Complete Guide to Cruise Ship Gratuities – 2026

Updated for 2026: Whether your cruise line calls them gratuities, daily service charges, hotel service charges or crew appreciation, they all amount to pretty much the same thing: tipping the crew members who help make your cruise enjoyable.

Most mainstream cruise lines automatically add a daily gratuity to your onboard account. The amount is usually charged per person, per day, and in many cases it varies depending on your stateroom category.

Then there are the other gratuities that can sneak onto your bill. Order a drink, book a spa treatment or dine at a specialty restaurant and there may be another 18% to 20% service charge added to the purchase.

With daily gratuities now approaching $20 or more per person on several cruise lines, it helps to know what to expect before you board.

What Are Daily Cruise Ship Gratuities?

Daily cruise gratuities are shared among crew members who contribute to your cruise experience. This usually includes your stateroom attendant, dining room staff and many of the crew members working behind the scenes.

Every cruise line seems to have its own name for the charge. Princess and Holland America call it Crew Appreciation. Norwegian uses Daily Service Charge. MSC calls it a Hotel Service Charge.

Whatever the name, it’s another expense to include when figuring the actual cost of your cruise.

Tipping for a Cruise Begins Before Sailaway

Your first tip may happen before you even set foot on the ship.

If you’re checking larger pieces of luggage with the portside baggage handlers, I recommend tipping about $2 to $5 per bag. If I’m traveling solo and checking one large suitcase, I usually hand the porter $5.

I consider it like insurance. It’s a small price to pay to make sure my suitcase makes it onto the luggage cart and heads to the ship.

Should You Prepay Cruise Gratuities?

If your cruise line allows it, I generally prefer to prepay my gratuities.

For one thing, they’re paid and out of the way. There’s no surprise when you look at your onboard account on the last night of the cruise.

Prepaying can sometimes protect you from a future gratuity increase, too. Cruise lines frequently allow guests with existing reservations to pay the previous rate before a new rate takes effect. The rules vary by cruise line, though, so don’t automatically assume that prepaying always locks in an older rate.

For a solo traveler, an extra dollar or two per day isn’t a huge amount. Multiply that by two adults and a couple of kids on a seven-night cruise and an increase starts to add up.

Average Daily Cruise Line Gratuities in 2026

For the mainstream cruise lines that charge daily gratuities, expect roughly $16 to $25 per person, per day, depending on the cruise line and your stateroom category.

Some luxury and premium cruise lines include gratuities in the cruise fare. These include Azamara, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Seabourn and Virgin Voyages.

Here are the current daily gratuity rates for many of the most popular cruise lines in 2026.

Cruise Line Gratuities List

Carnival Cruise Line:

Carnival currently recommends $17 per person, per day for guests in standard staterooms and $19 per person, per day for suites. These gratuities are distributed among stateroom attendants, dining and culinary staff and other crew members who work behind the scenes.

Carnival also adds service charges to certain onboard purchases, including beverages.

Celebrity Cruises:

Celebrity raised its gratuities on July 29, 2026. Guests in Inside, Ocean View and Veranda staterooms now pay $19.50 per person, per day. Concierge Class and AquaClass guests pay $20.50, while guests in The Retreat pay $24.50 per person, per day.

Celebrity also adds a 20% gratuity to beverages, beverage packages, specialty dining, room service, minibar purchases and spa and salon services.

Costa Cruises:

Costa’s Hotel Service Charge varies depending on the itinerary. On most cruises where the onboard currency is euros, the suggested charge is €11/$12.65 per person, per night for guests age 15 and older and €5.50/$6.33 per night for children ages 4 through 14. Children under four are not charged. Remember, the exchange rate between euros and dollars fluctuates.

On South America cruises, the suggested amount is $14.50 per person, per night for guests age 15 and older and $7 per night for children ages 4 through 14. Because Costa’s charges can vary by destination and onboard currency, check the amount for your particular cruise before sailing.

Cunard Line:

Cunard currently adds a Hotel and Dining Service Charge of $18 per person, per day for guests in Britannia and Britannia Club staterooms and $19 per person, per day for Princess Grill and Queens Grill suites.

The charge applies to guests of all ages and is distributed among restaurant and housekeeping crew members. Cunard also adds an 18% service charge to beverage purchases and an 18% service charge to spa and salon purchases.

Disney Cruise Line:

Disney currently recommends $16 per person, per night for guests in non-Concierge staterooms.

For Concierge guests, the recommended amount is considerably higher at $27.25 per person, per night. The Concierge amount includes gratuities for the dining team and stateroom attendants as well as the Concierge Lounge team.

Unlike some cruise lines, Disney breaks down its recommended gratuities among specific crew members, including your dining room server, assistant server, head server and stateroom host.

Holland America:

Holland America’s Crew Appreciation charge is $18 per guest, per day for non-suite staterooms and $20 per guest, per day for suites.

An additional 18% service charge is added to beverages, bar retail items, specialty restaurant cover charges, for-purchase à la carte menu items and spa and salon services.

One important distinction: Crew Appreciation is not included with the standard Have It All package. It may be included with certain Have It All Early Booking Bonus promotions.

Hurtigruten:

Tipping works differently aboard Hurtigruten than it does on the large American cruise lines, particularly on its Norwegian Coastal Express voyages. Rather than listing Hurtigruten with a standard U.S.-style daily gratuity, I recommend checking the tipping information for your particular voyage.

MSC Cruises:

MSC calls its daily gratuity a Hotel Service Charge, and this is one cruise line where the amount really depends on where you’re cruising.

For Caribbean, Alaska and U.S. cruises booked from May 11, 2026, the Hotel Service Charge is $17 per guest, per night for guests age two and older. MSC Yacht Club guests pay $23 per person, per night. Children under two are not charged.

MSC uses different rates for cruises in Europe, Asia, South Africa and on Grand Voyages, so be sure to check your specific itinerary.

Norwegian Cruise Line:

Norwegian’s Daily Service Charge is $20 per person, per day for guests in Club Balcony Suites and lower categories and $25 per person, per day for guests staying in The Haven and suites.

Children under three are not charged the daily service fee.

Norwegian also adds service charges to beverages and other selected onboard purchases.

Oceania Cruises:

Oceania currently adds $18 per guest, per day for guests staying in standard staterooms.

Guests in Penthouse, Oceania, Vista or Owner’s Suites with butler service pay $23 per guest, per day.

Oceania also adds a 20% service gratuity to beverage purchases, spa services and dinner at La Reserve.

Princess Cruises:

Princess calls its daily gratuity Crew Appreciation.

For 2026, guests in Interior, Oceanview and Balcony staterooms pay $18 per person, per day. Mini-Suites, Cabanas and Reserve Collection accommodations are $19 per person, per day, while suites are $20 per person, per day.

Crew Appreciation is included for guests who purchase Princess Plus or Princess Premier.

Royal Caribbean:

Royal Caribbean currently charges $18.50 per guest, per day for guests in non-suite staterooms and $21 per guest, per day for suite guests.

An 18% gratuity is automatically added to beverages and beverage packages, specialty dining and dining packages, room service and minibar purchases. Spa and salon purchases carry a 20% gratuity.

Victory Cruise Lines:

Victory Cruise Lines adds an automatic gratuity of approximately $19 per person, per day to guests’ onboard accounts. Gratuities are not included in the standard cruise fare, despite much of the rest of Victory’s Great Lakes cruise experience being inclusive.

Victory fares include many extras such as beverages, Wi-Fi and an included shore excursion in each port, but crew gratuities should be figured into the cost of the cruise separately.

Viking Ocean Cruises:

Viking’s standard recommended gratuity for ocean cruises is $20 per person, per night. You can prepay the gratuities before your cruise or have the same recommended amount automatically added to your onboard account.

The gratuities are shared among waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet and galley staff, laundry staff and other crew members. Viking allows guests to change the amount or pay gratuities in cash by visiting Guest Services.

Windstar Cruises:

Windstar currently adds a $16 per person, per day Hotel Service Charge. The charge is distributed among crew members throughout the ship.

Windstar’s All-Inclusive package includes the Hotel Service Charge along with the beverage service charge, so guests who purchase that package won’t see the daily gratuity added separately.

Cruise Lines Where Gratuities Are Included

Not every cruise line adds a daily gratuity to your account.

Several luxury and premium cruise lines include crew gratuities as part of the cruise fare. Among them are:

• Azamara
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• Seabourn
• Silversea
• Virgin Voyages

That doesn’t mean you can’t tip an individual crew member for exceptional service. It simply means there’s no expected daily gratuity automatically added to your onboard account.

Should You Tip the Room Service Delivery Person?

Room service is another area where tipping can get confusing.

Some cruise lines charge a room service delivery fee, while others include certain room service items at no additional charge. There may also be an automatic gratuity added to the order.

Even when there’s a delivery charge, I still like to give the person delivering my order a few dollars.

This is one reason I always bring $1 and $5 bills from home. They’re especially handy when an early morning breakfast arrives and I don’t want to start rummaging through my purse looking for a tip.

Usually $2 to $5 is appropriate, depending on the size of the order.

Who Gets the Cruise Ship Gratuities?

Cruise lines generally pool the daily gratuities and distribute them among a number of crew members.

That includes the people you see every day, like your stateroom attendant and dining room staff, along with crew members working in the galley and other behind-the-scenes positions.

The exact distribution varies by cruise line, and most cruise lines don’t publish a dollar-by-dollar breakdown.

What About Extra Tips?

Paying the automatic gratuity doesn’t mean you can’t tip someone extra.

If a crew member has gone out of their way to make my cruise better, I’m happy to hand that person an additional cash tip.

A few people you might want to remember include your favorite bartender, sommelier, shore excursion guide, motor coach driver or childcare provider.

Spa and salon services generally already have an automatic gratuity added, so check your receipt before adding another tip.

Can You Remove Automatic Cruise Gratuities?

On many cruise lines, guests can ask Guest Services to adjust or remove the daily gratuity. Policies vary, however, and gratuities that are part of a prepaid package generally can’t be removed or refunded.

Personally, I leave the automatic gratuities on my account.

If I’ve had particularly good service, I’ll usually give a little extra cash to my waiter, assistant waiter and stateroom attendant toward the end of the cruise.

For me, that’s the easiest way to handle it. The automatic gratuity recognizes the larger group of crew members who contributed to my cruise, while an extra cash tip lets me personally thank someone who really stood out.

Remember to Tip on Shore Excursions

Your cruise ship gratuities don’t cover everyone you’ll encounter during your trip.

Porters at the cruise terminal, shore excursion guides and motor coach drivers aren’t included in your shipboard gratuities.

For shore excursions, I generally tip about $2 to $5 per person for a guide, depending on the length and quality of the tour. For a motor coach driver, $1 to $2 per person is usually appropriate.

In Europe, I usually carry small euro notes and coins for tips ashore.

One Last Cruise Tipping Tip

Before your cruise, check the current gratuity amount for your cruise line and multiply it by the number of people in your stateroom and the number of nights you’ll be onboard.

A $19 daily gratuity doesn’t sound like much until two people take a 14-night cruise. That’s another $532 to include in the vacation budget.

I also recommend checking your onboard account during the cruise rather than waiting until the last night. It’s much easier to straighten out an incorrect charge when Guest Services isn’t surrounded by everyone else trying to settle their accounts.

And yes, after more than 200 cruises, I still bring an envelope of small bills with me.

Some things haven’t changed.