at all on the financial spread sheet. Lots of people will do as you and that’s just fine. But who knows?

I’m not trying to be rude but if you read through the thread that question will be answered.

I was told No by multiple levels of crew. But not an officer just to be clear.

As I take more and more longer cruises I have thought about how crew get tipped on 7 day vs 14 day vs 34 day and so on sailings. If I normally give (for the sake of argument only) a waiter $40 at the end of 7 days then I should give that prorated amount on X days (greater than 7) sailing. So effectively this isn’t a “huge” increase it’s just a normal weekly amount. Specifically to your 47 days it’s $224 a week to distribute, for me that’s a pretty easy task. And I’m thinking on this next 34 day sailing to tip weekly when I believe I will interact with different crew as time goes on (for example I’m changing MDRs half way thru).

This is very new to me and so my experience is limited to date. I really did wait until I had enough corroborating evidence from many reliable sources before going this route. But in my limited experience I just called GS (I think it was mid cruise but I don’t think that matters). I asked what would be the procedure if I wanted to remove or reduce my CA. She was quite nice about it and said I just had to tell her. And said I could remove all or part and I could adjust again at any time. So I asked her to please remove the charges already posted and to discontinue future charges. I think if I were asked why I would simply say Is that a requirement that I tell you why? I certainly don’t want to get crew in trouble for talking about their compensation openly with me.

Those at the back of house are salaried and their wages are fixed regardless of the “tip pool”, which isn’t really a tip pool, it is just income to Princess who then pays the salaries. So nothing you do affects their wages at all. I was given much more information about size of salaries for various positions and those ambiguous “bonuses”. I am not comfortable sharing more than what is now reasonably confirmed even beyond my experience regarding the “tip pool”. I actually like that teams have volunteered to pool their cash tips at certain venues (I always ask though so I can tip accordingly). I always bring thank you cards and put total for the team (say Crooners) in it and give it to my “lead” bartender at the end of the sailing. If the Club Class dining room staff or Sabatini staff pool their tips I give the envelope to the head waiters. If not, then I’m one busy girl writing individual thank yous. How much? To who? Just depends on what I did that particular cruise. You don’t have to know “how much” as crew are not expecting this. They know that passengers have been misled to believe crew receive extra tips from a pool. Crew have signed contracts where they have agreed to this fixed wage and one has to believe that if this were not an acceptable wage to them they would look elsewhere.

Thanks for giving another data point supporting what I’ve confirmed to my satisfaction.

Thanks for chiming in and letting me know you have also been told this by crew. It’s especially been a downgrade for bar staff. While their salary did increase it didn’t increase to the same level it was before where the base was lower but they actually got the tips. I really am bugged that passengers are misled into believing the crew is being tipped. And while every bar on every PRincess ship I’ve been on has pooled their tips by team from the restart (Crooners crew split their tips, Vines crew split theirs and so on..) this is 100% voluntary on the crews’ part. I can totally understand it too. While I hope certain members of the team get a bigger portion, it’s not my place to tell the crew what to do with this actual extra money they get and can keep. This is the only way to financially reward crew members and I am very happy to do it.

Hi @PescadoAmarillo. Yes crew will be happy to confirm that cash tips are for them to keep, both officers and non officer members will answer this openly. This is something that changed as soon as the company restarted in July 2021. However, when asking about the compensation and the crew appreciation fee, discussing this is definitely discouraged. I know you and DH will easily be able to discretely confirm this to your satisfaction as you are well known to many crew. I’m still sad you weren’t able to join us on that 34 day Sapphire sailing leaving soon!

I think enough people will keep buying the Plus or Premium packages with the non removable gratuities baked in that it just won’t matter. I even buy the Premium package on a short 5 day sailing. I am getting ready to board a 34 day sailing LA to Buenos Aires where the ability to restock wine in ports will not be possible. I can pretty easily lug a case on with me solo. Since I can’t seem to figure out a way to bring on enough wine (2 cases & starting the trip solo where DH joins the second leg) to last that long I will probably buy the plus package for at least one leg. I did buy the sailing as 2 separate legs so I can purchase Plus for one leg separate of the other. As my good friend @CruiseRaiderhas surmised more than once, the price of the Plus and Premier packages will most likely increase. When you look at other cruise lines Princess packages are much cheaper so I tend to agree that the price will go up. This year I took a 10 sailing on Oceania and an 8 day sailing on Windstar. We booked an aft balcony on Oceania and a French balcony on windstar. Both were about the size of a Princess mini suite but the living room furniture and bathrooms were much nicer. They cost about the same as a Princess Vista suite. The food on both lines was simply outstanding. And all cabin levels eat the exact same food. I like that. All filtered water, fresh juices, specialty coffees, cans of soda are all included in base fare. Both lines didn’t blink an eye when boarding or at ports if we had any kind of alcohol at all we wanted to bring. Windstar in particular had exceptional quality wines and liquors including Antiqua Vermouth. Windstar had my favorite Alsatian white wine at a great price. We will always sail Princess as they really do Alaska so well. I also like the ease of driving to the port and taking a last minute sail with friends. But we have 2 more Windstar and 2 more Oceania sails booked as well as 3 more Princess cruises. I’m really glad Princess made the changes they did (that I don’t like) as it made me take a look at other lines. And boy I am so very happy with what I found!

That has been confirmed to my satisfaction. And that is what I have started to do.

I have sailed with some of the same crew for well over 100 days in the last two years. We’ve gotten to know each other and have had many hours of conversations and experiences together on board the ship and off it. I have finally had this confirmed to my satisfaction. Crew are now on a fixed salary. They no longer get any additional amount from the auto gratuities monthly. If gratuities are removed it will in no way affect any crew member’s compensation. Princess is really pushing the packages that include the gratuities as they use them to pay salaries that are fixed. What annoys me is that passengers are under the mistaken idea that the crew are receiving something extra when they do not. For me I like to bring the less mainstream white wines on board that I prefer and I will do that if I have a package or if I do not have a package. When I add up the costs it’s about $200 per week for me : pre order cases of water -$7 per dozen (I drink 6 bottles a day) -thru princess, use my elite benefits to get a very reasonable $7.50 pd internet connection, pay $15 one time fee for ocean now, one specialty dining a week, a couple of casual dinings per week & 2-3 manhattans a week….it makes no sense to buy a package. Additionally, I get more dining outside of MDR than Plus would give on two week or longer sailings. I have the gratuities removed & I use the same amount of cash (as the auto grats were) or more if warranted to tip the crew who are on the ship that made my current sailing special. And YES it has been very well documented that crew get to keep all cash tips since the restart. Of course if you sail those 5-7 day short cruises the math changes a bit. Crew are discouraged from discussing their compensation so please be discrete if you want to inquire while on board. However, any and all crew will happily tell you cash tips may be kept so feel free to ask about that to confirm for yourself.

@CruiseRaiderThanks for another great live from. So happy you had such a great time. Safe travels home.

Alaska May 2022 from the aft deck outside Sabatini’s. This sunset lasted 4 incredible hours.