Princess Cruises is under fire for quietly jacking up a service charge under passengers’ noses.
The cruise line, which operates 17 ships in its fleet, hiked up its crew appreciation fee — a nonrefundable service charge — from 18% to 20% on nearly everything passengers buy onboard in April, slipping in the increase online and on ships without publicly announcing the change.
The higher fee will now be “automatically added to optional purchases of drinks, dining room and specialty dining, private group functions, and other elected products, services, or amenities provided,” according to the cruise line’s website.
The charge applies only to food and beverage purchases, not to independent retail purchases on board the ship.
Daily crew appreciation charges will now vary by stateroom category: $18 per passenger for standard staterooms (interior, oceanview and balcony), $19 for mini-suites, cabanas and reserve collection rooms, and $20 for suites.
Under the new rate, two passengers with a standard stateroom will pay $252 in gratuities throughout a seven-day cruise.
However, the $65-a-day Princess Plus and $100-a-day Princess Premier packages weren’t raised to match the new crew appreciation rate.
“The ‘Crew Appreciation’ is a daily amount for each guest that will be automatically added to your onboard account for your convenience, to recognize the efforts of a wide variety of crewmembers who contribute to the experiences of all our guests,” the cruise line said.
Passengers aboard Princess Cruises ships have been receiving letters in recent days notifying them of the 20% service charge, Cruise Hive reported.
A guest claiming to be onboard one of the vessels posted a picture of a notice delivered to their stateroom Saturday, revealing the price hike on an online forum, sparking further outrage from users who blasted it as an unnecessary upcharge that could open the door to even more fees.
“Dribble dribble with the charges and changes. Seems constant and getting old,” one user commented.
“Good ol’ Princess. Always slipping on the proverbial banana peel,” another wrote.
“I wish they’d just bake it into the price, and let us tip more if we want to,” added another.
“If Princess continues down this path of unchecked greed, they may soon learn the hard way that ‘pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered,’” another commented.
The price increase is being rolled out fleetwide as ships start their next voyages.
Current passengers will not see the charge rise mid-sailing, but it is expected to take full effect on the next cruise.
However, passengers who prepaid these charges in an all-inclusive package won’t see the hike, with the cruise line sharing on its website that “no additional amount will be added to your onboard account for the Crew Appreciation or for those Service Charges covered by such package.”
The move mirrors similar hikes by Carnival in 2025. The cruise line raised its onboard service charge to 20% and is expected to raise daily gratuity rates again in April 2026.
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