It this new: An increase in Auto-tips

[BookemDano]

That's all it is. A different path to the same destination, so to speak. As long as everyone does things the same way, the system works. Is it better? I suspect that there are some trade-offs versus what is done here.

 

And this, in essence, is the problem for Princess and the other mass-market lines. They all use the same system w.r.t. crew compensation. If Princess were to suddenly increase their fares across the board and pay crewmembers the equivalent of what they earn today through the service charges, they would likely lose market share because their pricing would be out of line.

 

I also believe that this would be a short-term loss (maybe a year) because the MS that would abandon Princess would be that 20% who don't contribute at all to crew compensation. After a time, service levels and customer satisfaction would rise because Princess would be able to get the cream of the crop from competitors to work on Princess vessels through better wage structures.

 

Will it happen? I doubt it. But if it did, I think it could make Princess a premium line or at least a leader amongst its peers.

 

Yeah! What he said!!

If you don't repeat this on every autotip thread (I know you have on most) - I will.

[seacuracao]

peterv,

Not quite correct. US Citizens who have a primary residence ouside the USA more than 335 days per year have no tax liability for the first US$82,000 of their annual income. But they are still required to file a US tax return.

 

Good luck on that one, matey...:cool:

[pudgy]

I have no problem with mini-suites and suites having a higher auto-tip. After all, the space is larger to clean and take care of. If you had a small single cabin, should you tip the same as for a full suite? I wouldn't think so. (And yes, the Regal Princess had single cabins.)

 

As for the TIP I have no problem paying for it and I am staying in a mini suit on my next cruise. However why is there not a lower tip for a inside. The inside rooms are a lot smaller than a balcony plus there is no windows to wash. I feel that Princess should just add the TIP money to the cruise price. I really feel that if you increased the price of the cruise from $ 4100.00 to $ 4170.00 that you are not going to lose 1000's of cruisers. People will still make there choice from destination and cruise line not a $ 70.00 differance. Princess could then preach that it is a cruise line that tipping is not needed.

[Stevesan]

Sorry, I should have been clearer in my post. I was responding to Stevesan's suggestion that when you see "service compris" in Europe, that is the same as auto-tipping. It isn't. As spongerob says, it's a different route from auto-tipping, although achieving the same end. Stevesan doesn't appear to understand the difference between paying only the price stated up-front ("service compris"), and paying the price and then adding more by way of a tip, whether automatically calculated for you or not.

 

I have a perfect understanding of the difference. It's just that I, hopefully, am an evolved homo sapien capable of adapting to different systems.:p

 

P.S. Please don't analyze my "understanding" of concepts. That's tantamount to mind reading. Sometimes I have difficulty reading my mind. You certainly don't want to go there.