When you are booking a cruise, you will notice that you oftentimes have the option to prepay your gratuities prior to the vacation itself.
Gratuities are essentially just tips for the cruise staff. The total sum of all the passengers' gratuities are pooled together and divided amongst the ship's crew members, including stateroom attendants, dining and culinary services staff, the guests services team, and others who work behind-the-scenes to make your vacation memorable.
If you opt to wait until the cruise, they will be automatically added to your onboard account to be paid at the end of the trip.
While the daily amount varies by cruise line, it is typically anywhere between $15 to $25 per person, per day. If you are staying in a suite, you can expect your gratuities to be higher than those staying in standard cabins.
If you would like, you can speak to a Guest Services team member when you get on the ship and either have the daily rate adjusted or removed. Some guests prefer to give cash tips to crew members who directly serve them throughout the cruise.
Whether you prepaid your gratuities or are waiting to deal with them once onboard, here is what you need to know about removing cruise ship gratuities.
Read more: 10 do's and don'ts of cruise ship tipping
What are prepaid gratuities?
When you reach the final stage of the booking process, you will notice that you have a couple of add-ons that make your fare more expensive than when you initially selected it. While some, like travel insurance, are extra, others (i.e., port fees) are automatically added to your total cost.
Like with travel insurance, you will have the option to prepay your gratuities in advance. This, of course, means that you will be paying more upfront; however, you will have until the final payment date to pay off the fare in full. At the time of booking, you will only be responsible for the deposit. Unless, that is, you are booking after the final payment date.
Read more: Cruise travel insurance and why you need it
Whether or not you would like to prepay for your gratuities is up to you. Some cruisers say that it helps them plan their vacation budget in advance, leaving less to worry about during the actual trip. Others, however, do not want to give the cruise line more of their money upfront than they have to, or they have onboard credit that they want to help cover some of the cost.
If you do not add them during the booking process, they can be added prior to departure by calling the cruise line or speaking with the travel agent who made your booking.
Sometimes, prepaid gratuities might even be offered as a special promotion, whether by your travel agent or the cruise line. And, of course, some cruise lines, like Virgin Voyages and other luxury lines, include gratuities, so you do not have to worry about them at all.
Even if you prepay your gratuities, you may be subject to additional gratuities once onboard. If, for instance, you get an alcoholic drink or go to the spa, your final bill will reflect a service charge of anywhere to 15% to 20% of the cost. The percentage varies by cruise line.
Read more: Worth it or not: Carnival prepaid gratuities
Can you remove prepaid gratuities?
If you prepay your gratuities, you might be able to get a refund prior to your cruise; however, it depends on your booking terms. To book flexible dining, for instance, you may be required to prepay them. The best course of action would be to directly call the cruise line or speak with your travel agent.
Once you get onboard, the Guest Services team will be unable to refund them, so if this is something you are interested in pursuing, you will want to make sure that you look into it no later than 48 hours prior to your sail date. Moreover, they will be unable to adjust the rate, as they will have already been paid in full.
If your cruise is cancelled or you are unable to sail, your prepaid gratuities will automatically be refunded to your original form of payment. Likewise, you will also get reimbursed for the port fees and any cruise add-ons that you purchased, such as specialty dining reservations, drink packages, shore excursions, etc.
What happens if I do not prepay my gratuities?
As mentioned earlier, if you do not pay your gratuities in advance, they will be billed to your onboard account to be settled at the end of the cruise.
Waiting to pay your gratuities until the trip could free up an extra $100+ per person to spend on other travel preparations, like flights, a pre-cruise hotel, shore excursions, and more.
By not paying them in advance, you have greater flexibility when it comes to adjusting the daily rate or removing them altogether. If, for instance, you are sailing on Carnival, who charges $16 per day, you are able to go speak to the Guest Services team about reducing the rate to $10 per day.
Note, though, that this must be done before the sailing is over. Once you step off of the ship, the bill is considered final. This is why you should make time to go over it before you disembark! You never know if there will be any discrepancies that you will need to clear up.
Removing the automatic gratuity is a bit controversial. Some say that it allows them to directly tip those who serve them, while others claim that it impacts those who work behind-the-scenes.
Before you make a decision on whether or not to speak with Guest Services about removing the daily gratuity rate, think about the reasoning. If you would like to leave an additional tip for the crew members you interacted with the most, you can do so on top of the gratuities.
Opting out of the gratuity should not be done to save a little extra money. Every crew member works hard to make your vacation memorable, even if you do not directly interact with them.
Do I have to tip extra after prepaying my gratuities?
Because of the automatic gratuity, whether prepaid or not, passengers are not expected to leave behind additional cash tips for crew members. That being said, many guests do keep small bills on them to give to their bartenders, and at the end of the cruise, you may find it appropriate to tip your stateroom attendant and main dining room staff for their services.
If you have any shore excursions planned, you should plan on bringing cash for those, as the tour operators will not receive a percentage of the prepaid gratuities. The longer the excursion, the more you should expect to tip. Usually, 15-18% of the tour's price is appropriate; however, you can leave even more if they provided exceptional service and a memorable experience!
Likewise, you will also want to bring a couple of small bills to tip the baggage porters at embarkation. They will assist you in taking your luggage prior to entering the terminal. For their services, $1-$2 per bag is customary. If you plan you using a baggage porter at end of the cruise, you will want money to tip them, too.
The bottom line is that you do not need to carry cash for extra tips onboard the ship if you do not want to. However, it would behoove you to bring some, as the ship's ATM has hefty fees that you do not want to be subject to.
Read more: How much cash should you bring on a cruise?
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 had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
