I am travelling on the Star Princess in September, and as far as I know the tipping policy is the same across the whole fleet. That is, a certain amount of money is added to your shipboard bill each day for tips, which are then shared out amongst everyone at the end of the cruise... in my case it's 10.50$ per day. Drinks carry a 15% surcharge, and that money is shared between all the barstaff.

Many thanks Madsue

Hi Antonio

We are travelling with Grand in June this year. Regarding tipping a daily charge is put onto your onboard account, which you can increase or decrease as you wish. The tips are then equally shared amonst the staff. However, we had friends who went and they had the tipping charge removed from their account (you do this at Reception) and they then personally gave tips to staff whom they wished to give it too ... apparently quite a few people do it (especially the British). We are going to do this.

Hope that helps.

Apparently (from what I have read), if you remove the daily charge, then the people you give the tips to have to turn them in to the general pool anyway, so it will still be shared out. And by removing that percentage you are penalising the crew you don't see working for you. How true this is I have no idea, but I do know I will not be removing my tips when I go on my trip later in the year, just in case those working behind the scenes get nothing. I do know that the crew depend on these daily charges for their wages. Having been told by Princess how much the tips are, I factored them into my budget and will be paying it.

We pay the tips requested normally $10 per day,we also give our cabin steward extra as they
do so much for you during your cruise more personal things and think they deserve that bit
extra
Ann

I have to say Ann we do the same ..... have always and will always tip extra for cabin stewards, because they really do go that extra mile for you.

It's not us being 'stingy' removing the tips, but feel for us this is what will be better for us. Whilst I agree about the people behind the scenes, how does it work then on other ships and cruise companies ... how do they receive gratuities? We have only ever tipped cabin, restaurant and wine staff on our previous cruises.

Not sure about the other cruise lines, enchanted1, but Princess tipping policy is clearly stated! Therefore I will be doing exactly what ann does, leaving the daily autotips in place, and perhaps tipping extra to our room steward etc.

You say you are not being stingey removing the tips, and that it is better for you. Well, yes it is, cos you will save money, but I would feel very guilty doing that, knowing that Princess staff would lose out in the long run.

theenchanted1 wrote:

I have to say Ann we do the same ..... have always and will always tip extra for cabin stewards, because they really do go that extra mile for you.

It's not us being 'stingy' removing the tips, but feel for us this is what will be better for us. Whilst I agree about the people behind the scenes, how does it work then on other ships and cruise companies ... how do they receive gratuities? We have only ever tipped cabin, restaurant and wine staff on our previous cruises.

The cruise lines policy is probably that if you remove the Auto they have to hand in the cash tips.

I am certainly not going to feel guilty that others have not received their share.
Tipping is all about rewarding good service to those whom have given it to you. So when you go to a restaurant here at home, do you feel guilty when you leave the waiter a tip but have'nt left anything for the chef or the kitchen porter or the cleaner ? No, in fact you don't even bring them into the equation, and please don't reply that it's different, because it is'nt. They too have served you in some way but behind the scenes.

We were advised by Princess that should you wish to remove the charge, this is easily done, and often done by many of their passengers, because some people DO PREFER to tip direct to that crew member.
We PREFER to tip direct. No right and no wrong too it.

As long as you realise that when you tip individuals they are required to hand it into a 'pool' so all employees can benefit.

If basic gratuities are paid, then in addition to that you can tip people individually and they can keep it, since they earned it, over and above....

If that's what they have to do then so be it .... find it strange though.

Having looked at Princess brochure regarding tipping policy, they state they do automatically add a tipping amount per day, however should you wish to alter this, then please contact reception - which is what we'll be doing.

A cabin steward's basic pay is around $50 per month.
So most of his income is dependent on gratuities and tips....

theenchanted1 wrote:

I am certainly not going to feel guilty that others have not received their share.
Tipping is all about rewarding good service to those whom have given it to you. So when you go to a restaurant here at home, do you feel guilty when you leave the waiter a tip but have'nt left anything for the chef or the kitchen porter or the cleaner ? No, in fact you don't even bring them into the equation, and please don't reply that it's different, because it is'nt. They too have served you in some way but behind the scenes.

We were advised by Princess that should you wish to remove the charge, this is easily done, and often done by many of their passengers, because some people DO PREFER to tip direct to that crew member.
We PREFER to tip direct. No right and no wrong too it.

I do seem to be labouring this point, for which I do apologise! But..........my son works in a restaurant in the UK, and I am at the moment doing the same job here. Whatever tips we are given are put in a common pool, and distributed to all the staff. NO-ONE is allowed to keep a tip that has been given to them personally.

Princess, as far as I can tell, has made this easy for us all, by adding a set amount each day which will be distributed likewise. IF you decide to keep that "tip" in place, then ALL staff will benefit. I really don't understand why you have a problem with this, unless you intend to be tipping way over what Princess are suggesting per day.

Ok, just to clarify, I personally do not feel that we should HAVE to accept that we will automatically be told how much tips to give, and then it is just added to our account and we accept that. Good service warrants a tip, if I went into a restaurant and was poorly served (ie attitude of staff, length of wait for meal etc) I certainly would not tip, it would'nt warrant it. Unlike many British people I do not feel pressured to leave a tip because I feel I should.

So with cruising the same applies. We tip our cabin steward (usually on a weeks cruise we would give him £50), we tip individually to our waiters and wine waiter. Then on P&O which we have travelled they have a gratuity box in the main self service buffet resturant where I know they pool their tips. Again, I would not hesitate to put money in here at the end of the week for all whom work in there.

The bottom line is, I choose to tip whom I want and tip how much I want (and yes it is usually over the "guided" amount)

I think the whole point here is that we are talking about Princess Cruises, not other cruise lines. Princess make their staff pool tips, if the auto-tip is removed by a passenger. So although you choose to tip your steward etc they will not be allowed to keep the money.

The OP was asking about tipping on this particular ship.

Yes the OP was asking about tipping on this ship, you replied and so did I.

Then a few made comments because I had pointed out that we would be removing our daily charge (through choice)

The fact is Antonio, yes Princess put a daily charge on the account, depending on your grade of cabin will determine how much. This is charged per person per day including children. Princess also state that you may alter this charge as you wish to do so.

So I have read what the policy is regarding tipping.

I think I also prefer to tip individuals and then if they have to pool this so be it.We are on the Princess cruises in August and a famliy of 2 kids and 2 adults adds up to min 600 dollars (which with the weak pound is around 500 pounds. plus 15% on the drinks every day. this altogether is around an extra 700 pound on a two week break .
If you add up the number of passengers and the amount of tips it makes a good amount.
I personally think you should only tip for good service and Princess should alter pricesto improve wages.
I also think that children should not automatically made to pay tips.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and not everyone will agree, as not everyone is in the same circumstance eg couples and families.

deborahj wrote:

We are on the Princess cruises in August and a famliy of 2 kids and 2 adults adds up to min 600 dollars (which with the weak pound is around 500 pounds.

Current exchange $600 is just under £400.
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=600&from=USD&to=GBP&submit=Convert