Princess gratuities

[beagle 24]

Hi have booked Discovery Princess from Singapore to Sydney Nov 2025

I haven't cruised Princess for a while could someone please tell me if 

Gratuities are included in the fare as I can't find an answer  

Thanks

Colin

[MicCanberra]

They are generally only included on Australian sailings, so most likely not as it is Singapore to Sydney. You will need to check in your personalised or with whoever you booked with.

[icat2000]

Because its departing from a non Australian/NZ port then gratitutes are not included in the fare that you paid. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Even if you book a Plus or Premier fare (in AUD) the gratuities aren't included. They are only included if the Plus or Premier fare was booked in USD.

[cruiser3775]

The gratuities will be added daily to your onboard account.  It is possible to ask for them to be removed or reduced in amount, but the poorly paid crew who would share them will then miss out.  Because you are paying the gratuities, there is no need to tip any crew as well, unless you feel it is warranted for exceptional service.

[beagle 24]

Thank's everyone Ialways like to pay in advance if needed 

The currency onboard this cruise is AUD so I will check again thank you

[arxcards]

16 minutes ago, beagle 24 said:

Thank's everyone Ialways like to pay in advance if needed 

The currency onboard this cruise is AUD so I will check again thank you

If the onboard currency for your cruise is as you describe, in $AU, gratuities are included in the fare. 

[sewgood]

We have found on our relocation cruises on Princess from Sydney up to Asia the money was still in AUS dollars and we never have gratuities added on each day as they were included in our fare.

 

But on the relocation to the US from Australia gratuities were added and the currency on board was US dollars.

 

My guess is that there are a lot of Americans on the trans-Pacific who want US dollars to be used while Australians make up the majority on the relocations to and from Asia.

[cruiser3775]

On my relocation cruise from Vancouver to Sydney on Grand Princess in 2023, the currency was USD, and gratuities were added each day.

[arxcards]

And that would appear to be the case.

If the ship was travelling to Sydney from the US, it would be in $US. However:

The ship relocates from Alaska via various ports in Asia to Singapore. That cruise is in $US.

The cruise from Singapore to Sydney is a cruise connected to Australia, but not the US - local rules apply, which is $AU and gratuities absorbed into the inclusive cruise fare.

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

On my relocation cruise from Vancouver to Sydney on Grand Princess in 2023, the currency was USD, and gratuities were added each day.

Correct, it was a North American embarkation.

 

Discovery Princess relocation is broken-up in Singapore, so it becomes US to Singapore ($US) followed by Singapore to Sydney (($AU)

Edited April 15 by arxcards

[MicCanberra]

Our Sydney to Japan cruise booked using an Aussie TA and using Aud aboard doesn’t have gratuities included. It really 8s cruise dependant

[Rassa]

2 hours ago, beagle 24 said:

Thank's everyone Ialways like to pay in advance if needed 

The currency onboard this cruise is AUD so I will check again thank you

If you check your on line summary relating to your cruise, particularly if it does not start and finish in Australia, there is a 'Crew Appreciation Pre-Payment' button - that shows the total of the daily charge that you can choose to pre-pay or you will find that you will receive a daily charge during your cruise.   

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Our Sydney to Japan cruise booked using an Aussie TA and using Aud aboard doesn’t have gratuities included. It really 8s cruise dependant

$AU aboard and daily gratuities is an unusual combination for Princess relocating to/from Australia.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

$AU aboard and daily gratuities is an unusual combination for Princess relocating to/from Australia.

Exactly .

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, Rassa said:

If you check your on line summary relating to your cruise, particularly if it does not start and finish in Australia, there is a 'Crew Appreciation Pre-Payment' button - that shows the total of the daily charge that you can choose to pre-pay or you will find that you will receive a daily charge during your cruise.   

And that won't show up if the gratuities aren't extra so it's a good way to check if you will need to pay them.

 

I'm fairly certain that repositioning cruises from Asia, where the onboard costs are in AUD, and that are booked in Australia, don't have added gratuities but I could be wrong. We've only done Australia to Asia,

[willsaway]

6 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Our Sydney to Japan cruise booked using an Aussie TA and using Aud aboard doesn’t have gratuities included. It really 8s cruise dependant

Is this the Diamond Princess next Feb? I didn't even look, just assumed sailing ex Sydney it would automatically have those pesky gratuities included.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, willsaway said:

Is this the Diamond Princess next Feb? I didn't even look, just assumed sailing ex Sydney it would automatically have those pesky gratuities included.

Yes, it is that cruise

[willsaway]

6 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, it is that cruise

I have just checked my invoice, you had me worried. But it clearly states gratuities included. So I do hope the t.a. hasn't made a booboo. 

[arxcards]

In true Princess consistency, I just had a look at the 2025/26 launch brochure again. The Singapore to Sydney cruise is listed as a $US cruise:

 

8 Nov 25 Discovery X544

Singapore > Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) > Nha Trang > Lombok > Darwin > Yorkeys Knob (for Cairns) > Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays) > Sydney

Onboard currency is in USD

Referenced from page 18 of: 23376_Mini-Brochure_25-26_AU_3.0.pdf (princess.com)

[beagle 24]

Hi this is from my booking on Princess site 

Booking Details

Booking Number  - Confirmed

From Singapore to Sydney, Australia

18 Nov, 2025 to 06 Dec, 2025

18 Days

MedallionClass Voyage X544

Important Notices

Travel Agent information

Ship & Stateroom

Discovery Princess, Baja deck

Balcony

Stateroom B121, Category BE

Twin Beds requested

Onboard Folio charges will be in AUD

But still no mention of gratuities  

Edited April 15 by beagle 24
Booking id

[Jean C]

I can't check for certain as the only upcoming cruise I have is USD on board currency and gratuities are an extra. But I am pretty certain that I've booked cruises before from Aus, where gratuities are included in the fare, but when logging into Princess the "prepay gratuities" window was there along with pre book fancy-pants dining, spa treatments, shore excursions, gift packages etc windows. I've never clicked on it though to see what happened next.

 

I trust the views of some of the particularly knowledgeable cruisers on this site over what a run-of-the-mill TA or Princess Vacation Planner might say.

 

All information needs to be weighed up and a personal judgment made.

 

Not very helpful, but I'd know who I'd trust.

[MicCanberra]

It is strange, just checked again, no where does it say gratuities are included for our cruise.

23 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Our Sydney to Japan cruise booked using an Aussie TA and using Aud aboard doesn’t have gratuities included. It really 8s cruise dependant

The is a pre pay grats button, but no way to pre pay, except to call the TA to sort payment of cruise. Very puzzling.

I really would not be surprised to find

A) grats are already incurred, or

B) grats are added daily.

[SinbadThePorter]

It used to be that Princess cruises to and from Asia were in $A and included grats and cruises to and from North America were not.

 

That was pre-covid. I don't know the current rules.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

It is strange, just checked again, no where does it say gratuities are included for our cruise.

The is a pre pay grats button, but no way to pre pay, except to call the TA to sort payment of cruise. Very puzzling.

I really would not be surprised to find

A) grats are already incurred, or

B) grats are added daily.

I think the confusion comes because theoretically there are no gratuities on Australian cruises booked in Australia so gratuities are never mentioned. 

 

I am 99.9% certain that if the onboard currency is AUD on a repositioning cruise to Asia that was booked in Australia that there are no added gratuities - that was certainly the case in 2018 and I don't expect it to have changed.

 

Anyway we've just changed our Feb 2025 Diamond Princess cruise to do the cruise up to Japan so hopefully that will be the case.