Princess Onboard Credit & Spending Onboard Are Both In AUD

[Astro Flyer]

We just booked a future Princess cruise from the US (paid in USD) that circumnavigates Australia & our US $750 of onboard credits are now in AUD. Our travel agent communicated with her Princess sales rep & was told that sailing around Australia all onboard spending is in AUD. Since our normal US $750 will be changed to A$750 our purchasing power is reduced by 1/3 due to the current exchange rate…A$1 is US $0.67.
 

Does anyone know if AUD prices onboard are the same as in USD? Wonder if US $14.50 tips are the same amount in AUD although that might  be unknown because as I recall booking cruises in Australia includes tips, is that correct? If prices are not the same then our OBC purchasing power is devalued from US $750 to only US $500. It’s too early to price tours to book in advance which are in AUD however all other advance purchases are in USD.

 

When cruising to other locations around the world all onboard spending on Princess has been in USD. However based on the information provided by Princess our Australian cruise will have purchases in AUD. If anyone has any insights to share we’d greatly appreciate any information to learn what we can expect during our Australia cruise...thanks. 🙂

 

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, all onboard costs on Australian cruises are in AUD. The prices of drinks are higher to make up for no added gratuities on top of the listed price for drinks. Typically most spirits are $11-15, beers are $10.50, wine by the glass ranges from $15 to $29, and cocktails  range from $15 to $24. 

 

I'm not sure what happens with the daily gratuities as they don't apply to fares purchased in Australia but do apply to bookings made overseas, however you should be able to prepay the daily gratuities - usually there is an option to do that under the Payments section of the personalizer.

 

The OBC issue is a pain but that's how Princess have always done it. For excursions you might be better paying by credit card rather than using your OBC as you would then get the benefit of the exchange rate. Make sure you allow your bank to do the conversion (ie pay in AUD) not Princess as you'll get a better exchange rate that way. 

[Aus Traveller]

I can recall in the past that passengers from the US have faced the same problem - their OBC in US$ is converted 1:1. I agree. It isn't fair, but there isn't anything you can do about it. I am not sure if the gratuities are also converted 1:1. I seem to recall in the past that someone complained that they are charged in US$ and converted to AUD. However, I am not sure. If this is the case, you can remove the gratuities from your on-board account and personally remunerate the staff who help make your holiday special. They will be able to keep this money, but any auto gratuities you pay will go into the fleet-wide tips pool. Australian-based ships aren't part of this pool. The staff are paid a higher rate of pay every month and don't rely on tips as a significant part of their pay. Although Aussies don't generally tip,, some passengers still give the stewards a tip, but this wouldn't be a significant amount.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks OzKiwiJJ for sharing that helpful info.

 

There is an option to prepay tips however it’s US $16/pp/day for our OV cabin which currently is US $14.50. Hopefully our TA can clarify how much our tips will be in AUD. Neither their Plus nor Premier packages are close to being cost effective for our style of cruising.

 

[Aus Traveller]

3 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks OzKiwiJJ for sharing that helpful info.

 

There is an option to prepay tips however it’s US $16/pp/day for our OV cabin which currently is US $14.50. Hopefully our TA can clarify how much our tips will be in AUD. Neither their Plus nor Premier packages are close to being cost effective for our style of cruising.

 

I suggest you consider my suggestion regarding the tips. I understand that it would possibly go against your inclination because you are accustomed to tipping, but no-one on an Aussie ship would think it is odd. You can easily work out how much you would normally tip and spread this amount among the crew your interact with. They will love you for it because they get to keep it!

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks Aus Traveller…this will be our second attempt at the Princess Around Australia itinerary after the pandemic cancelled our first attempt & we have a lot of research to do on the ports.
 

Our only other time in Australia was in 2009 sailing from Sydney to LA & we had a few days pre-cruise to do some touring around the Sydney area. We booked our future cruise roundtrip Brisbane because it was 1/3 cheaper than from Sydney which had more cabins allotted to boarding there. The savings should pay for our airfare & will also arrive in Brisbane early to explore some of that area…and to recover from the long flight Downunder in steerage class.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

15 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks OzKiwiJJ for sharing that helpful info.

 

There is an option to prepay tips however it’s US $16/pp/day for our OV cabin which currently is US $14.50. Hopefully our TA can clarify how much our tips will be in AUD. Neither their Plus nor Premier packages are close to being cost effective for our style of cruising.

 

The gratuity prices went up in February.

 

I'm not sure whether they have changed to rules re overseas bookings for Aussie cruises. The statement at the top seems to imply they won't be charged. You might like to check that though.

Edited April 8, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[Aus Traveller]

Pre-COVID overseas passengers were charged the gratuities. I haven't heard if that has changed. It may have. Astro Flyer's travel agent might be able to tell them. If not, it is all in their own hands once they are on the ship.

[Astro Flyer]

17 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The gratuity prices went up in February.

 

I'm not sure whether they have changed to rules re overseas bookings for Aussie cruises. The statement at the top seems to imply they won't be charged. You might like to check that though.

Thanks for the update to $16…earlier today when I checked the US Princess website it still showed as US $14.50 but that’s not the first time they’ve been slow to update their website.

 

[JJK2008]

10 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

We just booked a future Princess cruise from the US (paid in USD) that circumnavigates Australia & our US $750 of onboard credits are now in AUD. Our travel agent communicated with her Princess sales rep & was told that sailing around Australia all onboard spending is in AUD. Since our normal US $750 will be changed to A$750 our purchasing power is reduced by 1/3 due to the current exchange rate…A$1 is US $0.67.
 

Does anyone know if AUD prices onboard are the same as in USD? Wonder if US $14.50 tips are the same amount in AUD although that might  be unknown because as I recall booking cruises in Australia includes tips, is that correct? If prices are not the same then our OBC purchasing power is devalued from US $750 to only US $500. It’s too early to price tours to book in advance which are in AUD however all other advance purchases are in USD.

 

When cruising to other locations around the world all onboard spending on Princess has been in USD. However based on the information provided by Princess our Australian cruise will have purchases in AUD. If anyone has any insights to share we’d greatly appreciate any information to learn what we can expect during our Australia cruise...thanks. 🙂

 

 

 

My DW and I always scour the "fine print" and have saved ourselves many headaches over the years. We know not everybody does this. Here's a tidbit of info that may or may not help. This info is tucked away in the "Terms and Conditions" for the Plus and Premier Cruise Packages. The packages identify "crew appreciation" as one of the perks of the package. However, you'll find in the fine print that "crew appreciation" is already included in the cruise price for ALL passengers. Here's the fine print..."Although Crew Appreciation is listed as part of the Princess Plus package, on Australia and New Zealand voyages Crew Appreciation is already included in the cruise fare and therefore all guests, regardless of whether they book the Princess Plus package, will receive Crew Appreciation and no substitution or refund will be provided for such part of the package." So, you get "crew appreciation" built into ANY "Australia and New Zealand voyages Crew Appreciation is already included in the cruise fare."  Verify it for yourself and then decide. 

[Astro Flyer]

41 minutes ago, JJK2008 said:

My DW and I always scour the "fine print" and have saved ourselves many headaches over the years. We know not everybody does this. Here's a tidbit of info that may or may not help. This info is tucked away in the "Terms and Conditions" for the Plus and Premier Cruise Packages. The packages identify "crew appreciation" as one of the perks of the package. However, you'll find in the fine print that "crew appreciation" is already included in the cruise price for ALL passengers. Here's the fine print..."Although Crew Appreciation is listed as part of the Princess Plus package, on Australia and New Zealand voyages Crew Appreciation is already included in the cruise fare and therefore all guests, regardless of whether they book the Princess Plus package, will receive Crew Appreciation and no substitution or refund will be provided for such part of the package." So, you get "crew appreciation" built into ANY "Australia and New Zealand voyages Crew Appreciation is already included in the cruise fare."  Verify it for yourself and then decide. 

Great research to locate such a “fine print” statement…thank you very much for that statement. Since you’re also in the US assuming that statement was from the Princess US site & not from on their AU site.
 

Although when viewing our Cruise Personalizer there is the option to pre-pay crew appreciation at US $16/pp/day which we never pay in advance. Hopefully our TA can get her Princess sales rep to explain these conflicting statements. With 23 months before boarding we have plenty of time to receive a definitive answer from Princess.

 

[Astro Flyer]

10 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The gratuity prices went up in February.

 

I'm not sure whether they have changed to rules re overseas bookings for Aussie cruises. The statement at the top seems to imply they won't be charged. You might like to check that though.

Since you’re in AU that screenshot would be from the Princess AU site about tips being included in the fare for cruises within Australia. It can be difficult to get a definitive answer from their reps & I’ll continue to research their policy including having our TA checking with her Princess sales rep.

 

[JJK2008]

2 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Great research to locate such a “fine print” statement…thank you very much for that statement. Since you’re also in the US assuming that statement was from the Princess US site & not from on their AU site.
 

Although when viewing our Cruise Personalizer there is the option to pre-pay crew appreciation at US $16/pp/day which we never pay in advance. Hopefully our TA can get her Princess sales rep to explain these conflicting statements. With 23 months before boarding we have plenty of time to receive a definitive answer from Princess.

 

From all the research we've done, my understanding is that any cruise that leaves and returns from Australia includes gratuities automatically in the cruise price. Apparently, Australian law requires this. Again, my understanding is that it does not matter where the cruise was booked from as long as it departs from and returns to Australia. That said, I have also read that the US site for Princess will have the boilerplate language that they use for all cruises and will show gratuities as being an additional cost. Our plan is to check once onboard to make sure gratuities were NOT automatically added to our folio. We booked our cruise here in the US and the quote I posted is from the US site under the Terms and Conditions for the addon packages. Please VERIFY what I've written for yourself. As an added suggestion, do some searches on CC for tipping policies. Tipping is generally an American custom that is NOT followed in most countries of the world, Australian being one of them. If you search the Australian and New Zealand Cruises thread, you should find many postings addressing this topic. Locals strongly advise NOT tipping as it sets a bad precedent. For some reason Americans seem to have difficulty with accepting this and will "force" the issue by tipping anyway because it makes them feel good. From our experience, this behavior is really frowned upon by the locals and not appreciated. The old saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans" applies. But PLEASE do your own research and decide for yourselves what is right for you. I hope some Aussies & Kiwis will chime in here and advise if this is accurate or not. Thanks. Stay Safe.

John

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Great research to locate such a “fine print” statement…thank you very much for that statement. Since you’re also in the US assuming that statement was from the Princess US site & not from on their AU site.
 

Although when viewing our Cruise Personalizer there is the option to pre-pay crew appreciation at US $16/pp/day which we never pay in advance. Hopefully our TA can get her Princess sales rep to explain these conflicting statements. With 23 months before boarding we have plenty of time to receive a definitive answer from Princess.

 

I wouldn't be concerned that you have the option to pre-pay crew appreciation, Aussies get that option on all our cruises even though we don't pay the gratuities!

 

I have read 'JJK2008' post above that points out this wording in the T&C: all guests, regardless of whether they book the Princess Plus package, will receive Crew Appreciation and no substitution or refund will be provided for such part of the package. The best interpretation is that all guests, no matter where they are from or where they booked, don't pay gratuities. I don't want to sound cynical, but there is another interpretation. It could mean that an Aussie (for example) with a Plus package wouldn't otherwise pay the gratuity, but he/she cannot claim a refund of that section of the Plus payment. 

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Since you’re in AU that screenshot would be from the Princess AU site about tips being included in the fare for cruises within Australia. It can be difficult to get a definitive answer from their reps & I’ll continue to research their policy including having our TA checking with her Princess sales rep.

 

I doubt that you will get a definitive answer to your question. It is the old joke about Princess - phone three times and get three different answers. All the best in finding out how gratuities will work for you, but you have the ultimate say in whether or not you pay them.

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, JJK2008 said:

From all the research we've done, my understanding is that any cruise that leaves and returns from Australia includes gratuities automatically in the cruise price. Apparently, Australian law requires this. Again, my understanding is that it does not matter where the cruise was booked from as long as it departs from and returns to Australia. That said, I have also read that the US site for Princess will have the boilerplate language that they use for all cruises and will show gratuities as being an additional cost. Our plan is to check once onboard to make sure gratuities were NOT automatically added to our folio. We booked our cruise here in the US and the quote I posted is from the US site under the Terms and Conditions for the addon packages. Please VERIFY what I've written for yourself. As an added suggestion, do some searches on CC for tipping policies. Tipping is generally an American custom that is NOT followed in most countries of the world, Australian being one of them. If you search the Australian and New Zealand Cruises thread, you should find many postings addressing this topic. Locals strongly advise NOT tipping as it sets a bad precedent. For some reason Americans seem to have difficulty with accepting this and will "force" the issue by tipping anyway because it makes them feel good. From our experience, this behavior is really frowned upon by the locals and not appreciated. The old saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans" applies. But PLEASE do your own research and decide for yourselves what is right for you. I hope some Aussies & Kiwis will chime in here and advise if this is accurate or not. Thanks. Stay Safe.

John

It is a myth that gratuities are included in the price of Australian cruise because the law demands it. Totally wrong. If this was the case, all the cruiselines operating out of Australia would include tips in the fare and they do not. Examples are HAL and Cunard (both part of the Carnival group).

 

Definitely pre-COVID, people from USA and Europe on Australian-based Princess cruises had the gratuities added to their accounts every day. I doubt very much that this has changed. I have only met a few 'overseas' people on the six cruises we have been on in 2022/23, and the subject of tips didn't arise.

 

I agree with the other comments - the Princess sites will have 'boilerplate language' that refers to their operations in other parts of the world. When I do on line to check things, I have to take particular care that the site is referring to Australia or Australian operations. I also agree with your general comments about tipping. When we take a taxi to the cruise terminal, we round up the fare to the next $5 because the driver has put our luggage into the cab and removed it. If we were taking a taxi under other circumstances, we probably wouldn't round up the fare. However, when a taxi driver hears an American accent, he will probably be expecting a good tip!

[SinbadThePorter]

17 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It is a myth that gratuities are included in the price of Australian cruise because the law demands it. Totally wrong. If this was the case, all the cruiselines operating out of Australia would include tips in the fare and they do not. Examples are HAL and Cunard (both part of the Carnival group).

 

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 came into effect on the 1st January 2011.

 

The ACCC initiated action in Federal Court against Jetstar and Virgin for "price dripping" in 2014, successfully fining Virgin in 2016 and Jetstar in 2017.

 

The cruise lines removed gratuities between 2010 and 2016.

 

The two timelines are highly coincident, so it's no wonder people make the assumption that they are related. I tend to think that the 2010 Act and subsequent legal actions informed the decision to remove gratuities, even if it wasn't the only factor. Of course that is only my opinion.

 

What the legislation definitely did do was remove the option of separate mandatory gratuities, which were not included in the advertised fare, for the cruise lines. If Australians prior to 2010 were removing grats and the cruise lines wanted in future to require grats, then their only legal option was to advertise cruise fares which included grats.

 

Those lines that do not include grats in their fares are required to ensure that the grats are removable. Otherwise they are in breach of consumer law.

[Jean C]

Hi, re gratuities. Pre covid we had two cruises booked - one Aussie return (AUD on board currency), the other NZ to LA (on board currency USD). Although for both cruises pre-pay crew appreciation appeared in the "cruise summary" promos (when you scroll down from "cruise summary"), in our "payments summary" section only the NZ to LA cruise showed a field for pre-paying gratuities, not the Aussie return cruise. 

[Aus Traveller]

26 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 came into effect on the 1st January 2011.

 

The ACCC initiated action in Federal Court against Jetstar and Virgin for "price dripping" in 2014, successfully fining Virgin in 2016 and Jetstar in 2017.

 

The cruise lines removed gratuities between 2010 and 2016.

 

The two timelines are highly coincident, so it's no wonder people make the assumption that they are related. I tend to think that the 2010 Act and subsequent legal actions informed the decision to remove gratuities, even if it wasn't the only factor. Of course that is only my opinion.

 

What the legislation definitely did do was remove the option of separate mandatory gratuities, which were not included in the advertised fare, for the cruise lines. If Australians prior to 2010 were removing grats and the cruise lines wanted in future to require grats, then their only legal option was to advertise cruise fares which included grats.

 

Those lines that do not include grats in their fares are required to ensure that the grats are removable. Otherwise they are in breach of consumer law.

Exactly. Gratuities are removable so the cruiselines can charge them if they wish. Gratuities ghave always have been removable on Australian cruises. P&O was the first to incorporate grats into the fares in 2009, followed by Princess in May 2011. They both stated it was because Australians are not accustomed to tipping. Probably the fact that many people removed the grats, was the impetus for the change.

 

As we know, Cunard and HAL still charge gratuities therefore any cruise line (e.g. Princess) can legally charge grats on some passengers. This is the important thing for overseas passengers to understand. Princess can (and I believe still will) charge them gratuities. They should not be under the impression that it won't happen on Australian-based cruises simply because 'it is against the law'. It isn't.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Probably the fact that many people removed the grats, was the impetus for the change.

 

Exactly, the cruise lines would have undoubtedly preferred to make grats mandatory, rather than continue to let Australians remove them. They were discouraged from doing this because of pending or existing consumer law. So they were eventually forced to fold the grats into the fare for local cruises.

 

The other thing to remember is that Australian law does not apply outside of Australia (except in rare cases). So things purchased in the US from US companies are not subject to the same conditions as those purchased in Australia from Australian companies (which may be subsidiaries of US companies).

Edited April 9, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[nnps]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 came into effect on the 1st January 2011.

 

The ACCC initiated action in Federal Court against Jetstar and Virgin for "price dripping" in 2014, successfully fining Virgin in 2016 and Jetstar in 2017.

 

The cruise lines removed gratuities between 2010 and 2016.

 

The two timelines are highly coincident, so it's no wonder people make the assumption that they are related. I tend to think that the 2010 Act and subsequent legal actions informed the decision to remove gratuities, even if it wasn't the only factor. Of course that is only my opinion.

 

What the legislation definitely did do was remove the option of separate mandatory gratuities, which were not included in the advertised fare, for the cruise lines. If Australians prior to 2010 were removing grats and the cruise lines wanted in future to require grats, then their only legal option was to advertise cruise fares which included grats.

 

Those lines that do not include grats in their fares are required to ensure that the grats are removable. Otherwise they are in breach of consumer law.

Remember when airlines, I think Tiger was the main one, would sell you your ticket for a flight but you then had to buy a seat separately. Of course they couldn't actually make you buy a seat because the plane couldn't have taken off if you were not sitting. Strange days.

[sayaguru]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:04 AM, JJK2008 said:

From all the research we've done, my understanding is that any cruise that leaves and returns from Australia includes gratuities automatically in the cruise price. Apparently, Australian law requires this. Again, my understanding is that it does not matter where the cruise was booked from as long as it departs from and returns to Australia.

 

John

This is not correct. Passengers booking from an Australian site have the gratuities included. If booking from a US site gratuities are added to your account daily. You can of course change or remove the charges as you see fit. 

I did 4 cruises last year. 2 booked in Australia and 2 from a US site. 

[Aus Traveller]

47 minutes ago, sayaguru said:

This is not correct. Passengers booking from an Australian site have the gratuities included. If booking from a US site gratuities are added to your account daily. You can of course change or remove the charges as you see fit. 

I did 4 cruises last year. 2 booked in Australia and 2 from a US site. 

So your cruises were post-COVID. I knew that gratuities were charged on overseas passengers accounts pre-COVID and I was pretty sure it would have remained the same. You have confirmed it. Thanks.

[JJK2008]

5 hours ago, sayaguru said:

This is not correct. Passengers booking from an Australian site have the gratuities included. If booking from a US site gratuities are added to your account daily. You can of course change or remove the charges as you see fit. 

I did 4 cruises last year. 2 booked in Australia and 2 from a US site. 

Thank You for the info. Seems to be a good deal of confusion on this subject. 

[Astro Flyer]

There wouldn’t be confusion if Princess explained how tips worked for passengers arriving from the US.
 

Thanks to ‘sayaguru’ we know that tips are added onboard but we still do not know the amount. Is it A$16/pp/day or will it be the equivalent to US $16 which be A$24 at the current exchange rate. I suspect it will be the later which in effect reduces the value of our OBC by a third.