Grand Princess Questions

[Sparkeygirl]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker of a couple of years, first time poster so please be gentle :)

I have booked a trip on the Grand, 21st September 2012, 14 nights with my mother. Really excited, after being off work for a year due to illness and not taking a holiday for 2 years. I booked the lowest grade inside cabin to save money and used my Tesco clubcard points for the majority of the balance (sadly you cannot do this anymore for princess) I have received an upgrade to an OV room E709 and am very grateful for it. Have seen a picture of this room on the CC forum and it gives light so what more could you ask for when paying for an inside.

Having previously cruised with P&O and Cunard and scouring the Princess boards for a couple of months I still have a few questions, hopefully you can help me-

· How hard are the beds really, I have a bad back and need a soft mattress, having checked on the cruise personalizer I cannot find any special request area for this. Is there one? Or is there a number or email address for princess I can use to request this? From the forums it looks like there are limited numbers and first come first served, so the sooner I request the better.

· In the UK the banks do not give out small denominations of dollars when changing money, is it ok to tip for smaller items like room service in pounds?

· Finally which of the 2 AT dining restaurants is the easiest to get a table for 2? We normally go for traditional and meeting people but due to my illness I cannot eat as quickly as everyone else. As there are no guarantees of getting a table for 2 in TD and not wanting to upset my table mates having to wait for me, this is the first time we have gone AT dining. We normally dine around 8pm.

I would really appreciate any feedback you can give me,

Thanks

Sparkeygirl

[caribill]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker of a couple of years, first time poster so please be gentle :)

· How hard are the beds really, I have a bad back and need a soft mattress, having checked on the cruise personalizer I cannot find any special request area for this. Is there one? Or is there a number or email address for princess I can use to request this? From the forums it looks like there are limited numbers and first come first served, so the sooner I request the better. Princess mattresses are usually on the firm side. You can request when onboard that a duvet be put between the bottom sheet and the mattress to make it a little softer for you. The "egg crate" option is often very thin.

· In the UK the banks do not give out small denominations of dollars when changing money, is it ok to tip for smaller items like room service in pounds? The Purser's Desk can change large demomination US currency into smaller bills. No charge to do this. You will no doubt have Euros for your itinerary, and Euros would be acceptable for tips also.

· Finally which of the 2 AT dining restaurants is the easiest to get a table for 2? We normally go for traditional and meeting people but due to my illness I cannot eat as quickly as everyone else. As there are no guarantees of getting a table for 2 in TD and not wanting to upset my table mates having to wait for me, this is the first time we have gone AT dining. We normally dine around 8pm. First of all, if you prefer traditional, all you have to do is tell the waitstaff not to hold up service to the others just for you to finish a course. But if you stay with anytime, It could be either of the two anytime rooms that will have little or no wait for a two-top. It depends on what other passengers do. If you find there is a wait at one, check the other.

 

Welcome to the posting world.

 

Have a great cruise.

[cnd crsr]

Welcome to Cruise Critic, Sparkey!

 

As soon as you meet your room steward, ask to have an egg crate bed topper and or duvet placed on the mattress. This will help. I also suffer from back problems and find the firm mattress (sometimes with a topper/sometimes without) is fine.

 

If you let the Maitre D know you would like a table for 2 and explain the reasons this will best suit you, I am sure he will try very hard to get you a 2 topper. We have always found the Princess staff to be very helpful.

 

Hope you and your mom have a wonderful cruise:)

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Post Office gives out one dollar bills no problem,

 

beds are not that bad was our Grand just a few months ago,

 

 

have a great cruise

 

 

yours Shogun

[Pam in CA]

If the ship has additional cruises out of the UK after yours, it's OK to tip in £. The issue is whether the person has to then convert the £ to $. If they can use the £ in port after your cruise without converting, it's OK.

[monakayk]

One other option about tipping room service delivery....you can add a tip on the delivery slip they have your sign when they bring your food to your cabin. These tips will be added to your sign & sail card total.

 

Have a great cruise on the Grand Princess! We will be cruising on the Grand in Nov....our 1st time on that ship. So keep 'her' in good shape for us.....LOL.:D

 

BTW..Welcome to posting on CC Boards!

[caber]

If you are in the Med I would tip in euros if that is more suitable. The staff can use them in port.

[skynight]

Most of your tipping will be the auto tip which is added to your folio each day. The crew will take extra tips in any Euros, Pounds or Dollars. Tipping is normally for room service, a few dollars or euros per delivery. We also provide extra cash at the end of the voyage to the room steward, and to the waiter/asst waiter if we had the same waiter for a number of nights.

 

In ATD you can see the Head Waiter at the beginning of the cruise and reserve a table for 2 each night. But some of these tables are not isolated, they are next to each other. Also, you may wish to share a table with others that way you get to meet different people each night. Most people are very friendly and will not mind slow eating. However some may have to excuse themselves to get to the theater show. Suggest you request a table for 6 or 8 for sharing. Stay away from tables for 10, they will probably be too slow for the group.

[Sparkeygirl]

Thank you everyone, your replies have been really helpful. I'm really excited about being on a Princess cruise for the first time! :)

[caribill]

I'm really excited about being on a Princess cruise for the first time! :)

 

Make some Cruise Critic friends before you go by joing your the roll call for your cruise at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1575186

 

It is nor very active, but you would be welcome.

 

Also onboard, if you have any questions, be sure to ask. Princess personnel will be very helpful.

[WeeCountyMan]

Thank you everyone, your replies have been really helpful. I'm really excited about being on a Princess cruise for the first time! :)

 

Sparkey - you can get single US Dollar bills from most places that provide foreign currency - just order in advance and stipulate the denominations you want. If they "can't" oblige, go elsewhere, others will gladly take your custom. Probably best take a few single notes and the rest in 5's and 10's - as advised above these can easily be changed onboard.

 

Are you aware that you and your Mum will each be charged $11.50 (unless changed recently) each, per day, as so called autotips ? That's $161 each in total, approximately £102.50.

 

You can have this removed by going to the Purser (aka Customer Services) as soon as you can after boarding and signing a slip. That'll let you tip as you see fit. Many Brits, possibly the majority, adopt this procedure.

 

Also note that your Onboard Credit is not per cabin, but per passenger, and can't be combined. Any unused OBC is non refundable - so it's best to exhaust the credit on one account with your day to day expenses, then switch your purchases to the second person's account.

 

One of several aspects of money matters that Princess don't tell you.

[san diego sue]

To: wee country man

Why in the world are you advising someone not familiar to Princess to remove auto tips. You make it sound like this is the custom when in fact

you really just don't want to tip. Any tips given to any staff when auto tips are removed have to be turned into the pool by the recipient or they are fired.

Auto tips are great. Besides , all in the pool receive a piece of it, you have to also carry less money for tipping.

Please, don't start a tipping argument here.

[Crystabel]

To: wee country man

Why in the world are you advising someone not familiar to Princess to remove auto tips. You make it sound like this is the custom when in fact

you really just don't want to tip. Any tips given to any staff when auto tips are removed have to be turned into the pool by the recipient or they are fired.

Auto tips are great. Besides , all in the pool receive a piece of it, you have to also carry less money for tipping.

Please, don't start a tipping argument here.

 

I couldn't agree more!

[caribill]

Also note that your Onboard Credit is not per cabin, but per passenger, and can't be combined. Any unused OBC is non refundable - so it's best to exhaust the credit on one account with your day to day expenses, then switch your purchases to the second person's account.

 

 

Actually, if both people in the cabin are having their charges going to the same credit card, the two accounts will be combined at the end of the cruise and thus any unused OBC can be applied to the combined accounts.

[saltypeer]

Sparkeygirl

 

WeeCountyMan was only trying to be helpful in mentioning the 'auto-tip' thing. It is a cost you need to factor for but may not have realised is there.....unless you read every detail of your booking.

 

I agree, we shouldn't get into a debate on tipping. There are plenty of other threads on the topic, as it is one of the hottest debates in town.

 

san diego sue is correct, in that all tips are pooled, so that at least those behind the scenes who you won't necessarily see but still contribute greatly to your cruise experience, still get their fair share of gratuity.

 

However, not ALL brits remove the auto-tip. So don't think it is mandatory to remove orindeed leave in place. It is YOUR personal choice and don't let anyone tell you different.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

Pete

[WeeCountyMan]

To: wee country man

Why in the world are you advising someone not familiar to Princess to remove auto tips. You make it sound like this is the custom when in fact

you really just don't want to tip. Any tips given to any staff when auto tips are removed have to be turned into the pool by the recipient or they are fired.

Auto tips are great. Besides , all in the pool receive a piece of it, you have to also carry less money for tipping.

Please, don't start a tipping argument here.

 

I was simply advising a new Princess cruiser from the UK of her options.

 

Your views differ from mine, however, that doesn't make either opinion "right" or "wrong" on the subject.

 

Brits have a different approach and mindset to tipping - prescribed gratuities are, in my view, a service charge by another name.

 

It's also worth mentioning that the seafaring crew don't share in these tips.

 

BTW - I do tip.

 

As for the request not to start an arguement here - with respect, perhaps you should practice what you preach ?