Cunard adds a Hotel and Dining Service Charge to your onboard account for every night of the voyage. It is US$18 per person per day in Britannia and Britannia Club staterooms, and US$19 per person per day in Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites.
It is charged per person rather than per stateroom, and it applies to guests of all ages. Over a fortnight for two people that is a little over US$500, which is worth knowing about before it appears on the account rather than after.
What Cunard Charges in 2026
The rate depends on where you are staying rather than who you are:
- Britannia and Britannia Club staterooms. US$18 per person per day.
- Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites. US$19 per person per day.
Both figures are current for August 2026. Cruise lines adjust these rates from time to time.
The charge is applied for each night of the voyage and added to your onboard account as you go, rather than taken at the point of booking. It is billed in US dollars whatever currency you paid your fare in, so the figure that reaches your card statement depends on the rate your bank applies on the day.
Cunard calculates the charge per person per day for guests of all ages. There is no reduced rate for children, and none for older passengers either, which is a common enough question that it is worth stating plainly.
What the Charge Covers
The money is pooled and divided among the crew, with each share depending on the role the crew member holds. Cunard states that all of it reaches the crew and that nothing is deducted for administration.
What it covers is the restaurant and housekeeping side of the ship: the steward who services your stateroom, the team in the dining room, and the people behind both. That is the part worth understanding, because it is not everybody.
Casino, bar, wine and spa staff do not share in it. They are paid from the service charges raised in their own areas instead, because not every guest uses those parts of the ship. The 18% on your gin and tonic and the charge on a spa treatment go into different pots entirely.
Can You Remove Cunard Gratuities?
Nothing about the charge is compulsory. Cunard’s published wording is that guests are welcome to increase or decrease the value of their Hotel Charge once on board at the Purser’s Office, and in practice that includes taking it down to nothing. The desk will do it without any fuss.
The reason most people ask is not to save the money but to choose who gets it. A steward who learns how you take your tea by the second morning is easy to thank directly. So is a waiter who keeps an anniversary dinner moving at the right pace. An envelope on the last evening lands differently to a line on an account.
The trade is in who else it reaches. Pooled, it spreads across people you never meet, including the ones doing the laundry and the washing up. Handed over yourself, it concentrates on the people who looked after you. If you want the second, start at the Purser’s Office early in the voyage rather than in the queue on the final morning.
Onboard credit can also be put towards the charge, which is the simplest use for a balance you might otherwise be hunting for something to spend on.
The adjustment is made on board rather than in advance through My Cunard. If you intend to change it, do it in the first day or two while the desk is quiet, rather than on the last morning when everyone is settling accounts.
Can You Prepay Cunard Gratuities?
No. Cunard does not let you pay the charge in advance. It builds up night by night on your onboard account and is settled with everything else at the end.
This catches people out because so much else about a Cunard booking can be paid up front. A drinks package can be bought before you sail. The service charge cannot. If you are the sort of traveller who likes to step aboard with the bill already dealt with, this is the one line that will still be waiting for you.
What you can do is cover it with onboard credit. If you are holding a balance from a booking offer or a past voyage, putting it against the service charge is the most useful thing it will do, and it means the amount never reaches your card at all.
When the Charge Is Already Included
On Full World Voyages the daily hotel and dining service charges are often included in the fare. They sit alongside benefits such as:
- A welcome reception and a commemorative gift.
- Cocktail parties and a gala dinner ashore.
- The services of a World Voyage concierge.
- The use of a private lounge.
- Daily hotel and dining service charges.
On a voyage of that length the last of those is worth more than it looks. At US$18 per person per day, a hundred night world voyage for two would otherwise carry US$3,600 in service charges alone, so it is a genuine part of the fare rather than a token.
It is worth checking what your own booking includes rather than assuming. These benefits go with the full voyage, not with the shorter legs sold out of it.
World Voyage benefits apply to the full voyage. If you are sailing one leg of a world cruise rather than the whole circuit, the daily service charge is normally charged in the usual way, so confirm it against your own booking confirmation.
The 18% on Drinks
Separately from the daily charge, an 18% service charge is added automatically to every drink bought in the bars and restaurants, and shared with the crew serving them.
This is the part that surprises people who have already budgeted for the daily figure. A round that reads as US$40 on the menu settles at a little over US$47 on the account. On a two-week voyage with a drink or two each evening, that adds up to real money on its own.
Drinks taken on a package are not charged again, because the 18% is already built into the package price. Our guide to Cunard drinks packages goes through what each one covers and when one pays for itself.
Browse our full library of cruise guides, port tips, and advice articles to make the most of every sailing.
What It Adds Up To
The service charge per day is small enough to wave away and large enough to notice by the end. For two people sharing a stateroom, across the voyage lengths Cunard sails most often:
- Seven nights. About US$252 in Britannia, US$266 in the Grills.
- Ten nights. About US$360 in Britannia, US$380 in the Grills.
- Fourteen nights. About US$504 in Britannia, US$532 in the Grills.
- Twenty one nights. About US$756 in Britannia, US$798 in the Grills.
Drinks sit on top of that, as does anything in the spa. Treated as part of the fare rather than an extra, it is straightforward enough to plan around. Left until the account appears on the last morning, it is the sort of number that sours an otherwise good fortnight.
For how the charge works across cruising generally, see our guide to cruise gratuities, and for the question of who else to thank and by how much, tipping etiquette beyond the auto-gratuity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cunard’s published position is that guests are welcome to increase or decrease the value of their Hotel and Dining Service Charge once on board, at the Purser’s Office. In practice the desk will take it down to nothing if you ask. Passengers who do this are usually the ones who would rather choose their own recipients and hand something directly to the crew who looked after them.
No. The Hotel and Dining Service Charge is added to your onboard account automatically for each night of the voyage, but it can be adjusted at the Purser’s Office once you are on board.
US$18 per person per day in Britannia and Britannia Club staterooms, and US$19 per person per day in Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites. Drinks bought in the bars and restaurants carry a separate 18% service charge.
No. Cunard applies the Hotel and Dining Service Charge to guests of all ages, calculated per person per day. The rate depends on the stateroom grade rather than who is in it.
Not as a matter of course. The daily charge is designed to cover it, and drinks already carry their own 18%. Anything beyond that is a personal choice rather than an expectation.
Yes. The 18% is built into the package price, so drinks taken on a package are not charged again at the bar. Bought individually, the 18% is added to each drink. There is more detail in our guide to Cunard drinks packages.
Yes. Onboard credit can be put towards the hotel and dining service charge.
It is pooled and divided among the crew, with the share depending on the role. Cunard states that the whole amount reaches the crew and that nothing is taken in administration. Casino, bar, wine and spa staff are paid from the service charges raised in their own areas instead.
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