Auto-gratuities, removing them, when to tip extra, and why this argument never dies on the forums.
Archived edition. This was published on June 15, 2026, 5 months ago. The fares, promotions and ticket prices below were what the sources reported that day and have not been revised since, so treat every figure as a record of that date rather than a current quote and confirm anything you plan to book with the line. For current per-night fares across the fleet, see the cruise comparison table.
Tipping on a cruise is the topic that gets the most words spilled and the least clarity. Auto-gratuities, daily service charges, included gratuities, "removing" gratuities — the language is confusing on purpose, and the rates keep moving: three major lines raised theirs during 2026 alone. Here is the actual current state, with every per-line figure checked against the line's own published schedule, and the arithmetic for what it adds to a real sailing.
Why the charge exists at all
Cruise ship crews are hired internationally and paid under the law of the ship's flag state, not the country you board in. For the guest-facing roles — cabin stewards, waiters, assistant waiters — the pay structure was built decades ago around tips, and the daily charge is the modern, pooled form of it: the line collects a fixed amount per guest per night and distributes it across those roles on a formula it does not publish.
That design explains almost every argument about it. It is called a gratuity because it descends from tipping, it behaves like a mandatory service charge because it is added automatically, and it is neither optional nor quite a fee. Understanding it as pooled wages collected from guests makes the rest of this page make sense.
The auto-gratuity baseline
Almost every major line adds a daily per-person charge to your folio for every night of the sailing — including the nights you eat ashore. It is charged per person rather than per cabin, and children are usually charged at the full adult rate. These are the published rates as of September 2026:
| Cruise line | Standard stateroom | Top cabin grade |
|---|---|---|
| MSC Cruises | $16.00 | $20.00 (Yacht Club) |
| Disney Cruise Line | $16.00 | $27.25 (concierge) |
| Carnival | $17.00 | $19.00 (suites) |
| Holland America | $17.00 | $19.00 (suites) |
| Princess | $18.00 | $20.00 (suites) |
| Royal Caribbean | $18.50 | $21.00 (suites) |
| Celebrity | $19.50 | $24.50 (The Retreat) |
| Norwegian | $20.00 | $25.00 (The Haven) |
Three of those moved during 2026: Carnival went from $16 to $17 on 2 April, Princess restructured into three cabin bands on 8 March, and Celebrity went from $18 to $19.50 on 29 July. If a guide you are reading quotes different numbers, check its date — and if you have already booked, check whether your line lets you prepay at the rate in force when you booked. Several do, and that is worth real money on a long sailing.
The spread between cabin grades is now wider than the spread between lines. A standard stateroom runs $16 to $20 a night depending on who you sail with. Move to the top grade on those same eight lines and it runs $19 to $27.25. Booking up therefore raises your gratuity bill by anywhere from 12% to 70% — a cost almost nobody factors into the upgrade decision.
Virgin Voyages is the mainstream outlier: gratuities are in the fare and there is no service charge on drinks or the spa. Most luxury and expedition lines do the same — Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Viking's ocean ships and Explora all either include it or state that tipping is not expected. On those fares the daily charge has not disappeared; it is inside the headline price. Our luxury cruising coverage goes into what else those fares absorb.
The pool is split between your cabin steward, the dining staff and crew you never meet — galley, laundry, cleaning, the kids' club. To put your own sailing's number on it, the gratuity calculator takes the nights, the guests in your cabin and your line's rate.
The charges that are not the daily gratuity
The daily charge is the one everybody argues about, and it is not the only one. Two more are added automatically, and the daily charge covers neither:
- A bar and beverage service charge of 18–20% on every drink, and on most lines on the price of a drinks package too. Royal Caribbean, Holland America, MSC and Disney charge 18%; Carnival, Norwegian, Princess and Celebrity charge 20%. It applies even when you are drinking on a package, which is why a package advertised at $75 a day settles nearer $90.
- The same 18–20% on the spa and salon, where the bill is large enough that the service charge alone can exceed $30 on a single treatment.
Speciality restaurants are the case people get backwards. The cover charge is not a tip, and the daily pool reaches the staff serving you there less fully than it reaches the main dining room — which makes it the one place where adding cash genuinely changes who gets paid. Room service, where a line charges for it, usually carries a flat delivery fee that is also not a gratuity.
If you are trying to size a whole week rather than just the tips, the cruise budget planner totals the fare, the drinks, the excursions and the gratuities, and the drink package checker works out whether the package is worth buying once that 18–20% is on top of it.
Can you "remove" it?
Technically yes on most lines — visit guest services and ask for the auto-gratuity to be removed. Norwegian is the notable exception: its service charge is not adjustable on board. Almost nobody should do it anyway. Crew base pay is set with the pool assumed, so removing yours subtracts from a distribution that reaches people you never see. It is the rare case where the principled-feeling move — cash directly to whoever served you — penalises the laundry crew, the kids' club staff and the bus servers instead.
If you do remove it, the honest replacement is cash to each role at the end of the trip: cabin steward, assistant waiter, waiter, maître d'. Most cruisers find that leaving the pool intact and adding cash to standouts is both simpler and fairer.
When extra cash is the right move
- Cabin steward who handled a special request: $10–$20 mid-cruise, not at the end — it changes the rest of your week.
- Bar staff at "your" bar: $1–$2 per drink, even with a drink package.
- Outstanding waiter at the end of a long cruise: $20–$50.
- Speciality restaurant standouts, where the pool reaches least: $10–$20.
- Room-service delivery, where the fee is a delivery charge rather than a tip: a couple of dollars.
Small bills are the practical constraint. Ships have no cash machine worth using and the casino will change notes grudgingly; bring singles and fives from home.
Prepaying versus paying on board
Most lines let you prepay gratuities at booking or any time before sailing, and there are two reasons to do it. The first is the rate lock: a prepayment made before one of 2026's three increases was charged at the old number. The second is simply how the money feels — $259 appearing on the final folio reads as a surcharge, and the same amount paid four months earlier reads as part of the holiday.
The reason not to is that a prepaid charge is harder to adjust later, and on some lines cannot be adjusted at all. If you have any intention of changing the amount, pay on board. And note what prepaying does not buy you: the bar and spa percentages are charged when you spend, every time, and no prepayment covers them.
The included-gratuities packages
Lines now sell "Plus", "Premier" and "Drinks & Tips Included" packages that fold auto-gratuities into the upfront fare. On the gratuity portion the maths is usually neutral — the same money, paid earlier. The real value is the drinks and Wi-Fi bundle, and whether that is worth buying is what the drink package checker settles. Treat the included gratuity as the part of the package you were always going to pay for, and judge the package on the rest.
What it adds to a week for two
Take the most common booking on the most common line: seven nights, two people, a standard Royal Caribbean stateroom at $18.50 a person a night. That is $129.50 each and $259 on the cabin before anyone buys a drink. The same week on Norwegian at $20 is $280; in Celebrity's Retreat at $24.50 it is $343.
Then add the percentages. A couple sharing two cocktails a day at $14 spends $196 on drinks across the week and $35–$39 more in service charge. One $180 spa treatment each adds roughly $65. So a moderate drinker with one spa day is looking at about $360 in gratuities and service charges on a seven-night cruise for two — real money, on a fare that advertised none of it.
That figure is why comparing two fares is meaningless until the gratuity basis is the same on both sides. A line that includes gratuities is not necessarily dearer; it is quoting a different part of the same bill. We track the changes as they land in onboard experience.
The bottom line
Auto-gratuities are a real and rising part of cruise cost: budget $16 to $20 per person per night in a standard stateroom, more in a suite, and add 18–20% to anything bought at a bar or in the spa. Leave the daily charge on; add cash for standouts and for speciality-restaurant staff the pool under-reaches; ignore the "you're being scammed" debate. The crew is the part of cruising that consistently goes above and beyond, and the tipping system, imperfect as it is, mostly works.
Before you book, run your own sailing through the gratuity calculator, and read the first-cruise survival guide for the other costs the advertised fare leaves out. Rates and policies change often enough that we follow them in booking tips.
Cruise tipping: frequently asked questions
How much are cruise gratuities per day in 2026?
Between $16 and $20 per person per night in a standard stateroom on the eight largest lines: MSC and Disney $16, Carnival and Holland America $17, Princess $18, Royal Caribbean $18.50, Celebrity $19.50 and Norwegian $20. Top cabin grades cost more, from $19 on Carnival and Holland America to $27.25 in Disney concierge. The charge applies to every night of the sailing, including port days spent ashore.
Can you remove auto-gratuities from a cruise bill?
On most lines yes, by asking at guest services, although Norwegian's service charge is not adjustable on board. Very few people should. Crew pay is structured around the pooled charge, so removing yours reduces the distribution to staff you never see — galley, laundry and cleaning crew — not only the waiter you meant to reward. Leaving the pool intact and adding cash for standouts achieves what most people actually want.
Are gratuities included in the cruise fare?
On mainstream lines, no — they are added to your onboard account unless you prepay. Virgin Voyages includes them, as do most luxury and expedition lines such as Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Viking and Explora, and some fares sold outside the United States include them where the same sailing sold in the US does not. "Plus" and "Premier" fares fold them in, which is not a discount: it is the same money, paid earlier.
Do you still tip if you have a drinks package?
The 18–20% bar service charge is already inside or added to the package price, so no further tip is required. Handing a bartender a dollar or two per drink anyway is common and noticeably changes the service you get at a bar you keep returning to. It is optional in a way the daily charge is not.
How much cash should you bring for cruise tips?
Enough for the handful of people who go beyond the job: $10–$20 mid-cruise for a cabin steward who handled a special request, $20–$50 for an outstanding waiter at the end of a long sailing, $10–$20 for speciality-restaurant staff, and singles for the bar you return to. On a seven-night cruise for two, $60–$100 in small bills covers it comfortably. Bring it from home — changing money on board is awkward.