How much can you expect to pay in tips on a cruise?

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tbugs

The rate of $3.50 per day per person for the cabin attendant and the waiter plus $2.50 per day per person for the busboy will take care of the majority of your tips. There are also envelopes for tips for the maitre'd and the head housekeeper. Unless they have done something special or responded to a problem, there is no reason to tip them. They are part of management.

Of course, the 15% tips will be added in automatically for all drinks you buy.

Some of the cruiselines will add tips in automatically for all staff and it is up to the customer to go to the Purser's Office to raise or lower tips accordingly. To me, this is wrong. It may be handy but I believe that lowers the reason for the cabin attendants and waiters to do an excellent job. If they know their tips depend upon how well they please customers, the service will be better than if it has been all included and they know most customers will not go to the Purser's Office and complain.

It is also wrong to undertip. These attendants and servers work very long hours and get paid very little in salary. Your tips are the reason they sign on for 4 month contracts and leave their families.

TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

When you cruise you pay two types of tips/gratuities. First and foremost all cruise lines will ask/require you to pay a gratuity to 4 people; your cabin steward, your waiter, your assistant waiter, and your head waiter. The amounts of these are pretty much standard regardless of the cruise line:

Suite attendant: $5.75 USD a day per guest
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest

These guidelines apply to all guests of all ages.

In addition to the above gratuities, all cruise lines will add a 15% gratuity to each drink order (soda and alcoholic beverages). So for these its tip as you go.

I have been on 4 different cruise lines, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and its the same on all of them.

cruise junkie

Carnival puts 10.00 a day per person an your sign and sail account but you can adjust it up or down if you want .. grandma last cruise was broke and on the last night see went to the pursers desk and had them take all of it off her bill..no problem..

barfball

Sailed Carnival cruise lines in Feb 08 and they automaticly charged $50 pp to your sign and sail card . You can adjust it as you feel fit. After you see the service you get,the tips are well worth it. It was a 5 day cruise out of Jacksonville Fl.

guy

Just came of a Celebrity (ship Century) cruise last week. They want $10.50 per guest per day. You can pay more or less; it's your choice if you want to pay anything. Some cruise lines want $13 per guest per day. We had a poor waiter; so he did not get anything from us. His assistant waiter received more than what was suggested!!

slimthing

you pay at the end. i went on carnival cruise lines. i think i paid a total of $70. for 7 days and thats divided up between a whole lot of people. you can also pay each person individually if you want in addition to the $70

pancakes & hyrup

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Rowena

Carnival. I paid just $50 for a 5 day trip.

Cait

15-20 dollars a day, assuming your meals dont have tip included, and you have maid service daily.
It can also be 5-10 more a day, depending on if you're going to the bar, and going frequently :)
That being said, if you're on a budget, don't feel overwhelmed. With so many people together on the cruise, servers get a huge variety in tips! We all have different opinions of what a good tip is, especially varying by where you live. Servers are used to this.
Realistically, if you get most of your meals at cafe type, self serve places, and dont drink a whole lot at the bars. You end up spending 7 or 8 a day.
Have fun!

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