The financial side of a cruise holiday is more straightforward than it first appears, but gratuities are the one area where British passengers are most likely to be caught off guard. On a P&O sailing everything is settled before you board; on a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ship, a daily charge appears on your account from the first morning at sea. Neither system is complicated once you understand it, and knowing what to expect means no surprises at the end of the week.
Cruise gratuities are one of those topics that takes British passengers by surprise. On a P&O or Cunard sailing from Southampton, you may have paid whatever you felt was right at the end of a meal for decades. Board a Royal Caribbean or Norwegian ship and you will discover that $18.50–$20 per person per day has been quietly added to your account every morning. Adjusting it involves a conversation with the purser’s desk, and the whole arrangement can feel like an unwelcome discovery.
This guide explains how the system works on each of the major lines sailing from the UK, what the money actually covers, and how to approach extra tipping at the moments when it matters.
Why Cruises Have Auto-Gratuities
The auto-gratuity system exists because of how cruise ships are crewed. On US-headquartered lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Norwegian, crew contracts are structured around base wages that assume supplemental income from gratuity pools. The daily charge that appears on your onboard account is not a bonus. It is a structural part of how dining staff, cabin stewards and back-of-house hotel crew are compensated. The pooled money is distributed by the cruise line’s HR system across a wide range of crew, many of whom passengers never directly interact with.
A typical distribution, based on industry data: roughly 43% to dining staff (waiters, assistant waiters, buffet staff), around 25% to cabin stewards, and approximately 32% to other hotel services including kitchen staff, laundry, and coordinators. When a passenger removes auto-gratuities without a specific service issue, the shortfall falls on this entire group rather than being absorbed by the cruise line.
British cruise lines work differently. P&O Cruises built gratuities into its headline fare in 2019, removing the daily charge entirely. MSC Cruises includes gratuities in fares for cruises booked through UK channels. These lines have decided that British passengers are better served by an all-inclusive pricing model. The US-headquartered lines have not made the same adjustment, which is why the daily charge remains a feature of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Norwegian sailings regardless of where you boarded.
Gratuity Rates by Cruise Line
Rates are quoted in USD where the cruise line bills in dollars, even for UK passengers. These figures are accurate as of 2026 but are reviewed periodically. Always verify against the cruise line’s current website before sailing, as rates have been increasing annually across most lines.
P&O Cruises
Gratuities have been included in P&O’s headline fare since May 2019. Nothing appears on your onboard account for service charges. This is a deliberate policy choice by the line to align with British passenger expectations. You are not expected to tip additionally; small cash gifts to crew who have been exceptional are welcomed but not required. This makes P&O the cleanest gratuity experience for UK passengers.
Cunard
Cunard is a British brand but operates a US-style daily service charge, which surprises many British passengers who assume it will work like P&O. The 2026 rate is $18 per person per day in Britannia and Britannia Club staterooms (recently raised from $17), rising to $19 per person per day in Queens Grill or Princess Grill suites. These are charged automatically to your onboard account and can be adjusted at the purser’s desk. Pre-paying via My Cunard is available and locks in the current rate.
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean charges $18.50 per person per day for standard and balcony cabins, rising to $21 per day for suites. The charge appears daily on your SeaPass account. On top of this, an 18% service charge is added automatically to each individual drink order. If you have a drinks package, the 18% is automatically added at purchase (pre-cruise or onboard), shown as a separate line at checkout rather than buried in the headline price. The daily cabin gratuity and the drinks service charge are separate.
MSC Cruises
For cruises booked through UK channels, MSC includes gratuities in the fare, making it functionally similar to P&O for British passengers. This is a booking-market policy rather than a fleet-wide one: passengers from some other countries are charged separately. Verify at the point of booking that your booking confirmation confirms gratuities are included.
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity charges $18 per person per day for standard cabins, $19 for Concierge Class and AquaClass, and $23 for The Retreat suite category. Celebrity also adds a 20% service charge to individual drink purchases and spa treatments. Celebrity’s premium product positioning means the gratuity structure mirrors its pricing, sitting higher in each tier than Royal Caribbean’s equivalent grade.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian charges $20 per person per day for standard cabins, rising to $25 per day for Haven suites. Children under three are exempt. As with other US lines, a 20% service charge applies to individual drink purchases, spa treatments and specialty dining. NCL’s Free at Sea promotion waives the headline price of the drinks package, but the 20% gratuity on it (around $21.80 per person per day on the Premium package) is charged separately to your onboard account. The daily cabin service charge also remains payable.
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Can You Remove or Reduce Gratuities?
Technically, yes. On lines that charge auto-gratuities, including Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Celebrity and NCL, you can visit the guest services or purser’s desk during the cruise and request an adjustment, reduction, or removal. The desk will typically ask whether there has been a specific service problem; this is a standard question, not a refusal. Changes must be requested before disembarkation.
In practice, removing gratuities without a real service grievance is viewed unfavourably within the cruising community, and for a clear reason: the money goes directly to crew wages, not to the cruise line’s profits. A cabin steward or dining waiter who has provided good service throughout the week has no mechanism to receive their share if the pool is reduced at the desk. The right response to exceptional service is to add cash on top. The right response to a genuine problem is to raise it with guest services during the cruise, not to remove the charge at the end.
Pre-paying gratuities at the time of booking is available on most lines and is the approach most experienced cruisers recommend. It removes the charge from the onboard bill, confirms the cost upfront for budgeting purposes, and locks in the current rate if you expect rates to rise before sailing.
Pre-pay gratuities when you book. It removes the surprise from your final onboard bill, costs you nothing extra (you pay the same rate), and settles the question before you board. On P&O or MSC (UK bookings), gratuities are already in your fare, so there is nothing to do.
Where Extra Tipping Is Appropriate
Auto-gratuities cover your cabin steward, dining room team, and a wide range of behind-the-scenes hotel crew. They do not cover everyone, and there are situations where additional cash is both appropriate and expected.
Shore excursion guides, whether booked through the ship or independently, are not covered by the ship’s gratuity pool. They are independent contractors working outside the cruise line’s system entirely. A cash tip of €3–5 per person for a half-day tour and €5–10 for a full day is standard across Mediterranean and European ports and is generally expected. Guides operating in the US and Caribbean typically expect slightly more in line with American tipping norms.
Room service is a case where the auto-gratuity does not reliably reach the delivery staff on all lines. A cash tip of £1–2 per delivery is widely cited as appropriate and is well received. Spa and salon staff receive an automatic 18–20% service charge on treatments, so no additional tip is expected, though a small extra for particularly good service is welcome. Bartenders who have been attentive throughout the cruise sometimes receive a small cash tip from regular customers; for drinks packages, the line’s standard service charge has already been collected (added on top of the headline price at purchase on US lines; included in the GBP price on P&O), so any additional tip is entirely at your discretion.
- Shore excursion guides. €3–5 per person (half-day) or €5–10 per person (full day) in cash, given at the end of the tour. This is the clearest case for additional tipping, as guides are not in the ship’s gratuity pool
- Room service. £1–2 per delivery in cash. Auto-gratuities do not consistently reach room service staff on all lines
- Cabin steward (outstanding service). A cash gift of £10–20 at the end of the cruise for a steward who has been exceptional, in addition to (not instead of) the auto-gratuity
- Bartenders and waitstaff. Discretionary if you have a drinks package (gratuity already included). A small cash tip for someone who has looked after you particularly well is appreciated but not expected
- Spa staff. 18–20% is charged automatically. No additional tip is standard or expected; give extra only for truly exceptional service
Frequently Asked Questions
No. P&O Cruises included gratuities in the headline fare from May 2019. Nothing is added to your onboard account for service charges. You are free to give cash tips to crew who have been exceptional, but this is entirely optional and not expected.
Yes. On cruise ships, the terms are used interchangeably. The daily charge that appears on your onboard account is variously called an auto-gratuity, daily service charge, hotel charge, or crew appreciation depending on the cruise line. They all refer to the same thing: a pooled daily amount distributed to shipboard staff.
The pooled gratuity is distributed across dining room staff (waiters and assistant waiters), cabin stewards, buffet and galley staff, and a range of behind-the-scenes hotel crew including laundry and housekeeping. Roughly 43% goes to dining staff, 25% to cabin stewards, and 32% to other hotel services, though the exact split varies by line.
Within the cruising community, removing gratuities without a genuine service problem is widely considered poor form. The charge is part of crew compensation, not a discretionary bonus, and removing it creates a wage shortfall for staff who have no way to make up the difference. If you have a specific service issue, raise it during the cruise at guest services rather than withholding gratuities at the end.
No. Shore excursion guides, whether booked through the ship or independently, are not part of the cruise line’s gratuity pool. They are independent contractors and rely on direct tips. A cash tip of €3–10 per person depending on tour length is standard and expected across European ports.
Pre-paying at booking is the approach most experienced cruisers recommend. It locks in the current rate, removes the charge from your final bill, and simplifies your onboard budget. Paying at the end preserves flexibility to adjust but adds to the final account balance, and means you pay whatever rate is current at sailing rather than at booking.
For most UK passengers, the simplest approach to cruise gratuities is to pre-pay at booking, consider it part of the cruise cost from the start, and bring a small amount of cash for shore excursion guides and exceptional crew. P&O and MSC UK bookings have already done this calculation for you.
How We Verify This Advice
We aim for practical, low-risk guidance. Before publishing and during updates, we check core planning details against official sources and current operator information.
What We Check
- Berth and terminal details, including whether the port is walkable or requires a transfer
- Transport options and realistic return timing for different port types
- Details that change frequently, such as fares and schedules, with up-to-date notes where relevant
Typical Sources
- Official port authority and terminal updates
- Cruise line port notes and day-of-call instructions
- Local transport operators and official tourism resources