Tipping On A Cruise Vacation {Staff Gratuities}
Post Last Modified – January 28, 2023 ¦ gr8traveltips.com
A Closer Look At Tipping & Prepaid Gratuities On A Cruise Vacation
Table of Contents
Now that 🛳 Cruise Ships are sailing once again this season, let’s have a look at – 💵 Tipping On A Cruise Vacation and the importance of including gratuities into your holiday budget.
Unfortunately, this is a most often ignored subject when planning ones long awaited cruise vacation. 🤔
Gratuities are important and definitely something you should be prepared for, and that I personally believe should be included in your overall holiday budget.
When booking a cruise, for some reason many people just assume that gratuities for staff are included in the overall cruise price.
This assumption is Incorrect 🙁
Staff work very hard and rely heavily on gratuities, to help support themselves and their families back at home.
First, take a quick look at this informative 📹 video from one of my favorite leading Travel Experts, on basic tipping guidelines to follow most anywhere in the world.
Tips On Tipping From Peter Greenberg – YouTube Video
Include Tips In Your Cruise Vacation Budget
Our Cruise Holiday on the Carnival Valor
I always made sure to include cruise gratuities when saving for those all inclusive cruise specials, that our family have enjoyed in past years.
Of the few cruises we’ve taken in past years, the service has always been exceptional, on all the major cruise lines that we have had the pleasure of sailing with.
“Tipping is generally not included with the majority of cruise lines. Therefore, you should be prepared to pay a certain amount {per day – per person} on your cruise.”
Cruise ship staff work very hard to ensure top quality service, and I truly believe they deserve to be rewarded for this.
Just as you would tip a waiter or waitress for good service in a restaurant, would it not seem appropriate to offer the same gratitude to those serving you while on board ship during your holiday? ❓
January 2023
With sailings getting back in full swing once again, I’ve seen some incredible deals surfacing lately. Many of the cruise lines are offering outstanding incentives to book with them.
Some of these incentives include:
Tipping & Prepaid Gratuities On Cruises
View this post on Instagram
Definition of Gratuity:
gra·tu·i·ty
[gruh-too-i-tee, -tyoo-]
noun, plural gra·tu·i·ties.
1. a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip.
2. something given without claim or demand. (dictionary.com)
Things To Know About Tipping On Your Cruise
For most of the major cruise lines, your cruise gratuities are normally added to your – shipboard account.
It’s convenient and can be charged automatically to your 💳 credit card, without having to worry about having 💵 cash available for tipping at the end of your holiday.
Take a look at ⚓ Carnival Cruise Lines for an example, on their own tipping policies.
These guidelines are pretty standard for most of the other major cruise lines out there as well.
Updated June 2022
Standard Staterooms: $14.50 USD per person, per day. This daily amount is designed to cover your …
✔ Daily In – Cabin services;
✔ Dining services performed by waiters and bus staff;
✔ All other on board services performed by ships staff.
When you experience the exceptional service first hand, the cost is minimal per guest for all that is included, and for what you are receiving.
Outstanding Service in the Dining Rooms
This daily gratuity is very reasonable, when you consider;
✔ All the meals you may be served in one day while on your cruise;
✔ Your cabin serviced throughout the day, cleaned and set for you nightly;
✔ The continuous work staff perform 24/7, to ensure cleanliness throughout the entire ship and more.
When you take all this in to factor for just one day, the cost per person as a reward for their hard work is minimal.
It should be noted for those not aware, that your gratuity is spread among all service staff.
So rest assured from your; cabin attendants, restaurant staff, bartenders and so forth, they all receive a portion of your tip. 😎
With our experiences with staff while on our cruise vacations, finding service as good as what you receive on these fabulous cruise ships, would be pretty hard to match most anywhere else!
Gratuities Are Very Important For Cruise Ship Staff
View this post on Instagram
The information that I have gathered from ships employees and others, show wages to be minimal for service staff. As a result, they do rely heavily on cruise tips as part of their overall income.
This is much the same for service employees most anywhere in the world, working for minimum wage. This especially true for staff on board coming from foreign and less fortunate countries.
These gratuities do help support their families back home in a huge way!
If for any reason you are not happy with any staff service, immediately contact the front desk on board ship and they will offer assistance right away.
Should you not wish to have your cruise tips automatically charged, you must contact the pursuers office, as soon as possible after you get on board ship.
Staff do their best, to keep you happy at all times while on your cruise. As well, if you have received exceptional service worthy of reporting, do take the time and fill out a – 📝 Customer Survey Card.
Better yet, make a note of that person and the service received, and leave it at the front desk on board ship!
This gesture is extremely helpful for the employee, and they can eventually be rewarded with; staff promotions, salary increases and more.
The result of their hard work and having being recognized as one offering exceptional customer service, will be recognized by management. ✔
For more detailed information and feedback on cruise tips, have a look at one of my favorite cruse websites known as; 🛳 Cruise Critic .
Their site is chocked full of very useful and reliable cruise vacation information, and is definitely worth checking out.
Tipping Policies Will Vary With Each Individual Cruise Line
Dining Room Staff Preparing for Dinner
I suggest you check with your selected cruise line for their own cruise tip policies prior to departure. This will avoid any confusion and stress while on your vacation.
There are some wonderful cruise specials just waiting for you to take advantage of!
As I previously mentioned above, many cruise lines are offering amazing incentives, to encourage you to book your cruise with them.
An example and one that we took advantage of on our last 🏝 South Pacific Cruise, included Free Paid Gratuities just for booking with them.
This means that your gratuities have been included in your overall purchase price. For a couple traveling on a 14 night cruise at about $14 USD per person per day, that was a great savings! 💰
So shop around, look for those great deals and don’t forget to include gratuities in your travel budget, when planning your next vacation!
😎 Safe and Healthy Travels!
All personal 📸 photographs on this post are the property of gr8traveltips.com and are copyright protected. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 🚫
✨ Did You Know …
“Cruise Ship Regular Service Staff Typically Share A Cabin Below With 2 to 4 Other Staff Members Equipped With Bunk Beds.”
🛳 Royal Caribbean South Pacific Cruise – Review
📖 Repositioning Cruise Specials – Best Cruise Deals
📭 Finding The Best Cruise Deals – Helpful Tips
🙂 Don’t Forget It … Be Sure To Pin It! 🙂
© 2023, All Rights Reserved ¦ gr8traveltips.com
