Tipping on a Carnival cruise is a big part of the experience, and it is one of the few areas I suggest everyone budget a bit of money for. Carnival’s crew members work long hours and long contracts. They are far from home and often mistreated by guests (adults and kids alike). There are multiple ways to go about tipping on a Carnival cruise, and the following are my best cruise tipping tips.
A word about automatic gratuities
On the day before disembarkation, automatic gratuities will be billed to your sail and sign account. These gratuities are for all team members and are divided between your stateroom steward, team dining services, and alternative services. For an idea of what the breakdown includes, our last 7 night cruise charged $112 per person in automatic gratuities with $32.76 going to our stateroom steward, $52.92 going to team dining services, and $26.32 going to alternative services.
The automatic gratuities can be removed from your cabin, and we usually remove them because we tip extensively in cash directly to those who serve us. Some frequent cruisers argue that people should leave the gratuities on because what about the dishwasher or the guy mopping the decks who doesn’t get tipped? I think that is a valid argument worth considering which is why I put it here. But I’ve also heard that these tips may be used for staff benefits as well as being pooled and distributed, and I just really doubt that as much as I’d like would make it into the hands I want. If you remove your gratuities, I strongly recommend budgeting to tip with cash.
Note: I no longer remove automatic gratuities when traveling alone. Although I still have a bit of skepticism and think the money is likely used at least in part to cover employee benefits (read the fine print), this is just so much easier than remembering to tip constantly. I still occasionally offer an extra tip for exemplary service.
Automatic Gratuities on Food and Drink
Wait a second… before you forget. Every single purchase of food or drinks is subject to an 18% service charge (or gratuity / automatic tip). This price will be listed out on your receipt. The final price you see listed when you sign usually includes this 18%. If you are getting your food or drinks for free, 18% of $0 is nothing so you do not get charged a gratuity. But if you are paying for the food or drink, the final price you are charged includes an 18% gratuity. Often, that 18% is on a discounted price or you may want to add an additional tip for excellent service so there is always a line to add an extra tip. But sometimes you're being charged full price for a drink in a bar, and that 18% is already built in, and you're so drunk you don't realize it so you keep adding an extra $5 tip on top of it which is a little out of your budget but the drinks are good. Before you know it, you're learning a hard lesson about why you never give carnival cruise line your debit card.
Should I bring cash to tip on a Carnival Cruise?
Cash is king. When it comes to tipping on a Carnival cruise, your servers will be more attentive and happier if your tip is cash. Sure, you can always just add a tip on the line of the receipt when you sign, but often those tips get distributed by Carnival and pooled. I haven’t been able to figure out the exact breakdown of which tips are pooled with whom where, but our personal preference is to hand cash tips to individuals so that we know who is getting what. We tip for excellent service and carry cash at all times so we can tip the pool attendants and lifeguards or anyone who looks like they need or deserve it. Since we remove our gratuity, we sometimes tip when dining with the understanding that the tip will be pooled. Other times, we will hand cash to servers and waitstaff who specifically serve us.
Tipping is (part of) The Secret to Receiving Great Service on a Carnival Cruise
Tipping the people we meet is part of the cruise experience for us. We enjoy giving our favorite servers, crusieline employees and entertainers cash. They deserve the extra money and are working much harder than most cruisers realize.
And yes, it leads to excellent experiences and increased attention. When you are liberal with tips, you are remembered among the sea of faces. And honestly, if you're paying with cash, it doesn't take as much as you'd think. Make a budget per day and category of service. Tip what you can each time you see someone, even if it's just $1. Because of currency conversions, your cash tip may be more valuable to your server than it is to you, but even if it isn't, they are operating on volume. Do what you can, but don't be ashamed of not tipping more than you can afford.
Don't just give a cash tip though. Be genuine in your gratitude. Thank them for their service which really is amazing considering how hard they work day in and day out. Make an effort to remember their name throughout the cruise. Be friendly while respecting their need to attend to other people. Be consistent by going to the same person for your drinks and offering them a tip every time.
We like to find a friendly bartender or server in each of the places we plan to frequent on the first day of our cruise and tip them well. This always elicits good service, but more importantly, it's a great way to establish a rapport with someone early on in the cruise. Many of our favorite memories have been the brief conversations we've shared with friendly servers and cruiseline employees. It is a pleasure to tip these people, and we view it as an integral part of our cruising experience and an important line item in our cruising budget.
Throughout most of the cruise, we tip a base amount for each drink and service provided. When automatic gratuities are sufficient, we leave them be. Tips with someone we plan to tip frequently can be as low as $1 each time with $5 at the beginning of the cruise and a few other times when they are particularly busy. Tips for someone we tip once or rarely typically range from $5-25 but have been higher, especially in instances of excellent service or where we thought the tip could make a genuine difference.
The absolute minimum of tipping
If you don't remove the automatic gratuities, you can go through the entire cruise and never spend extra money tipping. Many cruisers do just that, and it isn't looked down upon at all. Your steward, servers and bartenders all get a cut of the automatic gratuities, and the service you receive throughout your cruise will be excellent because you have already paid for your tips.
If you plan to remove your automatic gratuities, it is important to tip the people who would have been tipped with them. Your room steward definitely deserves a tip since they clean your room every day. Pay attention to what the automatic gratuity portion would have been for them to determine a good starting point, but you can always tip more. You should also tip the staff at the dining rooms where you eat though the amount does not need to be excessive. We usually do this on a one-time basis with the wait staff at the places we frequent and choose their sections when we can and/or we add a gratuity to our ticket at various points when we buy drinks with our meals.
