Q & A for those cruising Princess June 16, 19, 23 & 26 out of Brisbane

[Cbtours]

I'm sure I read about this "somewhere" but I realise that crew appreciation sounds different than the gratuities we've always known. But my understanding is that Australian cruises include this in the fare. Can anyone confirm if crew appreciation is also included for Aussies. We have not got the Princess PLus fare (as we don't drink so didn't think it would be worth it)

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

I'm sure I read about this "somewhere" but I realise that crew appreciation sounds different than the gratuities we've always known. But my understanding is that Australian cruises include this in the fare. Can anyone confirm if crew appreciation is also included for Aussies. We have not got the Princess PLus fare (as we don't drink so didn't think it would be worth it)

The crew appreciation (gratuities) is definitely included in the fare for Aussies & NZ'ers on Australian-based cruises.

[Cbtours]

On my daily check of Princess website for any updates on protocols etc I notice all cruises on this question appear to be "currently unavailable" meaning they are sold out as far as I know.

[Cbtours]

This is a long shot, but we have the same suite for 3 of our 4 B2B, the second one we have to move right across the hallway right opposite. If the person on 19-23 June is on here and in a suite (C628) would be willing to swap to C643 you can have the contents of our mini bar!!!! Unless you are of course on B2B yourself and need to swap otherwise. Its a long shot I know but thought I might as well try, It is a change to starboard but I figure there's not much to see from either side but SEA

[Cbtours]

5 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

The crew appreciation (gratuities) is definitely included in the fare for Aussies & NZ'ers on Australian-based cruises.

It occurred to me that they sounded like two different payments. I know the gratuities always were but the crew appreciation sounded like a whole new thing so wasn't sure.

[Aussieflyer]

14 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

I guess the new burning question for @Cbtours is this:
Have Princess changed their protocol from Attesting to a Negative Self Administered RAT to a Supervised RAT. Or do we just to upload a photo of our Negative RAT? And is it 24 or 48 hours now?
 

Yes interested to know as my Medallion app is showing we have to upload the Neg RAT result. If so this seems to have changed from the information provided by Princess earlier.

[NSWP]

3 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

It occurred to me that they sounded like two different payments. I know the gratuities always were but the crew appreciation sounded like a whole new thing so wasn't sure.

'Crew Appreciation' just a new buzz word dreamed up by the Carnival/Princess bean counters lol.  Perhaps it sounds more friendly than gratuities/tipping. But at the end of the day it is a wage subsidy and for Aus/NZ Princess cruisers it is built into your overall cruise cost so as one cannot line up at the Pursers desk and remove them lol. As some did !!!!

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by NSWP

[Cbtours]

6 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Yes interested to know as my Medallion app is showing we have to upload the Neg RAT result. If so this seems to have changed from the information provided by Princess earlier.

We are all watching this one keenly and hoping it has just been a copy and paste from the US site and will update soon for Aussies.

[Aus Traveller]

14 minutes ago, Cbtours said:

It occurred to me that they sounded like two different payments. I know the gratuities always were but the crew appreciation sounded like a whole new thing so wasn't sure.

I think that Princess has simply changed the name of this wage subsidy to make people feel better about paying it. On Australian-based cruises the crew's base remuneration is much higher than on cruises where the auto gratuity makes up the bulk of their remuneration.

[Aus Traveller]

15 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

Yes interested to know as my Medallion app is showing we have to upload the Neg RAT result. If so this seems to have changed from the information provided by Princess earlier.

I wish they wouldn't keep changing their protocols. I am hoping the instruction about uploading the neg RAT result, will revert to what it was in the webinar - attest to a neg result.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

But at the end of the day it is a wage subsidy

 

Since there is no way to know how much of the money actually goes to wages, the cruise lines should just call it a service charge.

[Aus Traveller]

19 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Since there is no way to know how much of the money actually goes to wages, the cruise lines should just call it a service charge.

Do away with the gratuity/crew appreciation altogether and pay the crew a reasonable wage. I notice that on the US cruises, passengers report that they are paying tips in addition to the auto-gratuity. In my opinion, that gets to be a problem. Where would it stop???

[NSWP]

12 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Do away with the gratuity/crew appreciation altogether and pay the crew a reasonable wage. I notice that on the US cruises, passengers report that they are paying tips in addition to the auto-gratuity. In my opinion, that gets to be a problem. Where would it stop???

Quite a few Aussies and Kiwis would also pay cash tips to service staff in addition to paying the automatic gratuities, sorry 'Crew Appreciation now, lol.  Trouble is the crew get plenty of $ from the Americans as it is their culture and probably expect the Aussies, Kiwis and Brits to cough up extra too. 

 

As you say, where does it stop?   I have seen Americans give the piano players in the ship's lounges cash tips, over the top in my opinion.  Other Americans told me if you want a good MDR table, tip or is it bribe the Maitre' D/Head Waiters, no way Jose.

[arxcards]

14 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Do away with the gratuity/crew appreciation altogether and pay the crew a reasonable wage. I notice that on the US cruises, passengers report that they are paying tips in addition to the auto-gratuity. In my opinion, that gets to be a problem. Where would it stop???

In the US, that has been the case as long as I remember, and is the same on land. The gratuity is a predetermined amount set by state authorities or awards. The tip on top is an extra appreciation of a job well done, often given in advance hinting they insist the service is well done.

 

It isn't a problem here, as there is no expectation, but we have given extras to crew for being awesome.

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

In the US, that has been the case as long as I remember, and is the same on land. The gratuity is a predetermined amount set by state authorities or awards. The tip on top is an extra appreciation of a job well done, often given in advance hinting they insist the service is well done.

 

It isn't a problem here, as there is no expectation, but we have given extras to crew for being awesome.

Us too!

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

As you say, where does it stop?   I have seen Americans give the piano players in the ship's lounges cash tips, over the top in my opinion.  Other Americans told me if you want a good MDR table, tip or is it bribe the Maitre' D/Head Waiters, no way Jose.

On a long cruise our of Fort Lauderdale that we booked in segments, we found out on the last night of the first segment that we'd 'lost' our table allocation for dinner in the MDR on the second segment. I got dressed again and went to the dining room where I saw a head waiter. He refused to do anything. I was fuming. The next night we went to our old table and spoke to the waitress. She sorted it out. When I mentioned this to some Americans they asked how much I had tipped the head waiter to get our table back. I was stunned. It hadn't occurred to me. As far as I was concerned, the head waiter should be doing his job without being bribed.

[NSWP]

13 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

On a long cruise our of Fort Lauderdale that we booked in segments, we found out on the last night of the first segment that we'd 'lost' our table allocation for dinner in the MDR on the second segment. I got dressed again and went to the dining room where I saw a head waiter. He refused to do anything. I was fuming. The next night we went to our old table and spoke to the waitress. She sorted it out. When I mentioned this to some Americans they asked how much I had tipped the head waiter to get our table back. I was stunned. It hadn't occurred to me. As far as I was concerned, the head waiter should be doing his job without being bribed.

The head waiters in the MDRs, on Princess normally 3 or 4 of them in the sections, have been with the cruise line, 10, 20, 30 years, they know all the lurks, you know like the $. I have met some good ones and ordinary ones.  As I register on booking as Coeliac and take traditional dining (yes I know Princess has got rid of that)  the HW comes over first night with the menus and every night thereafter with the menus, I tick what I want. Some HW's linger at the table, buttering me up, lol,  perhaps after a bribe, lol.  If they have been extra good to me with my GF food selections and advice I will give them an envelope with some $, in appreciation, but not always.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

The head waiters in the MDRs, on Princess normally 3 or 4 of them in the sections, have been with the cruise line, 10, 20, 30 years, they know all the lurks, you know like the $. I have met some good ones and ordinary ones.  As I register on booking as Coeliac and take traditional dining (yes I know Princess has got rid of that)  the HW comes over first night with the menus and every night thereafter with the menus, I tick what I want. Some HW's linger at the table, buttering me up, lol,  perhaps after a bribe, lol.  If they have been extra good to me with my GF food selections and advice I will give them an envelope with some $, in appreciation, but not always.

Traditional dining is gone, but you do have the option of booking same time/same table each night. It can be booked that way through their app, but should also be an option by heading to the dining room after boarding. That is something still worth pursuing for anyone with food allergies. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

38 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Traditional dining is gone, but you do have the option of booking same time/same table each night. It can be booked that way through their app, but should also be an option by heading to the dining room after boarding. That is something still worth pursuing for anyone with food allergies. 

However from what people are saying on the main Princess board this isn't working very well in practice. People aren't getting the same table each night. Going to the MDR after boarding may be more successful.

[arxcards]

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

However from what people are saying on the main Princess board this isn't working very well in practice. People aren't getting the same table each night. Going to the MDR after boarding may be more successful.

True,

The app only gives you the option of the time and size of table, not necessarily the same one. Even after booking on the app, it would be worth a visit to the MDR. 

 

It is worth waiting until after your first night dining, to make sure you like your waiters/other company first.

[Cbtours]

Ok here are the answers from my questions on live chat to Princess today. I have put the basic transcript so it answers a few of our questions at this stage. She had heard nothing about any changes and assured me they have different protocols in US (which I think we all knew).

 

Irene Webber : just to confirm, the app when uploading our vac certs also asked us to upload proof of our negative test. and that details of what we have to do will be available 48 before cruise. If we suddenly had to get supervised tests it would be quite difficult maybe to procure (we are flying into Brisbane from Melbourne. Is it possible a photo taken of our negative test will suffice or as you say it will just be attesting to neg result? and if there is a major change like this will princess notify us or do we just have to check the health protocols every day in case?

[Christine] We are currently just asking guests to attest that the RAT was negative. RATs will be supplied onboard for guests doing back to back cruises for the next cruises You will just need to attest.

[Christine] Checking the health protocols as often as you can is highly recommended. They have different protocols in US

 [Christine] They must be doing something to the app behind the scenes. I am not aware that we need to prove negative results.

[Christine] They do have different protocols in the US.

 

 [Irene Webber] We are travelling B2B for the four cruises, in a full suite. I have never travelled in a suite before. Does the priority embarkation and disembarkation still operate according to the suite benefits list or has it changed due to health protocols?

[Christine] You will still have priority embarkation and disembarkation.

 

 [Irene Webber] And also my app was showing us both green lane right up til yesterday when it changed to blue lane and asked us to upload vax certs which I did. It was there it said to upload proof of out RAT test. I presume it won’t go green again til just before cruise. I cannot complete our order for medallions, it just keeps saying its loading? Will medallions just be available at check-in on embarkation and will we have a different one for B2B's.

 [Christine] You will have a different medallion for each cruise. I also believe that you will change back to green lane closer toward sail date. Medallions will be collected at the pier.

 

Hope this helps some of our musings about possibilities. I know it wasn't a phone call but it was easier to get a response this way having tried both.

 

 

 

[Elorac123]

Well done Irene

Cheers Carole

[CDaze71]

Thanks heaps Irene. Sounds good.
I had a friend call Princess today as they are on the 23rd June cruise and were wondering about the Uploading RAT proof question. And they also got the same answer as you, that we only need to attest to negative RAT (no supervised RAT).

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, CDaze71 said:

Thanks heaps Irene. Sounds good.
I had a friend call Princess today as they are on the 23rd June cruise and were wondering about the Uploading RAT proof question. And they also got the same answer as you, that we only need to attest to negative RAT (no supervised RAT).

Thats great. However I'm going to keep my eye on it on my daily watch lol

[Kinkacruiser]

My question is about the internet cafe. It's been a freebie for Elites until now, so I was gobshacked at the $27 per day charge in the cafe. I also understand you have to purchase the package for the  entire cruise. The half price 'special' for Elites brings a 14 day cruise down to $189 .

Hence my query...if we take along a laptop, do we still have to pay this?

This would be the first cruise where we may need to take a laptop, so where/when is the best signal reception? Cabin?

Thanks for your help in advance.