Tipping on Cruises
I want to make certain that our readers don’t find themselves in a conundrum on the ethics of tipping on cruises. The simple fact is that all cruise lines have different policies but we have found that some cruise lines originating from specific nations may have their own “one size fits all” policy on tipping.
For example, some of the British cruise lines include tipping in the basic charges and tipping is not necessary.
On many Carnival ships, passengers are charged a surcharge per day which is automatically allocated to the staff. At Cruise Blog, we highly advise that you research the tipping policy of the cruise line and take the tipping expense into consideration when budgeting and pricing your cruise. We spoke to one couple from Minnesota who was irate that the cost of their cruise was inflated by 20% after they accounted for all of the tipping expense at the end of the cruise.
Finally, when investigating tipping policy, it’s a good idea to talk to the company and not the travel agent.
