Questions for recent Princess cruisers

[vaschroeder]

Hi all, I just need some clarification as I am reading conflicting information.  My husband and I are cruising on Regal Princes to British Isles in Aug. 2024.

 

1) Is the current charge for Wifi $24.99 per day?  Is this a per person rate or can just one of use sign up for Wifi and then we both use it?

 

2) If we do not sign up for Princess Plus or a beverage package, how much would we pay onboard for a glass of basic house wine?  I read that standard cocktails are $15 but we do not usually drink hard alcohol, just wine.

 

Thank you for your time.  Trying to determine if we should get a package.

[startedwithamouse]

1 - yes, you can just sign up for one and share. 

 

2 - wines start around $12 - $15 a glass or more, and add on 18% service charge. 

[negn]

Don’t forget Princess plus also covers your gratuities.  Between that and the Wi-Fi you only need about 3 wines to make it worthwhile

[memoak]

51 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

1 - yes, you can just sign up for one and share. 

 

2 - wines start around $12 - $15 a glass or more, and add on 18% service charge. 

You can both share the WiFi but not at the same time. One device at a time

[mahasamatman]

1 hour ago, negn said:

Don’t forget Princess plus also covers your gratuities. Between that and the Wi-Fi you only need about 3 wines to make it worthwhile

 

But you are forced to pay for both people, doubling the cost.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, negn said:

Don’t forget Princess plus also covers your gratuities.  Between that and the Wi-Fi you only need about 3 wines to make it worthwhile

 Also, a couple of casual dining meals, free medallion shipping in the US, along with some other perks that we don’t necessarily take advantage of.  

[cruzsnooze]

2 hours ago, negn said:

Don’t forget Princess plus also covers your gratuities.  Between that and the Wi-Fi you only need about 3 wines to make it worthwhile

That's assuming you want to keep the suggested gratuity at their exorbitant daily rate. I prefer to reduce them to a more realistic amount. If you are at a Platinum or higher level the wifi rate is discounted 50% and you can share one devise. 

Edited February 9 by cruzsnooze

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

26 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

That's assuming you want to keep the suggested gratuity at their exorbitant daily rate. I prefer to reduce them to a more realistic amount. If you are at a Platinum or higher level the wifi rate is discounted 50% and you can share one devise. 

I take it then that you tip individual crew members in addition to the automatic CA?

 

Just to clarify for others... if you take Plus or Premier the CA is included but you cannot remove it or alter it. That is only possible with the standard fare.

[memoak]

48 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

That's assuming you want to keep the suggested gratuity at their exorbitant daily rate. I prefer to reduce them to a more realistic amount. If you are at a Platinum or higher level the wifi rate is discounted 50% and you can share one devise. 

If you want to reduce your gratuities then you cannot have a plus package and then would be paying for every alcoholic drink, every soft drink, every specialty coffee plus 18% on the drink amount. You will also have to pay for all casual meals you decide to have etc.  Sure wouldn’t work for my lifestyle 

[negn]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

That's assuming you want to keep the suggested gratuity at their exorbitant daily rate. I prefer to reduce them to a more realistic amount. If you are at a Platinum or higher level the wifi rate is discounted 50% and you can share one devise. 

Wow

[Virginia Sunshine]

Hello, I did the online Chat with Princess today and found out some key information. Yes, you can purchase the Wifi ahead of time for $24.99 per device, per day (and you are obligated to purchase for the duration of the cruise). However, if you only want the Wifi for sea days or occasionally, you can purchase a day pass (purchasable once onboard), which is $29.99 per day. This is perfect for my situation, as we have 4 sea days and plan to work and use wifi on those days only. Purchasing 4 "day passes" costs $120 versus the $425 I would have had to pay for the full cruise service at $25/day. 

Edited February 9 by Virginia Sunshine

[coopco]

Keep in mind if you don’t drink a lot, you can bring two bottles of wine (one per adult) and drink that in your cabin. If you want to drink it with dinner, you will have to pay the corkage fee, which I believe is now $20 per bottle. We always get the Plus package but used to carry on wine before Plus. I must say it’s nice to not have to drag bottles of wine in my carry on. But if you only drink wine, you can carry on more than two bottles by paying the corkage fee upfront (bring those bottles to dinner).

[satxdiver]

The crew works long hours and very hard so I certainly do not consider the daily fee exorbitant and have never reduced the amount.  I just consider a part of the fees to cruise.  We do give certain crew members (room steward, etc) extra tip at the end of the cruise.  Don't cruise if you cannot afford it. 

 

[satxdiver]

1 hour ago, Virginia Sunshine said:

Hello, I did the online Chat with Princess today and found out some key information. Yes, you can purchase the Wifi ahead of time for $24.99 per device, per day (and you are obligated to purchase for the duration of the cruise). However, if you only want the Wifi for sea days or occasionally, you can purchase a day pass (purchasable once onboard), which is $29.99 per day. This is perfect for my situation, as we have 4 sea days and plan to work and use wifi on those days only. Purchasing 4 "day passes" costs $120 versus the $425 I would have had to pay for the full cruise service at $25/day. 

Remember one must disconnect from the internet before another person can login and use it.  Internet on the moving ship is nothing like one gets at home.  Even the new starlink internet is slow and shared by all the pax on the ship.  So if someone is downloading a movie etc they will tie up the response time.  When many are using the internet it is even slower than normal.  Fastest response I have seen is during dinner time when pax are eating or late at night (midnight+)

[rideev]

5 hours ago, cnice515 said:

Just keep in mind that the crew work EXTREMELY hard and long hours and depend on tips for the bulk of their income. 

I'm wondering where you get this information.  The crew gets most of their money from their contracted salary.

 

Per Princess, the CA is pooled fleetwide and distributed as they are fit.  I for one prefer to remove the CA and to that amount and more directly to those I deem worthy.

[gsmith2424]

10 hours ago, negn said:

Don’t forget Princess plus also covers your gratuities.  Between that and the Wi-Fi you only need about 3 wines to make it worthwhile

That and buying any other type of non alcoholic drinks on the ship. I usually like to get a Red Bull in the morning, a coffee later on, and maybe a soda later in the day in addition to water or any alcoholic drinks I may get. The non alcoholic drinks can add up quickly.

[coopco]

9 hours ago, satxdiver said:

The crew works long hours and very hard so I certainly do not consider the daily fee exorbitant and have never reduced the amount.  I just consider a part of the fees to cruise.  We do give certain crew members (room steward, etc) extra tip at the end of the cruise.  Don't cruise if you cannot afford it. 

 

I’m with you all the way. We always bring singles for bar tenders after drinks and pick up envelopes at guest services for our cabin steward and when we have regular waitstaff (rare since COVID) so we can give them cash at the end of the cruise. We also tip extra for specialty restaurants. We have noticed recently that some staff pool their extra tips, which is fine with us. They work so extremely hard and deserve it.

[Torfamm]

13 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

But you are forced to pay for both people, doubling the cost.

Two people can share a one device wi-fi plan. It is one device at a time but an unlimited number of devices can be logged into

[Torfamm]

1. Wi-Fi plans are sold by device, not per person. You can share a one device plan as long as you don’t both want to log in at the same time.

 

2. The least expensive wines start at about $10 or $11, plus an 18% gratuity so about $12 or $13. 
 

To me, even with a shared one device plan or the Elite 50% discount on WiFi, Plus makes sense.  Daily crew appreciation and WiFi is $30 per person.

 

Even on a busy port day if I just have a cappuccino in the morning, grab a bottle of water to bring ashore, and have a couple glasses of the cheapest wine at dinner, I save at least a few dollars. I’m way ahead with the $60 Plus fare package over the course of a cruise.
 

 

 

Edited February 10 by Torfamm

[cnice515]

On 2/9/2024 at 9:08 PM, rideev said:

I'm wondering where you get this information.  The crew gets most of their money from their contracted salary.

 

Lol, okaaay.  I get the info from taking the time of getting to know my cabin stewards, waitstaff, officers, etc.. These folks are leaving families for months on end and sending money back home, so every bit more they get through tips is invaluable to them.

[Titanfan22]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:21 PM, satxdiver said:

The crew works long hours and very hard so I certainly do not consider the daily fee exorbitant and have never reduced the amount.  I just consider a part of the fees to cruise.  We do give certain crew members (room steward, etc) extra tip at the end of the cruise.  Don't cruise if you cannot afford it. 

 

It is disappointing that you would demean those that might not be as fortunate as you are and for inferring that they should not have the pleasure of cruisiing.  They have saved and paid the price required for the cruise.  Included in that price is the expectation of good service.  If someone feels they cannot afford another $112 per person they should not be shamed into it.  Gratuities are always optional.  It is the cruise company’s responsibility to compensate their employees fairly to retain them. 

[TRLD]

On 2/9/2024 at 7:08 PM, rideev said:

I'm wondering where you get this information.  The crew gets most of their money from their contracted salary.

 

Per Princess, the CA is pooled fleetwide and distributed as they are fit.  I for one prefer to remove the CA and to that amount and more directly to those I deem worthy.

The reason Princess went to the fleetwide pool was because on some itineraries there tend to be a higher percentage of those that do not tip or toonly those they deem worthy. That made crew members somewhat upset when they were assigned to ships on those itineraries. In response Princess went to the fleet wide pool to make sure that crew members did not get penalized by assignment. 

 

Kind of wondering how you find the worthy individuals that cook the food you eat or wash your towels as well as the other duties that support the customer facing workers that make you might actually come in contact with.

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, Titanfan22 said:

It is disappointing that you would demean those that might not be as fortunate as you are and for inferring that they should not have the pleasure of cruisiing.  They have saved and paid the price required for the cruise.  Included in that price is the expectation of good service.  If someone feels they cannot afford another $112 per person they should not be shamed into it.  Gratuities are always optional.  It is the cruise company’s responsibility to compensate their employees fairly to retain them. 

Of course the question is if they really cannot afford it, especially since a fair number of those that talk about withholding tips also talk about the cabin classes they are in, not insides in many cases.

 

I expect if they have saved for a cruise and can afford it, they can afford the tips more than the crew they are withholding them from.

 

While there is the expectation of good service, the NA focused mass market cruise lines also make it clear that there is the expectation of a recommended gratuity that come with that service.

 

The reason that it is optional in a feature of US accounting regulations, it is also why can be confident that the daily gratuity monies collected are fully distributed to crew. 

Edited February 24 by TRLD

[Titanfan22]

10 minutes ago, TRLD said:

The reason Princess went to the fleetwide pool was because on some itineraries there tend to be a higher percentage of those that do not tip or toonly those they deem worthy. That made crew members somewhat upset when they were assigned to ships on those itineraries. In response Princess went to the fleet wide pool to make sure that crew members did not get penalized by assignment. 

 

Kind of wondering how you find the worthy individuals that cook the food you eat or wash your towels as well as the other duties that support the customer facing workers that make you might actually come in contact with.

Thanks for your response.  The worthy people that do the behind the scenes work should be getting paid appropriately for the value of their work as determined by the cruise line.  They were offered the position for that pay and they accepted it.  They do not have a direct contact service industry position.  Any additional monies paid would be considered a bonus and bonuses are paid from company revenues.  Cruise lines, in fact, have duped the consumer into now feeling obligated to share gratuities with these back of the house people which, in effect, now saves them from sharing their revenues.  The consumer pays the “bonus” while also providing the revenue that should provide the “bonus” Genius!

I consider myself a good tipper and when I receive above and beyond service I am more generous.  Only because I have the means to.  But I don’t tip my doctor, dentist, mechanic, builder, landscaper, plumber, banker, etc.  Are we headed that direction?  
 

I apologize, this isn’t the forum for this debate, however, my ultimate point is you be you and let other people be them.  Tku

 

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, Titanfan22 said:

Thanks for your response.  The worthy people that do the behind the scenes work should be getting paid appropriately for the value of their work as determined by the cruise line.  They were offered the position for that pay and they accepted it.  They do not have a direct contact service industry position.  Any additional monies paid would be considered a bonus and bonuses are paid from company revenues.  Cruise lines, in fact, have duped the consumer into now feeling obligated to share gratuities with these back of the house people which, in effect, now saves them from sharing their revenues.  The consumer pays the “bonus” while also providing the revenue that should provide the “bonus” Genius!

I consider myself a good tipper and when I receive above and beyond service I am more generous.  Only because I have the means to.  But I don’t tip my doctor, dentist, mechanic, builder, landscaper, plumber, banker, etc.  Are we headed that direction?  
 

I apologize, this isn’t the forum for this debate, however, my ultimate point is you be you and let other people be them.  Tku

 

They accepted the position with the understanding that they are part of the gratuity pool and that the work they do impacts the quality of the cruise for the guests.

 

The structure of tipping and expectations on cruise ships is well understood and has been for several years. The system went from envelopes to the daily gratuity about 15 years or so ago. So not much change and certainly not the creep you are implying.

 

Part of that was due to the number of people that somehow did not show up at traditional dining on the last night to avoid giving tips.

 

The you do you and I do me works fines except that the you do you impacts the amount of money going into the pool and may result in an increase in the expected gratuity amount for those of us that understand the nature of the price and gratuity structure on the NA mass market cruise lines.

 

If one feels that the daily gratuity is too onerous then their are alway lines like P&O which does not have a daily gratuity. Of course the fare structure tends to be higher.

 

 

Edited February 24 by TRLD