New Princess Speak

[Steelers36]

I was just checking pricing on our Fall 2022 suite of cruises and prices have jumped up quite a bit - seemingly coincident with the cancellation of more voyages and the latest sales promo, Indulge at Sea.  Meanwhile the new promo is offering $25 or $50 pp OBC.  But, I noticed that the included "Gratuities" in Princess Plus are now termed "Crew Incentive".  By any other name .....

[greenie082756]

I know. I was scratching my head there for a moment then a light bulb went off! Oh! Gratuities now have a new terminology.  

Next is a new motto for Princess. Come back new is old. Time for a new one!

[LACruiser88]

We have 7 cruises booked thru April of 2023.  All have gone up in price since we booked.  A couple have gone up $1,000 per person!

[Sea Hag]

I never can figure out why when there's a perfectly good, universally understood word for something people feel compelled to start using a new word instead. 

[ebeluga]

6 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

I never can figure out why when there's a perfectly good, universally understood word for something people feel compelled to start using a new word instead. 

I wonder if in this case, crew incentive is compulsory and gratuity is voluntary and is on top of it.

[beg3yrs]

I doubt this change in terminology will stop the arguments about what used to be called tipping.

[Sea Hag]

14 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

I wonder if in this case, crew incentive is compulsory and gratuity is voluntary and is on top of it.

Interesting notion. Guess we'll see how that pans out.

[c-boy]

6 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

I doubt this change in terminology will stop the arguments about what used to be called tipping.

undoubtebly some one who sits in the board room was reading these thread topics on tipping. 

[CineGraphic]

I just came here to post the same thing....crew incentive!

I wonder what the thinking is behind this.

[Steelers36]

34 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

I wonder if in this case, crew incentive is compulsory and gratuity is voluntary and is on top of it.

I don't think so, but some lightbulb in the Ivory Tower perhaps thought less people would opt out with the term Crew Incentive, rather than Gratuity which has a built-in optional history. 

 

Perhaps they should have renamed it to:  Passenger Contribution to the Crew Payroll.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Steelers36

[Baystate]

On our last cruise in the fall of 2019 the waiters were openly telling us to tip in cash at specialty restaurants because the written amount on a bill would be pooled with the rest of the ship. My husband didn't have any cash on him and was going to write it in, but was so turned off that he didn't write anything. Now, we are good tippers and if we're brought a drink, etc he'll give them a dollar or so, but the whole cruise it seemed people were fishing for something extra. I hope that doesn't ever repeat itself. It was such a turn off

[Steelers36]

49 minutes ago, Baystate said:

On our last cruise in the fall of 2019 the waiters were openly telling us to tip in cash at specialty restaurants because the written amount on a bill would be pooled with the rest of the ship. My husband didn't have any cash on him and was going to write it in, but was so turned off that he didn't write anything. Now, we are good tippers and if we're brought a drink, etc he'll give them a dollar or so, but the whole cruise it seemed people were fishing for something extra. I hope that doesn't ever repeat itself. It was such a turn off

For one, never experienced this on Princess.

 

[simong]

that sounds like the crew will not get the full "tip" amount and the drinks do not include tip it will be added, this sounds like a reduction of this promotion

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

For one, never experienced this on Princess.

 

I agree  - never experienced this.

However, on our last Princess cruise,  the waiters, bar staff etc did seem to enjoy some banter, and we had some good times with tube crew.

 Perhaps it was our British charm, but we never tipped, and as Brits we were very much in the minority on  that particular cruise, but we found that we were consistently greeted all around the ship, and we got exceptional service.

Obviously, at the end of the cruise we did the right thing with regards to gratuities, , but it shows that it is more important to be nice, rather than flashing the cash.

[4hunters]

1 hour ago, Baystate said:

On our last cruise in the fall of 2019 the waiters were openly telling us to tip in cash at specialty restaurants because the written amount on a bill would be pooled with the rest of the ship. My husband didn't have any cash on him and was going to write it in, but was so turned off that he didn't write anything. Now, we are good tippers and if we're brought a drink, etc he'll give them a dollar or so, but the whole cruise it seemed people were fishing for something extra. I hope that doesn't ever repeat itself. It was such a turn off

I've not experienced that on Princess, or any other cruise line I've sailed on.

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

rather than flashing the cash.

not sure where posters have been where flashing the cash is used 😉, but we tip, and very discreetly at that - I suspect  noone knows except the person we tipped

[Ride-The-Waves]

1 hour ago, Baystate said:

On our last cruise in the fall of 2019 the waiters were openly telling us to tip in cash at specialty restaurants because the written amount on a bill would be pooled with the rest of the ship. My husband didn't have any cash on him and was going to write it in, but was so turned off that he didn't write anything. Now, we are good tippers and if we're brought a drink, etc he'll give them a dollar or so, but the whole cruise it seemed people were fishing for something extra. I hope that doesn't ever repeat itself. It was such a turn off

Has been a standard practice for some time on many lines.  Crew are cautioned on discussing this with passengers.  Always carry about $100 in $20s to recognize exemplary service, especially in specialty restaurants.  Its easy.

[Ride-The-Waves]

3 minutes ago, voljeep said:

not sure where posters have been where flashing the cash is used 😉, but we tip, and very discreetly at that - I suspect  noone knows except the person we tipped

"Flashing cash" is extremely boorish.  Its always done quietly and with respect for the recipient.

[wowzz]

20 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

"Flashing cash" is extremely boorish.  Its always done quietly and with respect for the recipient.

I'm sure that is what you do, but from a European point of view, many others seem to think that waving dollar bills is the way to go.

[skynight]

Tenders became water shuttles a few years ago. Tender Service or Water Shuttle no matter what it's called, necessary but unpopular. 

[pris993]

3 hours ago, Baystate said:

On our last cruise in the fall of 2019 the waiters were openly telling us to tip in cash at specialty restaurants because the written amount on a bill would be pooled with the rest of the ship. My husband didn't have any cash on him and was going to write it in, but was so turned off that he didn't write anything. Now, we are good tippers and if we're brought a drink, etc he'll give them a dollar or so, but the whole cruise it seemed people were fishing for something extra. I hope that doesn't ever repeat itself. It was such a turn off

On our Feb cruise 2019, we were told by staff in the Crown Grill to tip in cash vs write in because "write ins" go to the pool.  We eat at the Crown Grill often, so we did tip in cash after staff advised us.  Did not have anyone else fish for anything extra.  We want the tip to go to staff who serviced us, happy to do so in cash, this of course is in addition to the auto tip.  

 

[jennybenny]

I saw that too and thought, hmmm, an attempt to get people to stop removing gratuities???

Now they are crew incentives? 🤷🏻‍♀️So it sounds worse if you try to remove crew incentives?  
 

[Baystate]

That was the first time it ever happened to us. We were on a Regal repositioning cruise from Brooklyn to Florida. 

 

Oh, and we don't flash cash, but we do tip extra

[2 cruises a year]

4 hours ago, skynight said:

Tenders became water shuttles a few years ago. Tender Service or Water Shuttle no matter what it's called, necessary but unpopular. 

The Purser's Desk became Passenger Services.  They seem to be getting away from traditional nautical terms.

[caribill]

11 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

I doubt this change in terminology will stop the arguments about what used to be called tipping.

 

It is time now to open up a thread about "crew incentive" and forget the one about tipping.