How much are "free gratuities" worth?

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, CruisinCouple2010 said:

Hi Thrak  

 

I just wanted to ask on ships that do have milkshakes at the ice cream bar are those milk shakes included in the beverage package? I have read all the drinks included on the Princess web site but I don't remember seeing anything about milk shakes.

 

Thanks

 

12 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

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

 

Per the terms and conditions in the link above 

• The package includes all, specialty or premium coffees and teas, hot chocolate, fountain sodas, fresh juices (if available), Gong Cha items (if available), Frappes at Coffee & Cones, mocktails, and smoothies as per the menu, Red Bull and Milk Shakes (if available).

 

 

Ask them for a malt and ask for "lots and lots of malt". It is awesome.

[phabric]

For my upcoming cruises, I am taking Best Value with no perks.  I am Elite with 150 minutes WIFI which is enough for me for the week.  I don’t drink alcohol/wine/coffee/tea.    I purchase the soda package at $107.31 CDN and prepaid the tips of $137.03 CDN for a total of $244.34 CDN, much cheaper.

[CruisinCouple2010]

T

1 hour ago, Paula_MacFan said:

 

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

 

Per the terms and conditions in the link above 

• The package includes all, specialty or premium coffees and teas, hot chocolate, fountain sodas, fresh juices (if available), Gong Cha items (if available), Frappes at Coffee & Cones, mocktails, and smoothies as per the menu, Red Bull and Milk Shakes (if available).

Thanks my DH will be happy to hear that. Have a wonderful holiday everyone.

[AF-1]

22 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

If you don't drink alcoholic beverages the package is more then needed. The gratuity is a suggestion and can be adjusted, the $15.50 I find to high and decrease it when in a suite and $14.50 to high for a mini suite. These have become profit for the company and the money doesn't go in full into the crew pockets. As an elite tier there is a nice amount of free internet depending on the length of the cruise. SO it's an individual decision what it's all worth to you.

Hi cruzsnooze;  I see by your answer to the op's question regarding tips;  you mention the gratuity does not go fully into the crew pockets;  can you break down where the $15.50 for a suite goes?  I am curious to see who's pockets are being lined.  Thanks

[neverbeenhere]

It’s like all the secrets of the pyramids, it will never be solved to everyone’s satisfaction. 
 

Do what you want—Be who you are. 

[skynight]

50 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Hi cruzsnooze;  I see by your answer to the op's question regarding tips;  you mention the gratuity does not go fully into the crew pockets;  can you break down where the $15.50 for a suite goes?  I am curious to see who's pockets are being lined.  Thanks

Hotel gratuities go into a pooled account. They are then payed out to dining waiters, cabin stewards, and others that support them according to a formula that is not available to Princess' customers. It has been mentioned to me by a high level sr. officer that cabin stewards, waiters etc. are fairly compensated. I have heard, but not confirmed, that amounts received by crew members is related to their reviews. If we have had a good cabin steward, waiter or other crew member that provided us with service we always mention them by name in the review. Hopefully this helps them receive a good review and a full share. 

[triple7tahoe]

I know you are all going to be surprised but I have heard that some folks (countries) don't believe in tipping 🙂  I would guess that might make a difference in your approach to which package one might want to get.

[PaperSniper4]

On 12/20/2020 at 3:00 PM, Thrak said:

Remember that the beverage package includes bottled water - regular bottled water, Perrier, and San Pellegrino - as well as "gun" soda, coffee, tea, etc. It also includes the 18% tax placed on all alcoholic beverages.

 

We never purchased the alcohol package in the past because it was too expensive. With the new program it's a good deal for us. I can start the day with a Vanilla Latte or perhaps a double espresso. I can have a beer at lunch, a glass of vine before dinner, and a drink in the evening. That covers the cost of the daily drink portion of the Princess Plus or Best Sale Ever promotions.  That's not really heavy drinking.  If I'm on a ship with milkshakes available I might have a Vanilla Malt mid-day.

 

If I have just the morning coffee and two drinks in the evening I have covered the cost of the alcohol portion of the promotions. Including the 18% gratuity my two preferred drinks - Chairman of the Board Martini and 24K Gold Margarita - run more than $11 each. For us, it's really not a problem to decide.

Our needs/wants are closer to yours than the OP's, but the value of the Beverage package is the one thing with these "Freebies" that is up to the individual. Princess puts a super-unrealistic value on it, I think $79 per day? That's nuts. For us the package worth is much less, very close to the formula BSE Value=WiFi+Tips+"our assumption of 2 to 4 drinks per day". Even the WiFi is debatable; we never felt the need to have it until our daughter was diagnosed with a chronic condition; now we get the WiFi package. We get that even though we have free WiFi minutes with our Platinum status <I am too lazy to log on/off all the time to limit burning those minutes>. But yeah, it's nice to have the option to have the beverages you describe. My wife "encouraged" me to get the package on our next cruise. 😉

One thing people forgot to do when calculating the cost of these "freebies" is to include ALL costs they expect to have without the package. For me that's 3-6 micro-bottles of booze and perhaps some wine delivered to the cabin. At about $25 per bottle for IMO awful stuff, that is a cost to consider. Of course, countering that is the convenience of having a bottle in the cabin. That's a big deal for me, much less for some.

 

Doug

[PaperSniper4]

On 12/21/2020 at 3:02 AM, caribill said:

 

Those in the platinum tier also have these free Internet minutes.

But one has to remember to log off after using those minutes. Although we have "free" minutes, I found that it was a hassle to log on/off every time, so I just buy the unlimited upgrade. I think it was $60 on our last two 10 days cruises. The need for WiFi is obviously determined by each cruiser; we never needed it until a year or two ago, but circumstances change as you get older sometimes.......

 

Doug

[GonzoWCS]

On 12/20/2020 at 1:28 PM, voljeep said:

The guest folio will reflect the pre-payment, by Princess Cruises, on behalf of the guest for the suggested gratuities in the U.S. dollar amounts of $14.50 per person per day for Interior, Oceanview, and Balcony staterooms, $15.50 per person per day for Mini-suite and Club Class staterooms and $16.50 per person per day for Suites.

Good stuff here.  Thanks

[Iluvmykindle]

Does the specialty drink package include the fresh brewed coffee at the International Cafe?

 

[voljeep]

22 minutes ago, Iluvmykindle said:

Does the specialty drink package include the fresh brewed coffee at the International Cafe?

 

yes - and also any of the 'specialty coffees

[Markanddonna]

We're trying to do a cost/benefit analysis too but our cruise is 28 days. We have T-Mobile which provides very good coverage when overseas, so I don't know how much we would use the internet. The difference between the best price and the upgrade is $2,240. Basic gratuities are $812 and so we need to  consider if $1328 is worth it for the internet and drinks.

 

I sort of smile when reading others comments about how much they drink or don't drink. No judgment of others, but I'd be sleeping through most of the day if I had two drinks. I have low tolerance. Having a drink each day at dinner would be nice.

 

 

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

We're trying to do a cost/benefit analysis too but our cruise is 28 days. We have T-Mobile which provides very good coverage when overseas, so I don't know how much we would use the internet. The difference between the best price and the upgrade is $2,240. Basic gratuities are $812 and so we need to  consider if $1328 is worth it for the internet and drinks.

 

I sort of smile when reading others comments about how much they drink or don't drink. No judgment of others, but I'd be sleeping through most of the day if I had two drinks. I have low tolerance. Having a drink each day at dinner would be nice.

 

 

Ditto on all of your points made.  Check your drink package.  I was reviewing HAL's included package and it does not cover the dining room.  Of course you can always carry your drink from the bar.  Most of the drink packages also include the specialty coffees, soda pop and few other items which may impact your decision, but again not mine.  On a 28 day cruise you may have a lot of sea days and T-mobile is not good at sea so it comes down to how much you need to be in contact.  

 

You can also look on Princess to review the costs of the wine packages for dinner.  The last 28 day cruise we took we bought 6 bottles for the dining room.  Otherwise we took advantage of happy hour specials, usually 2 for 1.  

[pms4104]

10 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Ditto on all of your points made.  Check your drink package.  I was reviewing HAL's included package and it does not cover the dining room.  Of course you can always carry your drink from the bar.  Most of the drink packages also include the specialty coffees, soda pop and few other items which may impact your decision, but again not mine.  On a 28 day cruise you may have a lot of sea days and T-mobile is not good at sea so it comes down to how much you need to be in contact.  

 

You can also look on Princess to review the costs of the wine packages for dinner.  The last 28 day cruise we took we bought 6 bottles for the dining room.  Otherwise we took advantage of happy hour specials, usually 2 for 1.  

Happy hour with BOGO disappeared couple years ago

[dog]

42 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

We're trying to do a cost/benefit analysis too but our cruise is 28 days. We have T-Mobile which provides very good coverage when overseas, so I don't know how much we would use the internet. The difference between the best price and the upgrade is $2,240. Basic gratuities are $812 and so we need to  consider if $1328 is worth it for the internet and drinks.

 

I sort of smile when reading others comments about how much they drink or don't drink. No judgment of others, but I'd be sleeping through most of the day if I had two drinks. I have low tolerance. Having a drink each day at dinner would be nice.

 

 

Not worth it to you. Buy extra internet as needed you can bring on soda & water plus 1 bottle wine each for cabin. 

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, pms4104 said:

Happy hour with BOGO disappeared couple years ago

HAL and Oceania still has some happy hour special which was good enough for us.  They also have evening appetizers and wine with a goodly glass of wine for $5.  I haven't sailed Princess since 2017 so not up to date

Edited December 22, 2020 by Mary229

[caribill]

3 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

But one has to remember to log off after using those minutes. Although we have "free" minutes, I found that it was a hassle to log on/off every time, so I just buy the unlimited upgrade. I think it was $60 on our last two 10 days cruises. The need for WiFi is obviously determined by each cruiser; we never needed it until a year or two ago, but circumstances change as you get older sometimes.......

 

Doug

 

Yes, signing on and off is a bit of extra effort. On cruises where we have had unlimited internet it was quite nice to skip the sign on/off effort.

 

However, there is no need for the two of us to each have an Internet package. Although there is the sign on effort to switch users, it is quick to do. (And signing one on automatically signs the other off, so no sign off effort is needed.) So for us, if we do get unlimited, purchasing it for one of us is sufficient.

 

What bothers me about the way Princess has done it is that they have promoted the Platinum/Elite Internet benefit as a great benefit and in the past many said it was the best perk of loyalty status. But the Princess+ package basically eliminates that benefit. The small discount (about $1.07 a day less for a seven day cruise) Princess now gives Platinum/Elite passengers without Princess+ who separately purchase an unlimited Internet package is worth far less than what Princess used to charge for those who had to purchase minutes.

[skynight]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

Ditto on all of your points made.  Check your drink package.  I was reviewing HAL's included package and it does not cover the dining room.  Of course you can always carry your drink from the bar.  Most of the drink packages also include the specialty coffees, soda pop and few other items which may impact your decision, but again not mine.  On a 28 day cruise you may have a lot of sea days and T-mobile is not good at sea so it comes down to how much you need to be in contact.  

 

You can also look on Princess to review the costs of the wine packages for dinner.  The last 28 day cruise we took we bought 6 bottles for the dining room.  Otherwise we took advantage of happy hour specials, usually 2 for 1.  

Princess' Premier Beverage Package does indeed cover drinks in the DR and basically any where on the ship. It does exclude room service. It also covers specialty coffees and fountain sodas. The $12 limit refers to the menu price and 90 to 95% of all alcoholic beverages on the ship are at or below the $12. Here are the actual terms and conditions:

https://www.princess.com/html/global/personalizer/ssv/beverages/disclaimer/

[taxmantoo]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

... Check your drink package.  I was reviewing HAL's included package and it does not cover the dining room....

Incorrect.  HAL's beverage package has ALWAYS included drinks in the Main Dining Room including specialty coffees and after-dinner liqueurs.  It does not cover drinks for In Room Dining which you may have confused for Main Dining Room.

[Mary229]

16 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

Incorrect.  HAL's beverage package has ALWAYS included drinks in the Main Dining Room including specialty coffees and after-dinner liqueurs.  It does not cover drinks for In Room Dining which you may have confused for Main Dining Room.

Could be, I might have misread.  It is my first time with a drink package, not being  much of a drinker

[pms4104]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

HAL and Oceania still has some happy hour special which was good enough for us.  They also have evening appetizers and wine with a goodly glass of wine for $5.  I haven't sailed Princess since 2017 so not up to date

The subject here is Princess policies.

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, pms4104 said:

The subject here is Princess policies.

Perhaps and I certainly did not imply there was , I said it would be worth checking for light drinkers like myself and the person I was responding to.  

[cruzsnooze]

21 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Hi cruzsnooze;  I see by your answer to the op's question regarding tips;  you mention the gratuity does not go fully into the crew pockets;  can you break down where the $15.50 for a suite goes?  I am curious to see who's pockets are being lined.  Thanks

Some to Princess under the guise of administrative costs. Crew is paid based on length of service and reviews and seniority amoung other considerations, NOT based on what you were charges via the auto gratuity. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by cruzsnooze

[AF-1]

cruzsnooze;  thanks for your explanation