DRINK PRICES AND TIPS

[Boiler Cruiser]

I think I know the answer to this question, but would like to see if I'm right.

 

Is the 15% gratuity included in the price of a drink on board ship?  Do the gratuities vary depending on where on board you by your beer, mixed drink, bourbon or single malt scotch?

 

Thanks.

[reedprincess]

On ships where the onboard currency is USD, 18% is added to the menu price of a drink, across the board at any bar, dining venues, etc. 

On ships where the onboard currency is AUS, the price listed on the menu is the total price, there's no Gratuity added on at purchase.

AUS ships are based in Australia/NZ. All other ships, regardless of where they're sailing, are in USD..  

[Colo Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

I think I know the answer to this question, but would like to see if I'm right.

 

Is the 15% gratuity included in the price of a drink on board ship?  Do the gratuities vary depending on where on board you by your beer, mixed drink, bourbon or single malt scotch?

 

Thanks.

No its 18% all over the ship charged on top of the drink price unless you have the Premium Beverage Package then it is added when you pay for the package.

[kywildcatfanone]

Yes, gratuties are included in all drinks/specialty restaurants charges

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yes, gratuties are included in all drinks/specialty restaurants charges

They are? When did this change?

 

[Thrak]

5 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yes, gratuties are included in all drinks/specialty restaurants charges

 

2 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

They are? When did this change?

 

 

They are included in the charges but not in the menu price - unless on an Australian-based cruise. The answer was not clear.

[kywildcatfanone]

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/

 

Terms and conditions. 

[skynight]

5 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

They are? When did this change?

 

Every beverage alcoholic or non alcoholic has 18% added to the menu price. Beverage packages include the 18% gratuity in the original price. Australia based cruises excluded. Specialty restaurant charges do not include the gratuity. That gratuity is paid as part of the daily auto-tip. Again Australia based cruises excluded.

Edited January 19, 2020 by skynight

[Colo Cruiser]

8 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/food-and-dining/beverages/

 

Terms and conditions. 

Gratuities are not included when you buy a drink individually It is added when you pay.

Are you assuming the OP has a drink package? 

See Post #6

It is added when you pay. 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, skynight said:

Every beverage alcoholic or non alcoholic has 18% added to the menu price. Beverage packages include the 18% gratuity in the original price. Australia based cruises excluded. Specialty restaurant charges do not include the gratuity. That gratuity is paid as part of the daily auto-tip. Again Australia based cruises excluded.

Thats what I said.  🤔

[kywildcatfanone]

I don't understand your being argumentative.  If I buy a drink onboard, gratuities is automatically added to it. I'm not aware of any drink you buy onboard that doesn't have a gratuity added by default.

1 hour ago, Boiler Cruiser said:

Is the 15% gratuity included in the price of a drink on board ship? 

This is what the OP asked, and as others have said, yes, 18% is added. 

[Colo Cruiser]

Exactly what I said. 🙄

[Phantom of the Seas]

What if....all cocktails & wine (glass) prices increase next year over $12 per drink in 2021 and have a sailing on the Ruby next January with PBP......will we pay the difference or have to pay full price?......

[RMMariner]

I was under the impression that for drinks over the $12, when you had the PBP, that you only paid the difference. Meaning a $13 drink would be charged $1, not $13. I hope this is the case. We have the BSE for our next three cruises, and I would be quite disappointed if any drink over $12 was charged at full price.

 

 

[hobbyfarmer2]

4 minutes ago, RMMariner said:

I was under the impression that for drinks over the $12, when you had the PBP, that you only paid the difference. Meaning a $13 drink would be charged $1, not $13. I hope this is the case. We have the BSE for our next three cruises, and I would be quite disappointed if any drink over $12 was charged at full price.

 

 

My impression as well.  OP uses term "price" in their question without explicitly stating menu price.  This is the cause of the confusion in this thread despite OP probably implying menu price in the question.  OK was also under impression of 15, not 18%.  You have to be precise when dealing with Princess fine print.

[polmcs]

4 hours ago, RMMariner said:

I was under the impression that for drinks over the $12, when you had the PBP, that you only paid the difference. Meaning a $13 drink would be charged $1, not $13. I hope this is the case. We have the BSE for our next three cruises, and I would be quite disappointed if any drink over $12 was charged at full price.

 

 

In your example, even if you had the PBP, you would charged $1.18 for a drink that shows $13 on the menu. You have to pay the 18% gratuity on the amount over the $12 limit (and sales tax on that overage if still in a port where sales tax is collected)

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, RMMariner said:

I was under the impression that for drinks over the $12, when you had the PBP, that you only paid the difference. Meaning a $13 drink would be charged $1, not $13. I hope this is the case. We have the BSE for our next three cruises, and I would be quite disappointed if any drink over $12 was charged at full price.

 

 

This is handled differently by each ship.

Sometimes you pay the difference sometimes you pay full price for the drink. 
It is not consistent.

I don’t think I have ever ordered a drink over the $12 limit.

[Thrak]

40 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

This is handled differently by each ship.

Sometimes you pay the difference sometimes you pay full price for the drink. 
It is not consistent.

I don’t think I have ever ordered a drink over the $12 limit.

 

Nor have I but Princess has changed the wine offerings and I get the impression from postings here on CC that many of the new offerings are higher priced which is leading to issues. I will find out how it works in November but will probably just find a wine we like that fits within the boundaries of the package.

[disneyochem]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Nor have I but Princess has changed the wine offerings and I get the impression from postings here on CC that many of the new offerings are higher priced which is leading to issues. I will find out how it works in November but will probably just find a wine we like that fits within the boundaries of the package.

We had the Gold Wine Package on the Grand Princess this January.  We ordered a bottle of wine that was $1 over.  Princess charged us for the full price of the wine ($46) and then credited us $45.  No added taxes.

 

Seemed like a pretty laborious process but bottom line is that we paid the $1......

[hobbyfarmer2]

19 hours ago, disneyochem said:

We had the Gold Wine Package on the Grand Princess this January.  We ordered a bottle of wine that was $1 over.  Princess charged us for the full price of the wine ($46) and then credited us $45.  No added taxes.

 

Seemed like a pretty laborious process but bottom line is that we paid the $1......

I think the good Lord  in the Sermon on the Mount stated that "......the accountants shall inherit the earth"  (sic)

[voljeep]

19 hours ago, disneyochem said:

We had the Gold Wine Package on the Grand Princess this January.  We ordered a bottle of wine that was $1 over.  Princess charged us for the full price of the wine ($46) and then credited us $45.  No added taxes.

 

Seemed like a pretty laborious process but bottom line is that we paid the $1......

inventory … sales … cost of goods sold … sales tax … blah, blah, blah 

[greenie082756]

On our last cruise we bought a bottle of wine in the MDR. I was so surprised that they charged an 18% gratuity because they said they got it from Vines. Yeah, right. That's the way the charges were explained to me. I was also told that explanation was on the wine menu in the MDR. I looked. It is not. 

 

I do not remember being charged gratuity on a wine bottle in the last few years (2015 - 2019). Is this something new? 

 

Because of this tacked on charge we went out of our way to go buy wine and bring it on in each port. Even with the corkage fee in the MDR it still was 1/2 the cost of what we paid for from their "wine menu".  Since they have changed the wine menu, IMHO, the selections are expensive. 

 

[windsor26]

34 minutes ago, greenie082756 said:

On our last cruise we bought a bottle of wine in the MDR. I was so surprised that they charged an 18% gratuity because they said they got it from Vines. Yeah, right. That's the way the charges were explained to me. I was also told that explanation was on the wine menu in the MDR. I looked. It is not. 

 

I do not remember being charged gratuity on a wine bottle in the last few years (2015 - 2019). Is this something new? 

 

Because of this tacked on charge we went out of our way to go buy wine and bring it on in each port. Even with the corkage fee in the MDR it still was 1/2 the cost of what we paid for from their "wine menu".  Since they have changed the wine menu, IMHO, the selections are expensive. 

 

Just checking as only used to Australian rule  BUT  this year we are going on a half world which is obviously in US$  Can we therefore (as suggested in your message) bring on wine at EACH port if we want to  - not permitted on Australian based routes can only bring on at embarkation

[greenie082756]

23 hours ago, windsor26 said:

Just checking as only used to Australian rule  BUT  this year we are going on a half world which is obviously in US$  Can we therefore (as suggested in your message) bring on wine at EACH port if we want to  - not permitted on Australian based routes can only bring on at embarkation

We brought 2 bottles on several times and let them know it was wine. They said enjoy. We of course took them to the MDR and was charged the corkage fee as expected.

[windsor26]

2 minutes ago, greenie082756 said:

We brought 2 bottles on several times and let them know it was wine. They said enjoy. We of course took them to the MDR and was charged the corkage fee as expected.

Thank you  that might be what we can do during the European part of our cruise later this year