In addition to the base fare, cruisers must budget extra for gratuities, or tips for crew members.
Gratuities are divided to help cover the cost of everyone who works to make your vacation special, including cabin stewards, dining and culinary services staff, the guest services team, and others who work behind the scenes and contribute to the overall cruise experience.
Many first-time cruisers are confused about how tipping works onboard cruise ships and may find themselves asking questions like, "who do you need to tip onboard?" and "do you have to tip on a cruise?"
To help you better understand gratuities, here are 11 do's and don'ts of tipping on a cruise ship.
DO know how much your daily rate will be
There is not one fixed rate that all cruise lines adhere to. Rather, it differs between each line and stateroom category.
Additionally, those staying in suites will pay more than those staying in standard cabins; however, everyone in standard interior, ocean view, and balcony cabins will pay the same rate.
- Carnival Cruise Line: $16.00 for standard cabins and $18.00 for suites
- Celebrity Cruises: $18.00 for standard cabins, $19.00 for Concierge and AquaClass cabins, and $23.00 for The Retreat
- Disney Cruise Line: $16.00 for standard cabins and $27.25 for Concierge rooms and suites
- Holland America Line: $17.00 for standard cabins and $19.00 for suites
- MSC Cruises for sailings to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Alaska, Bermuda, Panama Canal, Canada, and New England: $16.00 for passengers 2 and older. Yacht Club gratuities increase to $20.00 per night
- MSC Cruises for sailings to the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Northern Europe, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Red Sea: 12 euro for passengers 12 and older, 6 euro for guests between the ages of 2 and 11, and no daily gratuity for guests under the age of 2. The Yacht Club increases to 16 euro for passengers 12 and older and 8 euro for guests between the ages of 2 and 11
- MSC Cruises for sailings to South Africa: $16 for passengers 12 and older and $8 for guests between the ages of 2 and 11
- MSC Cruises for sailings to South America: $10 for passengers 12 and older and $5 for guests between the ages of 2 and 11. Yacht Club gratuities increase to $20.00 per night for adults and $10.00 for children
- MSC Cruises for sailings to Asia (China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea): $18 for passengers 2 and older. Yacht Club gratuities increase to $21.00 per night
- Norwegian Cruise Line: $20.00 for standard cabins and $25.00 for The Haven
- Princess Cruises: $16.00 for standard cabins, $17.00 for mini-suites and the reserve collection, and $18.00 for suites.
- Margaritaville at Sea: $20.00 for standard cabins and $24.00 for suites
- Royal Caribbean: $18.50 for standard cabins and $21.00 for suites
- Virgin Voyages includes all gratuities in their advertised cruise rate, so you will not be asked to prepay for any or notice any daily gratuity charges on your onboard account.
DON'T forget to bring enough cash to cover tipping during shore excursions
Gratuities only cover tips onboard the ship, so you will want to make sure that you bring cash to tip your tour guides on excursions.
If you are traveling internationally, you will want to bring the local currency, such as euros or Norwegian kroner. U.S. dollars, however, are fine in the Bahamas and Caribbean.
Those on private tours will want to bring even more than those going on cruise line-sponsored or third-party group excursions.
Read more: 11 common cruise shore excursion mistakes to avoid
DO understand what gratuities cover
The daily gratuity that each passenger pays is to cover the services of crew members onboard and is divided among the dining, bar, and culinary teams, stateroom attendants, as well as the hotel service team.
Because gratuities are automatically charged daily, you do not have to worry about tipping each crew member throughout the cruise.
That being said, many passengers like to leave extra cash tips for their cabin steward and dining room waiters because they personally attended to their travel party for a prolonged period.
DON'T have all of your gratuities removed once onboard
If you are unhappy with the service you received during your cruise, you may speak to the Guest Services team and have the daily rate adjusted or even completely removed; however, this is greatly frowned upon.
Instead of removing the gratuities, visit Guest Services as soon as any service issues arise. They will work to get them resolved promptly!
That said, if you decide to remove your gratuities, please tip the crew members directly.
DO understand what purchases are subject to an additional service fee
Certain purchases on the ship are subject to an additional service fee. In short, it is just a gratuity for the service provided, whether it's crafting an alcoholic beverage, serving you in a specialty restaurant, or making sure that you leave the spa feeling like a brand-new person.
The percentage varies by cruise line. Royal Caribbean, for instance, charges 18% on beverages, so if you order a $14 cocktail, your total will actually end up being $16.52. You can expect this to be anywhere from 15%-20% depending on which cruise line you are sailing with.
They also charge 20% on spa treatments, so a $150 massage would actually cost $180. Though cruise lines have duty-free stores, the extra service charge is to help support the crew members who provide personal services.
Read more: 17 hidden cruise ship extra charges you should know about
DON'T feel obligated to tip for every additional service
Since gratuities are automatically added to most services, you do not have to add an extra tip every time you order a drink or are assisted by a crew member.
When you get the receipt for your purchase, you will notice that there is a line for an additional gratuity; however, you can leave this blank.
At the end of the cruise, some people will leave a tip for their stateroom attendant and dining staff. If you feel like this is something you would like to do, you do not need to worry about leaving them a tip every night.
DO bring small bills
There are some instances where you will be thankful that you brought some small bills with you, one being before you even step foot on the ship!
When you arrive at the cruise terminal, there will be porters there to grab your luggage. It is customary to tip them $1-$2 per bag for their services. If you are a family of four with four large suitcases, this will mean tipping around $8.
Additionally, even though you are not required to tip extra on drink or spa purchases, you may feel that the service warrants it. In that case, it is always nice to be able to directly hand the bartender or spa specialist some cash, especially if the cash will help you stick to a budget.
Some cruisers even swear by giving a bartender a tip at the beginning of the cruise and claim that it gets them better service. This, however, is never guaranteed to happen.
DON'T tip the youth staff
The youth programming onboard cruise ships is one of the reasons why they make a great family vacation, and what makes it even better is that most of the services are included in the cost of your base fare!
Some cruise lines and ships may offer late-night babysitting for an additional fee; however, daytime programming will not cost you anything extra!
At the end of the cruise, you may feel like you should tip the staff members who kept your kids safe and entertained while you got some much-needed adults-only time. Since this is included in the cost of your cruise, you do not have to leave an extra gratuity.
Read more: Which Cruise Lines Are Kid-Friendly?
DON'T forget to prepay your gratuities in advance
Prepaying your gratuities in advance means that you will be able to appropriately budget for your cruise vacation.
This can be done when you make your initial deposit, as well as before embarkation by directly calling the cruise line. If you booked through a travel agent, they will be able to assist you in getting them prepaid.
A major benefit of prepaying them is that you will be able to make payments since the total will be factored into the final payment amount. In other words, you can add your gratuities and pay them off like the rest of the cruise fare, rather than paying them at once when your cruise ends.
Plus, you are locked into the current rate, so if the cruise line increases its gratuities, you won't be subject to the higher rate.
Read more: Worth it or not: Carnival prepaid gratuities
DO research your cruise fare to see if they are included
While most mainstream cruise lines do not include gratuities, many luxury lines do, such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises, and Seabourn.
Of course, you are paying a premium to cruise on these lines, and most of them are as close to an all-inclusive vacation as you can get.
That said, some inclusive rates from mainstream cruise lines, such as Princess Cruises and Virgin Voyages, also include gratuities. Before settling on a specific line, you will want to research to see if the tips are an extra cost or not.
For example, I paid for the Princess Plus package on my Sun Princess cruise last year, and gratuities were included in the $60 per day package. Because I'd pay them anyway without the package, the total daily upcharge for alcoholic drinks, Wi-Fi, casual specialty meals, and more was just $42.
Read more: What's included in my cruise fare?
DON'T prepay your gratuities if you have onboard credit
Though I usually recommend all cruisers prepay their gratuities so they don't have to worry about them later, there's one exception.
If you have onboard credit and don't plan on using it for shore excursions, alcoholic beverages, or Wi-Fi packages, you may as well use the "free" money to cover your gratuities!
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she traveled frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas during her freshman year of high school. Having sailed on nearly 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
