Princess Plus fare

[jimbo1683]

Having narrowed down my first cruise to (likely) a cruise on Sky Princess to the Baltic thanks to some very helpful input in a previous question I have a specific question: Princess offers the Princess Plus fare which at 30USD per day including drinks package, wifi, speciality dining and crew incentive seems very good value. I think the crew incentive which is included in the Princess Plus fare pays for just the daily service charge. Assuming I need to pay extra for the tips for drinks and speciality dining, will I pay tips on what I consume, or will I pay tips on the full value of the package?

 

I ask this because I was keen on a NCL cruise for a similar price however that cruise didn't include tips and I noticed in the Ts&Cs that I would be required to pay the daily service charge (fair enough), plus a 20% tip on the full value of the drinks package (which is worth $99 per day) and tips on speciality dining. I doubt very much that I would consume $99 worth of drinks each day so I'm not sure why I would be expected to pay tips for drinks I don't order. 

[memoak]

The princess drink package includes tips on drinks -

[trey420]

30 a day is great price.  All included in that price too.

[donswife]

$30 per day is a great price, it is usually $40. It includes all gratuities for dining and for drinks packages. 

[jimbo1683]

I got it wrong it's actually £30 which is $41. Still, very good value in my opinion

[CineGraphic]

8 minutes ago, donswife said:

It includes all gratuities for dining

 

Most of us tip for specialty dining as well.

[AZjohn]

30 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

I ask this because I was keen on a NCL cruise for a similar price however that cruise didn't include tips and I noticed in the Ts&Cs that I would be required to pay the daily service charge (fair enough), plus a 20% tip on the full value of the drinks package (which is worth $99 per day) and tips on speciality dining

Perfect example of why we all should read and ask about the small written details. As you see, Princess inclusive deal is so much better than NCL's. Good job!

[nini]

Trust ALL of us when we say that $30.00 per day is a fantastic rate for this! It is usually $40.00 per day which is also really good when you consider a typical day for me:

$14.50 Staff Gratuities

$   5.00  Morning Specialty Espresso Beverage

$23.60  Two Glasses of Wine in the Evening which includes Gratuity

This totals $43.10 and I have not counted any WiFi fees

 

IMHO, NCL is very expensive!

 

[pms4104]

12 minutes ago, nini said:

Trust ALL of us when we say that $30.00 per day is a fantastic rate for this! It is usually $40.00 per day which is also really good when you consider a typical day for me:

$14.50 Staff Gratuities

$   5.00  Morning Specialty Espresso Beverage

$23.60  Two Glasses of Wine in the Evening which includes Gratuity

This totals $43.10 and I have not counted any WiFi fees

 

IMHO, NCL is very expensive!

 

The OP confirmed $40/pp/day.

[nini]

6 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

The OP confirmed $40/pp/day.

Got it. I blanked out on the pounds to dollars translation.

At least my example states the case.

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Most of us tip for specialty dining as well.

Most of us don't. What is your proof before making such sweeping statements? The tip is already in the upcharge AND you've paid a second time if you pay your daily auto gratuity so why tip a third time on the same meal?

[CineGraphic]

1 minute ago, cruzsnooze said:

What is your proof before making such sweeping statements?

 

I based this on my recollection of the countless replies of numerous threads over the years on this very subject.

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

I based this on my recollection of the countless replies of numerous threads over the years on this very subject.

But the respondents on CC are a minute percentage of overall cruisers. Just because posters here say they tip, you cannot extrapolate that to include all cruisers.

Unless the wait staff give service over and above the norm, there is no need to tip.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, CineGraphic said:

 

Most of us tip for specialty dining as well.

Specialty restaurant servers are part of the regular gratuities pool, no need to tip again. If you go there often and get great service from the same servers then you may want to give an extra tip to them.  If we eat all the time in club class and have the same servers every night then we do tip extra on the last night of the cruise if service has been excellent (which it usually is)

[CineGraphic]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

But the respondents on CC are a minute percentage of overall cruisers. Just because posters here say they tip, you cannot extrapolate that to include all cruisers.

Unless the wait staff give service over and above the norm, there is no need to tip.

 

I also base this on my personal observations while dining in the Crown Grill and Sabatini's.

There may be no need, but most of whom I've observed in the dining room, or read about on CC, do tip.

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

I also base this on my personal observations while dining in the Crown Grill and Sabatini's.

There may be no need, but most of whom I've observed in the dining room, or read about on CC, do tip.

That may be the case with US clientele,  but is not the case with other nationalities. 

[memoak]

45 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

I also base this on my personal observations while dining in the Crown Grill and Sabatini's.

There may be no need, but most of whom I've observed in the dining room, or read about on CC, do tip.

Then do they tip out the waiters in the MDR extra on each evening or do they not realize the the tips are split with all the waiters including those in the specialty restaurants. 

[leck57]

Please let's not have yet another debate about tips. The OP's question was about the Princess Plus inclusions which includes tips but we don't need to divert in to a discussion about Specialty Dining and tipping. 

I think Princess Plus is extremely good value for us. A couple of drinks and the Wi-Fi inclusion covers the cost for us.

[OnePsychLynne]

For the specialty dining perk... it's $160 per cabin you get to spend or $160 per person? 

[Pink-belle]

10 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

Having narrowed down my first cruise to (likely) a cruise on Sky Princess to the Baltic thanks to some very helpful input in a previous question I have a specific question: Princess offers the Princess Plus fare which at 30USD per day including drinks package, wifi, speciality dining and crew incentive seems very good value. I think the crew incentive which is included in the Princess Plus fare pays for just the daily service charge. Assuming I need to pay extra for the tips for drinks and speciality dining, will I pay tips on what I consume, or will I pay tips on the full value of the package?

 

I ask this because I was keen on a NCL cruise for a similar price however that cruise didn't include tips and I noticed in the Ts&Cs that I would be required to pay the daily service charge (fair enough), plus a 20% tip on the full value of the drinks package (which is worth $99 per day) and tips on speciality dining. I doubt very much that I would consume $99 worth of drinks each day so I'm not sure why I would be expected to pay tips for drinks I don't order. 

Princess Plus Fare does not usually cover Speciality Dining, did you find that as a special promotion?

 

It does cover, WiFi, crew gratuity, and the premier drinks package, including the service charge for drinks under US$12.  If you chose a drink over $12 you will pay the difference plus the service charge on that difference.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

Princess Plus Fare does not usually cover Speciality Dining, did you find that as a special promotion?

I would respectfully suggest that the OP is wrong about the speciality dining. I have never seen it offered, and it would be physically impossible to offer, given the uptake of PP and the sizes of  the speciality restaurants. 

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I would respectfully suggest that the OP is wrong about the speciality dining. I have never seen it offered, and it would be physically impossible to offer, given the uptake of PP and the sizes of  the speciality restaurants. 

I remember it being part of a BSE promotion this spring, which is probably what the OP is referring to. Either that or it’s a reference to the prepaid gratuities (crew incentives) which I thought covers only MDR and cabin staff. 

[Daniel A]

5 hours ago, Pink-belle said:

Princess Plus Fare does not usually cover Speciality Dining, did you find that as a special promotion?

 

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

I would respectfully suggest that the OP is wrong about the speciality dining. I have never seen it offered, and it would be physically impossible to offer, given the uptake of PP and the sizes of  the speciality restaurants. 

When I first read that in OP's original post, I immediately assumed that the OP was confusing the specialty dining perk in the NCL Free At Sea promo as being in the Princess Plus package instead.

[Steelers36]

Princess does offer a free SD credit promotion at various times and AFAIK it isn't limited.  Certainly if half the ship booked using such a promo, there would be a crush on the SD restaurants.  But it is definitely not part of Princess PLUS - when offered, it is a separate perk like OBC or EZ-Air credit.

[Daniel A]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Princess does offer a free SD credit promotion at various times and AFAIK it isn't limited.  Certainly if half the ship booked using such a promo, there would be a crush on the SD restaurants.  But it is definitely not part of Princess PLUS - when offered, it is a separate perk like OBC or EZ-Air credit.

Many travel agents will also gift some specialty dinners when booking through them.