Needed .. Definitive answer to tipping on Sun Princess

We will be on Sun Princess on 30th July and, having followed the information given recently, now understand that there is no auto tip added our bill on Princess cruises in Australia. Are we still expected to tip on a personal basis and, if so, how much do you suggest?

Thanks in advance and getting really excited about our first trip 'down under'!

You don't have to tip anyone if you choose not to. It's the same on P&O Australia ships. We book the same good waiters every dinnertime, so tip them at the end of the cruise and also our cabin steward if we have had good service. (So far we have had all good stewards.) I believe people who build up a rapport with a certain bar attendant tip them, but we don't drink enough at any particular bar to build up a rapport with any of them.

Hope this helps.

We will be on Sun Princess on 30th July and, having followed the information given recently, now understand that there is no auto tip added our bill on Princess cruises in Australia. Are we still expected to tip on a personal basis and, if so, how much do you suggest?

 

Thanks in advance and getting really excited about our first trip 'down under'!

Hi Soccerref,

You're not 'expected to tip on a personal basis' , but should you find the service in the restaurant (fixed dining) exceptional or the room steward very helpful, you can tip. On some previous cruises we have given $50.

Hope you enjoy your Downunder cruise.

SOCCEREF...There is no doubt you have paid for your auto tips in your inflated cruise ticket price..although it is not disclosed. Why do you think Princess Australia highlights again and again 'No auto gratuities on Sun Princess/Dawn Princess, sailing out of Australia ? Yes, you guessed it, to attract more tip hating Aussies to their ships !

You just need to look at Aussie Princess prices, how they have gone up for Sun Princess/Dawn Princess since the auto tip was dropped. I have no doubt at all the Crew wage fund is still being bolstered by the passengers through ticket price, not through Carnival Corp profits.

This tipping 'extra' to waiters, stewards etc bugs me, do we really want to start that in Australia?

I still have not seen or heard a definitive answer to the question regarding auto bar tips.

There are two types of "gratuities" that used to apply.

(1) is the daily "charge" per person, which could be removed if you made a personal application to the concierge. Some may have been a bit intimidated by needing to do this, but we know that this has now been removed anyway. I don't necessarily agree that it has led to increased fares as more and more people seemed to be able to overcome any hangups and join the queue to have it removed. The price of the 2011 equivalent to the cruise we did in 2009 seems to be about the same...perhaps a bit cheaper:confused:

(2) is the automatic surcharge applied to your bar bill. Can't remember if it was 10% or 15%. There is some doubt as to whether this has also been removed. Awaiting on someone who has been onboard Sun or Dawn Princess lately who can verify.

cheers

I can't speak for Princess lines, however since tipping was removed from P&O ships last October, fares have DEFINITELY NOT gone up. In facts fares for NZ cruises (as an example) have gone down since we first booked in 2009. :)

NSWP: The flipside then would be you’re getting discounts for staff wages by tipping separately by a deflated cruise ticket price.

You can’t have it both ways…

That said, agree with Sandielle about prices not rising much – P&O also dropped tips and their prices have gone down if anything.

I got off the Sun Princess on Saturday after 46 nights - great time.

We did not have any of the daily tips added to our account, nor was there any gratuaities on the bar bill - unless you filled in that bit on the paper you had to sign.

If you looked at the price for the cruise after Jan this year you could say they didn't increase the price to Aussies.

there was a rumour on board that it is only the Aussies onboard who do not have the tipping added to the account however I couldn't get this verified.

Because of good service we did tip our steward, and dinner waiter however it was nowhere near what we would have paid with auto tipping, given the number of days we were onboard, and they would not have got it if we had not been happy with them.

I got towel animals everyday once our steward realised I liked them - never got that on our last cruise.

Ignore the Princess 'spin" they have bluffed the ACCC again . The tipping is now included in the increased cruise fare !!!! Compare old and new fares and there has been a significant increase .

One needs to understand that the basic front of house staff on cruise boats are very poorly paid by the Cruise lines compared to Australian hospitality awards . Also the crew are under enormous pressure to perform so as to have their employment contracts renewed .

So we generally tip our waiting staff on our table in the MDR around $ 20 Aus each, and our Cabin steward $ 50 for a 10 - 14 night cruise .

With the former 15 % surcharge on the bar bill, the Princess booklet says it no longer applies on SUN, DAWN & SEA out of , but returning to Australia. One suspects the drink prices on these cruises will now be higher to compensate .

The ACCC (Australian Consumer & Competition Commission) specifically forbids quoting a price and then having compulsory add ons like Port charges, taxes, tipping gratuities etc . So that is why all Cruise lines operating out of Australia are being dragged into line , in that by law they must quote one single and all inclusive price for a service .

One other complication whilst in Australia (& Australian waters) the price quoted for food and beverages includes a 10% GST, which the Cruise Line has to pay the Australian Federal Government. In International waters this Australian tax does not apply, but the food and beverage prices stay the same, so presumably the Cruise Line bottom line gets the difference !!!

The ACCC (Australian Consumer & Competition Commission) specifically forbids quoting a price and then having compulsory add ons like Port charges, taxes, tipping gratuities etc . So that is why all Cruise lines operating out of Australia are being dragged into line , in that by law they must quote one single and all inclusive price for a service .

 

One other complication whilst in Australia (& Australian waters) the price quoted for food and beverages includes a 10% GST, which the Cruise Line has to pay the Australian Federal Government. In International waters this Australian tax does not apply, but the food and beverage prices stay the same, so presumably the Cruise Line bottom line gets the difference !!!

This probably answers the question better - yes drinks were about $5 for a beer and up, Cocktails were about $10 and initially they didn't have power or happy hours on board the Sun Princess last trip until a few passengers complained directly to Princess about it. Bottles of red wine started at about $27 ea - bit different to the $6 a bottle we paid in South Africa bottle shop.

I've no issue if the tips are included in the fare - the staff have to get paid. The alternative is they work for free, and I can't see that happening, so ultimately it must be coming from our pocket through the cruise line to them; it's just the accounting that differs.

Thanks for all your help. We will budget for some personal tips as I'm sure the service will be great. 37 days and counting!!!!!!

I am always amused to see people refer to "fares" - and then claim that they can detect price movements in these "fares". There are NO set fares on cruiseships - apart from those in the glossy brochures which almost nobody pays. If you were to line up all passengers and ask what their "fare" was, they would all be different.

Barry

I am always amused to see people refer to "fares" - and then claim that they can detect price movements in these "fares". There are NO set fares on cruiseships - apart from those in the glossy brochures which almost nobody pays. If you were to line up all passengers and ask what their "fare" was, they would all be different.

 

Barry

Bazzaw..Barry, I like the tipping system on P&O UK, No auto tip, you give out the envelopes at the end of the cruise to who you think deserves one, right? Although there are 'suggested amounts for your cabin steward/dining room steard(s.)

Did that work out OK for you on Oriana/Arcadia?

The problem with that approach is that in this market, many passengers just weren't tipping, or less than a reasonable rate, so crew weren't getting a fair amount.

KATE59

It is partly true that only Australian and New Zealand passengers are not being charged the compulsory tipping surcharge.hen we questioned it My wife and I returned from a 12 night Pacific Island cruise on 25th May and for the first four days of the cruise we were charged the tipping surcharge. When we questioned it with the Pursers Office we were asked where we booked the cruise and we told them in Vancouver, Canada on the internet. There was no hesitation in refunding what we had paid for the first four days and we were told that all Australian and New Zealand passengers booking in their respective home countries were automatically not charged the tipping surcharge and anyone living or booking outside of Australia or New Zealand did not have to compulsory pay the surcharge if they signed a waiver form which has always been the case.

Hope this clears up any confusion.

John

Les

Yes - the P&O UK system worked fine for us.

Barry

Ignore the Princess 'spin" they have bluffed the ACCC again . The tipping is now included in the increased cruise fare !!!! Compare old and new fares and there has been a significant increase .

 

One needs to understand that the basic front of house staff on cruise boats are very poorly paid by the Cruise lines compared to Australian hospitality awards . Also the crew are under enormous pressure to perform so as to have their employment contracts renewed .

 

So we generally tip our waiting staff on our table in the MDR around $ 20 Aus each, and our Cabin steward $ 50 for a 10 - 14 night cruise .

With the former 15 % surcharge on the bar bill, the Princess booklet says it no longer applies on SUN, DAWN & SEA out of , but returning to Australia. One suspects the drink prices on these cruises will now be higher to compensate .

The ACCC (Australian Consumer & Competition Commission) specifically forbids quoting a price and then having compulsory add ons like Port charges, taxes, tipping gratuities etc . So that is why all Cruise lines operating out of Australia are being dragged into line , in that by law they must quote one single and all inclusive price for a service .

 

One other complication whilst in Australia (& Australian waters) the price quoted for food and beverages includes a 10% GST, which the Cruise Line has to pay the Australian Federal Government. In International waters this Australian tax does not apply, but the food and beverage prices stay the same, so presumably the Cruise Line bottom line gets the difference !!!

On our recent 47 day cruise on the Sun Princess we did not find that drinks prices had increased. The drinks menu were the same ones that were in use in previous months because there was a notation that there was a 15% service charge added to the amount. However, when we checked our on-board account, the drinks charge did not have this included.

By the way, personally I do not think the cruise prices have increased more than the usual rate of inflation compared with last year.

Although Princess announced that the automatic tipping would cease from 1st May, they also removed it for the Sun Princess cruise from 16th April ending in Fremantle on 3rd May. Great!!

The docket your sign for bar service shows the price as per the drinks price list, then a 15 % service charge to arrive at the final total you sign for .

Only the final total appears on your on board account .

On SUN, DAWN & SEA departing and returning to Aus all pax are now not supposed to charged the + 15 % .

As explained in earlier post it is illegal under Australian law to quote a price and then add on compulsory additional charges . The price quoted for a service or supply of goods must be the final all inclusive price .

The 15% charge is no longer shown on the bar docket. Just the drink price.

We are just off the Sun Princess and we did check to make sure it had gone.

Princess has to be making up the wage subsidy shortfall due to no auto tips, somewhere. They are not 'making up the service crew's wages from their own profits.

Even though no 15% drink gratuity and no auto tip, you have to be paying for it in your cruise price. The Princess World cruise price from Australia went up quite a bit this year, following 'abolition' of auto tips and grautity on drinks. I still maintain there is a 'tip component' hidden in your cruise price. Or do you reckon Carinval Corp are that benevolent to Australian/NZ pax? LOL.

I rest my case your worship. What say ye?

Les you are probably right somewhere along the line and as long as Aussies don't see the tip being added as a compulsory payment and the Aussie government doesn't see the added tax added to the price then all Aussies are happy - so does it matter - No.

kate59

It is not a rumor that only Aussies and Kiwi passengers have the compulsory tipping waived.

My wife and I returned from a 12 day pacific cruise on Dawn Princess on 25that the May. For the first four day's of the cruise we had the $10 a day each compulsory tip added to our OB account. When I inquired at the Purser's office as to why this was being added they explained that as we had booked on line from Vancouver Canada, (we live in Adelaide)the compulsory tips were automatically added on. The tips are still added for bookings made overseas irregardless that you may be an Aussie or Kiwi. I dont know what would happen if, for instance a USA citizen booked on line with an Australian TA.

When we explained that were Australian citizens the auto tips were refunded after signing the waiver form which has always been the case.

Hope this explanation helps.

John

it is exciting as the cruise gets closer.

No tips unless you want to .

We only tipped our cabin steward, and mdr waiter and jr waiter - we tipped them all the same but really just a thank you in envelope with some A$. They liked that currency at present because of exchange rate but some where happy to have in singapore $ as that was where the ship went after us.

We only ever tip if we feel they have exceeded expectations - cabin steward would sometimes fold up my washing if dry in shower, and I got a towel animal every day - sometimes 2 once he realised I loved them - never got them on other cruise - they probably thought I was too old for them.

Princess has to be making up the wage subsidy shortfall due to no auto tips, somewhere. They are not 'making up the service crew's wages from their own profits.

Yes and no. Ideally they would increase the price, but they always sell to market, so if the price had to come down to the old level to result in the sales, it's out of their profits and they'd even run at a loss as need be on that cruise.

As said before, the staff have to get paid though, and that's obviously got to be paid by us, so how it gets paid just differs in the accounting. As long as the staff are getting paid and not stiffed, as they were...