Bringing drinks to mDr or buffet

[floridalover5623]

How did she have any way of knowing you hadn't bought the wine at another bar on board???

Using those water glasses from the cabin gives it away every time. :D:D

[mrgoalie]

How did she have any way of knowing you hadn't bought the wine at another bar on board???

"BINGO"!!!!......

It's not the passenger's causing the issues, it's the gouging of the industry, just like the airlines, that is forcing people to push back.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Using those water glasses from the cabin gives it away every time. :D:D

 

Can you not request wine glasses from your cabin steward or from a bar on board?

[mrgoalie]

Using those water glasses from the cabin gives it away every time. :D:D

Well yeah, ....if you're going to do it, at least be a bit more creative. :D

[floridalover5623]

Well yeah, ....if you're going to do it, at least be a bit more creative. :D

Yes, I know you can request glasses (my bartender friend even offered us some last cruise) but I've never found them necessary. It's mostly the paranoid people here on CC that seem afraid of getting "caught" that scares them. :eek:

[Bill B]

You show how it's easy to go well over the per diem cost of the AIBP without much effort:

 

• Specialty coffee + fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast
  
• Mid-morning soda/bottle of water/frozen drink
  
• One or two beverages with lunch (soda/beer/wine) plus coffee concoction after
  
• Mid-afternoon cold drink--or maybe a spot of premium tea
  
• Pre dinner cocktail/mocktail
  
• One or two glasses of wine (or otherwise) with dinner
  
• Espresso/Cappuccino/Limoncello after dinner (Limoncello will make you waiter very happy as they are usually having a contest for who can sell the most)
  
• Cocktail/Mocktail/soda/whatever at the theatre show
  
• Nightcap on your way back to your cabin. Or several hanging out at Skywalker's
  

• What you show is true. However, I believe in any calculation of whether the AIBP is 'worth it', one should include only the drinks one would normally consume without the package. If one is ordering drinks to justify the purchase and consume more than $57.40 worth per day, it's 'false economy'.
  

Coffee, tea, water and orange juice are all available without charge. Granted - the 'free' coffee should not be called coffee :(, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the: tea selection, orange juice and water.

 

 

 

 

This and the other similar stories point out that when people bypass the rules, they are not only shortchanging the ship of a revenue stream, but also the crew members of their primary source of compensation, which is gratuities. It is naive to think that the crew members are not noticing this or that they don't care. They probably realize that confronting passengers (who will no doubt lie and say that they bought the glass of wine at a bar) is a no-win proposition. But let's not confuse their passivity with indifference.

 

Your post has me thinking -

When wine is ordered in any dining venue (MDR, specialty etc.), is 15% not added as a gratuity? Wine is handled by the wait staff (usually the assistant waiter in the MDR), who are already being tipped out of the 'Auto Tip' pool. So, if 15% is added, are we not tipping twice? :confused:

[JimmyVWine]

Your post has me thinking -

When wine is ordered in any dining venue (MDR, specialty etc.), is 15% not added as a gratuity? Wine is handled by the wait staff (usually the assistant waiter in the MDR), who are already being tipped out of the 'Auto Tip' pool. So, if 15% is added, are we not tipping twice? :confused:

Sort of. The 15% tip goes to the bar staff. Substitute a Martini for a glass of wine and it becomes more clear. Who is actually performing the labor when making a complex cocktail...the bartender or the MDR server who merely ferries the drink from the bar to the diner? Yes, the MDR server has already been tipped out through the auto tip pool. But that individual isn't really doing anything. The bartender is the one making the drink so s/he should be getting a service charge, hence the 15% add on. Of course, when we move to wine which requires next to no expertise or effort to pour a glass from an already open bottle, it seems odd to pay 15% serice for this. Still, if you sat at a bar you would pay the fee. You don't get to skirt the fee by sitting at a dining table.

[Colo Cruiser]

Once again we have an individual who misses the point. The crew members are an unfortunate casualty of the greed of the industry. If they would just pay them fairly, you wouldn't have people trying to bypass "the systems".

 

 

However...........in the meantime.

[JimmyVWine]

Can you not request wine glasses from your cabin steward or from a bar on board?

Different glasses. The crew can spot the difference.

[JimmyVWine]

PP-lease...don't even begin to start talking about shortchanging anyone when they are hitting you up for $40+ for a $5 bottle of wine, or $20+ for a 8x10 picture, or overpriced excursions you can purchase on line for twice the experience. If you purchase one of those, which a huge amount of people do, aren't you shortchanging the ship?

Anyone could go on and on about this but the bottom line is Princess cruise lines are not going bankrupt because 100 people might bring a potential $8 glass of wine to dinner. Every year there's a new fee or charge, or something that was no charge being charged.....Princess has 3 new ships coming in the next 5 years. Believe me, they aren't hurting. I enjoy Princess cruises, but I am not afraid to call it like it is.....just my opinion though.

If you have an issue with prices set by the cruise line take it up with the line. The crew has nothing to do with this. Every time you sneak a drink on board which results in you ordering one less drink from the bar, you are shorting the crew the service charge that they would have made on that lost order. You can complain all you want about the cost of a bottle of wine, or the cost of shipboard photography or the cost of a crab leg. But what you can't (or shouldn't) do is complain that your total cruise cost has increased and then try to knock that cost down by removing your auto gratuity or stiff the other crew members. They have nothing to do with the bigger picture costs. They are providing you a service for which they should be compensated. When you try to "get back at Princess" for gouging you, the crew members become collateral damage and that is just wrong.

[JimmyVWine]

However...........in the meantime.

Exactly. We have to live within the system that exists. Not pretend that the system is one we would prefer.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Different glasses. The crew can spot the difference.

 

The bars would give you a different glass? On other lines if I've gone to a bar and asked for wine glasses, they pull them from the same location as those they use for wine ordered there.

[Bill B]

If you have an issue with prices set by the cruise line take it up with the line. The crew has nothing to do with this. Every time you sneak a drink on board which results in you ordering one less drink from the bar, you are shorting the crew the service charge that they would have made on that lost order. You can complain all you want about the cost of a bottle of wine, or the cost of shipboard photography or the cost of a crab leg. But what you can't (or shouldn't) do is complain that your total cruise cost has increased and then try to knock that cost down by removing your auto gratuity or stiff the other crew members. They have nothing to do with the bigger picture costs. They are providing you a service for which they should be compensated. When you try to "get back at Princess" for gouging you, the crew members become collateral damage and that is just wrong.

 

I agree. The 'gratuities' are for all intents and purposes wages. They are only gratuities in the sense the pax can remove the 'Auto Tip' charges. You are really only 'tipping' when add to the suggested amount.

[antsp]

Reading some of the posts has got me thinking, can we not start a charity collection for Princess Cruises, I'm in tears here.