Sun Princess - A North American Viewpoint

[Jasperdo]

 

We don't really want any time dining and the thought of giving over half a restaurant to this and having people walking in and out at various times all evening would spoil the ambiance of the great dining experience we have with Traditional Dining

 

That is not how Anytime Dining was done on the Dawn Princess when it was sailing out of Florida. The Deck 6 Dining Room was strictly Traditional, and the Deck 5 Dining Room was strictly Anytime. There were no Anytime diners walking through the Traditional Dining Room at various times.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Sorry, but when they mover the regal to the pacific dawn the crew was forced to stay. Anyone who wanted out was told they couldn't. Yes, they make "more" but not because they are "paid" more. Princess subsidises the tip pool. All tips on the Princess Australia are pooled just like on the other Princess ships. What people don't understand, when you pull out of the pool all cash tips MUST be put into the pool. Yes, My GF is from Moree and Sydney and been in Australia since 1829. Nothing makes her cringe more then when we are on a ship and she see's all those people on line to defund the crew.

Getting back to the main point. There will be anytime dining without the service charges. Royal Carib requires you to pre pay the charge if you request to opt out of fixed dining. Anyway, we are able to book anycruise we want in the USa as I have a USA address. So I don't feel the pinch.

 

Jeffrey

 

You're a bit behind the times Jeffrey. That was how it was before the middle of last year. Now it is totally different. You need to do a bit of research on how it actually works downunder before you state wrong facts. It is not the same here as in the US. The crew gets paid a set wage (which is very good in comparison) and there is no such thing as tipping or a tipping pool anymore. If the passengers were happy with the service it is up to them to tip if they want, not because they have to or are expected to.

[BrissyCruiser]

, My GF is from Moree and Sydney and been in Australia since 1829. Nothing makes her cringe more then when we are on a ship and she see's all those people on line to defund the crew.

 

Jeffrey

 

She's getting on a bit....

[jig]

Funny, her family has been. If you are right, then I am wrong. However I have friends who work for Carnival Australia and as far as I know the subsidy is still the rule. All the lines coming down are following the same pattern and subsidising the pool. Remember, the ships are still foreign flagged and like the US they make a foreign port, ie Bali.

Did not mean to make this a tipping thing. Just why there is no anytime dining. If you are right, then your idea that tipping does not matter then why are the only two large Princess hips without anytime dining the two down under.

 

Jeffrey

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Funny, her family has been. If you are right, then I am wrong. However I have friends who work for Carnival Australia and as far as I know the subsidy is still the rule. All the lines coming down are following the same pattern and subsidising the pool. Remember, the ships are still foreign flagged and like the US they make a foreign port, ie Bali.

Did not mean to make this a tipping thing. Just why there is no anytime dining. If you are right, then your idea that tipping does not matter then why are the only two large Princess hips without anytime dining the two down under.

 

Jeffrey

 

The only reason our ships hit a foreign port is for the duty free - not because of the Jones act like in the USA. There are plenty of cruises that don't touch foreign soil in Australia and you can do as many B2B2B2B's as you want from any embarkation port in Australia and not have to touch foreign soil at all.

 

Again..... The three Princess ships based in Australia don't have anytime dining because they are run by Princess Australia and they set their own rules..... obviously they don't want to partake of the practice and have not instigated it here.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

She's getting on a bit....

 

Hahaha.... I was trying to work out which keys he hit wrong to find out how long she has been in Australia, but he clarified it.... her family has been in Australia since 1829 - so it is one very old family LOL

 

Sorry Jeffrey.... just pulling your leg! :D

Edited February 26, 2012 by Billy and Charlie's Mum

[jig]

on her fathers side 1829 and her mothers 1850. on her fathers, Pioneers on her mothers, pie maker and biscut maker

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

on her fathers side 1829 and her mothers 1850. on her fathers, Pioneers on her mothers, pie maker and biscut maker

 

Impressive.... on my side they were only convicts.

[Te Aroha]

I wanted to clarify my original post as to why I will not sail on an Princess Australian based ship again.

 

The cruise on the Sun Princess was a 46 days cruise, the ports of call were the reason for booking. We never let what happens affect our enjoyment of anything and will say we had a great cruise and loved the ports we visited.

 

As I now know, they ships are run totally differently to the American based ships, this was NOT made clear to me when I booked and therefore I expected the same product as I had previously had when purchasing a Princess cruise.

 

Tipping is not part of this difference as I tip for service equally, if not more than the normal tip that we would pay on the American Ships, which we always pay, and tip extra for good service.

 

Any time dining is also a favourite of mine, while the Sun did not offer this on the cruise, oddly enough any time dining was available every few evenings, usually on days we had been in port.

 

My problem with the Australian based ships is the difference of standards, old ships needing repair constantly while cruising. I am not talking about a little painting here, we had paint ground off all around the ship while sailing, leaving paint flakes though out the ship, the decks and the balconies. Constant water leaks coming through the corridor light fixtures, that was plain scary. The library ceiling collapsed and was out of use for nearly two weeks. Lets not get into the plumbing problems, I could go on forever, passengers with flooded cabins and floating shoes, damaged bags.....

 

This affected the basic enjoyment of the ship. Large areas were taped off and were out of use for long periods of time, including the main swimming pool. I expect some maintenance but not a repaint, requiring the ship to be ground back to bare metal while passengers are on board. We also had the sound of grinders going constantly.

 

Passengers in a mini suite had painters on platforms working on their balcony even awakening one morning to two workers directly outside their door. This was at 8am with no notice given to the passengers.

 

"Escape Completely" was what we were hoping for, we paid for a holiday, not a dry dock at sea.

 

The standard of food is always up to each persons preference and I could say it was not the standard I expected, but was acceptable, some excellent. What was not acceptable was the amount of items the ship ran out of during the cruise and were then not available, basics like orange juice, lemonade and bacon.

 

Room service was also a joke, being basically a vegetarian, I asked for a hamburger bun without the meat to be sent to the room, this was refused as this was not on the menu, work that one out, how hard is it to NOT put the burger in a bun. I ordered a bun with the hamburger and removed it myself but it was not very appealing to a non meat eater. Wait times for room service were long and twice the requested order never arrived at all.

 

Is all this really the Princess standard?

 

Not the standard I expect from Princess.

 

I will sail Princess again and have booked another cruise on the Grand this time. I love the Princess line but the difference in standards is not acceptable.

[paul929207]

Funny, her family has been. If you are right, then I am wrong. However I have friends who work for Carnival Australia and as far as I know the subsidy is still the rule. All the lines coming down are following the same pattern and subsidising the pool. Remember, the ships are still foreign flagged and like the US they make a foreign port, ie Bali.

Did not mean to make this a tipping thing. Just why there is no anytime dining. If you are right, then your idea that tipping does not matter then why are the only two large Princess hips without anytime dining the two down under.

 

Jeffrey

Princess dropped the autotip for Australia and NZ residents on the Dawn and Sun Princesses last year.

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your review. :):):):)

[Instigatorhw]

Wow, we just won a three week cruise on the Sun Princess so I have been trying to find some information about tipping, service, food and general expectations. I realise the thread is from a little earlier this year. We just took our first cruise this year so we are both in a young demographic. Honestly, the comments have spooked us a bit as we went on a luxury small line (thinking you get what you pay for) and didn't have to think about anytime dining vs traditional, it was all free drinks and specialty call you by name service,etc etc. Everything was paid up front, there is no tipping, drink specials or coffee cards etc, none of which I know anything about (eek). I figured we would just wing it on board, after all it's a freebie. As for all the extraneous comments I can't resist weighing in as a dual citizen. Yes, Australians get slammed and pay far more for everything than N American counterparts. No, Australians never have understood tipping and believe me, service is not equal despite getting paid a higher salary. I am looking forward to a different experience than my previous one and can accept it for what it is, just wondering why everyone gets so upset when you know ahead of time what you are purchasing? If you want better, fly to other ports and use better lines, it's quite simple?

[newport dave]

Wow, we just won a three week cruise on the Sun Princess so I have been trying to find some information about tipping, service, food and general expectations. I realise the thread is from a little earlier this year. We just took our first cruise this year so we are both in a young demographic. Honestly, the comments have spooked us a bit as we went on a luxury small line (thinking you get what you pay for) and didn't have to think about anytime dining vs traditional, it was all free drinks and specialty call you by name service,etc etc. Everything was paid up front, there is no tipping, drink specials or coffee cards etc, none of which I know anything about (eek). I figured we would just wing it on board, after all it's a freebie. As for all the extraneous comments I can't resist weighing in as a dual citizen. Yes, Australians get slammed and pay far more for everything than N American counterparts. No, Australians never have understood tipping and believe me, service is not equal despite getting paid a higher salary. I am looking forward to a different experience than my previous one and can accept it for what it is, just wondering why everyone gets so upset when you know ahead of time what you are purchasing? If you want better, fly to other ports and use better lines, it's quite simple?

 

The review is from over 2 years ago, February 2012.

[Instigatorhw]

Whoops, told you I was new to this, responding to Cruiseclues in Feb 2014. My opinions still stand where you get what you pay for. I am so amused they remove this auto tipping around Australia on Princess. As I reside here, I live first hand paying more for the same things in N.America. Annoying but the standard of living is fabulous and not over run with only 30 million in the entire country.