Elite Laundry Question

[antsp]

31 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

IMHO it has completely gotten out of control here in the US.

Employers are paying such low wages that they expect consumers to subsidize their low pay by tipping.

 

I sure miss living in Europe where the price posted on anything was the price you paid out the door and employees made enough salary to have a decent living.

 

Oh well, it is what it is.

Resort fees, taxes, booking fees, convenience fees, tips, I don't know how the US gets away with advertising a price, when it's not possible to pay that amount. 

[AZjohn]

51 minutes ago, antsp said:

Resort fees, taxes, booking fees, convenience fees, tips, I don't know how the US gets away with advertising a price, when it's not possible to pay that amount. 

They get away with it because nobody stops them. No consequences from corporate scamming 😖.

And then over a short period of time everyone becomes brainwashed to follow norm.

[voljeep]

at least on Princess, you can still book an inside, GTY let Princess choose, Standard fare, and walk away with a -0- balance folio at the end of the cruise, having paid the cruise fare and port fees and taxes only. No tips, remove crew appreciation, no wifi.  Still enjoy all non-pay food venues, shows, games and visit the same ports as someone else in a full suite.  Not for us, but I guess it can be done.  And if elite - get the 'free mini bar' and laundry and other elite 'perks'

Edited July 26, 2023 by voljeep

[beg3yrs]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I'm considering putting a Tip Jar outside my cabin. One never knows, I might clean up big time.

Kind of like an old-school version of a ***** page on the Internet.

 

You've inspired me. I'm a beginner guitar student (going on for five years now, it's that bad) and when I can I bring a full-size guitar in a hard case on board (I only play in the cabin or on the balcony). Maybe I should leave the case outside my door and get tips for not playing in public ...

[Bgwest]

12 hours ago, AZjohn said:

Employers are paying such low wages that they expect consumers to subsidize their low pay by tipping.

I hope the cruise lines don't hit upon and adopt your suggestion.

 

Oh wait...........they already have!!

[Thrak]

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I'll chime in with a similar situation.

 

Used a kiosk to order lunch last week, at the end of the order, asked for tip, 15%, 20% or 25%.  The suggested tips were on top of the 10.25% sales tax.  Mind you, we had just spent 3-4 minutes going through all the order options - this was CA Fish Grill if anyone is familiar with them. This is a counter service restaurant where they send a text to you to come pick it up at the counter when it's ready, and get your own drinks too at the soda fountain.

 

We're okay paying for tips "to insure prompt service" in a full service restaurant, in this case the tip belonged to us.

 

We always tip on the cruise lines, but have to draw the line for the above scenario. 

[Bgwest]

5 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

I'll chime in with a similar situation.

 

Used a kiosk to order lunch last week, at the end of the order, asked for tip, 15%, 20% or 25%.  The suggested tips were on top of the 10.25% sales tax.  Mind you, we had just spent 3-4 minutes going through all the order options - this was CA Fish Grill if anyone is familiar with them. This is a counter service restaurant where they send a text to you to come pick it up at the counter when it's ready, and get your own drinks too at the soda fountain.

 

We're okay paying for tips "to insure prompt service" in a full service restaurant, in this case the tip belonged to us.

 

We always tip on the cruise lines, but have to draw the line for the above scenario. 

We’ve become a civilization of lemmings in so many ways. 
Most notably, we Americans. 

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

I'll chime in with a similar situation.

 

Used a kiosk to order lunch last week, at the end of the order, asked for tip, 15%, 20% or 25%.  The suggested tips were on top of the 10.25% sales tax.  Mind you, we had just spent 3-4 minutes going through all the order options - this was CA Fish Grill if anyone is familiar with them. This is a counter service restaurant where they send a text to you to come pick it up at the counter when it's ready, and get your own drinks too at the soda fountain.

 

We're okay paying for tips "to insure prompt service" in a full service restaurant, in this case the tip belonged to us.

 

We always tip on the cruise lines, but have to draw the line for the above scenario. 

We are always shocked to see sales tax on anything since our state does not have one

[Ranchi]

Just out of interest, is cash still king in US?  I went to a local ATM this morning and it’s months since I’ve used one (or a bank). Almost all my transactions are via Applepay. I guess this is bad news for buskers etc. - I came across a Big Issue seller in Edinburgh at Christmas and he accepted ApplePay. On P&O they will give you some cash ( charged to your on board account) but as I understand it, Princess do not and whilst they have ATMs on board they have a transaction charge ( to which I object…hence my morning trip to the ATM) 

[Thrak]

There is a local homeless guy who holds a sign saying, "PayPal Me". Times have certainly changed.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Ranchi said:

Just out of interest, is cash still king in US?  I went to a local ATM this morning and it’s months since I’ve used one (or a bank). Almost all my transactions are via ApNo, plepay. I guess this is bad news for buskers etc. - I came across a Big Issue seller in Edinburgh at Christmas and he accepted ApplePay. On P&O they will give you some cash ( charged to your on board account) but as I understand it, Princess do not and whilst they have ATMs on board they have a transaction charge ( to which I object…hence my morning trip to the ATM) 

No, many places no longer accept cash. ApplePay, Googlepay, Venmo, etc. Even street vendors - they don't get robbed this way. 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

We are always shocked to see sales tax on anything since our state does not have one

45 out of 50 states have it.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

45 out of 50 states have it.

Another reason I moved prior to retirement 

[Thrak]

5 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Just out of interest, is cash still king in US?  

We use our ATM card for gas because most places here charge an extra 10 cents per gallon for credit. Other than that pretty much everything we buy - including groceries - goes on the credit card and gets paid off each month. I tend to use my phone to pay for everything.

[memoak]

10 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We use our ATM card for gas because most places here charge an extra 10 cents per gallon for credit. Other than that pretty much everything we buy - including groceries - goes on the credit card and gets paid off each month. I tend to use my phone to pay for everything.

We use our Union 76 card since it gives us the same rate as cash

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

Another reason I moved prior to retirement 

🤣  As Paul Harvey was fond of saying, "you can run, but you can't hide"!

Every dollar above $10,200 is taxed 8.75% in Oregon, while many other states tax income under $75,000 around 5%. The effective tax rate in Oregon is somewhat lowered by the state's standard deduction and a personal exemption credit worth nearly $3,000, but the overall tax burden is still the highest of all states.

[h20cruzer]

I understand as an elite you can send clothes out to be laundered. Since I just became elite, could anyone clarify a couple of things? Is there a limit on how many items you can send to be laundered, and can you send something to be pressed only? Thanks

[memoak]

1 minute ago, h20cruzer said:

I understand as an elite you can send clothes out to be laundered. Since I just became elite, could anyone clarify a couple of things? Is there a limit on how many items you can send to be laundered, and can you send something to be pressed only? Thanks

 O limit and yes pressing is available 

[memoak]

44 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

🤣  As Paul Harvey was fond of saying, "you can run, but you can't hide"!

Every dollar above $10,200 is taxed 8.75% in Oregon, while many other states tax income under $75,000 around 5%. The effective tax rate in Oregon is somewhat lowered by the state's standard deduction and a personal exemption credit worth nearly $3,000, but the overall tax burden is still the highest of all states.

When I lived in California I lived in an overpriced house with a horrendous property tax, a large sales tax on everything and an income tax on wages of over $100,000. Now we can live on social security and investments in a small condo and can buy a car with no sales tax and same with appliances and everything else. Believe me we save so much money here than in California. Oh and my average bull for electric (we have no gas) is under $50 per month

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

Another reason I moved prior to retirement 

Sure, but they must make it up somewhere else.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Sure, but they must make it up somewhere else.

Still some much cheaper than California 

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

When I lived in California I lived in an overpriced house with a horrendous property tax, a large sales tax on everything and an income tax on wages of over $100,000. Now we can live on social security and investments in a small condo and can buy a car with no sales tax and same with appliances and everything else. Believe me we save so much money here than in California. Oh and my average bull for electric (we have no gas) is under $50 per month

I imagine a lot of States compare favorably to CA - and NY.

[SCX22]

8 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Just out of interest, is cash still king in US?  I went to a local ATM this morning and it’s months since I’ve used one (or a bank). Almost all my transactions are via Applepay. I guess this is bad news for buskers etc. - I came across a Big Issue seller in Edinburgh at Christmas and he accepted ApplePay. On P&O they will give you some cash ( charged to your on board account) but as I understand it, Princess do not and whilst they have ATMs on board they have a transaction charge ( to which I object…hence my morning trip to the ATM) 

 

Cash is king in the US only if you're buying a home.  The federal government is trying to cut down on money laundering and illegal transactions.  Banks hate cash because they are now subject to too many currency reports.  If a non-business account holder deposits more than $10K a month in cash, the bank has to fill out a currency report and submit it to the IRS.  They close accounts that have too much cash activity.  Much of the illicit drug trade deals in cash, which is another reason why officials want cash out of the picture.  There's an emphasis on the ability to trace where money comes from, which is why cash is going by the wayside.  There's also a problem with business robberies, so many places go cashless so there's no cash to steal.

[c-boy]

..."  Just out of interest, is cash still king in US? " .  I'll say yes .