How do I get rid of gratuities?

If you have not prepaid gratuities and the service charges show up on your onboard bill, you can go to guest services before the sailing ends and request to have the amounts altered or removed. You'll be asked to explain why you're unhappy with the service you received.



On a cruise, "gratuities" are typically an automatic daily charge added to your onboard account to be distributed among the crew. If you wish to "get rid of" or adjust these, you must visit the Guest Services desk (the purser's office) in person before the end of your sailing. You can request to have the automatic tips removed or reduced. However, it is important to understand that these tips constitute a major portion of the salary for stewards, waiters, and behind-the-scenes staff. Most cruise lines strongly discourage removing them unless you experienced a specific, documented failure in service. If you remove the automatic tips, the crew members are often required to report any "cash" tips they receive from you to a central pool, which can complicate their earnings. A better approach for many travelers is to keep the automatic tips and provide small additional cash amounts for exceptional service. In 2026, some luxury lines like Virgin Voyages or SilverSea have moved to a "tips included" model where no daily fee is added, eliminating the need for this awkward process entirely.

People Also Ask

Technically speaking, you can remove gratuities on a Royal Caribbean cruise, but you absolutely shouldn't do this. Although Royal Caribbean gives you two options for paying gratuities (prepaying or being charged daily once onboard), some passengers try to opt out of paying any gratuities whatsoever.

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Technically cruise lines cannot force you to pay gratuities, especially if you have a complaint or issue about the service you received on board. Gratuities on a cruise are not mandatory, but instead heavily suggested and added automatically.

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Yes, you can remove gratuities on Princess Cruises. All gratuities are automatically added to your onboard account and can be adjusted or removed completely at the Guest Services desk before disembarkation. Guests also have the option of pre-payment of gratuities prior to sailing.

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You can opt of paying gratuities once you are onboard your ship, by speaking to the team at Guest Services. You can remove them from your account once they have been added, which happens on the second-to-last day of your cruise. If you want to remove or reduce your gratuities, you need to visit the Guest Services desk.

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If you do not prepay cruise gratuities before sailing, the cruise line will add them to your onboard bill. The cruise line will then charge your credit card for the gratuity amount at the end of the sailing – along with other purchases you made with your cruise card (drinks, souvenirs, spa treatments, tours, etc.).

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Again, cash might be the only thing they will take, and in most of the Caribbean you can tip in U.S. currency. As a side note, it can be nice to have some cash on your cruise so you can also tip people like street performers while in port.

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For most, prepaying gratuities is a great way to keep track of your overall cruise budget. If they're paid for and out of the way, you won't accidentally spend your gratuity money while onboard or in port or receive a large(r) bill at the end of the sailing.

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Just like some land-based hotels, guests can expect to see an initial $99.75 pending charge or authorization on their credit card. This pending amount is used to secure funds for anticipated onboard purchases. Purchases made onboard over the initial $99.75 will generate additional holds.

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Your client's Future Cruise Credit will be equal to 100% of the cruise fare (commissionable and non- commissionable cruise fare) paid to Royal Caribbean. Any taxes & fees, refundable air, pre/post hotels, transfers, prepaid gratuities, and taxes/fees will be refunded to the original form of payment.

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If you opt not to prepay gratuities, your SeaPass account will be charged $16 or $18.50 each day of your cruise.

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How much do non-salaried cruise ship employees earn? Gratuities usually come into play for service-oriented crew members who earn an hourly wage. The base wage is usually low -- sometimes as little as a few dollars a day, leaving tips to represent as much as 95 percent of their total take home pay.

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When sailing luxury lines. Luxury cruise lines — such as Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Silversea Cruises — include crew gratuities in the cruise fare. You are not expected to tip on these sailings at all.

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For lines that do have them, service and gratuity charges are touted as a convenient alternative to the practice of cash tipping on cruise ships — something that once was common. Cruise lines say they pass the money collected from service charges to the shipboard crew.

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If your cruise steward goes above and beyond, a cash tip at the end of your stay to show your appreciation. We recommend tipping your cruise steward $3-5 per person daily.

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