How about Tips?

This is a hot topic amongst cruise goers. Should gratuities be paid in advance or is it best to pay onboard? Most cruise lines will let you choose how you pay (apart from Costa Cruises). There are pros and cons for both I suppose. If you pay in advance you can relax knowing that they are taken care of and that you’ve paid a fixed amount. If you pay onboard though you are then able to reward the staff who you think most deserve it.

Now P&O have included gratuities in all their cruises from May then it’s a lot easier when you don’t have to budget for them but then again you paid it indirectly with the cruise price. Also Norwegian Cruise Lines are all inclusive and include gratuities already and so are Thomson (Marella). MSC have agreed for UK passengers that want to tip themselves that tips with them are no longer compulsary and they can take them off their on board account. but most American lines- Princess, Cunard, Holland America still adding it, but you can take them off, no questions asked.

Many cruise lines now add it automatically to your on board account without giving you a choice, however you can just go and see them and ask them to either reduce it or remove it altogether. They will ask you why ofcourse, to put you in the spot, but if you are well prepared with the right answers for example, why an infant should be charged the full amount of adult gratuities?
The other argument is whether cruise staff should be paid more by the cruise line in the first place so that they don’t have to rely so heavily on tips?!

Personally, I would rather pay gratuities onboard which allows me a bit more control. What do you think?


About Me

Hi, I am Tamir and I have been selling cruises for more than 20 years now. I love cruising and have experienced many different cruise lines and ships including Royal Caribbean, NCL, Cunard, P&O and many more! I specialise in Tailor Made packages which I very much enjoy doing and I can tailor…

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