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Cruise Ship Gratuities Comparison

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Gratuities

Crew appreciation. Daily service fees. Cruise ship gratuities. For first-time cruisers, all these terms can start to become a bit confusing. But whatever you’ve seen cruise lines refer to them as, they all mean the same thing. Namely, tipping on a cruise.

A Tip

Confused by how much you’ll have to stump up when paying for things on a cruise? Don’t be. You might be scratching your head at the minute, but by the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how tipping works on a cruise ship – along with how much gratuities differ across the biggest cruise lines.

Norwegian Cruise Line
Room service being delivered on an NCL Ship

What are gratuities on a cruise?

This fancy-sounding word simply refers to tips, although certain lines use different terms for it, which might throw some first-time cruisers for a loop.

Pound Notes

For instance, Holland America calls it a Daily Service Fee, while Princess calls it Crew Appreciation. You may even see gratuities referred to on your onboard account statement as a Guest Services Fee.

Drinks on P&O Cruises

Why do cruise lines charge gratuities?

During a cruise, there are all sorts of staff doing their thing behind the scenes to make your holiday truly special.

Celebrity Cruises
A Bartender showing off while making a drink aboard a Celebrity ship

And chances are, you more than likely won’t get to see these guys work their magic. By pooling these gratuities, cruise lines can make sure these staff are appropriately rewarded for their efforts.

Norwegian Cruise Line
The Reception aboard an NCL Ship

How do gratuity policies differ across cruise lines?

Just like they have their own naming conventions, the gratuity policies of different cruise lines vary too.

They don’t always do the best job of explaining things once you’re onboard, so a bit of research on which of the following policies they have in place is worth doing before you board…

How much do cruise line gratuities differ?

To make things easier for you, we’ve gathered together the gratuity amounts you can expect to pay per person, per day across cruise lines we work with.

All information is correct as of the time of writing. (February 2025)

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