Surprised by extras - here's what Princess had to say

[Alexp]

My email to Princess:

We are due to board one of your ships for our honeymoon in approximately three weeks time and I am just writing to say how disappointed we are with Princess before we have even boarded the ship. Princess came highly recommended and over the last six months we have been saving endless to ensure we've got enough money to have a trip of a life time.

As the trip approaches I am becoming increasingly anxious about the hidden costs we seem to keep finding.


Automatic tipping

Firstly we found out about the automatic tipping, and although I completely agree with tipping your hard working staff, it seems strange to set a tip before you have even experience the service. Because of our tight budget it would have been nice if we'd been told about it before we booked our cruise - although perhaps this is the fault of our travel agent.

My other concern with automatic tipping is exactly how much goes directly to your staff. Over the last few years there has been a great deal in the press about the hospitality industry using tips to make up staff's pay to the minimum wage. Before I decided whether we want to opt out of this automatic tipping, please can you confirm that the tips we pay will indeed go directly to the staff.

Bar service charge

Secondly was the 15% bar service charge, again an added extra we didn’t know about before we booked. If I walk up to a bar in a pub and buy a drink I am not expected to tip so why is it expected on your ship.


Pre-ordering

Thirdly, when we discovered that we were unable to take our own alcohol on board (which i presume is for safety reasons and that you don't want people getting very drunk - not nice for anyone) and that any alcohol that we bought on the ship’s duty free would be taken away and given back to us on our last day we decided to pre-order some wine through your pre-ordering service. As a newly married couple, I cannot think of anything better than sharing a glass of wine with my new husband in the privacy of our own room. You are allowed to bring your own wine into a hotel, why is a cruise ship different?

When we phoned up to order we discovered that since the publication of the book (October 2008) the price of your wine has gone up by 40%. Please can you explain why it has increased so much?


All in all, we feel that at every turn Princess is trying to get more and more money out of us and to be completely honest, at a time when we are embarking on the trip of our lives, I’m worried at what cost I can enjoy a glass of wine with my husband in my room and what our total bill will come to.

Had we known about all these additional charges/extras we probably wouldn't have booked with Princess.

I truly hope that I am worrying for nothing and that we will have the fantastic honeymoon we’ve always wanted.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Princess' response

Thank you for your email.

I can confirm that these are not hidden charges and are openly advised in the "important information" pages of our brochure.

We add the automatic gratuity charge to passengers ship-board account for their convenience however, if you prefer to make your own arrangements, please speak with the Pursers Office once on-board and they will make the adjustment for you. Please be aware that it will not be possible to have the 15% removed from your bar bill.

Prices do increase with anything you purchase and I am sorry you find the increase prohibitive. The current exchange rate is likely to play a part in this increase.

We do allow passengers to bring on-board one bottle of wine or champagne to celebrate a special occasion. However, this must be consumed in your stateroom otherwise a corkage fee would be applicable.

I hope this information has helped answer your enquiry and look forward to welcoming you on board soon.

Kind regards


Princess Cruises
Administration Team
Carnival UK

*If you reply to this email, please include the history*

NB: If you would like to make a booking, please contact our Reservations Team on 0845 3 555 800. Alternatively if you would like to update your immigration details, pre-reserve your shore excursions or would simply like to view the details of your booking, flight information and cruise itinerary, please log on to your Cruise Personaliser at www.princess.com, then click on 'Cruise Personaliser' to enter your details.

 

[Cruise cutie]

actually this standard operating procedure on ALL cruise lines that are not a billion dollars a sailing and include booze..:ie Regency; Paul Gauguin; Sea Cloud etc ..etc.in charging per drink, and putting the liquor in your cabin at the end of your cruise; you bought on the ship!!..this would include Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Cunard, Holland America, and Celebrity and Norwegian!!
secondly Princess is THE ONLY cruise line that allows wine/champagne brought on board..um we bring 5 of each..we cruise for a minimum of 10 days at a pop.. and since we do prize the service and our waitstaff knows we have *NEVER* paid a corkage fee in 13 cruises...
as they say if you read ALL the cruise line contracts again Princess is the very same as the others..
again IF we go to a cocktail place here at Home on land ;or at our Time share in Aruba.. and order wine/beer..don't know about you.. we always tip, and generously...that's what we do..
not to be ungracious but it seems your tanking the trip before you even go on it...
setting your self up for a less than stellar time..it may be you take the money you want to spend and hit a one price includes all land resort where I can assure you the booze is included but it's inferior, watered down, and you'll need a gallon to taste the booze..and I can attest this to 100% because.. we gifted our 4 daughters with such a trip the last Christmas vacation they were in College.. and they have been on a cruise with us..and hands DOWN the cruise wins!! different strokes for different folks..

Good luck..I hope you have a good time, but if not..we are sorry ...but we shall still continue to cruise....it's the *ONLY* way to go.....:grin..Joanne

 

[6packEd]

I don't mind the 15%. In fact for me it is actually cheaper. $5 for a beer and the tip is only $.75 The minimum that I ever tip on a drink is a dollar.

I don't think that the drinks are that expensive either. Just got back from Vegas and some casinos charge $7.50 for a Lite. I know that there are deals for $1 and if you play they are complimentary. Been there enough and seen a lot of changes thru the years.

Also been in some restaurants and was charged $6 for a beer and had a automatic 20% added because it was a party of 6.

Cost of entertainment and/or traveling.

Cruising is still fun and a bargain.

 

[JES]

On Princess your automatic tip goes into a pool which is shared by most of the wait & kitchen staff. It is my understanding that iIf you choose to opt out, then your wait team must pay back into the pool an amount to make up for what you did not contribute. The wait staff does not make "minimum wage" as defined by U.S. law. They get air to/from their home country, room & board, and a very nominal "salary". (12 yrs ago a bar waitress on RCC told me she received $30US per month). Note also, that the ladies in the salon and spa receive NO salary. They are actually contractors and their only income is any gratuity to chose to dispense. Wine - we almost always bring a fair number of bottles on board and it's never been questioned. And if you're concerned about gratuities, your teeth will fall out when you see what Princess currently charges for excursions - prohibitive! (IMHO). Yes, the cruise line lulls you in with ads that proclaim how inexpensive a cruise is compared to other vacations. It's generally true, but unfortunately there are hidden costs. My advice is relax and enjoy.

 

[Beryl]

It is my opinion that if you are cruising for the first time your Travel Agent was very remiss in not going over all of this information with you. On most cruiselines tipping is expected and in fact well deserved!

The tipping policy on Princess is very open .... there is nothing "hidden" about it. The same can be said for the gratuity at the bars...by the way, where are you from??? When I order a drink at a bar or pub I expect to tip!

Princess is also quite open about telling you that you can bring a bottle of wine aboard for consumption in your cabin. You would only pay a corkage fee ifyou take the bottle to the dining room to have it opened there. (I know you would not even think of drinking wine you brought onboard yourself in one of the public lounges or on deck!) Princess requests that you only bring one bottle per person aboard the ship but I don't think you would have any problem bringing a couple of extra!

It's no secret what Princess charges for their excursions either....it is all online and available for everyone to see prior to your journey.

In the end, you are in charge of your budget! Purchase what you can afford and avoid the things for which you will be charged extra (like the premium restaurants, the Chef's Table, the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, the Spa, the casino etc) You can board a ship and have a wonderful time for the price you paid and your daily gratuities and not have to spend another cent. The choice is yours.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise and enjoy your "trip of a lifetime"!

 

[CruiseAholic]

Automatic tipping has been on most of the cruise lines for some time. Am leaving the Princess fold in September and doing RCCL and the gratuities are pre-paid.

 

[Conniemc]

Alex, this isn't intended to hurt anyone's feelings, but your post is a perfect example of the cruise industry's debacle.

There are more and more people cruising who cannot afford the cruise.
If you can't afford the "on boards" as we call them, you can't afford to cruise.

Many newbies are misled by "price per day" advertising and the cruise lines should be ashamed of their marketing techniques. I still say RAISE THE PRICES back to the norm and keep the quality of the experience.

 

[Whimsy]

I don't know if you have been lurking and decided to post or you just found this site. Since this is your first post perhaps this is the first bit of looking for a cruise board you have done so perhaps you weren't aware of the extra charges. Perhaps your TA should of explained things in more detail.

Cruising is not an all inclusive vacation unless you sail on the high $$$ lines which I don't know much about because at this time of my life my budget doesn't allow such luxury. On the other hand, cruising is a very affordable vacation for my DH and I if it is planned properly.

We cruise in the fall because kids are back in school and the prices are lower. DH and I don't have to vacation around a school calender anymore so we would rather take our chances with hurricane season and save the extra money. That makes a big difference in how much we spend, just by booking at a lower time of the season. We found when we took a short cruise last May we preferred the hotter temps in the fall.

We have brought 2-4 bottles of wine on board depending on the length of the cruise without a problem. We have a glass of wine in our cabin while we are preparing for dinner or just enjoying some quiet time on the balcony. We do appreciate the savings and since we don't know a lot about wine we can take what we know we will like. I have purchased bottles of wine in the dining room as well to share with tablemates on formal night. We don't smuggle a bunch of booze on the ship as we aren't big drinkers. We buy what we want, when we want on the ship and islands and don't mind the 15% gratuity at all. As someone else said, it's cheaper than what we would normally tip. I don't find the drink prices any higher than an average restaurant in the area. DH will order beers by the bucket while we sit around the pool as the price is a bit cheaper that way. What he doesn't consume while on deck he takes back to the room on ice or in the fridge to be drank at a later time. No one has every batted an eye to ice that bucket down the next day if he had some left. DH gets the soda sticker but I am content with ice tea. We do bring some soda on board for me to drink in the room. I buy the coffee card because I like good coffee and the specialty drinks. In fact, I will have a frozen coffee drink while sitting on deck instead of an alcohol drink at times. DH on the other hand is fine with the coffee in the buffet.

I have no problems with the auto tipping. Once again, it actually saves us on a per day basis as we would of tipped more if we were tipping out of pocket for every meal, rooms, etc. We also keep a stack of small bills for tipping room service. We also tend to tip the cabin steward more at the end of the cruise if we feel he/she has done a great job. For all of our past cruises everyone of them got extra. Never have had bad service. They really work hard. The same with our dining room waiters, even though we chose to do anytime dining. We have usually had great servers.

You don't have to do expensive excursions. Depending on were you are going there are some really great beaches that are close to the ship or private excursions you can book on your own for less than the ship tours. You just want to make sure you do your research well on these cruise boards before you venture on your own. My first few cruises we did it mostly thru the ship until I got comfortable figuring things on my own. I would still never book one with a tight time frame independantly. I would just feel better going on a ship sponsered tour if I thought there was the slightest possibilty we could be late. I tend to want to be within view and close walking distance of the ship one hour before sailing. I get back on board no later than half an hour before sail away and then we watch others board.

This year we were wanting to vacation as inexpensively as possilbe. We compared cruises and AI and the cruise still won for being the better value IMO. It may not be right for you. If you are still within the cancellation period you might want to cancel, get your money back and look into an AI since you feel this might not be the best vacation choice for you.

If you decide to continue with the cruise please board with an open mind and a good attitude. If you take those two things with you from the very beginning I am sure you will have a good time. I'm sure it's overwhelming right now with wedding details and expenses and then finding out all the extras on the cruise. I wish you much happiness as you embark on your life together and I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon.

 

[Alexp]

Thanks for the positive comments. I absolutely agree with the tipping and have heard it is well deserved. I mostly wanted to make sure it goes directly to the staff . I think my main problem was after deciding to be good and not taking booze in our suit cases to find out the price of pre-ordering wine for you room had gone up by a whopping 40% - i can only assume this is the exchange rate but Princess hasn't confirmed.

I agree, I think my TA should have highlighted the tippings etc, we would have still booked but at least we would have been prepared. When we initially booked our honeymoon we weren't intending on going on a cruise but our TA kept on saying how what a great deal it was - believe me, we would have been prepared to pay more!

Anyhow, just wanted to say I am extremely excited about the cruise and I am certainly now going on it with an open mind and the right attitude (that is to enjoy every single second of it). Now I'm over my initial surprise, I am sure we will have the trip of our lives - the best way to start married life together. Only eight more sleeps to go - bring it on.

A

 

[Conniemc]

Enjoy yourself Alex!
arty
Younger couples don't have the money we "old folks" do
and I remember my sister and her husband freaking out on HAL when they realized they didn't have enough money at the end of the cruise to leave tips (back then you actually gave people an envelope with money). My parents bailed them out, but once you start drinking and having fun, you're not paying attention to the mounting on board bill. I checked mine every evening on Celebrity, but Princess does not allow that unless you wait in line at the front desk and ask. On Celebrity (which is the same price as Princess now) you can check everything from your interactive TV.

I usually spend the same dollar amount for on boards as I do for the cruise itself.
And remember, those TA's are being given BIG INCENTIVES to push you into a cruise these days. So have fun, take advantage of the tips on this thread and visit cruisecritics.com for many many more tips on saving on board.

At my age, I don't want to be concerned with how much I spend on every little thing is, so if I can't afford it, I don't go.

 

[Whimsy]

I'm very glad you feel better about the upcoming cruise. I'm sure you will have a good time. Please come back and let us know how it all went.

 

[Charles]

Congratulations Alex on your wedding!

Charles