Is this a new Gratuities policy?

[SCX22]

10 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Princess could drop the price by say $100 per person and call it a Sale.  Or, they can keep the price the same and offer $100 OBC - basically giving you back $100 of your fare to spend *with them* any way you like.    
By dropping the price, you might spend that savings in port on a private excursion, souvenirs, or food.   Or simply keep it in your pocket.  
By giving you OBC Princess guarantees that $100 gets spent with them. 

 

Right but shareholder's and military OBC have no bearing on the cruise fare.  Doesn't matter what the cruise fare was, it appears on the folio as long as the award criteria is met.  

 

Also for the type of OBC you speak of, passengers have been known to cash out at the casino.

Edited June 5 by SCX22

[Mary loves to travel]

49 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Right but shareholder's and military OBC have no bearing on the cruise fare.  Doesn't matter what the cruise fare was, it appears on the folio as long as the award criteria is met.  

 

Also for the type of OBC you speak of, passengers have been known to cash out at the casino.

Think of all OBC as a form of "sale".    When one applies for and receives those OBC, it is accounted for.    Whether it's out of the advertising budget or what have you, the money is accounted for.    There are strict accounting rules governing this.   

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

Right but shareholder's and military OBC have no bearing on the cruise fare.  Doesn't matter what the cruise fare was, it appears on the folio as long as the award criteria is met.  

 

Also for the type of OBC you speak of, passengers have been known to cash out at the casino.

and there used to be coffee cards ...

[MacMadame]

2 hours ago, Mary loves to travel said:

Think of all OBC as a form of "sale".    When one applies for and receives those OBC, it is accounted for.    Whether it's out of the advertising budget or what have you, the money is accounted for.    There are strict accounting rules governing this.   

Yes. It's real money even though it's mostly moving entries around in the accounting system. 😄But the accounting rules say it has to be treated as real money.

[ldubs]

On 6/3/2024 at 3:48 PM, SCX22 said:

 

Never do the round up for charity thing.  It's how companies donate to charity to seem charitable using your money, but they take the credit.

 

15 hours ago, Torfamm said:

To be fair, organizations are incredibly grateful when companies do this kind of thing. It can have a huge impact, but can take a fair amount of effort on the company’s part to collect donations.
 

Encouraging and accepting donations doesn’t make companies “seem charitable” anymore than the individual who participates in a pledge-based activity like a walkathon does it to “seem charitable”.

 

I'm not concerned with who gets credit so much as the charity gets a donation.  Rounding up is an easy thing to do that over a year's time can be meaningful to the charity.  

[Torfamm]

1 minute ago, ldubs said:

 

 

I'm not concerned with who gets credit so much as the charity gets a donation.  Rounding up is an easy thing to do that over a year's time can be meaningful to the charity.  

Thank you for making a difference.

[memoak]

8 hours ago, voljeep said:

and there used to be coffee cards ...

Stop ruminating on the past and wake up to to today

[mikjr]

I don't mind paying a TIP to someone who DIRECTLY interacts with me...  Cabin Steward, MDR Server... but WHY should my "Crew Appreciation" go to the plumber or electrician?? 

[Retired-N-Happy]

10 minutes ago, mikjr said:

I don't mind paying a TIP to someone who DIRECTLY interacts with me...  Cabin Steward, MDR Server... but WHY should my "Crew Appreciation" go to the plumber or electrician?? 

Indirect people involved would be the service people in the buffet or the behind the scenes people that make your cruise run smoothly.  It's only a small percentage of what you pay, the overwhelming majority goes to your room steward and MDR servers.

[mikjr]

58 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Indirect people involved would be the service people in the buffet or the behind the scenes people that make your cruise run smoothly.  It's only a small percentage of what you pay, the overwhelming majority goes to your room steward and MDR servers.

 

I would like to believe that is the case, my steward and direct servers would get the bulk of my tip.  But from what I am reading from others, the tips are pooled FLEET WIDE and distributed.  Not sure what that means and I haven't seen anything in print that says one way or another.  If you have something, I'd love to read it

[2 cruises a year]

2 hours ago, mikjr said:

 

I would like to believe that is the case, my steward and direct servers would get the bulk of my tip.  But from what I am reading from others, the tips are pooled FLEET WIDE and distributed.  Not sure what that means and I haven't seen anything in print that says one way or another.  If you have something, I'd love to read it

It took some doing.  Under FAQ and Onboard Experience

 

It really is pretty fair in my opinion.  For example, It keeps the poor bartender at the least popular bar from feeling bitter (somewhat).  It balances between popular busy cruises and less busy (profitable) cruises.  Everyone can't work the busy cruises and bars.  This spreads the pain and keeps crew from moving on.  Spread this thought to all other "TIP" dependent jobs.

The crew know what they signed up for and how it works.  They keep coming back, so it can't be all bad.

 

All of the Crew Appreciation and Service Charge payments made by all guests on all ships in our fleet are pooled, net of credit card transaction fees. The pooled funds are distributed throughout the year in the form of compensation, including bonuses, to crewmembers fleetwide who interact directly with guests and/or behind the scenes throughout every cruise, including those in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas.

[Retired-N-Happy]

3 hours ago, mikjr said:

 

I would like to believe that is the case, my steward and direct servers would get the bulk of my tip.  But from what I am reading from others, the tips are pooled FLEET WIDE and distributed.  Not sure what that means and I haven't seen anything in print that says one way or another.  If you have something, I'd love to read it

I was just going off of how it was back in the day.  More than likely, since Princess is worldwide, they may do a fleet wide distribution because the employees that rely on tips for the bulk of their compensation would always want to be on a ship sailing in the Caribbean versus Europe since there would be more of a chance that tips could be pulled in areas that don't have a tipping culture.

[Incognito1]

On 6/4/2024 at 7:21 AM, jimlouisesophie said:

Very interesting posts.  So if we decide to remove the automatic tips and instead obtain envelopes to give to the staff that we feel give us personal attention, do we do this on the first day of our cruise, or later on?

We do it at the end, or leave a cash tip in the dining room (like, for breakfast or ultimate balcony dining or other times when we don't have the same waiter every night).  We give the room steward his tip in the room at the end.  We've also tipped out in town when running across great staff members on excursions.  We rarely do automatic tips, preferring to reward those who go above and beyond.  But you do you, and don't let anyone tell you that you MUST do it their way.

Edited June 23 by Incognito1

[TRLD]

On 6/15/2024 at 10:37 AM, mikjr said:

I don't mind paying a TIP to someone who DIRECTLY interacts with me...  Cabin Steward, MDR Server... but WHY should my "Crew Appreciation" go to the plumber or electrician?? 

Actually it does not go to a plumber or electrician, though you might be directly interacting with them if they access to your Cabin to fix your toilet.

 

Those positions are on the ship side, not the hotel side, they are not part of the gratuity pool.

 

on the other hand the Galley workers who cook your meals for example are hotel.side and are included.

Edited June 23 by TRLD

[TRLD]

On 6/15/2024 at 3:19 PM, Retired-N-Happy said:

I was just going off of how it was back in the day.  More than likely, since Princess is worldwide, they may do a fleet wide distribution because the employees that rely on tips for the bulk of their compensation would always want to be on a ship sailing in the Caribbean versus Europe since there would be more of a chance that tips could be pulled in areas that don't have a tipping culture.

Not bulk of compensation. More like 40 to 50% comes from gratuity pool.

[pink845]

Well, I was on the Caribbean Princess recently and I observed and heard a passenger hand USD to one of the waiters in the Horizon Court.  I was sitting very close to the area where the coffee and tea is poured.  She was so grateful and was basically bursting and asked a fellow crew she was working with what to do with the money (he quietly told her to simply pocket the money.) He told her she was being rewarded and to keep it to herself.  I agree wholeheartedly.  She obviously gave great service to that passenger and she deserved it all to herself.   

[Mississippian]

On 5/29/2024 at 4:02 AM, Bgwest said:

There outta be a law. A the saying goes. 

I used to love that comic panel in the newspaper.