When you go on a cruise, do you have to tip the workers everyday?

Question

At cruisecritics.com, for the Costa Romantica cruise ship it said: You should plan to tip your room stewrad $3.00 to $3.50 per person/ per day and plan an equal amount for your dining room waiter and half of that for the busboy. Then another paragraph was titled : " Tips on Tipping" it said: for the waiter $3.30-$3.50 per person/ per day and assistant waiter $1.50- $2.00 per person/ per day.

If this is true, then this cruise vacation is not worth it at all, they are trying to empty everyone's wallets. I mine as well go on a road trip or go to another country and stay at someone's house. Because I know I won't be asked to leave a tip every day I stay there.

Answer 1

No, you will tip at the end of the cruise.

A cruise vacation is definitely worth it. You get your "hotel", meals, activities, etc included in one price.

Sure, if you go to a friend's house and stay, you won't pay - you also won't be seeing great ports of call, having non-stop fun [or relaxation, if that's what you want], eating whatever and whenever you want with no prep or clean up....

When you go to a restaurant, the total price of the meal isn't listed on the menu - you have to add taxes and tips. Or is is "not worth it" to have someone wait on you? The staff on a cruise ship are paid very little; they depend on tips, just as wait staff in a restaurant do. It's a small price to pay for such great service.

You probably should not cruise, if you think it's a rip-off.

Answer 2

When you go to dinner at a restaurant, you tip the waiter about 15 - 20%. The dinners on a cruise include appetizer, salad, entree, dessert, and coffee. This would cost at least $40 per person in a restaurant. That is an $8 tip per person just for dinner in a restaurant. On the cruise, you have also eaten breakfast and lunch for the $3.50 daily tip for the waiter.

You really do not sound like you should be going on a cruise if you are going to compare tipping to "they are trying to empty everyone's wallet".

If you go on a road trip, you will certainly tip the waiters. If you go to another country and stay at someone's house, you will not leave a tip but I would hope you would have the manners to take them out to dinner a few times and foot the bill completely for the dinners (tip included).

Answer 3

Yes you tip the workers for each day (although you tip at the end of the day.) The people who work on the cruise ships make very little money, and your tip for their service is the vast majority of their income.

I disagree with your conclusion however. Plan that $10 per person per day for tips is part of the price of the cruise (indeed you can pay the tip in advance when you book). A cruise vacation is still a good value for what you get - lodging, transportation and food. You can easily spend $200 per person per day for total lodging, transportation and food on a road trip (espcially if you rent a car or take trains on this trip) and can get a cruise, including tips, for far less than that.

You cannot compare a cruise to staying at someone's house. They are very different vacations. If you don't like the cost of a cruise then do not take one.

Remember that alcoholic beverages, gambling, and any purchases on board are also extra.

Answer 4

It is unfortunately traditional to tip non-professional service providers (waiters, waitresses, room stewards, maids, taxi drivers, doormen, bellhops, porters ...). This applies to the cruise industry as well.

Typically the tips total $10 per person per day and are paid at the end of the cruise. The best way to look at it is to treat it as part of the cost of the cruise. So if a one week cruise cost $800 per person, then it is better to view it as $870 per person (which includes the tip).

Unfortunately tips are not mentioned up front, and thus end up as a surprise additional cost. It would be nice if the cruise lines either clearly noted the tip requirement up front, or just included the tips in the cost of the cruise.

However, to answer your question, the tips are not paid daily, but rather at the end of the cruise.

Also, please note, you will find a 15% tip automatically added to any alcoholic drink orders.

Answer 5

You tip everyone at the end of you cruise. It is so worth it to go on one so much fun!!! The people who care for you do need to be tiped , they honestly deserve it as you will find out.