Cruise vacations are meant to be relaxing, but navigating onboard charges—especially automatic gratuities—can leave some travelers feeling confused or frustrated. If you’re wondering how to remove or adjust these gratuities, you’re not alone. In this post, we’ll walk you through what automatic gratuities are, why they exist, and how you can modify or remove them if you choose to.
What Are Automatic Gratuities?
Most major cruise lines (like Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, and others) charge daily service fees—typically $16 to $20 per person per day. These automatic gratuities are meant to compensate the entire crew, from your room steward and dining servers to behind-the-scenes workers like the kitchen crew and laundry staff. Rather than tipping individually, cruise lines pool these gratuities and distribute them among staff.
Daily Automatic Gratuity Charge by Cruise Line
| Cruise Line | Standard Room | Upgraded Room |
|---|---|---|
| Carnival | $16 | $18 for Suites |
| Celebrity Cruises | $18 | $19 for Concierge & Aquaclass $23 for The Retreat |
| Disney Cruise Line | $16 | $27.25 for Concierge |
| Holland America Line | $17 | $19 for Suites |
| Margaritaville at Sea | $20 | $24 for Suites |
| MSC Cruises | $16 | $20 for MSC Yacht Club |
| Norwegian | $20 | $25 for The Haven & Suites |
| Princess | $17 | $18 for Mini Suites, Cabanas, & Reserve Collection $19 for Full Suites |
| Royal Caribbean | $18.50 | $21 for Suites |
| Viking Ocean Cruises | $17 | — |
| Viking River Cruises | $20 | — |
| Virgin Voyages | $20 pre-pay $22 on board | $20 pre-pay $22 on board |
How to Remove or Adjust Automatic Gratuities
Every cruise line handles gratuities slightly differently, but the general steps are:
1. Visit Guest Services Onboard
You’ll usually need to wait until you’re onboard to make any changes to automatic gratuities. Visit the Guest Services desk at any point during your cruise — just be sure to do so before disembarkation morning. Some guests prefer to handle it right away, while others (like us) wait until the charges appear on their onboard account. To avoid long wait times, aim for quieter hours, such as late at night or early in the morning, when the Guest Services line is typically shorter.
2. Politely Request the Adjustment
Let the Guest Services staff know you’d like to remove or adjust the automatic gratuities on your account. It’s important to be polite and respectful—these team members are simply following company policies. They may ask for a reason, and if you experienced a specific issue, you’re welcome to share it. That said, you’re not required to explain in detail. A simple response like, “I prefer to give cash tips directly,” is perfectly acceptable.
3. Tip Manually (If Desired)
If you choose to remove automatic gratuities in order to tip crew members directly, be sure to bring enough cash in various denominations. Need smaller bills or extra cash? Most ships have an ATM onboard, and you can usually find a bill breaker machine in or near the casino.
While many guests wait until the last day of the cruise to hand out tips, others prefer to tip at every interaction. Some even split their gratuities to staff like room attendants or dining servers, offering a portion at the beginning as a thank-you in advance, and the rest at the end.
4. Check Your Final Bill
Before disembarking, review your onboard account to make sure any adjustments have been correctly applied. Remember, once you leave the ship, all charges are final!
Why Some Guests Choose to Remove Automatic Gratuities
Cruise lines promote automatic gratuities as a fair and efficient way to ensure that all crew members—many of whom work behind the scenes—receive consistent compensation. These service charges are said to supplement crew wages and support the overall guest experience. That said, on every major cruise line, gratuities remain optional, and guests do have the right to remove or adjust them if they choose.
For larger families or longer sailings, these charges can add hundreds of dollars to the final bill. While some critics might dismiss the decision to remove gratuities as being “cheap,” the reality is far more nuanced. Many guests prefer to recognize excellent service by tipping crew members directly. Others may feel the service they received didn’t reflect the added cost, or they may question how the pooled gratuities are distributed and whether the full amount truly reaches the intended staff.
We recently shared a video explaining how we personally handle tipping on cruises, and the reasoning behind our approach. The comments sparked a lively debate and raised some thoughtful, even unexpected, points from both sides of the conversation.
Watch It on YouTube
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs by Cruise Line
Each cruise line has its own policy on automatic gratuities and how to remove them. We’ve compiled information based on official cruise line policies, our own experiences, and reports from the cruising community. If you have reliable updates—especially with supporting documents like official letters or receipts—please share them with us!
I’m read on the NCL website that the “Service Charge” cannot be removed….
I read that too, but had several people leave comments on our YouTube videos saying they have successfully requested that NCL remove their automatic gratuities. Sounds like they make it a bit more challenging than other cruise lines by having you fill out a form and state a reason.
I’m a retired 69 y/o and split my time slow traveling SE Asia for nine months (primarily Thailand and Vietnam) and three summer months back in the US. For a change of pace I’ve been looking into the 55 day Crown Princess cruise on 5/10/26 from Sydney to London. I’m new to cruising so the crew appreciation fee caught my attention. That adds an additional $1000 to the cost of the cruise.
I would rather tip directly but I am a bit confused. Even if I were to have the fee removed the suggested tip listed above for “Cabin steward/room attendant: $20 per cabin, per day” is more than the Princess CA fee of $17. Any suggestions on the best way to handle this?
Thank you.
That’s a great question! And it has made me realize that my breakdown of gratuities is a bit confusing if you don’t fall into the “standard” scenario of two people cruising together.
When I suggested $20 per cabin per day for the room steward, I meant two things:
1. There are 2 or more people in the cabin (so this would account for $10 or less of tips per person)
And 2. “Per Day” means per day the cabin is fully serviced, not every day of the cruise.
On longer cruises especially, we often don’t need or want full daily cleaning. Sometimes a towel refresh and trash removal is plenty. In those cases, tipping should reflect the actual level of service rather than the length of the sailing.
I hope that helps!
I felt guilty for not tipping cash in addition to the auto gratuity because I know how little they get paid. Well at least in comparison to it would be a living way here in the United States, but the three countries have the most cruise ship service providers are Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. The medium wage per month in those countries is $500 to $700 a month. That’s the medium individual wage, considered to be middle income. That equates to someone in the United States getting paid $65,000 or so. If you add in that they get room and board, they get paid pretty well. So well that these jobs are highly coveted and hard to get. The turnover rate amongst service providers on cruise ships is 20%. Now compare that to the turnover rate among service providers in the United States, which is 80%.
Even if nobody ever tipped them, these would be good jobs, but the fact that most people do tip, they can make 8 to 10 times what they could even think about making in their own country.
But if you remove your gratuities, I suggest that you take the name down of the people you tip and rave about them in the post cruise survey. Because that carries more weight than if somebody removed their gratuities.
Hi Bonnie, yes, guilt tipping is a real thing. But as you say, the wages the crew receive are good when taking into account their home country. Yes, there are lots of pay discrepancies on cruise ships – and on land, too. I’m just one average person and I can’t solve the whole world’s economic problems. But I can tip personally for exceptional service, so that’s what I’ve decided to do. I try to leave the guilt behind, but I admit that our society’s customs makes that difficult! And yes, I always write down crew members’ names so I can commend them in the end of cruise survey.