Cruise Tipping: Going a cruise and unsure of how much you should tip, if you should pay the gratuities up front, if you should tip more ontop of that? This post will discuss all of those questions and more!
Every cruise line does things a little differently and has different daily costs for gratuities so it is normal to be confused about this process.
Cruise tipping is a frequent question in Facebook groups with people looking for the correct answer.
Tips on cruises can be listed as several different names: tips, gratuities, hotel service charge, crew appreciation, etc.
I will be discussing what several popular cruise lines charge (this is subject to change), if they charge for children, and more.
This post is all about cruise tipping.
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{Related Post: 33 Best Cruise Tips Every First Time Cruiser Should Know}
What are cruise tips and who do they go to?
Gratuities are tips given to the staff on a cruise ship to reward them for their exemplary service.
Cruise lines have never given an exact breakdown of who gets tips from your daily charge and how much they receive.
They have said that your daily tips go to your room steward, your waiters and some back of house workers.
Typically you’ll see anywhere from about $12/day-$25/day.
How much does each cruise line charge?
Here is a list of some popular cruise lines and what they charge.
It is important to note as well that some lines listed below in countries other than the US will have their gratuities already included in the price of the cruise fare instead of a seperate charge like we see in the US.
For example: I have heard of this being done on Royal Caribbean’s website depending on the country.
Carnival Cruise Line:
$16 per day for most cabins.
$18 per day for suites.
Celebrity Cruise Line:
$18 per day for the majority of cabins.
$18.50 per day for their concierge class.
No addtional charge for AquaClass or Retreat cruisers.
No addtional charge for those who booked the “all in” plan.
Disney Cruise Line:
No daily charge is added for any cabin type. Disney does reccomend cruisers to pay $14.50 a day for most cabins to their room steward and wait staff. $15.50 for those in concierge or suites.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line:
$18 per day for cabins up to junior suite level.
$20.50 per day for those in cabins higher than junior suites.
Virgin Voyages:
No addtional rate is charged. They include tips in the cruise fare rate.
Norwegian Cruise Line:
$20 per day for most cabins.
$25 per day for suite or The Haven cruisers.
MSC Cruise Line:
For cruises starting and ending in the US they charge $16 per day.
Holland America Cruise Line:
$16 per day for most cabins.
$17.50 per day for suites.
Princess Cruises:
$16 per day for most cabins.
$17 per day for smaller suites.
$18 per day for larger suites.
Oceania Cruises:
$18 per day for most cabins.
$23 per day for suites that include butlers.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises:
No addtional charge. Tips are included in the cruise fare.
Alaskan Dream Cruises:
No addtional charges. They are not included in the fare and are up to the passengers.
Costa Cruises:
$12.50-$17.50 depending on where the crusie is operating from.
$12.50 for US.
China, Japan and Singapore range from $13.50-$17.50. This will depend on what type of cabin you have.
Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours:
No addtional charge. Tips are included in the cruise fare.
Seabourn:
No addtional charge. Tips are included in the cruise fare.
Silversea Cruises:
No addtional charge. Tips are included in the cruise fare.
Viking:
$17 per day.
Windstar Cruises:
$16 per day.
Will they charge my kids the same gratuity cost?
Most cruise lines will charge the same amount for passengers of any age. Some have exceptions listed below:
Carnival Cruise Line:
No addtional gratuity charge for children under 2 years of age.
MSC Cruise Line:
No addtional gratuity charge for children under 2 years of age.
Children between the age of 2-11 years old on most of their cruises are charged half the price of the adult rate.
Norwegian Cruise Line:
No addtional gratuity charge for children under 3 years of age.
Costa Cruises:
Children between the ages of 4-14 will only be charged half of the adult tip rate.
This applies to children up to the age of 12 for cruises departing from China, Japan and Singapore.
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Should I prepay the gratuities or let them accrue daily?
A lot of cruise lines will offer to passengers when booking their cruise the option to prepay their gratuities up front.
You can also prepay by calling customer service or your travel agent after you book but before your cruise starts.
Whether or not you prepay your gratuities it is totally up to you. Some people prefer to pay up front to get the cost out of the way so it will be one less thing on their account statement at the end of the cruise.
One reason to prepay is so you have the current gratuity charge rate locked in. Cruise lines are able to change the daily charge rate at any time they wish.
Prepaying will lock you into the current rate for all of the cruises you have booked in the future so you will not have to pay the higher price if you do not wish to.
A common rate change will be $1 per person, per day increase per year.
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How do I know how much they’ll charge for everyone in my room?
Refer to the list above of the daily cruise tipping rate for your cruise line or you can always go to your cruise line’s website to view it as well to make sure it is accurate as the cruise line can change the rate any day.
You can see the total cost for you or your entire group if the cruise line allows you to prepay the gratuities. When booking you will see the total cost as an add on.
Cruise tips can be a lot bigger of a charge than some people assume, especially if you are cruising with a family. It can really add up so it’s important to know what these charges will be so you aren’t surprised at the end of your cruise.
An example would be a family of 4 on a 5 night Royal Caribbean cruise. At the current rate of $18/day per person that is an extra $360 added onto your cruise price.
Can I take the tips off my account and give out my own in cash?
I want to start off by saying I DO NOT reccomend this at all.
However, it is possible to take the automatic daily charge you will see on your account off. You can go to guest services and ask them to take it off of your account.
The staff that waits on you will not know that you have done this.
A lot of people want to do this because they prefer to give tips out themselves and think it is a better way.
Regardless, even if you are giving out tips in person to your room steward and your wait staff, you are actually taking away some tips from the back of house staff that the cruise line gives some of your automatic daily tip charge to.
If you want to take the tips off and not give out any tips yourself you are not hurting the cruise line by doing so. You are only hurting the staff members who will not receive that extra money they work EXTREMELY hard for.
Should I tip extra ontop of the automatic charge and how much?
This question is hard to answer and is asked all of the time.
There is not right or wrong answer. You are not required to tip ontop of the daily charge and no one expects you to tip addtionally to that so do not feel bad if you only tip the automatic gratuity.
If you do want/have the means to tip ontop of the automatic charge the amount again, is totally up to you.
I have heard of some people tipping a few extra dollars a day and others who tip hundreds extra to their room steward and wait staff at the end of their cruise.
Some cruisers also want to give the workers gifts and will ask what they should give them. Honestly, cash is the best option. If you really don’t want to do that I would ask them if there’s anything they want. Snacks, personal items etc.
Do I need to tip for drinks, spa services, the salon, etc?
One thing a lot of cruisers do not know they should tip for but 100% should if they can, is tipping the workers outside of the cruise terminal on embarkation day who take your bag.
Many people are under the impression that they work for the cruise line. They are actually a third party company so they are not getting a portion of your gratuity charge and really appreciate when you tip them a couple dollars when they take your bag.
Cruise lines will add anywhere from 15-20% auto gratuity on things like drinks, spa services, the salon and more.
When talking to other cruisers, especially first time cruisers, they were unaware of this and were adding a tip at the bottom of the receipt when in fact, a tip was already include so they are double tipping.
There is nothing wrong with this if you would like to tip more but it is not required.
Some lines like Norwegian Cruise Line can offer “free at sea” perks that will include things like drink packages but they will also charge you hundreds of dollars in automatic gratuities for those drinks so you do not need to tip extra if you do not want to.
In conclusion cruise tipping will forever be changing, everyone has a different opinion on it and at the end of the day you should do what you think is right when it comes to tipping.
This post was all about cruise tipping.
