Cruise Automatic Gratuity or not to Gratuity
How much is it, who should pay, and how?
The automatic gratuity (tips) the cruise lines charge is a hot topic in cruise communities. It’s also a complex one. Certainly the staff should be adequately compensated. But it’s not an insignificant amount. How much is it, who should pay, and how?
How much are the automatic gratuities?
Google states:
Major cruise lines typically charge between $14.50 and $25 per person, per day for automatic gratuities, with higher rates for suite guests. These daily service charges are added to onboard accounts for housekeeping and dining staff. Additionally, an 18% to 20% gratuity is automatically added to beverage, spa, and specialty dining purchases.
Daily Automatic Gratuity Rates (Approximate per person/day):
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL): ~$20 (most cabins) up to ~$25 (suites).
Royal Caribbean: ~$18.50 (standard), ~$21 (suites).
Carnival Cruise Line: ~$16 (standard), ~$18 (suites).
Princess Cruises: ~$16 (standard) - $18 (suites).
Celebrity Cruises: ~$17.50 (standard) - $21 (suites).
MSC Cruises: ~$14.50 - $16 (non-Yacht Club).
Holland America Line: ~$17 (standard), ~$19 (suites).
Disney Cruise Line: ~$14.50 (most cabins).
Do the math
For the 13 day Carnival cruise I recently was on the total automatic gratuity cost for 2 people ($16 pp/day) was $416. There is a separate gratuity cost automatically applied for soda and alcohol, whether you buy a drink package or buy them individually at the bar. Assuming you take the drink package ($70 pp/day, 18% tips), that’s another $327. I paid $1,468 (includes Vacation Steal 9% discount) for an oceanview cabin. So tips in total would be 50% of what I paid. Hmm …
How I think about it
Here’s my thought process.
I use 4 and 5* all-inclusive land resorts with excellent ratings, including food and service, as a point of comparison.
I’m a value vacationer. Cruises are great. But they need to be competitive in price and tip amount with resorts.
You shouldn’t need to know calculus to figure out the total cost of your vacation. Hidden, extra, and surprise fees bad. If you feel that you’re being ”nickle and dimed” (looking at you, NCL), there’s a problem. Fewer fees better. One all-inclusive fee (see resorts) great.
International resort wait and housekeeping staff have low pay like cruise employees. Tips are included. I still tip there but it’s a fraction of what cruise ships automatically charge.
There is a fundamental problem when tips hike the price 25% (cabin autocharge) to 50% (with drink packages) as in my example.
I conclude that the automatic tip rates are too high.
Automatic gratuity history
What’s interesting is that this is a new phenomenon. From Google:
Cruise lines have not always charged high automatic gratuities. Historically, passengers tipped crew in cash at the end of a cruise. The shift to daily automatic charges—often called “service charges“ or “hotel service fees“—began in the 1990s and has risen significantly.
Key details on the evolution of cruise gratuities:
The Shift from Cash to Automatic: To ensure all staff (including behind-the-scenes) were tipped and to stop crew from being “stiffed,” lines transitioned to automatic charges, which are often pooled and distributed.
Rising Costs: Automatic gratuities have increased over time, leading to higher, mandatory-feeling costs, frequently added to drink packages and spa services as well.
Industry Trends: While mainstream lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, NCL) rely on these high, separate fees, many luxury lines (e.g., Seabourn, Silversea, Virgin Voyages) now include tips in the base fare.
Alternatives: Passengers can often remove or adjust these, but they are designed to cover the gap in wages and are frequently pre-paid or added to the bill automatically.
The rise in automatic gratuities is often seen as a way for lines to keep base ticket prices looking lower in advertisements.
What to do?
Of course Google may be wrong and just parroting what it finds in cruise chats. But it feels right and is in line with my own analysis. Cruise auto gratuities cover more employees than traditional tips that go only to front-end servers and housekeepers like at a resort. It’s essentially added pay (at a minimum for the non-traditional tipped staff). Lastly it’s a mass-market cruise line choice so they can advertise lower rates.
So what’s an educated consumer to do? Many people aren’t aware of the charge or its economics and just leave it.
Her are a few excellent videos for more background and opinions. Greg @ Passport2Places Removing Automatic Gratuities, Emily @ Embrace Today I Started Taking Off The Automatic Gratuities on My Cruise and Responding to Hate Mail. Admiral Time on REMOVING Automatic Daily Gratuities on Cruises.
Many knowledgeable cruisers like Greg accept the automatic charge as they feel it’s needed to fully compensate staff and the crew relies on and needs it. Some passengers ALSO manually tip on top of the autocharge.
Others like Emily take it off. Here are some of their reasons.
They want to tip just like they do at a regular restaurant or hotel.
They want to tip for the services they use. If they don’t use main dining, why should they be charged for that?
They prefer tipping directly to people, not through a faceless autocharge.
They don’t feel they should be tipping back of house crew, which is not typical in other venues.
My choice is to vote NO to automatic gratuities and I had it removed on my trip. If staff need to be compensated more, then it’s the cruise line’s responsibility to pay them, not mine. I prefer direct tipping, which makes cruise gratuities comparable to land resorts and enables me to budget and make an informed decision on whether my next trip is on land or at sea.
Where does this all lead?
I acknowledge the free rider effect. Passengers who autopay full gratuities are essentially subsidizing people like me who don’t autopay and tip less overall. I regret that. But only a little because this is a situation the cruise lines manufactured.
As the cruise lines continue the autocharge policy, the number of passengers opting out will continue to increase and crew tips will decrease. At some point the cruise lines may be forced to act.
They could continue to raise the autocharge rate. But that would increase the number of passengers who don’t autopay and be self-defeating.
They could make the charge mandatory, in which case they might as well just bundle it in the cabin price.
They could reduce the autocharge rate - or even eliminate it like resorts. They could pay staff more on their contracts, and if needed increase their fares. This is where I’d like to see them go.
What do you think? What’s your cruise tipping position? Let us know in the comments.
Marc