A Guide To Cruise Gratuities

Tipping And What You Can Expect

If you’re new to cruising it’s important to calculate gratuities into your thinking when considering the cost of a cruise. At the time of booking you will usually be quoted the base fare along with port charges, fees and taxes, but that’s not all your costs. You also need to be aware of what gratuities you will encounter.

Tipping on a cruise ship often causes some confusion. You’ll need to know when to tip, when not to tip and what mandatory gratuity charges to expect while onboard. To add to the confusion, cruising is becoming popular with people around the world and many international passengers often have different thinking about gratuities.

Tipping starts as soon as you reach the pier to start your cruise. Outside the terminal you will leave your larger suitcases with porters and while tipping isn’t required most people will offer a couple of dollars to the porter that takes your bags. While some people think that if they tip their bags will get better care and could arrive at your stateroom sooner. Not true. Bags are handled and loaded on board in large containers and by the time it reaches your stateroom any number of workers will have handled them. How soon they arrive at your cabin probably has more to do with how soon you check in –

While policies and amounts can be different for different cruise lines, it can also vary with ports of departure and regions. For most American based cruise companies there are many similarities and on most of those cruises expect similar gratuity policies.

Expect cabin gratuities to be automatically added to your onboard account. That amount can vary some by cruise line and depends on the class of stateroom. Additionally the amount can be adjusted up by cruise companies from time to time*. Any amounts you’ll find published are usually per person per day. Some cruises will charge them to your account each day while others post at the end of the cruise. At the least expect $12.00 per person, per day. Charges for children in a stateroom are, on average, half the adult amount and infants aren’t charged. With higher priced cruises and more expensive staterooms expect to pay more, usually somewhere around $30 per person, per day.

Seapass Cards And Cash

Using cash on a cruise ship is not common as most cruise lines use your stateroom access card for onboard charges. Cash is no longer the common currency in casinos and shops and tips need to be added to bar checks

One situation where you can expect to see gratuity charges is on drinks in lounges, bars and food venues. Today it’s common to have gratuities added automatically to your check, usually about 18% but many checks will also provide room for an additional gratuity. Before you sign a check and add a tip, see if the gratuity is already listed.

It’s common to tip for spa attendants and room service (some cruises are now automatically charging gratuities to room service checks).

Cruise Shore Tours

Tips are normally expected for shore excursions (cash and what you think is fair but usually $5 or $10) and that includes your guide and the driver.

A Tip On Tipping – While tipping for good service is what it’s all about, on a cruise tipping for better service is usually worth its weight in gold. Most service staff on ships do their best to provide good service but to get special treatment try providing cash tips to special servers on a regular basis. Want special service in a lounge? Try giving the server a few dollars when your drink arrives, he’ll pay special attention to you on your next visit. We have a habit of carrying a number of two dollar bills on board – they get attention because they’re unusual and it gets us noticed and remembered.

Why Are Gratuities Going Up?

The gratuities have always been an incentive for working on a cruise, and in recruiting. One reason for current increases has to do with increasing staffing problems post Covid pandemic. As cruise lines continue to deal with the aftermath of economic disruption and increased debt due to the global pandemic, increasing overall gratuities is a logical move to keep good people working on the cruise ships.

*Issues With Tipping Internationally

If you travel internationally one area where you need to do your homework is gratuities. While things are changing it is still not a common practice in many countries. Many places in Europe tipping wasn’t common and at most it was leaving the loose change. Because tipping isn’t common internationally, cruise companies are always struggling to get passengers to understand the practice.

Because some cultures and countries do not believe in the practice of gratuities it presents cruise ships with a challenge at times. For example, Australians simply do not tip. Going to a restaurant in Australia the check will only have the charge for food and drinks – no taxes or gratuities and you aren’t expected to leave any additional tip. Because of that Australians will go to guest services on a cruise and insist gratuities be removed. For that reason Australians booking in Australia or cruising from Australia will often be charged a higher fare to compensate for providing crew with gratuities.