PTMary

1 minute ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

We have been told that auto-gratuities are split fleet wide and just not to that specific ship.

So? Do you actually think that the company's financial matters are by individual ship only? EVERYTHING is run through the corporate financial management system, which in seconds can determine where, and to whom, funds need to be allocated to and when. Just like every major company in the world does. 

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And how does this work with Princess, when the tip pool is fleet wide, and not ship specific? 

Princess can easily track every crew member's accounts and make adjustments to those accounts accordingly, even if everything is pooled. It isn't rocket science - just standard corporate financial systems, which all large companies employ. Your bank does this for millions of people every day. 

19 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Sorry,  that has not been my experience.

Are you quoting saver or select fares, and have you taken obc into account ?

 

Just standard fares for peak months summer months (our friends were both teachers). No packages or add-ons were priced out as they would need to carefully watch their budget. That is why we were focusing more on P&O than on other cruise lines. 

Alas, the husband passed due to Covid and we are no longer pricing cruises out of Southampton. 

12 minutes ago, Broadside said:

 

Thank you for your informative post. I can not claim any insider info on this matter either way but one imagines the situation you have described would be extremely impractical to police. 

 

There are also many potential variations to increase complexity where passengers reduce tips but leave an amount on. How would they have processed any cash tip pooling requirements in that situation. 

Not impactable at all. At the end of a cruise, all monetary matters are reconciled by the purser and his department. Every passenger's account is verified for expenditures made and if they are paid for. Every passenger's account will have recorded what package, if any, the passenger has, or whether that passenger has prepaid the gratuities if no package was purchased. If a passenger reduces their tips by 50%, it is recorded when the reduction is made, and the financial software onboard will attach it to the passenger's account.

If at the end of the cruise the system flags a passenger's reduction, it will be taken into account by the purser and adjustments will be made accordingly. All cash tips received must be submitted by the crew (which they are required to by contract obligations) and will be recorded in the crew member's account. If tips have not been reduced, they will be reimbursed that tip amount in their paycheck. If tips have been reduced, or removed completely, then the crew member's account will be deducted a comparable cash amount to what was submitted to be applied to the tip pool. 

Anyone in finance will see that this is a simple and easy process, helped greatly by advanced financial software. 

BTW: if a crew member tries to hide cash tips, they risk being disciplined, which could, in extreme cases, result in immediate firing.

10 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, in a word.

Giving the vagaries of cruise pricing, it is always difficult to compare like for like,  but the cost of my P&O cruises post the abolition of autotips have been roughly the same as pre-abolition. 

And my next two Princess cruises are more expensive than the P&O equivalents.

However,  the point remains that P&O have abolished autotips,  and their prices have remained competitive,  so it shows it can be done. 

P&O eliminated tips in May 2019. Prices before were definitely cheaper. We have been pricing cruises on P&O out of Southampton for quite some time because we have friends we have been trying to convince to take a cruise with us. 

Pricing rose by about 20 percent immediately after the change, and have not come down much. 

Plus, the price difference between P&O and Princess is due to Princess being a more premium product, with P&O being more a budget product. 

deleted

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

Given those parameters, scrap all Celebrity ships except Edge class or their Explorer Galapagos ships..  Solstice class and Millennium class both have the multi-tier dining rooms (2 story, but same difference - it's loud).

And, scrap plans for the new Sun Class on Princess as their MDR will be multi -tiered, 3 tiers if memory serves.. big change for them going from the smaller 2-5 dining rooms to one large MDR spread over 3 tiers with vaulted ceilings.. gonna be loud!

Happy sails elsewhere... 

I happen to like the multi tiered dining rooms. The ones Princess has had on their ships for decades feel closed-in in comparison. The Sun class will be a welcomed step forward in grand dining room designs. 

As for Celebrity, I have never had a bad cruise of the dozen or so we have taken with them. We've been on all the Millennium class ships, some multiple times, and enjoyed them all. They are "old school" with a more traditional feel to them. Lots of dark wood colors and cozy areas to lounge in. They just fell comfortable.

But our favorite ship of all time is the Celebrity Reflection. We were on it's 2nd cruise after being launched, the first being a short 5-day repositioning cruise for the press. I still remember walking aboard and smelling that "new ship" smell. Everything was brand new, clean and barely used, nothing worn or broken. That cruise was the closest to perfection, with everything on the ship working perfectly. 

Princess is our 2nd favorite line, and they come in a close second. A great line for itineraries, but a bit shy on amenities. We have sailed a similar number of times on each. 

1 minute ago, vjmatty said:

 

I intended my comment about the Grateful Dead concert to be a joke.

I got that. I've been to enough concerts in my wilder days to know exactly what you meant. I shudder at the thought of how much money I spent on barely hearing the band due to the constant screaming around me. LOL!

9 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

Are you suggesting that distance from the source of sound has no effect on its volume to the listener?  I guess I should have sprung for the nosebleed section at the last Dead concert I went to all those years ago, could have saved a fortune 😉

 

Keep in mind that you are mere feet from the source of that music, not half a concert hall away.

I agree with Santafefan. They balconies are not private or secluded. There are gaps in the edges of the dividers for sound to flow through. Any music or conversations on someone's balcony can be heard from adjacent balconies. Besides, the sound of the waves against the ship will require the music volume to be raised to be heard better by the music enthusiast. That additional level volume will drift over to the adjacent balconies. It is the simple science of sound waves. 

1 hour ago, nini said:

 

I used the term "many" because I see that quite often on CC and CC is only a small segment of cruisers. I wanted the OP to understand that it is not required.

 Perhaps "some" would have been more accurate?

7 hours ago, MissP22 said:

And that's before considering any tips. 

And probably less that the majority of cruise ship passengers. 

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

But why not pick one if the guest can.

Yes, that is what I recommend, and what we do even if they don't currently check. Just in case.

13 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

How many times do CC members in the know, including myself, have to post that Arrival Times in the App mean nothing and just arrive at the Terminal for check-in at your convenience and all will be good?

 

As many times as someone asks. No one has to answer the question, so just skip the question and move on.

Besides, at any time Princess may start enforcing the arrival time slots. There is no guarantee that they will always ignore them. Telling people to go at anytime because they never check, and then when they do so they find out that the policy has been begun to be enforced, is not doing them any favors. I always recommend choosing a time just in case. 

8 minutes ago, Bobbiegentry said:

Nice!

What time did you select?

We picked the earliest, which I think was 11:00 am. To us, the cruise starts the minute we step on board so we always try to get on board as soon as possible. Plus, getting there earlier than later means we don't have to pay for lunch at a shore based restaurant. Might as well grab the "free food" that is available. We prefer Alfredo's for lunch, but sometimes head to the MDR that is open. We NEVER, I repeat, NEVER, subject ourselves to the frantic food hoarding competition in the buffet upon boarding. 

25 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Well...as expected, we are racing towards 350 responses to this age-old topic! 😄

And yet, here you are with post # 335. LOL!!

BTW: I'm still here as well, with # 337. Bigger LOL!!

16 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

Many countries are not tipping cultures like Japan and China and Australia and New Zealand. I follow the guidelines of the country not what a cruise company suggests to  me. Americans appear arrogant with their handing out money so freely. 

It's because Americans are generous. Especially when someone helps us enjoy visiting their countries. Nothing arrogant about generosity. I have never had anyone refuse a tip, no matter where. If they thought it was arrogant, they would have refused the tip.

But I do agree with researching the cultural ways of countries being visited. It shows respect. 

6 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

I had a connecting cabin once and I guessed I lucked out.  The only time I heard the couple next door was if we all were standing by the connecting door, and it was just muffled conversation.  Did not impact my cruise at all.

Yes, you were very lucky. I have always regretted staying in a connecting cabin unless we were with the people staying in that room. When people are together, they have more of a tendency to be more aware of their neighbors comfort. 

44 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Except in China and some other Asian locations where tipping is considered to be an insult.

That is a myth. In those places they may refuse tips, but often they will happily accept them. 

58 minutes ago, memoak said:

Never been asked to show time when I have gotten to port

We can't count on that as a permanent thing. Now that ships are sailing mostly full, they may at any time begin to monitor arrival times. Best to pick a time rather than bet they won't check in the future. 

We picked ours at 58 days prior. I checked every day until it opened. 

3 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I always research the tipping culture before I go to a country where I am unsure. The funny thing is, 95% of the time I learn that tipping is appropriate. The number of foreign cultures that don’t tip is a very, very, very (did I say very?) small subset. 

Bottom line: some people are cheap. And appear to be proud of it. 

3 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

It concerned me that you have such a strong reaction to what others might be thinking.

And how is that worse than having such a strong reaction to what others might be WEARING? Which you clearly have. 

Don't be concerned about me. I am perfectly content dressing in a manner accepted by the cruise line instead of pondering over why people 'disrespect' a mere  SUGGESTION. 

2 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

I think mtnesterz has made an excellent statement.

Of course you do.

59 minutes ago, voljeep said:

new SUN Princess coming in 2024

 

A first for Princess, the Horizons Dining Room introduces a stunning three-story dining venue. This newly envisioned space is open and flexible, featuring dining options to suit every mood. Stunning wake views and natural light highlight a decorative sculpture that stretches from deck 6 to deck 8. The three decks will each have their own personalities, offer different dining experiences and range in levels of formality.

Excellent. I hate it when the over dressed stare at me because I didn't dress to their exacting requirements. Now they will have their own area where they can impress each other, and I can have an area where the food and dining partners is more important than what I am wearing. LOL!!

5 hours ago, MissP22 said:

There are a few people on this board that seem to crave attention on formal nights. Most of us just want to be left alone to eat in peace. 

And when they get it, they are offended that they are being stared at. 

8 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

Think we might have noticed!

If people are "staring" at you (which I find a bit of an exaggerated claim), how do you know it was your clothing choices? Could be a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe. LOL!