Sapphire Princess - Notes from First Time Cruisers - Alcohol

My wife and I are not big boozers. Our suite minibar was stocked with a few
soft drinks, mixers and a half dozen one ounce bottles of bourbon (2), gin
(2), and vodka (2). This was included in the price of the suite. For
entertaining, and our own consumption, we ordered additional supplies from
the ship on the second or third day, including wine, beer, and spirits. I
can see where the high price of booze encourages many cruisers to bring on
their own stash, especially when returning from ports. Part of what fuels
this behavior is the outrageous prices the cruise line charges for liquor
plus the service charges.

If you dig deeper, you will find that part of the $10/day/passenger is
suppose to go to the Beverage staff. But whatever drinks you order for your
stateroom also carry a 15% service charge. This seems like double-dipping
to me.

Anyway, for those who wonder, beer was running $4-$6 and mixed drinks from
$5-$6 and up. Bottles of wine could go anywhere from $20 to whatever you
can pay per bottle (plus 15%).


rg

"Sharkbait" wrote in message
news:8v6hh.1170$WS4.1098@trndny07...
My wife and I are not big boozers. Our suite minibar was stocked with a
few soft drinks, mixers and a half dozen one ounce bottles of bourbon (2),
gin (2), and vodka (2). This was included in the price of the suite. For
entertaining, and our own consumption, we ordered additional supplies from
the ship on the second or third day, including wine, beer, and spirits. I
can see where the high price of booze encourages many cruisers to bring on
their own stash, especially when returning from ports. Part of what fuels
this behavior is the outrageous prices the cruise line charges for liquor
plus the service charges

Outrageous? $10.00 a day is hardly outrageous. That 10 bucks get's
divided up into pretty small chunks.

If you dig deeper, you will find that part of the $10/day/passenger is
suppose to go to the Beverage staff. But whatever drinks you order for
your stateroom also carry a 15% service charge. This seems like
double-dipping to me.


Sounds like sour grapes to me. The servers are rewarded by going out and
hustling and actually servicing the customers. There are bartenders and
other behind the scenes staff involved.

Anyway, for those who wonder, beer was running $4-$6 and mixed drinks from
$5-$6 and up. Bottles of wine could go anywhere from $20 to whatever you
can pay per bottle (plus 15%).

Go to a restaurant and order a drink. Those prices are hardly out of line.

In the past three years I've sailed on the Coral, Caribbean and Crown and
never regretted it yet. Sounds like cruising will never met your
expectations. And, I did leave a little extra for our cabin stewarts, who
have always been courteous and gone the extra mile.

Pete




rg

In article , Uncle Peter
wrote:

In the past three years I've sailed on the Coral, Caribbean and Crown and
never regretted it yet. Sounds like cruising will never met your
expectations. And, I did leave a little extra for our cabin stewarts, who
have always been courteous and gone the extra mile.

After reading "Sharkbaits" descriptions of the staff and his objections
to tipping, he comes off as a jerk. It would be for the best if he
never books another cruise.

--
Charles

Sharkbait wrote:

If you dig deeper, you will find that part of the $10/day/passenger is
suppose to go to the Beverage staff. But whatever drinks you order for your
stateroom also carry a 15% service charge. This seems like double-dipping
to me.

The $10/day/passenger is split between your cabin staff and dining
room staff, not the Beverage/Bar staff. All beverages have a 15%
service charge and is not double dipping.

sue

"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , Uncle Peter
wrote:

In the past three years I've sailed on the Coral, Caribbean and Crown
and
never regretted it yet. Sounds like cruising will never met your
expectations. And, I did leave a little extra for our cabin stewarts,
who
have always been courteous and gone the extra mile.

After reading "Sharkbaits" descriptions of the staff and his objections
to tipping, he comes off as a jerk. It would be for the best if he
never books another cruise.

--
Charles


Man, this guy did not like anything. Hopefully, he will not choose cruising
again...no chance of running into him

Uncle Bob wrote:

Outrageous? $10.00 a day is hardly outrageous. That 10 bucks get's
divided up into pretty small chunks.

We tipped quite a bit more than the norm but to those who provided service
and good service. Princess is not in the position to tell me who provided
exemplary service. That is my job. And, yes, I had to go down the
Passenger Services desk to get more gratuity envelopes.

Sharkbait

Charles wrote:

After reading "Sharkbaits" descriptions of the staff and his objections
to tipping, he comes off as a jerk. It would be for the best if he
never books another cruise.

Thanks for the compliment. As for booking another cruise, perhaps you're
right- at least as far as Princess is concerned. In 45 years of travel, I
have never missed on independent travel. That's a lot more than I can say
for Princess.

Sharkbait

Sharkbait wrote:

Wow, I didn't realize there's a FOUR RING circus (probably more)
ongoing, all startedby Sharkbait, in bashing the Princess Sappire
ship that was his very first cruise.


The subject of this one is "alcohol", but I see nothing but tips.
Uncle Bob wrote:

Outrageous? $10.00 a day is hardly outrageous. That 10 bucks get's
divided up into pretty small chunks.

We tipped quite a bit more than the norm but to those who provided service
and good service.

For someone who bragged about paying $800 a day, and you're such
a cheapskate that you have to complain about a $10 tip for the entire
crew?

Princess is not in the position to tell me who provided
exemplary service. That is my job.

That's is true. But the crew would be starved to death if half of the
passengers were as much a cheapskate as you are, while bragging
about your cabin cost.


And, yes, I had to go down the
Passenger Services desk to get more gratuity envelopes.

That's the Purser's Desk. Yeah, you need lots of envelopes to
put your quarters for the 6 crew members who served you but
disappointed you badly. That's why a $10 bill is what many
cruisers let the Princess do the handling for them. But you
would spread it into 10 envelopes to save $ 9 day? :-)

Sharkbait

You caught me!

-- Reef Fish Bob.