Cruise guest claims passengers don’t have to tip

Cruise ships usually have a huge number of staff ranging from housekeeping to entertainment or fitness crew. One passenger asked people on Reddit whether they needed to tip the staff.

A guest said: “Apart from the daily service fees that are charged to your account, there are no situations where you ‘have to’ pay a tip. Not a single one.

“Whenever you get a drink, they print out a receipt for you to sign where you can write an additional tip.

“But the drink already includes an 18 percent gratuity, so there is no need to do so. Feel free to give them a cash tip.”

Some guests like to tip a bartender at the start of the cruise to try to secure a higher level of service.

However, as the guest said, passengers aren’t usually expected to tip the staff, especially if a gratuity is already included in their package.

The guest added: “You can pay your room attendant an additional tip at the end of the cruise, if you like.

“Some cruise lines give you envelopes for this purpose around the second-last night of the cruise.

“But do note, this is an additional tip, the service charges you pay are already allocated to the various staff members that provide service to you.”

Room attendants are often the staff members that passengers get to know the best, as they will usually clean their room for the whole trip.

Some people like to tip their steward at the start of the cruise while others wait until the end of the holiday.

Although there’s no obligation to tip the room attendant, it can be a nice way to show your appreciation.

Another guest said: “Your room steward is like housekeeping but does more for you, or can anyway!

“We ask our room steward to keep a water carafe and ice bucket full in our room, for bathrobes if they have them etc.”

Passengers who ask their room steward for extra requests will often tip at the start or end of a cruise.

Another guest said: “It’s all up to you. Tipping is really what you believe it’s worth and what you can afford.

“Tipping cash is part of travel for me, even non-cruises. I have the utmost respect for people working in these settings because it’s not easy and I just like to show my gratitude.”

Around the world, many countries have a different tipping culture. In the USA, customers will often tip as much as 20 percent to servers.

Guests can check whether a gratuity is included in their package before deciding whether to tip.

Cruise crew often work long hours and leaving a tip can be a good way to show appreciation for service.

Some passengers also leave small gifts or notes for the crew as a thank you at the end of their holiday.

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