Carnival Cruise Gratuities: How Much and Why?

Carnival cruise gratuities may come as a surprise during your first sailing. They’re not included in your initial fare price and some cruisers can be very vocal about how much they dislike them, while others say they’re a necessary part of the cruising experience. Here’s what you need to know.

How Much Are Carnival Cruise Gratuities?

As of mid-2024, Carnival Cruise gratuities are $16 USD per person, per day, if you’re staying in a standard stateroom. If you’re staying in a suite, the gratuities are $18 USD per person, per day. 

It’s worth noting that cruise gratuities can increase over time. Carnival most recently upped its gratuities in April of 2023. Previously, Carnival gratuities were $14.50 per guest, per day, for guests in standard staterooms, and $16.50 per guest, per day, for guests in suites. Before the 2023 increase, the last increase occurred in 2022.

While these numbers can seem pretty affordable at first, do keep in mind that they really can add up and make your cruise cost more than you originally expected.

For example, if you’re traveling in even just a small, interior stateroom, with three other people, on a week-long cruise, you’ll end up paying over $300 in gratuity fees. 

How to Pay Carnival Cruise Gratuities

You can pay for your Carnival cruise gratuities in two ways. Many guests choose to prepay for their gratuities. You can pre-pay for your gratuities at the time of booking or at any time up until your sail date. 

If you booked directly with Carnival, you can pre-pay online; if you booked with a travel agent, they can handle this prepayment for you. You’ll see pre-payments for gratuities filed under “Miscellaneous Charge” in your documentation.

What is the benefit of pre-paying for your Carnival cruise gratuities? 

If there is another increase in gratuity fees, between your pre-payment and the cruise embarking, you’ll only have to pay the fee that you’ve already paid. The new fee won’t apply to you. 

So, in essence, pre-paid gratuities could possibly save you some cash. (And if you think it’s unlikely that the gratuity fees will go up again, consider that they did go up in both 2022 and 2023 — so it’s not the craziest idea that another increase is on the horizon.) 

If, though, you do not pre-pay for your Carnival cruise gratuities, then the fees will be added to your Sail & Sign account on the second-to-last day of your cruise.

At that time, if you have any concerns or don’t wish to pay the full gratuity fee, you can take that issue up with Guest Services. After you disembark, the fee is considered final. 

Do All Guests Have to Pay Gratuities on a Carnival Cruise?

Gratuities apply to all guests staying in a cabin or suite, except for children under the age of two. Additionally, you’ll still pay the same gratuities, regardless of where you ate or what you did during your cruise. 

For example, if you think you can save on gratuities by eating in a casual dining restaurant or at the buffet every night, versus at a sit-down dinner in the main dining room, think again.

Likewise, if you ask for your room not to be cleaned for a certain number of days during your cruise, you won’t save money on tips for the cleaning staff. 

Can Carnival Cruise Gratuities Be Removed?

Technically, yes, Carnival cruise gratuities can be removed from your bill. You just need to go to the guest services desk and ask for them to be removed.

You will be asked to provide a reason for this removal, and the customer service representative may tell you that this decision will negatively impact the crew members. However, other than possibly a little social awkwardness, it’s that easy.

Despite this ease, though, there are mixed feelings on opting out of Carnival cruise gratuities. It’s quite the controversial topic in the cruising world.

Should You Opt Out of Paying Carnival Cruise Gratuities?

Just because you can do something, that doesn’t always mean you should. So should you opt out of paying Carnival Cruise gratuities?  

Some — like those in one Carnival Cruise Fans Reddit thread — worry that, by paying Carnival cruise gratuities, you’re allowing Carnival to possibly take a large cut out of the gratuities paid.

Some worry that 100% of the fee doesn’t truly go to the crew (like Carnival says it does). Accordingly, some opt to simply tip crew members directly, with cash, over the course of the cruise.

Meanwhile, others argue that staff actually prefer to get the gratuity money divided up via the gratuity fees, rather than relying on one-off cash tips, and that one-off tips never make it to the behind-the-scenes crew members, like dishwashers. 

To get around these worries, some cruisers opt to both pay the Carnival cruise gratuity fee, but then also tip on top of that, individually giving out tips to acknowledge a job well done.  

In another cruising Reddit thread, one cruiser posted that the gratuity fee doesn’t really add anything extra to crew members’ salaries. Instead, Carnival just puts the fee toward the money they’re contracted to pay the crew members, and then, if not enough people pay their gratuities during a cruise, Carnival pays for the difference.

Should You Worry About What Carnival Does With Your Gratuities? 

In short, there’s a lot of speculation regarding what Carnival does or doesn’t do with their gratuity fees. There are a lot of questions regarding how much crew members get paid and how much of those payments are gratuities and how much are true salaries. In fact, there have been so many rumors floating around that, in 2023, Carnival had to address them.

In August 2023, Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald addressed the aforementioned rumor that cruiser-paid gratuities are used to pay the bulk of crew members’ contracted wages, and then Carnival just makes up any difference, if there is any.

He said, “Normally I would never comment on this but let me say categorically that this is nonsense, totally 100% false and 100% inaccurate. We do not use the gratuities you so graciously give to ‘pay the crew.’ It is utter fabrication and untrue.”

With that rumor put to rest, it’s pretty safe to say that crew members have a salary and all gratuities are given to crew members on top of that salary, as a bonus. 

Is There a Best Way to Tip on Carnival Cruises?

At the end of the day, the general consensus seems to be that the socially “right” thing to do is to pay the gratuities fee unless you experience truly very bad service. If that’s the case, talk to the customer services desk to see how you can lower that fee. 

Otherwise, pay the fee, and then tip with cash, separately, to acknowledge specific crew members who go above and beyond with exceptional service to make your trip more enjoyable. 

Can I Tip Crew Members More?

Yes, if you want to tip crew members more, above and beyond the flat-fee gratuity rate, you are more than welcome to do so! For example, you may want to give a tip to the room service staff, when they drop off your food, or you may want to leave a tip at a specialty restaurant.

If you do decide to tip extra, some cruisers recommend tipping your main dining room waiters and stateroom stewards or butlers on the first night of your cruise. This, they say, leads to better overall service throughout the cruise.

So how much should you expect to tip? 

Frequent cruisers recommend tipping a few dollars to porters who help with your bags; a few dollars per day to your room steward, if they go above and beyond; under $50 to your main dining room wait staff, if they, again, went above and beyond; and a few dollars for room service, per each order.

Worth Reading: How Much Should You Tip Crew Members

That said, do be careful not to overtip! For example, when you get a receipt to sign at the bar, an 18% service fee will already be added to the receipt. This counts as your tip. If you want to add another tip on top of this fee, go ahead, but just recognize that a gratuity fee is already included. 

Can I Use Carnival Onboard Credits for Gratuities?

Yes! If you have some onboard credits to use — like if your booking came with some or you took advantage of one of Carnival’s special offers — you can actually use those to pay for your gratuities.

Just refrain from pre-paying for your gratuities, ahead of your cruise, and then ask for that credit to be used toward your total costs at the end of your cruise, including gratuity fees. 

Which Crew Members are Carnival Gratuities For?

The service and gratuities fee is intended to show appreciation to crew members throughout the ship. However, Carnival gratuities, while split 100% equally between these crew members, do not go to all crew members on a ship. 

According to the cruise line, Carnival gratuities go to stateroom attendants, housekeeping staff, dining and culinary services team members and behind-the-scenes team members.

Out of the $16 and $18 per day, per person, that you might pay in gratuity fees, the majority goes to the dining team, then the housekeeping team and then a few dollars of that per person, per day goes to “alternative services.”

Carnival gratuities do not go to bar staff, shopping staff, casino staff, spa staff or any department not directly operated by Carnival Cruise Line. 

Bar staff gratuities are added on to your receipt for all beverage purchases, at a rate of 18% of your bill. An additional 18% service charge is also applied to your bills at Chef’s Table, Bonsai Teppanyaki, Bonsai Sushi, Emeril’s Bistro, Guy’s Pig & Anchor Smokehouse and Brewhouse, and Seafood Shack. An 18% service fee is also applied to any room service orders. 

That said, if you want to prepay for your bar staff gratuities as well, you can do so by booking the Carnival Cheers package ahead of your cruise. This drink package gives you up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, during your cruise.

Then, the 18% service charge is added to your drink package purchase, rather than to each individual drink that you purchase during your trip. 

Unlike the daily gratuity fees that apply to your cruise overall, these 18% service charges cannot be negotiated or removed, and are automatically added to your bill. 

Final Thoughts

While tipping on a cruise can be a controversial topic — or, more accurately, having those gratuities automatically applied to your bill can be a controversial topic — tipping ensures that the cruising industry continues to provide you with the same great experiences and service you know and love.

Read Also: Cruise Gratuities – Guide to Tipping on a Cruise Ship

Be sure that the shipboard staff on your favorite cruise ships can continue doing their jobs, by factoring in the cost of gratuities into your overall travel budget. It might be an annoyance to some, but it’s a necessity. Your generosity can help ensure the overall cruise experience remains enjoyable.