Princess Gratuities ex. New Zealand?

[catmincer]

Hi there

 

I just logged into my cruise personaliser, and it wants me to pre-pay for these?

 

I was under the impression that they don't charge you these on the Australia based ships.

 

The cruise I am on leaves Auckland on 28/02 on Dawn Princess.

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

[rkmw]

Hi there

 

I just logged into my cruise personaliser, and it wants me to pre-pay for these?

 

I was under the impression that they don't charge you these on the Australia based ships.

 

The cruise I am on leaves Auckland on 28/02 on Dawn Princess.

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

 

no you dont have to pay for any gratuities on the aussie based ships, only the US ships you are required to pay

[Rhonbru]

princess is a US based ship, we are doing a new zealand cruise with holland america and the hotel service charge is extra, and even worse the it is US$

[OzKiwiJJ]

princess is a US based ship, we are doing a new zealand cruise with holland america and the hotel service charge is extra, and even worse the it is US$

 

Dawn Princess is an Australian-based ship and, like the Sun & Sea Princesses, should have the gratuities built into the fare. It certainly does for bookings made in Australia and I would expect an NZ booking to be the same, unless the OP booked through a US travel agent - in that case the fare may not include gratuities.

[sun-set]

Hi there

 

I just logged into my cruise personaliser, and it wants me to pre-pay for these?

 

I was under the impression that they don't charge you these on the Australia based ships.

 

The cruise I am on leaves Auckland on 28/02 on Dawn Princess.

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

 

They had to remove these extra charges on Australian and New Zealand based ships.

We have been on several cruises since and do tip some of the wonderful staff, but gratuities (tips) should be at your discretion.:)

[catmincer]

no you dont have to pay for any gratuities on the aussie based ships, only the US ships you are required to pay

 

Thanks. That's what I assumed.

Dawn Princess is an Australian-based ship and, like the Sun & Sea Princesses, should have the gratuities built into the fare. It certainly does for bookings made in Australia and I would expect an NZ booking to be the same, unless the OP booked through a US travel agent - in that case the fare may not include gratuities.

 

Nah, I booked with princess directly and they definitely know I am in NZ.

 

I was confused as I see this when I login to the personaliser.

[The_Big_M]

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

 

Just a mistake. The same for everyone locally (AU as well).

[Rhonbru]

princess is a US based ship, we are doing a new zealand cruise with holland america and the hotel service charge is extra, and even worse the it is US$

 

I booked our cruise thru holland america sydney, I didn't book thru a US agent, and the hotel service charge is still expected

[rkmw]

I booked our cruise thru holland america sydney, I didn't book thru a US agent, and the hotel service charge is still expected

 

all US ships will add the hotel charge on a daily basis

[Bizziecruzer]

Hi there

 

I just logged into my cruise personaliser, and it wants me to pre-pay for these?

 

I was under the impression that they don't charge you these on the Australia based ships.

 

The cruise I am on leaves Auckland on 28/02 on Dawn Princess.

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

 

Hi - the thumbnail you included is for OPTIONAL pre-pay - you don't have to do this to complete your paperwork / booking.

[Floridiana]

While I think it would be better if they integrated the service charge into the price of the cruise, American ships don't do this. If you take off the service charge, you deprive the hardworking staff of an important part of their income.

[The_Big_M]

Hi - the thumbnail you included is for OPTIONAL pre-pay - you don't have to do this to complete your paperwork / booking.

 

It's showing as an optional - but it isn't required at all. Unlike things that are really options.

[windsor26]

I booked our cruise thru holland america sydney, I didn't book thru a US agent, and the hotel service charge is still expected

 

 

Holland america charge gratuities on all ships even those based in Australia ONLY Princess leave them off Aussie based ships

[Kamloops50]

Hi there

 

I just logged into my cruise personaliser, and it wants me to pre-pay for these?

 

I was under the impression that they don't charge you these on the Australia based ships.

 

The cruise I am on leaves Auckland on 28/02 on Dawn Princess.

 

Is this a mistake, or do they expect you to pay it?

 

On ships in Australia , Americans are charge a daily gratuity people from Australia pay as part of fare. I've this also happen in ships in the Caribbean as well. Some countries require that all charges are part of the package price except discretionary purchases.

 

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app

[kate59]

We are booked on Sun Princess in April from Sydney back to sydney but on the bottom of our cruise info it has a button to prepay gratuities - I think it is just because the Princess site is actually US based and so it is there now.

 

Have never been asked to pay tips on any of the aussie ships since 2010.

[Aus Traveller]

We are booked on Sun Princess in April from Sydney back to sydney but on the bottom of our cruise info it has a button to prepay gratuities - I think it is just because the Princess site is actually US based and so it is there now.

 

Have never been asked to pay tips on any of the aussie ships since 2010.

I agree with your comments. The tips were taken off the Australian-based Princess ships on 1st May 2011.

 

On our recent Princess cruise one of our dinner companions asked about tips. He has also been 'asked' to pre-pay his gratuities. He didn't and was therefore confused whether tips would be added to his account. He is Australian and booked through an Aussie TA for a cruise to NZ.

[sewgood]

I just checked out my next Princess cruise on the Sun and there it was under payments and credits. So being a curious person I clicked on the make payment button and on the next page both of us were listed with check boxes next to our name and a figure of $177.10 next to each of us, a total of $354.20 for gratuities that do not have to be paid (I think).

I have sailed with Princess before on the Australian based ships and I am under the belief that tips are part of the fare on the Sea, Sun and Dawn and therefore have already been paid before you step aboard. I certainly booked my cruise under this belief.

My concern is with new passengers to Princess or passengers who have not sailed with them before these tipping changes came in reading this on their cruise personaliser and actually making the payment. $354 is a lot of money to pay for something that is Princess's mistake for listing on your personaliser. It reads like the optional part is wether you pay it before the cruise not wether you want to pay tips a second time.:confused:

I wonder if this mistake on the cruise personaliser will be fixed soon before too many 1st timers prepay? Or maybe come Febuary I will notice on my daily ship account $12 added each day.:eek:

 

Karryl

[The_Big_M]

My concern is with new passengers to Princess or passengers who have not sailed with them before these tipping changes came in reading this on their cruise personaliser and actually making the payment. $354 is a lot of money to pay for something that is Princess's mistake for listing on your personaliser. It reads like the optional part is wether you pay it before the cruise not wether you want to pay tips a second time.:confused:

I wonder if this mistake on the cruise personaliser will be fixed soon before too many 1st timers prepay? Or maybe come Febuary I will notice on my daily ship account $12 added each day.:eek:

 

Karryl

 

I suspect if they prepaid, it would be credited to their onboard account (and refundable).

 

That said, I'm not willing to try myself. ;)

[kate59]

I suspect if they prepaid, it would be credited to their onboard account (and refundable).

 

That said, I'm not willing to try myself. ;)

 

To my knowledge and reading on CC about tips - American's on our Aussie based ships and includes the Sea Princess when doing Australia - do get charged tips if booked in US. Their prices are different to ours (mostly cause someone will come back to let me know they found it the same):p

[kate59]

I just looked at our next cruise tipping on the Princess site - just out of curiousity - over $500 each - no way am I paying it and know i don't need to.

[Aus Traveller]

I just looked at our next cruise tipping on the Princess site - just out of curiousity - over $500 each - no way am I paying it and know i don't need to.

Agreed. There is no way you should pay tips on the Australian-based Princess ships. The crew are paid higher wages than those working on ships where tipping is a way of life. This makes me wonder why Americans are charged tips when they travel on Australian-based ships.

 

Of course, if you wish to personally tip someone, you can.

[icat2000]

Agreed. There is no way you should pay tips on the Australian-based Princess ships. The crew are paid higher wages than those working on ships where tipping is a way of life. This makes me wonder why Americans are charged tips when they travel on Australian-based ships.

 

Of course, if you wish to personally tip someone, you can.

 

Because, I think it only applies to bookings made in Australia (and maybe NZ), not sure.

[rkmw]

Because, I think it only applies to bookings made in Australia (and maybe NZ), not sure.

 

that would be right and the americans would be paying a lot less than us

[Aus Traveller]

The Americans are not always paying a lot less than we are.

 

To explain why I questioned why Americans are being charged the auto-tips:

 

Tips are required to make up the short-fall on ships where the crew-member's contracted wage is low and tips are required to make it a reasonable amount. When the stewards' wages have been increased to take the loss of tips into account, I don't see why autotips are still put on anyone's account. Are these passed on to the staff? I have read where Princess now puts tips into a pool that is either fleet-wide or at least a pool for the particular class of ship. What happens to auto-tips collected (from non-Aussies/NZers) on the Australian-based ships?

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

The Americans are not always paying a lot less than we are.

 

To explain why I questioned why Americans are being charged the auto-tips:

 

Tips are required to make up the short-fall on ships where the crew-member's contracted wage is low and tips are required to make it a reasonable amount. When the stewards' wages have been increased to take the loss of tips into account, I don't see why autotips are still put on anyone's account. Are these passed on to the staff? I have read where Princess now puts tips into a pool that is either fleet-wide or at least a pool for the particular class of ship. What happens to auto-tips collected (from non-Aussies/NZers) on the Australian-based ships?

 

I suppose if you consider that the fares paid by countries other than Australia don't have the gratuities included in the initial fare, they are missing out on the extra money to add to the crews wages. Seems fair that if the OS people are getting cheaper fares (ie without the gratuities added in) then they should pay the gratuities, of course we all know that the gratuities are your choice but I can see where Princess is coming from adding the gratuities to the OS customers' on board account.