Yet another Gratuities Question

[jlacy1987]

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I tried searching on this form and with google and came up empty. Seeing the upcoming price changes of Princess Plus, I went ahead and sprung for the upgrade before 12/14 for our September 2023 Alaska cruise. I was planning on upgrading anyway since it saves us money vs paying for those things out of pocket. What I can't determine, however, is if the Crew Appreciation that is included in Princess Plus just for the first two passengers in the room or if it covers all 4 of us? We will be sailing with my teenaged stepson and our toddler daughter in a Mini-Suite and I can't figure out if we will still need to pay the gratuities for the two kids for our cruise or if Princess Plus now covers that too? I plan on pre-paying, so I'm only wondering for budgeting purposes. 

[flying boat]

If you go into your cruise personalizer under payments then crew appreciation it should tell you if it’s part of the package or what you can prepay.

[Shelly97060]

Whether they are included will depend on whether or not you upgrade all four of you in the cabin or only the first 2 of you? 
 

you can go into your Travel Summary and it will tell you who has prepaid gratuities.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Shelly97060

[jlacy1987]

5 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

Whether they are included will depend on whether or not you upgrade all four of you in the cabin or only the first 2 of you? 
 

you can go into your Travel Summary and it will tell you who has prepaid gratuities or go onto the Personalizer under Payments and it will show whether or not there is anything remaining for tips that you could prepay.

 Under purchases, I see Crew Appreciation listed twice but neither are tagged to an individual person. When I go to Payments and click on Crew Appreciation Pre-Payment, it gives me the blurb about Crew Appreciation but no option to pre-pay anything. It says "Crew appreciations paid for as part of the promotion."

Edited December 6, 2022 by jlacy1987

[jlacy1987]

4 minutes ago, Shelly97060 said:

Whether they are included will depend on whether or not you upgrade all four of you in the cabin or only the first 2 of you? 
 

you can go into your Travel Summary and it will tell you who has prepaid gratuities or go onto the Personalizer under Payments and it will show whether or not there is anything remaining for tips that you could prepay.

Oh wait. When we booked our cruise, we had the Guests 3 & 4 sail free. Could that be why it's not showing up to let us pre-pay the Crew Appreciation for them?

[skynight]

Crew appreciation would only be included if you upgraded the 3rd and 4th passengers to the plus fare. This is also true with internet access, although with internet access the teen can use one of your log packages. Your account will be charged daily crew appreciation for both children. If you have any excess OBC, military, shareholder, travel agent or other daily charges will net against the OBC. 

[jlacy1987]

37 minutes ago, skynight said:

Crew appreciation would only be included if you upgraded the 3rd and 4th passengers to the plus fare. This is also true with internet access, although with internet access the teen can use one of your log packages. Your account will be charged daily crew appreciation for both children. If you have any excess OBC, military, shareholder, travel agent or other daily charges will net against the OBC. 

This is what the Live Chat person told me but when I go into my cruise planner to go ahead and prepay the crew appreciation for the two kids, it does not give me the option to prepay and says only that "Crew appreciations paid for as part of the promotion."

[Arizona Wildcat]

On 12/6/2022 at 8:53 AM, jlacy1987 said:

Oh wait. When we booked our cruise, we had the Guests 3 & 4 sail free. Could that be why it's not showing up to let us pre-pay the Crew Appreciation for them?

Yes.  You are spending way too much mental energy and time on this.  Sort it out on board.  Just bring your documents and screenshots.

[jlacy1987]

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Yes.  You are spending way too much mental energy and time on this.  Sort it out on board.  Just bring your documents and screenshots.

Trying to determine if I am going to be out of pocket $200+ or not is not "spending way too much mental energy and time on this." I would rather have this mystery solved before I get on board. 

[SantaFeFan]

6 minutes ago, jlacy1987 said:

Trying to determine if I am going to be out of pocket $200+ or not is not "spending way too much mental energy and time on this." I would rather have this mystery solved before I get on board. 

 

You should plan on being "out of pocket" for the kids as well, regardless of if prepaid or paid on board. Kids, especially toddlers, also require the cabin attendant to deal with any messes they may make. Plus, the gratuities are also for the staff that prepares and serves them food at all the dining venues, and for washing the dirty linens they use. Every person on board should pay gratuities as every one of them will be taken care of by the staff in some way or the other. 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by SantaFeFan

[jlacy1987]

2 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

You should plan on being "out of pocket" for the kids as well, regardless of if prepaid or paid on board. Kids, especially toddlers, also require the cabin attendant to deal with any messes they may make. Plus, the gratuities are also for the staff that prepares and serves them food at all the dining venues, and for washing the dirty linens they use. Every person on board should pay gratuities as every one of them will be taken care of by the staff in some way or the other. 

 

I never once asked if I could get out of paying crew appreciation for the two kids. Didn't even occur to me. I am simply trying to figure out why it's not letting me prepay the crew appreciation for them when I should owe it, since we only have Premier Plus for myself and my husband. 

[SantaFeFan]

1 minute ago, jlacy1987 said:

I never once asked if I could get out of paying crew appreciation for the two kids. Didn't even occur to me. I am simply trying to figure out why it's not letting me prepay the crew appreciation for them when I should owe it, since we only have Premier Plus for myself and my husband. 

 

I was making a general comment for anyone interested in this topic. I was not deliberately accusing you of trying to get out of paying, and apologize if my comment was poorly worded and came out that way. 

[jennybenny]

My husband and I have the package for our next cruise, and our son, who is a third person sailing with us does not have the package auto included. He can pay $50 per day or we can pay separately while on board. I cannot pre pay gratuities online. If I want to prepay, I need to call Princess. 

If your presonalizer does not show 4 separate paid gratuities, then they will bill you while on board for the other 2 people in your cabin. 

[skynight]

1 hour ago, jlacy1987 said:

Trying to determine if I am going to be out of pocket $200+ or not is not "spending way too much mental energy and time on this." I would rather have this mystery solved before I get on board. 

I would call Princess and request that you wish to prepay gratuities for your two children. While the option is not available on line you should be able to do it with a phone call. If you are able to prepay now you should receive the current cost rather than the increased cost. Will save you a small amount. As mentioned in the previous posting if you do have OBC when boarding the daily charges will net against any amounts you may have. Other options are to bring along cash in the amount required and deposit the cash once on board or you can pre-purchase OBC in the required amount.

[dog]

Call and pre pay the kid’s grats. They will be added to your account daily onboard account if you do not.  

[cr8tiv1]

I don’t understand why op can’t access crew appreciation in his/her personalizer under credits. I was recently able to pre-pay crew appreciation through the website.  Unless Princess decided that too many are thinking ahead and blocked this.

[justafem]

15 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I don’t understand why op can’t access crew appreciation in his/her personalizer under credits. I was recently able to pre-pay crew appreciation through the website.  Unless Princess decided that too many are thinking ahead and blocked this.

Can't pay the gratuities because there are 4 in the room, with 2 having princess plus package.  

[caribill]

17 hours ago, jlacy1987 said:

This is what the Live Chat person told me but when I go into my cruise planner to go ahead and prepay the crew appreciation for the two kids, it does not give me the option to prepay and says only that "Crew appreciations paid for as part of the promotion."

 

So, as far as Princess is concerned, it is already paid.

 

Just get a printout of this and don't worry about it.