Aussie cruisers have long faced an awkward quirk when sailing on Princess ships outside Australia: buy a drink-and-WiFi bundle at the local price, then get slugged for American-style gratuities on top. That just changed. Princess Cruises has introduced new rates for Australians booking Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages on overseas ships, and the maths now works in our favour.
The old system was clunky because gratuities — or 'crew appreciation' — are baked into Princess's packages in the US and Europe, but not in Australia, where tipping culture doesn't really exist and cruise fares generally cover service charges. So when an Australian sailed internationally, they'd pay the cheaper local package rate, then owe roughly US$18–20 a day in gratuities depending on their cabin category. Confusing, and expensive.
Princess's fix is a dedicated price for Aussies on foreign sailings: Princess Plus is now AUD$89 a day (up from $79) and Princess Premier AUD$139 a day, with gratuities included. That flat $10 top-up replaces a daily gratuity bill that was equivalent to around AUD$26–29. In other words, package buyers are saving roughly half of what they previously paid in extra charges — and no longer need to think about tipping at all.
There are a couple of catches worth knowing. Gratuities on Princess aren't actually compulsory: any passenger can walk to guest services and have them removed. But once you've bought a package on an overseas sailing, that money is already spent, with no refunds. And if you skip the package entirely, you'll still be charged the full US$18–20 in gratuities — more than double the effective rate paid by package buyers. That's created a situation where Australians who buy in get a better deal than Australians who don't, which some fair-minded travellers might grumble about.
The bigger picture is still a win. American cruisers now pay around AUD$100 a day for Princess Plus and AUD$150 for Premier — roughly $10 more per day than Australians for the same inclusions — after US prices rose by US$5 a day. So for the first time in a while, Aussies on Princess are getting the sweeter end of the deal.
If you're planning an overseas Princess sailing, it's worth running the numbers before you book. If you'd use the drinks and WiFi anyway, the package now clearly pays for itself, and the gratuity saving is a genuine bonus rather than a hidden cost. If you were planning to opt out of tipping and skip the package, be aware you'll now be the passenger paying the most in daily charges on the ship. Either way, the days of arriving home to a surprise gratuity bill on top of your package are over — and that simplicity alone is worth something.
