SantaFeFan

I think we are being pranked! This comment has to be satirical! LOL!!

It's very easy to let a a thread like this die: DON"T READ IT!!

They have my vote as the poster family for 'Sense of Entitlement'.

You might want to read these articles: https://www.cruisehive.com/how-much-do-cruise-ship-workers-make/64121 https://highseascruising.com/how-much-do-cruise-ship-workers-make/ How Much do Cruise Ship Cabin Stewards Make? Cabin stewards are among the lowest-paid workers on a cruise ship. Cabin stewards have a base salary of $10,800 but can make as high as $24,000 with tips. How much do cruise ship waiters make? Cruise ship waiter salaries vary from $1,200 per month for a junior waiter to $5,000 per month for the head waiter on an ultra-luxury cruise ship. These salaries generally include gratuities which typically make up 65% of their salary and are collected and shared automatically. If people choose to tip extra in cash on top of the standard gratuities, then waiters can make more money. The hours for a cruise ship waiter or waitress can be very long, as they often have to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner with little time off in between.

On our Alaska cruise on Grand Princess in 2017 I purchased the special "behind the scenes" tour. As well as visits to the bridge, galley, store rooms, laundry, engine control room, theater backstage, infirmary, and fore section with the anchor chains and winches, we also toured I-95, the central corridor that runs the length of the ship for crew to move around quickly. Off this corridor was the crew area. We visited the crew galley and lounge, and walked down the crew quarter aisles, where we were asked to move quietly so not to disturb sleeping crew. While we never saw inside any of the crew cabins, we were told that two people shared these cabins.

I hate to burst your fantasy bubble, but you are so wrong on so many things with that statement. You said "The vast majority of the customer facing crew do not get tipped. Those waiters working in the buffet for example." Wrong! Those waiters working in the buffet can be seen later working the MDR, and vice-a-versa. Tomorrow they may be working the poolside grill, or the International Cafe. They are all from the same staffing pool and will work a variety of venues, all with a percentage of the gratuities. Same with room attendants, who share their gratuities with the support staff that makes their jobs easier, such as the laundry workers. Room attendants can be seen cleaning up public areas when they are not cleaning staterooms. The crew all work for a base salary. It isn't a high salary, but it is a guaranteed salary. They also get room and board as part of their salary package. This amount is not enough to live on, however - by OUR standards. Note that not all of the crew are included in the base salary/gratuities programs. Typically only those working in the "hotel" side of the ship are included in this program. Officers, entertainers, accredited mechanics, and other higher level staff sign a contract at a full salary with no part of the gratuity programs, much like on a typical land based company. The gratuities that responsible passenger pay supplement that base salary for hotel staff, increasing the final income to acceptable levels. Without the gratuities, the crew will at least get the base salary, so they are not, as you claim, "working for nothing". Most cruise lines that are based in Europe, such as P&O and MSC (for European cruises only), roll the gratuities into the base fare for exactly the reason you mentioned - Europeans don't tip well, and the staff gets stiffed. Many US based cruise lines do the same when home porting in Europe, again because too many Europeans refuse to tip and the hotel staff suffers. In May 2019 P&O did away with gratuities (SOURCE: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/PO-Cruises-to-end-gratuities-in-2019) because too many of the locals removed them, so people did not want to work on their ships because of the lost wages they suffered. To attract employees, P&O had to switch or they would not be able to find enough people to run their ships. It's simple economics.

Some of us don't need Wi-Fi to make a cruise enjoyable. We are fully capable of tuning out and enjoying the cruise itself. We typically leave our phones in the safe. With the new medallion features, we will have to change our habits or do without the benefits which need the phone to enjoy.

I have read that they would be in a different line, and those with their medallions already would not be behind them. Can anyone confirm?

I hope you are correct. I haven't been through embarkation since before the medallion so admittingly aren't the expert. It just seems that even if it takes one minute to get the medallion in your hands and there are hundreds more people than before needing that service, there has to be a time penalty to the wait times. Time will tell. My concerns might end up being one of those infamous "nothingburgers". 🙃

That is based on many people who had them mailed already having their device in hand as they check in. If a large number of people now decide to pick them up instead of having them mailed to save $10, then there will be more people in that line to pick them up. More people, more processing time. It's simple physics.

Fascinating. People spending thousands of dollars on a cruise vacation are willing to endure longer, slower, more crowded lines just to save $10 shipping cost for the medallions. 😵

I believe it is those who purchase the Plus or Premier packages. Those who don't will have to pay $10 to get them mailed.

That is where you and I are different. I don't spend my time in the MDR monitoring what people are wearing. I have no idea how many people are wearing what. I just don't care. It's not my business.

Got it! One of my favorites.

Copied from another thread.

It is refundable. If it wasn't, we would have had dozens of threads complaining about it by now.

You had it easy. We had to walk five miles each way in the snow and UPHILL both ways!

The very fact that you can buy your way to the front of the line is classism. On airplanes, they even call it "First Class". This rush by cruise lines to give preferential treatment to people who can afford it is an unfortunate trend. In the past, paying more got a person a better cabin, but all other aspects of the cruise was equal. Now, dedicated spaces and restaurants, priority seating in the theater, being moved to the front of the line for boarding and embarkation, has sprouted like weeds. Every year the few gain more amenities and benefits, while the average passenger sees more and more cutbacks and eliminations of what they enjoyed in the past. And of course, those of you who can easily afford it will defend this new trend and comment on how the rest of us should accept it. That in itself is a form of classism.

Thanks. I don't know if I was lucky or this is the new normal, but I am happy it happened. Made booking dining times so easy with the app.

Based on the direction Princess is taking with their newest class of ships, I'm willing to bet that those seats will remain reserved for Premier package buyers and will never be released to the lower class passengers. It will also include suite passengers as well as one of the privileged groups allowed there. Princess is clearly embracing the class format for it's upcoming ships with their exclusive Reserve Collection and Signature Collection areas and restaurants, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if a prime section of the theater is permanently blocked by railings for the exclusive use by those willing to spend additional money to be treated better than the rest of the passengers. Money talks, and under John Padgett's leadership, Princess is apparently listening.

As I have mentioned many times to Steelers36s comment above, we board our 2nd Princess cruise on March 12th and we made our dining reservations months ago, both for MDR and specialty. We are not elite or platinum and only last week made our final payment. Yet, we have already made all of our reservations, both dining and excursions. And our traveling companions, also not elite or platinum, have made theirs as well. It appears to be a myth that people must have loyalty status to make reservations early.

Getting the wifi or beverage packages is optional. These were never included in the base fare on Princess, which is the cruise line we are discussing here. No one has to buy these items, so how can they be counted as "nickel and diming"? Cruising on Princess has NEVER been inclusive. People always had to pay extra for many things, either al-a-cart or in a package when they became available. You are not convincing me at all with your hyperbole.

Another question is whether the seats will remain reserved as the show begins or be released to people not on the package a few minutes before. What I have observed when seats are reserved for the duration is that if they are at the front of the theater, people who those seats are for will know they don't need to hurry and will show up late and disrupt the performance while making their way to their seats. The only people who win in that situation are the late arriving people whose seats are reserved. The performers and the rest of the audience are negatively affected. Hopefully the reserved seats will expire a few minutes before the show starts so the late reserve arrivals won't be motivated to interrupt the show.

I was making a general comment for anyone interested in this topic. I was not deliberately accusing you of trying to get out of paying, and apologize if my comment was poorly worded and came out that way.

You should plan on being "out of pocket" for the kids as well, regardless of if prepaid or paid on board. Kids, especially toddlers, also require the cabin attendant to deal with any messes they may make. Plus, the gratuities are also for the staff that prepares and serves them food at all the dining venues, and for washing the dirty linens they use. Every person on board should pay gratuities as every one of them will be taken care of by the staff in some way or the other.