Princess Tux pricing

[Richard in Panama]

A year ago, when I was getting ready to go on the ZUIDERDAM, I needed to come up with a tux. Finding a tux in Chiriqui is a challenge, since in much of Chiriqui “formal” is wearing a clean T-shirt without an old Presidential campaign slogan. So with great fear and trepidation I ordered the tux that looked least like a tux online from an outfit called www.MyOwnTuxedo.com. The price was right, and they promised to ship it directly to the ship in care of the port agent in Ft. Lauderdale. Having never tried that before so that was scary enough. But when I put it on for the first formal night, would it fit? Well it turned out that it fit well, I loved the tux, and thought MyOwnTuxedo did a great job of customer service. . . . ALL FOR LESS THAN THE COST OF RENTING ON BOARD!

 

A month ago I ordered some additional accessories from My Own Tuxedo and had them shipped to my daughter in Seattle, where my wife was visiting. Although the label on the formal shirt was the size I had ordered, the label and the actual shirt didn’t match: it has been mislabeled. So I emailed the folks at MyOwnTuxedo and they quickly shipped a replacement shirt to my wife before she left Seattle. Kudos for a job well done.

 

The picture? Me and my tux that doesn’t look much like a tux. It was Oscar Night on the ZUIDERDAM and I was playing around with the photographers who thought I deserved an Oscar for my lecture performance.

 

Regards, Richard

[G'ma]

I know that I will probably be accused of being a 'cheap skate ' but while I was looking at tux rentals I was surprised to find that for identical rental of classic tux Costa was 75, Disney and Hal were 85 and Princess was 92- black and white was 95. Also shoes were 3-5 dollars more. Princess is no doubt extracting this extra charge from the supplier. While I agree that it is not much money in the overall cruise cost, I am a bit perturbed by the concept of kicking in extra dollars in this fashion. I would think Princess would want to promote passengers wearing formal wear. Might rethink the tux exercise.

 

If you compare their rental to average land-based rental, you are still getting a bargain. Google shows prices for the whole outfit starting about 150.00 and up for the basics.

 

It's a good idea to also compare the price of the cruise......

[Colo Cruiser]

Plus the fact that you just leave it in the cabin when you leave. :D

[pedirn]

I have a question. DH is thinking of renting a "Princess" tux for our next cruise. Looking at the website it doesn't seem to mention different prices for different cruises. Someone previously mentioned that price was same for 7 days was the same as 15. What about 32 days? Has anyone booked on an extended cruise of this length?

 

Chris

[negc]

Gee, sorry that I brought it up. I was just questioning why HAL, Disney, and Costa have a lower price for the same rental from the same rental wear company. Not sure how that equates with being worth the extra not to cruise Costa or a discussion about the pros and cons of rentals. I actually have my own tux and was looking at the rental as an option because of the convenience as pointed out. I wasn't trying to save money. I could maybe understand if the pricing was consistent with the quality (price) of the line but it is hard to argue that HAL or Disney are inferior to Princess. I agree that you can always find anything cheaper but in this case I am talking about the same thing.

Again, not a big deal just rubbed me wrong way.

 

I think you made a valid point with your question and have to wonder why the same company would charge a different rate for basically the same product except that they can.:rolleyes:

I own a tux but am renting one in a few weeks for our Transatlantic cruise because it is one less thing to pack and carry with me on our flight to London. RCI recently changed vendors and their price has risen from $80 to $89 for the basic tux package and shoe rentals have gone from $10 to $12. I did notice that they were offering a special reduced rate for rentals on four and five night cruises (something like $45) which seems like a good idea.

I suspect that if you compare shore excursions offered by various cruiselines you will find a similar price discrepancy with some lines charging more for the same tour and tour company than another line is charging. If you find such disparities, it might be worth writing to the cruiseline to ask them to explain their pricing policy. If they get enough inquiries or complaints, they might adjust their prices.:)

[Lookingforfacts]

Probably the same reason different cruise lines charge different prices for the same shore excursion (with the same vendor). Why cruise lines have different prices for drinks. Pictures.

 

Some cruise lines look to make more money with the "extras" and other cruise lines try to make their money with the base price of the cruise. A cruise line that offers free upgrades to balcony cabins and 2 for 1 pricing has to make money in other areas.

 

People pricing a tux rental should also figure the $20 (+or-) they'll be saving not having to dry clean their tux when they get home.

 

 

 

Gee, sorry that I brought it up. I was just questioning why HAL, Disney, and Costa have a lower price for the same rental from the same rental wear company. Not sure how that equates with being worth the extra not to cruise Costa or a discussion about the pros and cons of rentals. I actually have my own tux and was looking at the rental as an option because of the convenience as pointed out. I wasn't trying to save money. I could maybe understand if the pricing was consistent with the quality (price) of the line but it is hard to argue that HAL or Disney are inferior to Princess. I agree that you can always find anything cheaper but in this case I am talking about the same thing.

Again, not a big deal just rubbed me wrong way.

[FLGolfer]

Probably the same reason different cruise lines charge different prices for the same shore excursion (with the same vendor). Why cruise lines have different prices for drinks. Pictures.

 

Some cruise lines look to make more money with the "extras" and other cruise lines try to make their money with the base price of the cruise. A cruise line that offers free upgrades to balcony cabins and 2 for 1 pricing has to make money in other areas.

 

People pricing a tux rental should also figure the $20 (+or-) they'll be saving not having to dry clean their tux when they get home.

 

Cruising is always a tough business and it is even worse now. Some cruise lines, like carnival companies and NCL, have learned to price the product very low when people are comparing cruise prices and thinking a lot and increase the price of options when people are in vacation mode or full of alcohol.

 

Its just the way it works.

 

If you want to save money wear a long sleeve shirt without tie or jacket on formal night.

 

If you love the formal thing bring a jacket or rent a tux. Do not sweat the small stuff or worry what other people think.

[TuxedoMan]

I know that I will probably be accused of being a 'cheap skate ' but while I was looking at tux rentals I was surprised to find that for identical rental of classic tux Costa was 75, Disney and Hal were 85 and Princess was 92- black and white was 95. Also shoes were 3-5 dollars more. Princess is no doubt extracting this extra charge from the supplier. While I agree that it is not much money in the overall cruise cost, I am a bit perturbed by the concept of kicking in extra dollars in this fashion. I would think Princess would want to promote passengers wearing formal wear. Might rethink the tux exercise.

 

You are NOT a cheap skate. Each of us has to decide what we are willing to work extra for/ spend our hard earned $ on, and the vast majority of men on the cruises we have taken opted to skip the on board rentals. If you are a cheap skate I guess they are too. We vote with our spending.

As a businessman, I have to decide what my customers are willing to pay for and what they think is "over the top" if I guess wrong I lose the sale or don't make as much as I could have:mad:...if I guess right, I am super busy and run out of product.:)

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

We decided to rent a tux as it is not something that DH would wear again (other than if we decide to go on a second cruise :))

 

We found the process to be very convenient - not having to pack it etc, however, we did find the quality of the package to be questionable.

 

We had 2 formal nights, so 2 shirts were included. One was OK, but the other had what looked like coffee stains down the front! We questioned this with our steward and he quickly got a replacement, but the second one was too small in the neck - poor DH nearly choked when he tried to do it up. This was as we were getting ready for formal night, so he ended up wearing the shirt he had worn on the first night again! Luckily, he hadn't gotten any stains down it the first time! :D

 

The other problem was with the trousers. They had not been pressed very well and the hem wasn't sewn up properly, so kept falling down.

 

Overall, convenient service but not great quality!

[dantesab]

I was trying to decide if I wanted to rent a tux or bring a suit with me for our Jan 30th cruise I think I just decided it is a tux for me.No extra weight in suitcase and will be waiting for me in cabin when get there.Also it will be our 20th anniversery and wife would love to see me in a tux..

[Woobstr112G]

If you do decide to rent a tux, make sure you check the fitting several days or a period of time prior to the last formal night, On the Diamond in January I waited till I got dressed for dinner to find out the jacket came about 6 inches up from my wrists.....:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

[cruseman]

I would suggest looking at a local tux rental store and see if they have any deals. I will be cruising BTO on the Sapphire Princess on September 5th and needed a new jacket since the old ones didn't go with the pants I was taking. After searching many stores my wife and I checked a local tux rental store and found a great deal for a complete tux - jacket, pants, vest, shirt, tie, cuff links and studs all for $169! As you noted, with the high prices Princess charges for rentals, I will haved saved money and still have a brand new tux to take with me on future cruises!

[O2B@Cagain]

Woobstr: Do they have extra suits on the boat? If you catch the problem the first day, can it be fixed?

[Putterdude]

I am a big person so bought my own a few years ago and have added vests and different colored ties then added a dinner jacket last year. I have to pay to have my shirts laundered but with all the use I have got out of it I am way ahead of the game. Plus I know it is going to fit (well, I hope).

[Scubagal1]

We rented a tux for my hubby on our last cruise. While the fit wasn't perfect, I thought he looked great. My husband put the tux and all accessories back in the hanging bag after the 2nd formal night and the next time we looked it was gone. Our cabin steward took care of it. How easy is that? My only complaint was the button on the jacket came off on the first formal night. I asked Tony, our cabin steward, for a sewing kit and he brought one right away so it was an easy fix.

[gatour]

Probably the same reason different cruise lines charge different prices for the same shore excursion (with the same vendor). Why cruise lines have different prices for drinks. Pictures.

 

Some cruise lines look to make more money with the "extras" and other cruise lines try to make their money with the base price of the cruise. A cruise line that offers free upgrades to balcony cabins and 2 for 1 pricing has to make money in other areas.

 

People pricing a tux rental should also figure the $20 (+or-) they'll be saving not having to dry clean their tux when they get home.

 

Bingo. It is all about revenue, supply and demand and the market they are catering to and any other misc interests that the decisions make may have. For example Disney in general have higher cruise prices so there is less pressure to generate revenues from tux rentals. However if bookings go down and they start discounting cruise prices they may look at increasing the tux rental fee to make up some of the difference. They do this at the parks all of the time.

[FritzG]

Woobstr: Do they have extra suits on the boat? If you catch the problem the first day, can it be fixed?

Yes, any things that don't fit right can probably be fixed or replaced. My DH is a big man, and he's been able to get adjustments without a problem. The first time he rented a tux he didn't get measured at a tux shop, and the shirt was huge. They got him replacement shirts within an hour. This time the sleeves were too long, and they shortened them and got it back the same day.

He still thinks it's much easier to rent a tux and save the luggage space. Owning one or getting a good deal on a rental isn't the point. The point is the convenience.

[O2B@Cagain]

Thanks Fritz!

[captainron]

Does anyone know if you can buy a white tux on board or is it just for rental?

 

You can't buy them at any outlet on board, and rentals must be pre-ordered a minimum 14 days prior to embarkation.

 

Using the rental from cruiselineformal has numerous advantages some of which have already been addressed on this thread:

 

a. save on weight in luggage going;

b. don't have to worry about drycleaning;

c. make formal night more formal as it should be;

d. it's delivered and right there in your stateroom waiting for you when you board; and

e. save on weight in luggage returning home.

 

There have been numerous prices floating around on this thread so to set the group straight, the standard tux rental provides you with;

 

a. a black tux jacket;

b. a pair of black tux pants;

c. 2 X white wing collared tux shirts;

d. black cumberbund;

e. black bow tie; and

f. a set of cufflinks and studs.

 

...and all this for the rental price of USD$92.00 READ USD$92.00 plus an additional fee of USD$4.00 for drycleaning and stain removal at the end of the cruise...all this resulting in a total cost to your wallet of USD$96.00.

 

Now, as I am going on a 30 day voyage across the Pacific from SYD to LAX on Star in October, (which will include 5 formal evenings) I challenge anybody to tell me where they can buy a tux for that price or better still rent a tux for 5 evenings for that price. To mix things up I will only have to take my white dinner jacket and a matching coloured cumberbund and bow tie.

 

So you naysayers ask how do I know all this stuff? ...well I just got my preorder for the aforementioned voyage confirmed by email today.

 

Happy formal nights everyone, and...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[silverwillow]

So is the $95 for the rental and you keep the tux for the whole cruise? If so I think that could be very good value on a longer cruise.

[captainron]

Hi,

Yes that is exactly it. You rent for USD$96.00 total and have the items mentioned in my post below for the duration of the cruise. In my case 30 days.

 

Once ordered and confirmed by cruiselineformals, the items listed will be waiting for you in your stateroom. You return them to your stateroom steward the morning after the last formal evening on your voyage.

 

I agree, for a longer voyage (14 days plus) this is a deal one can't pass up.

 

Ciao for now!!!