Cruise Gratuities: A Simple Step by Step Guide For First Time Cruisers
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This happens regularly for passengers feeling generous or thankful for the staff’s work during their trip. In fact, your cruise line might leave a few envelopes in your room exactly for this purpose. Instead, gratuities on a cruise ship are highly automated, with most people just electing to prepay or being charged a set amount for each day on the ship. If you pre-paid your gratuities, you’ll see a zero balance for this charge on your final bill.
What If You Want to Tip Extra?
These cruise line employees are highly compensated, and offering a tip isn’t necessary. Even if you try, they’ll likely graciously turn down your offer. If you opt for a specialty restaurant, the tip isn’t usually included. It’s customary to tip the waiters generously at specialty restaurants. Same applies to dining, serving one person at a table or two doesn't take any more effort.
A Service Charge That Recognizes the Hard Work of the Crew Members
Later I learned that the porters outside of the cruise terminal are not cruise line employees at all! In North America, most cruise terminal porters are longshoremen. At some North American ports, you’ll see signs stating that the porters do not accept tips. You also shouldn’t tip the cruise director, the entertainment staff, or any independent entertainers like musical guests, comedians, or magicians.
Other Cruise Lines
Cruise line tipping policies vary from one cruise company to another. Even though cruise gratuities technically aren’t mandatory, they are customary on most mainstream cruise lines. Cruise lines split the gratuity charge amongst the hardworking crew members, including servers, stateroom attendants, and the entertainment staff. Below is a breakdown of the cruise line tipping policies and automatic gratuities charged by each cruise line. Luxury cruise lines like Azamara, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, and Virgin Voyages include gratuities in the cruise fare. Frequent cruisers have compassion for the high number of hours worked per day by the staff.
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Any amount is fine and will be appreciated by the hard-working crew. Second, any time that you purchase anything service related — such as dinner at a specialty restaurant or a service at the spa — expect there to be a tip added on to the cost. Again, this normally runs around 18%, but can range from 15% to 20%, depending on the cruise line. The advantage is that you get your payment out of the way ahead of time. So when you’re on the ship, it’s one less charge to worry about.
Guests may tip additionally at their discretion, but tipping beyond the automatic gratuity isn’t mandatory or expected. Princess, for example, has added a Princess Plus plan as a booking option. Navigating gratuity expectations can be both rewarding and challenging.
Changes in gratuity policies across cruise lines
Before you cruise, it’s important to understand how much you will be paying per day in gratuities and where that money goes. Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian automatically add a room service delivery fee. Some cruise lines may call this a “Guest Services Fee” on your onboard account statement.
If you do have a spa treatment on a cruise one thing to be aware of is that the treatment is often followed by a sales pitch for various products. Cruise gratuities are split across multiple departments with varying proportions depending on the cruise line. The staff will usually ask you why you’d like to do this and they’ll keep a note of your answer for feedback purposes. Cruise gratuities usually cost between $16-$20 per person per night.
Why is tipping on a cruise even a thing?
The guest relations staff will want to know if you've experienced particular service issues. Still, some critics see the charges as a sneaky way for cruise lines to make their fares appear lower than they really are. In this line of thinking, lines with these charges are essentially breaking out a good chunk of onboard labor costs as a separate line item on your bill. To ensure that you stay informed about gratuity updates, it is advisable to sign up for the cruise line's newsletters or loyalty programs. These platforms often provide the latest information on policy changes, recommended gratuity amounts, and any special promotions or offers related to gratuities. Monitoring online forums and communities dedicated to cruising can also provide valuable insights and updates from fellow cruisers.
Additional gratuities refer to any extra gratuities that passengers may choose to give above and beyond the automatically added or prepaid gratuities. Such additional gratuities are usually given in cash directly to the crew member. Some cruise lines refer to the gratuities as a crew incentive or a service fee, but essentially these are tips for crew members that are used to augment their low wages.
During your cruise vacation, you’ll probably receive services from other people who aren’t cruise line employees—but you might not realize it! Just remember that cruise ship crew live in very tight quarters, without much room for personal belongings. So something edible (maybe a favorite candy or snack from your home region?) will be more appreciated than something they would have to store. If there’s a crew member who goes above and beyond for you, there are some other ways to show your appreciation.
Finally, if you order anything from room service, then it’s expected that you give a couple of bucks to the staff member that delivers the food. You can get the charge out of the way early, or hold onto your money until you actually sail. A couple traveling together will see about $30-$40 per day in gratuities, or about $200+ over the course of a week-long cruise.
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