Cruise gratuities are an essential part of cruising. To simplify things, most cruise lines charge an automatic gratuity added to your account as a daily service fee.
How Much Is Cruise Gratuity?
Cruise lines add automatic gratuities, ranging from $14 to $20 per person per day. Cruise lines pool the money collected and distribute the gratuities to various cruise staff members. Many cruise lines are not forthcoming with information about how exactly these gratuities are divided. Typically, they are distributed in the form of salary and extra incentives such as bonuses.
Cabin Steward
Your cabin steward will receive gratuities. They are responsible for cleaning your cabin, providing turndown service, and doing other extras like bringing ice to your room every day and sending your laundry out.
Head Waiter
Your head waiter will also receive gratuities. They take your food orders and serve you in the main dining room.
Assistant Waiter
Your Assistant waiter will also receive gratuities. They are responsible for taking your drink order, serving the bread, and sometimes taking your dessert and coffee/tea orders.
Housekeeping Staff
Other housekeeping staff will also get a small portion of the gratuities. These are the crew members you see who keep the pool lounge chairs clear of dirty towels, the staff members who clean the public restrooms and maintain other public areas.
Maitre D’
Your Maitre D’ will also receive some of the gratuities. They are the main dining room supervisors. They play an essential role if you have food allergies. They typically assist in taking your food allergy orders and ensuring your dietary requests are met. Check out 7 Reasons Why You are Worse Off with Anytime Dining on Cruise Ships
Kitchen Staff
Most cruise lines will also distribute some portion of the gratuities to the culinary staff. These include the chefs and kitchen staff who are not visible to you but do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work to make your cruise dining experience amazing. Check out 9 Cruise Main Dining Room Mistakes You’ll Regret Making
Bar and Lounge Staff
Bartenders and cocktail servers will also receive a small portion of the gratuities in addition to the tips they receive from drink packages and drink orders. However, some cruise lines, such as Norwegian Cruises, exclude beverage service staff from the gratuity pool. Check out 8 Reasons Why Cruise Ship Beverage Packages are a Waste of Money
Hotel Services
Crew members who are part of the hotel services team will also get a small portion of the gratuity. These include guest services staff members, shore excursion desk staff members and other behind-the-scenes hotel service crew members. Check out 10 Shore Excursion Mistakes that Will Ruin Your Cruise Vacation
Entertainment
Some cruise lines will give the entertainment crew a portion of the pooled gratuity funds. This includes cast members such as dancers, singers, and backstage crew. Check out I’ve Been on Over 25 Cruises, Here is How Much Extra Gratuity I Give to the Cruise Staff