Wanderlust World Wanderlust World One of the great things about going on a cruise is that you have sunrise to sunset service from hundreds of people and you know exactly how much it all costs. Although tipping on a cruise ship isn't mandatory, it is customary and an important source of income for folks on the ship. This quick overview of tipping will help you tip people correctly on your cruise.
The cabin steward is the one who keeps your cabin clean, gets you extra towels, handles moving your luggage around, helps you with wake up calls, and provides almost all the other services, except food service, that come to your room. Stewards work very long hours, and they deal with hundreds of requests a day. Between $5-$10 USD per day is a very reasonable tip for their hard work. This is the tip amount per person, per room. Adults and kids are treated alike.
In the past, you used to eat all meals in the dining room assisted by the same dining room staff at every meal. These days, you have several places to eat on board and your wait staff changes. You may still elect to tip your formal dining room wait staff if you desire. Between $5-$8 USD per day for the dining room server, and $2-$3 USD per day for the assistant server is appropriate. This tip is paid per person, adult or child, served.
The convention to tip on cruise lines is so well established, and it causes passengers and crew such vexation, that many cruise lines have automated tipping. Generally, the conventions outlined above are followed. Furthermore, you may have additional tips added to your tab for bar visits and meals served out of the dining room.
If you do not want the automated tips added to your bill, you can usually go to the ship's purser to prevent them from being applied to your bill, or to have them removed if they already have been applied.