Crew appreciation
Apr 3, 2023 08:24:23 #
Ok, just got back from a cruise to Cozumel on Princes Cruise lines. I'm naive & don't understand 6 charges for $16.00 ea. For "crew appreciation." We ate in the dinning room 6 times... I suspect the charges are for the kitchen crew... Can anyone verify this? (Robert Greene is right, Law 40: Despise The Free Lunch." Thanks, RPM
Apr 3, 2023 08:30:18 #
Bigmike1
Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.
I wouldn't know. I have never been on a cruise.
Apr 3, 2023 08:39:38 #
Less than $3 extra per meal from you, if that is what the charge is for; probably the crew really does appreciate it.
Apr 3, 2023 08:44:12 #
ELNikkor wrote:
Less than $3 extra per meal from you, if that is what the charge is for; probably the crew really does appreciate it.
IF the crew gets it? And if I were the op I would dispute the charges since he obviously didn’t approve them.
Imagine a few thousand passengers with those charges. That’s some appreciation.
Apr 3, 2023 08:45:18 #
I found these kind of charges are quite silly. Tips and Appreciation whatever you call it should be optional and not for set amount. If they need the money to pay the crew fairly just increase the price of the cruise or meals.
Apr 3, 2023 08:55:15 #
rpm wrote:
Ok, just got back from a cruise to Cozumel on Princes Cruise lines. I'm naive & don't understand 6 charges for $16.00 ea. For "crew appreciation." We ate in the dinning room 6 times... I suspect the charges are for the kitchen crew... Can anyone verify this? (Robert Greene is right, Law 40: Despise The Free Lunch." Thanks, RPM
Most cruise lines charge separately for gratuities on a per day basis. Was your cruise a six-day cruise per chance? The real question is why you didn’t ask Princess directly.
Apr 3, 2023 10:04:10 #
rpm wrote:
Ok, just got back from a cruise to Cozumel on Princes Cruise lines. I'm naive & don't understand 6 charges for $16.00 ea. For "crew appreciation." We ate in the dinning room 6 times... I suspect the charges are for the kitchen crew... Can anyone verify this? (Robert Greene is right, Law 40: Despise The Free Lunch." Thanks, RPM
Cruise lines charge $15-16 or so per day per person for tips. That covers your cabin steward, waiters, etc. That's mainly how they get paid. This is added to your account in lieu of cash tipping that was common practice years ago.
Apr 3, 2023 10:05:01 #
leftj
Loc: Texas
rpm wrote:
Ok, just got back from a cruise to Cozumel on Princes Cruise lines. I'm naive & don't understand 6 charges for $16.00 ea. For "crew appreciation." We ate in the dinning room 6 times... I suspect the charges are for the kitchen crew... Can anyone verify this? (Robert Greene is right, Law 40: Despise The Free Lunch." Thanks, RPM
It’s a fancy way of saying tip.
Apr 3, 2023 10:08:17 #
The default gratuity is a clever surprise for first time cruisers. With Viking, I think it’s in the $15 per day per person and appears on your final departure bill. Not a trivial amount that also includes the first and last day regardless when you arrive and/or leave. I often adjust the amount to delete the first and last day, particularly the last if it included a 3am departure to an airport. The gratuity for Viking when we first started river cruising was completely voluntary and via a separate “envelop.” I suspect the results weren’t encouraging so they changed the rules.
Apr 3, 2023 10:14:10 #
By the way....a typical cruise ship consumes an average of 80,000 gallons of fuel PER DAY. That's equivalent to 100,000 automobiles daily use. Perhaps it's time to mandate battery-powered cruise ships.
We were on a cruise many moons ago and we were "instructed" on who to tip and how much of a tip was expected during a call to assembly for instructions on how to prepare for arrival at the home port. Expected tips totaled a few hundred dollars and this was in the early 80s. Frankly, it soured my experience of what otherwise was a memorable time.
We were on a cruise many moons ago and we were "instructed" on who to tip and how much of a tip was expected during a call to assembly for instructions on how to prepare for arrival at the home port. Expected tips totaled a few hundred dollars and this was in the early 80s. Frankly, it soured my experience of what otherwise was a memorable time.
Apr 3, 2023 13:25:32 #
billmck wrote:
Most cruise lines charge separately for gratuities on a per day basis. Was your cruise a six-day cruise per chance? The real question is why you didn’t ask Princess directly.
Bill, the chat line is only open 9 till noon. I will ask directly when open... I'm OK with the charges, just trying to get an understanding of what's going on... thanks. RPM
Apr 3, 2023 13:30:13 #
Gort55 wrote:
Cruise lines charge $15-16 or so per day per person for tips. That covers your cabin steward, waiters, etc. That's mainly how they get paid. This is added to your account in lieu of cash tipping that was common practice years ago.
Dang Gort, I tipped my cabin cleaner $20.00 & got great service too! (If I'd known they were charging $16.00 per day in the dinning room I would have ordered two plates of salmon & lobster daily! Lol) rpm
Apr 3, 2023 13:38:01 #
sippyjug104 wrote:
By the way....a typical cruise ship consumes an av... (show quote)
Sippyjug, funny you mentioned fuel consumption... A party of two were 30 min. Late getting back to the boat & the captain gave them a stern verbal lashing over the PA; said they wouldn't be smiling after they got the bill for diesel consumption for 30 min. We all (2,900 people) were jeering & cat calling them as they rode back up to the boat on a rickshaw. It was really funny!
Apr 3, 2023 13:42:41 #
ELNikkor wrote:
Less than $3 extra per meal from you, if that is what the charge is for; probably the crew really does appreciate it.
El, I'm OK with the charges... I had a great time... I'm just trying to understand...
Apr 3, 2023 16:00:45 #
rpm wrote:
Ok, just got back from a cruise to Cozumel on Princes Cruise lines. I'm naive & don't understand 6 charges for $16.00 ea. For "crew appreciation." We ate in the dinning room 6 times... I suspect the charges are for the kitchen crew... Can anyone verify this? (Robert Greene is right, Law 40: Despise The Free Lunch." Thanks, RPM
That is usually called a "tip". Some places we go puts them in automatically also. And once when I didn't notice it and was leaving a tip on the table, a server came over and told me it was already in the bill. I told her I would remember that in future, but to split my extra tip among them just for telling me instead of letting me double the tip. Then when I went to the register to pay they deduted the extra tip from my bill with a thank you, but that isn't neceassary.
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