Should you tip cruise staff?

Should you choose to, for a seven-night cruise, consider tipping about $2 to $3 per person, per day. If you are in a suite or aboard a luxury cruise, you may have a butler assigned to your room. Since they typically have more duties to meet, a good guideline, is a supplementary tip of $3 to $5 per night, per person.



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Paying gratuities and tipping the staff aboard a cruise ship is not compulsory but is considered the right thing to do. Cruise Tipping is a gesture of goodwill to reflect your gratitude for the service provided and to say a big “Thank You” to the crew members.

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Like it or not, tipping culture is alive and well on cruise ships. When you book a cruise, you also agree to tip the crew. Most cruise lines add a daily gratuity or service charge to your fare, either prepaid in advance of your sailing or once you are on board. They add auto-gratuities to many onboard purchases.

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Royal Caribbean Automatic gratuity charge: $16 to $18.50 per person, per day. Details: Passengers staying in most cabins, including junior suites, pay $16. Passengers in higher-level suites pay $18. Additionally, an 18% gratuity is added to bills at bars, minibars, salons and spas.

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As mentioned above, not all members of the ship staff receive a share of the gratuities paid by passengers. Bartenders, main show entertainers and third-party shop employees are some of the more obvious ones, but they're not the only ones.

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You have the right to refuse this automatic gratuity charge and may compensate cruise staff on your own terms. However, you will need to notify the front desk of this desire. Otherwise it will appear on your bill when your cruise ends and it will be charged to your credit card on file.

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Typical extra tips may be $15-20 per passenger for a seven-day cruise paid to the cabin steward for exceptional work, or an extra $10-20 per passenger to a waiter who offered spectacular dining service. Similarly, it is often acceptable to tip $1-3 when room service is delivered depending on the size of the order.

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61% tip their stateroom attendant an additional $20–$40 per couple per week, 26% tip $40–$70, and 13% tip an additional $70–$140. The average amount tipped to the head waiter was an additional $20–$50 per week per couple.

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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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Because they are charged on a daily basis, you do not have to worry about tipping each crew member yourself. Many passengers, however, still like to leave extra tips for their stateroom attendant and dining room waiters at the end of the cruise.

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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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While your cruise steward is being tipped out of the paid cruise gratuities, this is one crew member you may want to tip extra. They clean your cabin daily, storing it with towels, amenities, and anything you need.

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If you want to manage your budget more effectively, it's a good idea to prepay your gratuities for your Princess cruise. The only time you would be better off waiting is if you want to use any onboard credit towards the gratuity amount.

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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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If you plan to remove tips from your onboard bill, you will need to plan in advance to bring enough cash for personal tipping, then wait in a potentially long line at the guest services desk to remove the auto-gratuities and chase down all the crew members you wish to thank on the last evening.

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In general, plan on giving $16–$23 in gratuities per day for each passenger. Note that the amount should be tabulated for each individual in your party—don't try to tip once per couple or group. So if you're planning to go on a 7-day cruise, expect to give a total of between $112 and $161 per person in gratuities.

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For bartenders and housekeepers, you may also want to offer a generous tip at the beginning of the cruise (again, $20 or more, depending on your needs) to ensure great service while on board. As for daily housekeeping gratuity, $2 to $5 per person per day is a good rule of thumb.

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The average salary for a Cabin Steward is $42,130 per year in United States, which is 8% higher than the average Princess Cruise Lines salary of $38,782 per year for this job. What is the salary trajectory of a Cabin Steward? The salary trajectory of a Cabin Steward ranges between locations and employers.

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Tipping on a Cruise Begins Before Sailaway Savvy cruisers know that gratuities begin before you board your ship. Why? If you plan to drop off your larger pieces of luggage, be prepared to give the portside luggage handler a $2- $5 tip per bag. The amount can depend upon size, weight and amount of luggage.

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Do cruise ship employees actually get the gratuities? The automatic gratuity pool onboard cruise ships covers the housekeeping staff (cabin stewards) and wait staff. If a passenger is staying in a suite which includes butler service, the automatic gratuity is increased to include their butler.

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No matter which cruise line you sail, crew gratuities — also known as service charges or crew appreciation — are a fact of life. This includes sailing on Princess. Like other cruise lines, Princess charges a daily gratuity fee — known as “crew appreciation” — while sailing.

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While highly advanced weather and storm detection systems mean that cruise ships can easily avoid these situations, the fact they can withstand them means the chances of tipping over are very slim.

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These gratuities are split between all crew members. The cruise line encourages passengers to check what the current daily service charge is at the time of their booking. Cruise directors and river guides do not share in the general gratuity, so passengers are encouraged to tip them directly as they see fit.

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Because gratuity is already included in the price of these purchases onboard, it's not necessary to tip extra. However, many passengers still like to tip a few dollars with a drink or specialty restaurant dinner to show their appreciation.

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