OK we just did our first cruise and here is my lesson learned

[JonlLee]

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

being a frugal me, my question , is there a way to get rid of this automatic crew appreciation fee? or this is mandatory for all pax? 

 

We also left $60 tip in our room. would that cash be distributed among the other crew/waitress or he/she just pocket that for him/herself?

 

we were on a 4 day alaska 

 

thank you 

Edited May 12, 2022 by JonlLee

[mjmalino]

You can have the automatic crew appreciation removed from passenger services. If you book under Princess Plus, it is included.

 

If you keep the auto tips, on any tips that you give over and above to your cabin steward/server/etc will be kept by them. If you remove the automatic crew appreciation, then it gets pooled for cabin steward, servers, laundry, etc. 

[Tiggerontheseas]

16 minutes ago, JonlLee said:

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

being a frugal me, my question , is there a way to get rid of this automatic crew appreciation fee? or this is mandatory for all pax? 

 

We also left $60 tip in our room. would that cash be distributed among the other crew/waitress or he/she just pocket that for him/herself?

 

we were on a 4 day alaska 

 

thank you 

Hello, you can go to guest services and ask for the automatic crew gratuities (crew appreciation) charges removed. I wouldn't recommend that as the crew work extremely hard for you and this is the easiest and most convenient way to tip them, especially the behind the scenes crew in housekeeping, etc. that you don't see.   Regarding the cash gratuities, it is my understanding that if you have not removed the automatic tips then your steward can keep it for his/herself (though some may share anyway, I guess).  If you HAVE removed the automatic gratuities and leave cash they are are required to pool it.

 

 

[riffatsea]

It is customary to leave these tips in place 

Yes you can take them off but most of us consider them part of the price of the cruise

 

[GoHuskies!]

I agree with riffatsea.  The whole crew, not just the cabin steward, work hard every day for all of us and should be tipped handsomely for their work.  The "gratuities", which have been renamed "crew appreciation", are a fair amount to be shared among them all.  If you want to tip your room steward, that's nice too,

[devonuk]

I’ll give you a Brit response 😬 I always take mine off and I tip who I feel deserves it on a personal basis. Especially as I don’t feel I’m as well catered for each evening on the ‘anytime’, ‘freedom’ style of cruising. Some staff just don’t give a damn 🙄 This may well be a cultural thing though 🤔

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, devonuk said:

I’ll give you a Brit response 😬 I always take mine off and I tip who I feel deserves it on a personal basis. Especially as I don’t feel I’m as well catered for each evening on the ‘anytime’, ‘freedom’ style of cruising. Some staff just don’t give a damn 🙄 This may well be a cultural thing though 🤔

It would appear that you are not aware that if you remove the auto-gratuities (now called Crew Incentive - which is really part of their base compensation), your individual tips handed out are not allowed to be kept by that individual but go into the pool of funds to be shared by all crew.

 

You need to leave the auto-incentive on and then they can keep your additional rewards.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, devonuk said:

I’ll give you a Brit response 😬 I always take mine off and I tip who I feel deserves it on a personal basis. Especially as I don’t feel I’m as well catered for each evening on the ‘anytime’, ‘freedom’ style of cruising. Some staff just don’t give a damn 🙄 This may well be a cultural thing though 🤔

My Brit response is always to leave them on !

However,  I would then rarely tip anyone any extra, other than our room steward. 

[devonuk]

40 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

It would appear that you are not aware that if you remove the auto-gratuities (now called Crew Incentive - which is really part of their base compensation), your individual tips handed out are not allowed to be kept by that individual but go into the pool of funds to be shared by all crew.

 

You need to leave the auto-incentive on and then they can keep your additional rewards.

I don’t actually need to do anything. As I said this maybe a cultural thing re tipping. On my last trip on the Sky I had a long conversation with my cabin steward about tips and following this I will do what I see fit to do. I will not under any circumstances ‘pay’ for poor service blindly. It is not a mandatory charge and to be fair I now prefer the cruise lines that have a ‘no tips’ policy then there’s no issues. The standard of waiting, bar, customer service etc. on the Sky was woeful at times. My cabin steward was great, he got a very good tip and I’m satisfied with that. Whether he shares this or not is his/her issue. 

[Lady Meer]

From another Brit - we leave them on and tip extra to room steward and any ‘special’ servers / bar staff.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, mjmalino said:

 

 

If you keep the auto tips, on any tips that you give over and above to your cabin steward/server/etc will be kept by them. If you remove the automatic crew appreciation, then it gets pooled for cabin steward, servers, laundry, etc. 

 

There have been posts on other threads that this has changed. Whether you pay the "crew appreciation" or not, the cash you give to servers and cabin attendants may be kept by them.

 

Only a guess on my part, but I suspect the reason for this change is that so many people have the Plus package that includes the "crew appreciation" which cannot be reduced or removed it was not worth the effort to check every cash tip anymore.

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

There have been posts on other threads that this has changed. Whether you pay the "crew appreciation" or not, the cash you give to servers and cabin attendants may be kept by them.

 

Only a guess on my part, but I suspect the reason for this change is that so many people have the Plus package that includes the "crew appreciation" which cannot be reduced or removed it was not worth the effort to check every cash tip anymore.

You are right - I had forgotten that.  But it would be nice to have this new info confirmed.  And your theory as to the reason makes sense.  Despite this - if a change - we have no intentions to remove Crew Incentives, but it is nice to know for certain that a particular employee can receive anything extra and keep it. 

[devonuk]

Just now, caribill said:

 

There have been posts on other threads that this has changed. Whether you pay the "crew appreciation" or not, the cash you give to servers and cabin attendants may be kept by them.

 

Only a guess on my part, but I suspect the reason for this change is that so many people have the Plus package that includes the "crew appreciation" which cannot be reduced or removed it was not worth the effort to check every cash tip anymore.

I didn’t make it clear in my post that my cabin steward indicated that he kept what ever I gave him. He can then do what he likes with it 😀 We also gave him a football shirt (soccer) and some other little things that we felt he’d like following a good chat about him and his background.

[mjmalino]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

There have been posts on other threads that this has changed. Whether you pay the "crew appreciation" or not, the cash you give to servers and cabin attendants may be kept by them.

 

Only a guess on my part, but I suspect the reason for this change is that so many people have the Plus package that includes the "crew appreciation" which cannot be reduced or removed it was not worth the effort to check every cash tip anymore.

You are right, I totally forgot about that. I wouldn't even think about removing the tips (since so many people behind the scenes benefit from them) that I forgot about the change.

[skynight]

11 hours ago, JonlLee said:

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

being a frugal me, my question , is there a way to get rid of this automatic crew appreciation fee? or this is mandatory for all pax? 

 

We also left $60 tip in our room. would that cash be distributed among the other crew/waitress or he/she just pocket that for him/herself?

 

we were on a 4 day alaska 

 

thank you 

This is standard on Princess and many other cruise lines. If you have a fare that includes the crew appreciation, such as the plus fare, then you can not remove it. If you have a no frills fare and are charged by the day you may request the tip to be removed at passenger services. Believe current onboard procedures now allow Princess crew members to retain any cash tips they receive.

It is up to you if you wish to leave the auto-gratuity in place or have it removed. Most passengers do leave it in place, guessing over 99%, and many passengers like ourselves provide extra rewards to our cabin steward and other crew on the ship such as waiters that served us during the trip.

[JF - retired RRT]

12 hours ago, JonlLee said:

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

being a frugal me, my question , is there a way to get rid of this automatic crew appreciation fee? or this is mandatory for all pax? 

 

We also left $60 tip in our room. would that cash be distributed among the other crew/waitress or he/she just pocket that for him/herself?

 

we were on a 4 day alaska 

 

thank you 

That steward must have loved you!! That's a huge tip for a 4-day cruise.

[wowzz]

48 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

That steward must have loved you!! That's a huge tip for a 4-day cruise.

Indeed  - we probably wouldn't leave that much for a 14 night cruise !

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, devonuk said:

The standard of waiting, bar, customer service etc. on the Sky was woeful at times. My cabin steward was great, he got a very good tip and I’m satisfied with that. 

I’m confused. I was under the impression the auto gratuities or crew incentive charges only went to the stewards and dining room/room service servers/assistants. I was not aware customer service employees received any of it and I’m pretty sure the bartenders and drink servers get their tips from either the drink packages purchased or when drinks/bottles of wine are purchased separately. Has something changed?

[cruzsnooze]

I don't remove them but I adjust them to what I feel is right for me. At guest services you can designate any amount you want. Some where between $10 - $14 PP PD is where I fall. According to the contract pre covid, all cash extra you give goes into the pool which is fleet wide, not just the ship you sailed on regardless of leaving the auto gratuity intact. Princess takes an administration fee from these auto gratuities so all your money is not going to the crew.

   I believe the money left in the cabin for your steward probably went into their pocket.  

[cruzsnooze]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m confused. I was under the impression the auto gratuities or crew incentive charges only went to the stewards and dining room/room service servers/assistants. I was not aware customer service employees received any of it and I’m pretty sure the bartenders and drink servers get their tips from either the drink packages purchased or when drinks/bottles of wine are purchased separately. Has something changed?

A lot has changed. Now they state the entertainment dept is is the tip pool too. 

What is a Crew Appreciation?

The crew appreciation is a daily (adjustable) amount added to your onboard account and pooled in order to recognize the many crew members in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas and entertainment areas throughout our fleet who contribute to the guest experience. The daily amount of the Crew Appreciation is based on stateroom category: $14.50 per guests in Interior, Oceanview and Balcony, $15.50 per guest in Mini-Suite and Club Class, $16.50 per guests in Suites.

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

A lot has changed. Now they state the entertainment dept is is the tip pool too. 

What is a Crew Appreciation?

The crew appreciation is a daily (adjustable) amount added to your onboard account and pooled in order to recognize the many crew members in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas and entertainment areas throughout our fleet who contribute to the guest experience. The daily amount of the Crew Appreciation is based on stateroom category: $14.50 per guests in Interior, Oceanview and Balcony, $15.50 per guest in Mini-Suite and Club Class, $16.50 per guests in Suites.

Well there you go. Thanks for the update. I wonder why then I paid an extra 18% gratuity on each of the 5 bottles of wine I purchased on this cruise? I guess that goes into the crew appreciation bucket as well. That explains also why we haven’t seen a sommelier in the MDR on our current 18 day cruise on the CB. The DR waiters are doing that job to.

 

Would it be possible for you to post the link to where you read that? I can’t seem to find it on the Princess website.

[Gwendy]

I love Australia .  We are not natural tippers. When we pay for a cruise it is inclusive of gratuities.  No need to decide whether to take them off or leave them.  It’s all sorted.

[GonzoWCS]

14 hours ago, JonlLee said:

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

being a frugal me, my question , is there a way to get rid of this automatic crew appreciation fee? or this is mandatory for all pax? 

 

We also left $60 tip in our room. would that cash be distributed among the other crew/waitress or he/she just pocket that for him/herself?

 

we were on a 4 day alaska 

 

thank you 

Nice lesson learned there.

 

Cheers

[caribill]

13 hours ago, JonlLee said:

I didn't know they have automatic crew appreciation for $14.50 per day per person

 

 

You are not the first person to be surprised by this. However there are multiple notices about this.

 

First off is the Passage Contract which you agreed to online before doing any personalization for the cruise, either via a web page or via the App. :

 

“Crew Incentive” and “Service Charges”: A Crew Incentive will be automatically added to Your onboard account for Your convenience, to recognize the efforts of a wide variety of crew members in various departments who interact directly with Guests and/or behind the scenes throughout every cruise, including those in the Dining, Entertainment, Guest Services, and Galley areas. The amount of the Crew Incentive is based on Your stateroom category. The Crew Incentive is subject to adjustment at Your discretion, except as otherwise provided in the Crew Incentive and Service Charge Policy.

 

There are many other important pieces of information in that contract, but few people actually read it.

 

Second is within the Personalizer where there is a link titled Important Information:

 

CREW APPRECIATION PAYMENT INFORMATION

To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary crew appreciation payment of USD 16.50 per guest for suites, USD 15.50 per guest for mini-suites, and USD 14.50 per guest for interior, oceanview, and balcony staterooms, per day (including children) will be automatically added to your shipboard account. This crew appreciation payment will be shared amongst those staff that help provide and support your cruise experience, including those in the Bar, Dining, Entertainment, Housekeeping, Guest Services, Galley and Onboard Revenue areas. For your convenience, crew appreciation can be pre-paid before you sail by calling us or logging in to your Cruise Personalizer online at http://www.princess.com/cruisepersonalizer. Pre-paid crew appreciation may be added up to two days prior to your embarkation.
You have complete discretion to adjust crew appreciation payment while onboard, but crew appreciation may only be adjusted prior to disembarking the ship. If included as part of a promotion or package, it cannot be adjusted or refunded.

 

Third is also within the Personalizer where under "Payments & Credits" there is the opportunity to pay the Crew Appreciation in advance:

 

Crew Appreciation Pre-Payment

During your cruise, regardless of which Princess ship you chose, you will meet staff who provide you with excellent service. To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary crew appreciation is applied automatically to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This crew appreciation will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet.

 

 

There may be other places where this information is presented, but these were the first three I found.

[skynight]

33 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 That explains also why we haven’t seen a sommelier in the MDR on our current 18 day cruise on the CB. The DR waiters are doing that job to.

 

 

I have not seen a sommelier in the DR on a Princess ship going back as far as 2000 and probably even before that. Maybe way back Princess had sommeliers.