Should You Tip Extra for Cruise Staff Crew Members 2024
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Before removing gratuities, talk to guest service to see if there are any solutions to your particular issues. Tipping your stateroom steward on a cruise is customary and appreciated for their housekeeping, turndown, and other services. The standard tip for a stateroom steward is $3 to $5 per person per day, but you can tip more for exceptional service. If you need additional guidance on how much to tip, you can ask your stateroom steward for a recommendation. When tipping your stateroom steward or butler on a cruise ship, the standard amount is $5 per day.
Complete Guide to Cruise Ship Gratuities for 2024
If your kids have had a great time and you’ve appreciated the service, a few extra dollars are surely appreciated. Celebrity Cruises isn’t a luxury cruise line, however it is a top premium cruise line that markets itself as “modern luxury”. When booking a Celebrity cruise, tips are included in their Always Included program. A cruise only rate may be available on select cruises, which would not include gratuities. With the exception of a couple cruise lines on this list, most cruises that include gratuities are luxury lines. For any additional tipping, the general rule of thumb is cash on the last day of the cruise (with exceptions, of course).
Should you tip a room steward / cabin attendant?
Hopefully, these folks will then hand out cash to those who have worked hard for them during the cruise. This way, you’re ready to personally hand it to the room service delivery person. You can still hand out cash to individual members of the staff that you appreciate, although it’s not required.
Should You Tip the Room Service Delivery Person?
If you’re going on a cruise, you can expect daily gratuities to be charged automatically to your onboard account. This amount varies by cruise line, however the average daily gratuity is $14-15 US per day, per passenger for a standard cabin and $17-18 a day for guests in suites. Cruise gratuities are divided among your cruise cabin steward, waiters and other crew members who work as support behind the scenes.
It'll be one less thing on your final bill at the end of the cruise. 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. However, If we enter our cabin with a steward nowhere to be seen and we don’t ask for anything above basic service, we’ll sometimes leave nothing extra.
Don't wait till the morning of disembarkation, though, when everybody is in a frenzied transition mode and it might be difficult to locate the staffer you're seeking. If you loved your sailing and feel the crew did a superb job, leave your tips as they are. Most lines allow passengers to adjust or remove automatic tips by visiting the front desk. Norwegian Cruise Lines, who requires cruisers to file a reimbursement request after the cruise ends. You are not expected to tip the magician doing sleight of hand, the costumed Disney character posing with your child, the musicians performing on the pool deck or the guy running the trivia contests.
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In this case, you can simply choose to have them lumped in with your cruise fare, paying them all at once. Do you feel guilty about not offering gratuities on an all-inclusive cruise ship? That said, the total number of lines with a service fee has been shrinking over the years. Many smaller and higher-end cruise operators are folding tips and gratuities into their base fares. The daily Crew Appreciation charge is $16.00 per guest per day on Holland America for non-suite stateroom guests and $17.50 per guest per day for suite guests. Remember, you’re never going to get treated poorly if you do not tip extra!
Also, bring along some envelopes or even a pack of small, printed thank you cards. When you have great service (or need to tip those above who are not part of the gratuity pool), hand the cash, envelope or card directly to the person. And, as the time to disembark approaches, make sure you let the crew members whom you have come to know that you appreciate them. Should the occasion occur that you feel the service on your cruise is consistently below standards, you do have the option to remove the gratuities from your bill. Prior to doing so, however, speak with someone at the front desk (purser’s desk or reception desk) to try to resolve the issues.
Royal Caribbean’s daily automatic gratuities are set at $14.50 per person, per day for guests in standard cabins and $17.50 per person, per day for guests in suites. You can pass these by hand or get a tip envelope from guest services. In a bygone era, passengers would tip on cruises to show their appreciation for crew members who went above and beyond the call of duty. Nowadays, cruise gratuities are added automatically to your cruise bill or even built into the cruise fare.
A few bucks might not break your bank but can make a significant difference in their lives. It is considered an insult to try and tip the captain, officers and ship's senior team, including the cruise director, hotel director and executive chef. These men and women receive good salaries commensurate with their years of training. Besides, slipping the captain a $20 bill won't get you to the Bahamas any faster. As the most discerning, up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel, Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse, offering both inspiration and vital intel. Additionally, shouldbecruising.com participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes receive a commission from purchases made through our links.
If this is your course of action, consider offering a cash tip to those individuals who provided good service during your voyage. It is not often the case that all interactions with all crew members are substandard. So, take this opportunity to recognize the folks who worked hard to make your cruise pleasant. For example, passengers were once assigned a dining table and saw the same wait staff throughout the voyage. Today, we can eat in any number of venues and have a host of different servers.
If you are adjusting a gratuity charge downward, expect to be asked about the reasons behind the adjustment. The guest relations staff will want to know if you've experienced particular service issues. A 20% gratuity will be added to all beverages, mini bar purchases, and beverage packages. Bring up the topic of tips & tipping on a cruise ship and you’ll get a wide variety of recommendations and no shortage of opinions on both ends of the gratuity spectrum. For some people, even the mere mention of how much to tip on a cruise evokes panic and stress. The daily rate ranges from $10-$20 per person, per day, depending on what cruise line you're sailing with and to where.
Many people wonder how tips work for other crew members on a cruise ship, such as housekeeping, laundry, or spa staff. While it may vary depending on the cruise line and its policies, these tips are often pooled together with the rest of the gratuities and distributed among crew members. Cruise gratuities are the tips that each passenger pays during the trip. These are usually calculated on a per person/per day (or night) basis by the cruise lines. Norwegian Cruise Line has some of the highest gratuities at sea with passengers staying in all regular cabins and Club Balcony cabins automatically billed $20 per day; Suite passengers are $25 per day.
Several luxury cruise lines just include the gratuities in the cruise fare, smoothing over any possible issues. 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. Independently, you're also expected to tip tour guides, porters and the room service delivery person. But nowadays, many large lines are both cash-free and have automated tipping as part of the daily dues, meaning passengers no longer need to carry around a wad of bills.
You do not need to tip the maitre d', as they are a ship's officer and paid accordingly. However, if either one has provided some extra special service -- like getting you an upgraded table or having a special cake delivered, a tip of $5 to $10 at the time of the service would be appropriate. Wine ordered with meals will generally have a 15% service charge automatically applied. If the service has been exceptional, consider a tip of $10 to $15 at the end of your cruise. Likewise, tipping the bartender at your favorite bar on the first day can mean the perfect drink every time (and maybe even faster service when you're in a crowd). If you're after a coveted window seat, a nice tip to the maitre d' on day one can help ensure that they never fails to have that table waiting.
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