First time on Princess and in Australia - some questions

[Z3r0]

This will be my first princess cruise (I've been on 1 Carnival, 2 NCL's, and about 8 or so Royal cruises) and I'm always looking to compare experiences.

 

I'm a little confused with the gratuities on this ship.  The only info I can find only is that a balcony room is $14.50 USD pp/pd, which I'm totally ok with, however my understanding is that all charges on the ship are in $AUD.  Does Princess use their current exchange rate (at time or sailing or pre defined) to set what my gratuities in $AUD are each day, or will they fluctuate (which wouldn't make much sense, but I've seen stranger)?  I'm also trying to determine if it is my best interest to pre-pay my gratuities, but cant calculate that without knowing how they're calculated.

 

I see that there are self laundry services on board and was able to find that the price is about $3AUD to wash/dry and $1.50AUD for detergent, does anyone happen to know what the cost is to have the ship do a bag of laundry?  This will be the first time I'm on a 14 day cruise and I'm trying to keep the weight of my luggage down.

 

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Haboob]

48 minutes ago, Z3r0 said:

This will be my first princess cruise (I've been on 1 Carnival, 2 NCL's, and about 8 or so Royal cruises) and I'm always looking to compare experiences.

 

I'm a little confused with the gratuities on this ship.  The only info I can find only is that a balcony room is $14.50 USD pp/pd, which I'm totally ok with, however my understanding is that all charges on the ship are in $AUD.  Does Princess use their current exchange rate (at time or sailing or pre defined) to set what my gratuities in $AUD are each day, or will they fluctuate (which wouldn't make much sense, but I've seen stranger)?  I'm also trying to determine if it is my best interest to pre-pay my gratuities, but cant calculate that without knowing how they're calculated.

 

I see that there are self laundry services on board and was able to find that the price is about $3AUD to wash/dry and $1.50AUD for detergent, does anyone happen to know what the cost is to have the ship do a bag of laundry?  This will be the first time I'm on a 14 day cruise and I'm trying to keep the weight of my luggage down.

 

Thanks in advance,

Mike

If the voyage currency is AU$, then all billing will be in AU$.  When we cruised down under, some charges were simply relabeled from US$ to AU$ (IRRC Crown Grill had a AU$29 cover charge instead of the US$29 I am used to), and others (internet) were scaled up from US$ to AU$.  All I can give you is a definite "YMMV".

 

One item that confuses folks is stockholders' OBC.  Carnival sets SOBC by region, and the value set for Oceana is coïncidentally the same number as for North America, but in AU$ instead of US$.

[skynight]

The way I understand it

If you purchase the cruise in North America then the fare , port fees and taxes will be charged in US$. You will also be charged a hotel gratuity of US$14.50/pp/day which covers waiters, cabin stewards, buffet stewards and other housekeeping staff. Those that purchase the same voyage in Australia will have their gratuities included in the fare. If you pre-pay your gratuities in US$ by credit card then you should get the bank rate when the bank converts to CAN$. If you wait until you are on board then the gratuities will be charged in AUD$ and converted eventually to get to CAN$.

Laundry will be charged to your on board account. You purchase tokens in the laundry room with your medallion/cruise card. Princess does not normally have a laundry by the bag deal. In 40 plus cruises I have never seen it offered. If they do it would be advertised in the Princess Patter. A normal bag of laundry, underwear, socks, T's, PJ's cost around US$50/60. Pricing is by the item, not the bag.

On board charges will be in AUS$. These amounts will be charged to your debit or credit card on the day you disembark. I think you will have to call Princess to find out they do the conversion to get to CAN$. You may have to discuss this with passenger services once on board.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, skynight said:

The way I understand it

If you purchase the cruise in North America then the fare , port fees and taxes will be charged in US$. You will also be charged a hotel gratuity of US$14.50/pp/day which covers waiters, cabin stewards, buffet stewards and other housekeeping staff. Those that purchase the same voyage in Australia will have their gratuities included in the fare. If you pre-pay your gratuities in US$ by credit card then you should get the bank rate when the bank converts to CAN$. If you wait until you are on board then the gratuities will be charged in AUD$ and converted eventually to get to CAN$.

Laundry will be charged to your on board account. You purchase tokens in the laundry room with your medallion/cruise card. Princess does not normally have a laundry by the bag deal. In 40 plus cruises I have never seen it offered. If they do it would be advertised in the Princess Patter. A normal bag of laundry, underwear, socks, T's, PJ's cost around US$50/60. Pricing is by the item, not the bag.

On board charges will be in AUS$. These amounts will be charged to your debit or credit card on the day you disembark. I think you will have to call Princess to find out they do the conversion to get to CAN$. You may have to discuss this with passenger services once on board.

Great post except for one thing.  Never have Princess convert the ship's currency to the currency of your credit card.  Best bet is to own a credit card with no foreign currency surcharge (and be charged in AUD - or whatever) for international travel and second best is to simply take the charge in foreign currency (AUD in this case) and let VISA/MC do the conversion - usually around 2.5% surcharge.

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by steelers36

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Haboob said:

IRRC Crown Grill had a AU$29 cover charge instead of the US$29

Nope, not unless it was some time back perhaps.  The cover charge for specialty restaurants, as well as wine, drinks, etc, is all converted up to AUD (and drinks will include the 18% gratuity baked in).

 

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

Nope, not unless it was some time back perhaps.  The cover charge for specialty restaurants, as well as wine, drinks, etc, is all converted up to AUD (and drinks will include the 18% gratuity baked in).

 

 

Just checked my cruises for next fall. We're sailing 33 days on Sapphire out of Melbourne. Oddly enough, the only pre-paid specialty dining they are offering is Sabatini's. There's a Crown Grill on the ship but the personalizer isn't offering that in advance. Not sure what's up with that. Anyway... The pricing shown in my personalizer for Sabatini's is shown below. This is a copy and paste from the personalizer page: 

===========================

Price (AUD)
AU$29.00 per adult | AU$14.50 per child

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

Just checked my cruises for next fall. We're sailing 33 days on Sapphire out of Melbourne. Oddly enough, the only pre-paid specialty dining they are offering is Sabatini's. There's a Crown Grill on the ship but the personalizer isn't offering that in advance. Not sure what's up with that. Anyway... The pricing shown in my personalizer for Sabatini's is shown below. This is a copy and paste from the personalizer page: 

===========================

Price (AUD)
AU$29.00 per adult | AU$14.50 per child

Has to be a mistake in the Personalizer.  I don't recall what ours stated for our NZ cruise back in Feb on Majestic.

 

But I can say with certainty that on the current menus on the Ruby sailing out of AUS, that the Crown Grill selects included in the MDR menu are priced at $24 AUD which compares to $19 USD on sailings where ship currency is USD. 

 

That would put a CG cover charge at about $36 AUD.  Normally, I have my final stateroom bill in my file, but I don't see it for that trip.  In it, would be a charge for La Mer (less than CG) for first night, plus one for CG later in the cruise.  So, I cannot complete the picture with accuracy.

 

I think the Personalizer showed a lot of USD prices before we sailed, even if they stuck a AUD on it????  If indeed you can pre-purchase the CG for $29 AUD and not $29 USD, that would be a good deal if plan to go there anyway.

 

ETA:  Sometimes, Sabatini's is $25 US (e.g. REGAL).  But that would work out to more like $31 AUD.  Your ship is probably $29. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by steelers36

[GUT2407]

I board Majestic on Friday the Princess website currently shows Crown Grill at $29 Aus.

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I board Majestic on Friday the Princess website currently shows Crown Grill at $29 Aus.

If you can, post back here after you are on board and see the actual price.  No way it will be $29 AUD if the MDR upcharge is $24 AUD (and that is a certainty).  

 

If anyone is wondering why I am so certain about this, in general I recall that the CG service charge was more than $29 in AUD on Majestic in FEB 2019.  Also, I follow Yellowfish Cruise blog (CC member @PescadoAmarillo) and she is posting pictures of the MDR menus every day and the CG upcharge amount is clearly posted as $24 AUD. 

 

We all know how "wonderful" Princess IT team is with their website. 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by steelers36

[GUT2407]

I will try and post back, last year it was $29 Aus. 

[racj846]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Just checked my cruises for next fall. We're sailing 33 days on Sapphire out of Melbourne. Oddly enough, the only pre-paid specialty dining they are offering is Sabatini's. There's a Crown Grill on the ship but the personalizer isn't offering that in advance. Not sure what's up with that. Anyway... The pricing shown in my personalizer for Sabatini's is shown below. This is a copy and paste from the personalizer page: 

===========================

Price (AUD)
AU$29.00 per adult | AU$14.50 per child

Hate to tell you this but there is no Crown Grill on the Sapphire!!  Instead they have Sterling Steakhouse, which will be an area curtained off on the starbord side aft in Horizon Court as indicated on the deck plan..

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

Has to be a mistake in the Personalizer.  I don't recall what ours stated for our NZ cruise back in Feb on Majestic.

 

A mistake in the personalizer wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

7 minutes ago, racj846 said:

Hate to tell you this but there is no Crown Grill on the Sapphire!!  Instead they have Sterling Steakhouse, which will be an area curtained off on the starbord side aft in Horizon Court as indicated on the deck plan..

 

D'Oh! Yes, I know that. It was an old people brain fart. I sailed 12 days on Sapphire very recently. I don't generally go to the specialty restaurants anyway as I simply can't eat that much food. The last time we did go to one (Crown Grill on Golden Princess coming back from Alaska this past May) they acted very offended when we not only didn't finish the dinner but didn't want desert. I told them we had eaten until we were full and then stopped. The only reason we were eating there at all was that it was comped as part of our booking.

[Maui Girl]

9 hours ago, Z3r0 said:

This will be my first princess cruise (I've been on 1 Carnival, 2 NCL's, and about 8 or so Royal cruises) and I'm always looking to compare experiences.

 

I'm a little confused with the gratuities on this ship.  The only info I can find only is that a balcony room is $14.50 USD pp/pd, which I'm totally ok with, however my understanding is that all charges on the ship are in $AUD.  Does Princess use their current exchange rate (at time or sailing or pre defined) to set what my gratuities in $AUD are each day, or will they fluctuate (which wouldn't make much sense, but I've seen stranger)?  I'm also trying to determine if it is my best interest to pre-pay my gratuities, but cant calculate that without knowing how they're calculated.

 

I see that there are self laundry services on board and was able to find that the price is about $3AUD to wash/dry and $1.50AUD for detergent, does anyone happen to know what the cost is to have the ship do a bag of laundry?  This will be the first time I'm on a 14 day cruise and I'm trying to keep the weight of my luggage down.

 

Thanks in advance,

Mike

The self service laundry’s on Princess are much more economical than sending it in, especially if you take your own soap pods and dryer sheets with you.  Only problem is trying to find a time when everyone else isn’t doing it.  Early or late or on a port day.  I did see a bag full for a big discount once,  maybe 14 day Panama Canal, but you can’t count on it.    We are doing our first Aus/NZ cruise in early March and I don’t know what to expect, our gratuity’s were part of our booking.  You might try going to the section of your cruise personalizer and click on pre-pay gratuity,  see what it wants to charge you, and if it says USD or AUD .    I do know our onboard credits from booking and military service were automatically “ downgraded “ to the same number in Australian dollars 😔.  
the system seems a bit erratic to me.   

[caribill]

9 hours ago, skynight said:

T

On board charges will be in AUS$. These amounts will be charged to your debit or credit card on the day you disembark. I think you will have to call Princess to find out they do the conversion to get to CAN$. You may have to discuss this with passenger services once on board.

 

Princess has the option for you to either have Princess do the conversion or let your credit card company do the conversion.

 

The correct option is always to let your credit card company do the conversion no matter which currency it would be converted to.

 

If Princess does the conversion it will be at a poor currency exchange rate plus a 3% charge for the "convenience" of letting Princess do it. Many credit cards also tack on a charge of up to 3% for any foreign transactions, so if you let Princess do the conversion with their 3% charge, your credit card company may tack on another 3%.

[toinoi]

6 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

A mistake in the personalizer wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

 

D'Oh! Yes, I know that. It was an old people brain fart. I sailed 12 days on Sapphire very recently. I don't generally go to the specialty restaurants anyway as I simply can't eat that much food. The last time we did go to one (Crown Grill on Golden Princess coming back from Alaska this past May) they acted very offended when we not only didn't finish the dinner but didn't want desert. I told them we had eaten until we were full and then stopped. The only reason we were eating there at all was that it was comped as part of our booking.

 

Don't they just repurpose part of the buffet as the CG? I remember having it on either the Sapphire (out of Singapore) or Diamond! (out of Japan)...

[toinoi]

8 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

I will try and post back, last year it was $29 Aus. 

It wouldn't surprise me if it was @GUT2407!

 

It has gone up now, at AUD35.00 (still a bargain!) for the 15 Dec 2019 sailing at least...

 

 

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, toinoi said:

It wouldn't surprise me if it was @GUT2407!

 

It has gone up now, at AUD35.00 (still a bargain!) for the 15 Dec 2019 sailing at least...

 

 

But still showing at $29 for my cruise on Friday, I will wave as we swap over, we disembark as you embark. But I will check when on board.

[GUT2407]

Reservations have closed it was still showing $29 the other day. Sample menu still shows $29

[mickrory]

We sail on Majestic in February. The drink package to pre book is £49.91 UK pounds. I'm not clear how that figure is arrived at but it seems mighty steep to me.

If I take it I'll wait till I get on board and use up my OBC as part payment.

[JF - retired RRT]

17 hours ago, skynight said:

Laundry will be charged to your on board account. You purchase tokens in the laundry room with your medallion/cruise card. Princess does not normally have a laundry by the bag deal. In 40 plus cruises I have never seen it offered. If they do it would be advertised in the Princess Patter. A normal bag of laundry, underwear, socks, T's, PJ's cost around US$50/60. Pricing is by the item, not the bag.

 

@Z3r0 You could always book a suite.  LOL

Laundry is included.

[Jetstreamer]

(rant warning ...)

 

Regarding the gratuities, you may want to consider having them removed for an Australian sailing as they are applied rather unfairly based on the country you book.  Book in the US or UK and you pay - book in AU or NZ and you don't.

 

Some will argue that they are included in the fare if you book in AU/NZ but I have been keeping ongoing fare comparisons for a selection of cruises booked in the UK and Australia, and I am not seeing the fare increase in the AU market to cover gratuities.

 

Incidentally I just returned from a recent AU sailing on the Golden.  I went to Guest Services on the first night to remove the gratuities.  I was told repeatedly that nobody pays gratuities on AU sailings so I shouldn't worry, I will not be charged.  I said that I booked in the UK so I will be charged and (I wish I'd recorded this!) she said that certainly wouldn't be the case as it would be unfair to just charge people from the UK and not other people.  Anyway 2 hours later the charge hit our account and the new person on the desk removed them without any issue.

 

I know for certain people the thought of removing gratuities is horrifying but in the case of Princess Australia sailings I believe it is justified (I will continue to pay them elsewhere).  Princess are not playing a fair game here and they need to be called out on it.  The tips from UK/US guests don't even go to the people on the ship you are sailing - they go to staff on ships in other parts of the world!!  The only reason they stopped charging gratuities in AU in the first place is that a high proportion of people were removing them as tipping is not culturally appropriate in that part of the world.  As the saying goes, when in Rome ...

 

(end of rant)

 

To steer myself back onto topic, on the Golden last month I felt the prices in AUD were lower than I am used to in USD, when converted to my home currency (GBP).  That might be an exchange thing of course.  With the CAD/USD exchange rate the way it is you might see a similar benefit when the AUD is converted to CAD.  And of course, never let Princess do the conversion!

 

 

[Maui Girl]

1 hour ago, mickrory said:

We sail on Majestic in February. The drink package to pre book is £49.91 UK pounds. I'm not clear how that figure is arrived at but it seems mighty steep to me.

If I take it I'll wait till I get on board and use up my OBC as part payment.

According to the fine print, the price onboard is 86.99 AUD.  If that is true, waiting until then is a substantially better deal, about 46 GBP.   Still ridiculous, but better 😉

[toinoi]

6 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Reservations have closed it was still showing $29 the other day. Sample menu still shows $29

 

Yep, I saw the sample menu too, but I "trust" the Personalizer that wants me to pay hard dollars ;) I've found the menus are sometimes horribly out of date on other cruiselines.

 

Let us know how much you get charged!

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, toinoi said:

 

Yep, I saw the sample menu too, but I "trust" the Personalizer that wants me to pay hard dollars 😉 I've found the menus are sometimes horribly out of date on other cruiselines.

 

Let us know how much you get charged!

It has vanished from our personaliser but was at $29 till it did, now did it disappear because we are so close to sailing or because of a price change I don’t know. Not sure we will do the grill, Mrs Gut now follows a Vegan or Vegetarian diet due to pancreas and seems a bit of a waste to pay extra for what she can get in the buffet or MDR anyway. When she was still a carnivore we did it almost every cruise, unless it was a ship where it was tucked away in the buffet, again we felt for the extra $$$ There should be some ambiance.