old plus package is now minus package

[kywildcatfanone]

11 hours ago, Crystaltipps67 said:

UK tipping culture is very different to US. In the UK we generally tip if service exceeds expectations, not because someone has done their job satisfactorily. 

It's what tipping used to be here.  Now tips are expected even if not really providing a service. 

[coo359a2]

43 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

It's what tipping used to be here.  Now tips are expected even if not really providing a service. 

I must have an "S" on my forehead for sucker.  When I paid for our first ever dinner in Sydney, Australia in 2010, I gave cash and expected to get back AU$10 or $15 in change. Waiter took the payment and never saw him again.  In 2011, we were having dinner in Dover UK and when the ticket came was surprised to see that  it had a printed line added to write in your  tip amount.  So they might say they are not a tipping culture, but they sure wanted a tip.  In AU we  were with another US couple so guess that made use fair game but in Dover we were with English friends.  

[Steelers36]

22 hours ago, antsp said:

Friend of ours just back of the Sky Princess, she deducted all the extra charges she incurred on her sailing from her crew tips, I the end with room service fees, alfredos etc, totalled $120

👎

[antsp]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

👎

Thumbs down, changes nothing 

[AlibearNS]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:26 AM, dogsdogs said:

We are just off the Caribbean Princess and I wanted to mention something that you aren't addressing in this thread.  We were on the Majestic in 2022 with the Plus 40 package and we had a choice of all kinds of nice wine.  When we got on the Caribbean Princess (8/30/23) we discovered that the only choice on wine was the varietal.  We didn't want to pay another $200 for the Premier package.  We really aren't that picky, but the chardonnay wasn't good (IMO) and we might have paid the up charge per glass, but those offerings weren't that good either.  It was really a night and day experience from the Majestic.  Perhaps it was addressed in another thread, but I missed it.

 

We had exactly the same experience on the Sapphire in May, the wines on PLUS package were terrible. We did pay extra but there wasn't much choice and I disliked having to keep an eye on all the charges, the reason we take a package. They had one wine in the MDR that used to be on PLUS last year but was only available by the bottle, not glass! So frustrating.

 

Vines was no different, just felt like another seating area rather than a wine bar. Very little choice.

We're not particularly fussy either, and on our two cruises last year the Plus wines were fairly decent and we were quite happy with what was offered. It's such a shame things have changed. The wine they have now for Plus tastes awful (IMO) and gives me an instant headache! 

 

I guess, unless they drop that Canyon Rd, we'll only be drinking cocktails on the Majestic later this month.

[memoak]

27 minutes ago, AlibearNS said:

 

We had exactly the same experience on the Sapphire in May, the wines on PLUS package were terrible. We did pay extra but there wasn't much choice and I disliked having to keep an eye on all the charges, the reason we take a package. They had one wine in the MDR that used to be on PLUS last year but was only available by the bottle, not glass! So frustrating.

 

Vines was no different, just felt like another seating area rather than a wine bar. Very little choice.

We're not particularly fussy either, and on our two cruises last year the Plus wines were fairly decent and we were quite happy with what was offered. It's such a shame things have changed. The wine they have now for Plus tastes awful (IMO) and gives me an instant headache! 

 

I guess, unless they drop that Canyon Rd, we'll only be drinking cocktails on the Majestic later this month.

We have never found the red wines on Plus to be very good. We will drink the Pinot Grigio and that is about all   If we want a red we will either by a bottle with the discount or pay a little more for an Old Vine Zin

[stevenr597]

On 9/11/2023 at 4:16 AM, Crystaltipps67 said:

UK tipping culture is very different to US. In the UK we generally tip if service exceeds expectations, not because someone has done their job satisfactorily. 

However, these ships are not flagged in either the United States or Great Britain.  Much of the crew depends on tips which they send home to their families.  One is hurting them, not the cruise line. 

[Crystaltipps67]

On 9/12/2023 at 11:46 PM, stevenr597 said:

However, these ships are not flagged in either the United States or Great Britain.  Much of the crew depends on tips which they send home to their families.  One is hurting them, not the cruise line. 

I get that, and I pay my CA despite knowing that it is not necessarily even going to staff on the ship I sailed on. But I was responding to someone who was calling people who don't tip their barber or their Uber driver cheap and jus trying to explain that not all countries would expect that.