sloopsailor

It's typically been 59 days for many people.

I had booked one and cancelled it. That was four months ago. I am still waiting for my refund. I called at least four times about this and each time I was told it was being processed and should show up in a few days. Still nothing. I am giving up. I have spent well over two hours on the phone over this and it's no longer worth any more time to get $58 dollars back. Princess is now $58 richer while providing no value for that money. I am also having similar issues with a cancelled excursion refund. It's been several weeks and still no refund. Not at all pleased with Princess. I have never dealt with a worst company for customer service.

It's not Win/Win for the crew members who get stiffed when people remove the gratuities because they don't believe in it where they are from. Yes, the people who remove the gratuities "Win", but the crew who see a reduction in their income certainly don't.

The phrase "properly compensate" is so vague as to be pointless. What is proper compensation? Is it how much the people in your country are compensated? Or is it how much the people are compensated in the country and state that Princess company headquarters are located in (FYI: California, USA)? Or the country that each staff member is from, who are from many different countries, all with a different standard of living? Which is it? If you want to push the "properly compensate" expectation, then you need to clarify EXACTLY what that compensation actually is and why THAT one is the baseline that you are basing it on or that phrase is totally meaningless.

CCL is at $7.64 as I write this, up from a low of $6.69 yesterday. Maybe there is hope after all!!

My TA is too cheap to offer coupon books. He only offers hundreds of dollars of discounts instead. I need to change TAs!!! 😠

And we know by their posts who these people are. 😁

We use an online website where we enter our cruise inquiry details and they distribute that information to various on-line TAs to compete on. We usually get a half dozen or more quotes with their pricing and any extras they provide, such as OBC, specialty dining vouchers, complimentary excursions, etc. After reviewing the quotes, we do a search on customer satisfaction for the top two and make a decision. We have always gotten very generous discounts far better than anything Princess has ever offered. Over the last five cruises we have saved enough to completely cover the cost of a sixth, making that process very much worth it.

Here is the Princess information you referred to (hint: providing source material to support an argument is always helpful): "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." Note that this doesn't say "pooled between all ships" or something to that effect. It does, however, lend itself to misinterpretation. I based my comment on what had been reported on Princess forums in the past by someone who's responsibility was handling the collection of all gratuities, including tips given in cash. His job title was a purser, the person responsible for the accounting on a ship. At the time he indicated that the gratuities were collected per ship and distributed throughout that same ship and were not spread throughout the fleet. The goal was to reward, and incentivize, a ship's crew to perform at their highest level, which higher gratuity collections would indicate. There were even bonuses given out to the highest performing ship. This was pre-pandemic. Perhaps things have changed, but my reading of the Princess quotation matches with what I have read in the past.

They do not need to know the tax situation or country tax tables for each crew member on the ship. That is why they choose to pay the base salary, which is taxed in their countries, and not the gratuities, which in many cases are not taxed. That leaves the responsibility on the crew member to report his or her income, which is the way it should be. Because too many people abused that system by removing all tips or giving significantly lower amounts to better keep the money in their own pockets. AKA: greedy people. Again, the reason why has already been described if a person is willing to read it. SMH. You can believe in any conspiracy theory you wish. “You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Please read post #16. That post explains that it's not the cruise line trying to avoid paying taxes. It's about what the employees pay in income taxes in their own countries. Since those employees sign up over and over again, they must be quite satisfied with how the company controls their salaries and income. Personally, since I believe in treating the staff with respect and appreciation, I am comfortable with how Princess takes care of their employees and would never remove or lower the gratuities to benefit myself at the expense of the people who work hard to make my cruise memorable.

You follow the cruise line's recommendations for the cruise you are on. Just like when cruising on an Italian based cruise line like MSC tipping is not recommended so I don't. I also don't expect mostly American style food and entertainment on MSC. This concept is not at all difficult to understand.

LOL! You forgot the captain. How much should we tip him? $2000? $5000? Please provide us more of your guidance!

We had a similar experience with our next cruise. Our TA had much better deals than Princess, similar to yours, with all the benefits Princess offered for the stateroom and Princess Plus package we wanted. Saved us enough to pay for every excursion we want to take, essentially making them "free".

For some non football watching people, perhaps, but not all. One of the last things I go on a cruise for is to watch sports. If I just couldn't stand missing a game, I would stay home.

Unfortunately, as other people have reported, even adjacent cabins that were linked would just as often get split up as were kept together during these so-called upgrades.

Not saying you didn't see anything. I am telling you that most people were NOT waiting for the doors to open. Considering how large the dining rooms are, if everyone was waiting in line, it would stretch out half the length of the ship, not just up a flight of stairs.

There will always be people who have to be first in line, no matter what is going on. Even with Dine My Way some people arrive before the doors open. With Traditional Dining, the vast majority of people weren't waiting for the doors to open. So your comment is not at all relevant to the TD vs DMW debate.

No one needs to pack enough clothes for two weeks. We don't "lug" much baggage. We simply budget to send our clothes to the laundry service on board. Like budgeting to pay for the cruise itself, and travel to the cruise ship port, any specialty dining, shore excursions, souvenirs for family and friends, etc., we budget to have our laundry done. An extra $100 per two week cruise allows us to pack smart, and cruise worry free about dirty laundry or needing to bring two weeks worth of clothing. It's a choice. We value our "down" time much more than spending an additional $100 for laundry service. We've been on 21 day cruises and have never needed to do our own laundry, all with only two suitcases between my wife and I. It can be done if you want to.

On our Hawaii cruise I'm going to wear a Hawaiian style shirt and slacks most evenings, even on formal night. It's a Hawaii cruise, not a job interview.

Please don't project your anger on me. I am not angry. I am only pointing out facts. Why are you so confrontational about the truth?

Yep, keep the horn. Not sure why anyone would be annoyed by a little fun!!!

Not hostile at all. Just describing reality. Things are changing. Either you adjust or stay annoyed during every cruise. Your choice. And to quote you: "Oh, BTW, no one has to "endure" anything. They can take their business elsewhere." That is very true. Perhaps you should take your own advice? One other comment: in days past, a few decades ago, traditional dining was the ONLY option. I remember cruises that had only the main dining room for a proper sit down dinner. There were no specialty restaurants and only basic buffet options, and maybe a hamburger, fries, hot dogs place. We had zero choice but to endure being at the same table with strangers for days on end if we wanted to take a cruise.

To those who insist on having laundry facilities available, I ask: Do you clean your own cabin and make your own bed on a cruise? Do you cook your own meals and wash your own cutlery and plates after a meal on a cruise? No! So why do your own laundry???? I would wager that the majority of passengers never used the onboard laundry facilities. I know in all my years of cruising, my wife and I never even once considered using them when they were available, even when our kids were with us. We are of the belief that we are on vacation to get away from doing mundane household chores, so we don't do them. We want to focus on having fun, not doing house work. We do enough chores at home when we aren't trying to enjoy a vacation.