08/31/2026
If you're like us, you probably belong to a few different cruise groups on Facebook. That's great! We love them too. They're a fun way to meet people with whom you'll be sailing, getting advice on a specific cruiseline or ship or itinerary, etc. Information is power, and the more you know, the better prepared you are for an amazing cruise experience. Most of the time.
This morning, one of our favourite groups had a post that started with:
"Can we settle this debate once and for all?"
Anyway, the post was about gratuities. Our first thought was: "Oh good. Another cruise gratuities post."
These posts have been shared - ad nauseam - in every cruise group known to mankind, and there is NO bottom to this rabbit hole.
In the comments, there will ALWAYS be someone who:
• works for the cruise line
• used to work for the cruise line
• has a cousin who works for the cruise line
• met a bartender in Cozumel who knows a guy
• personally interviewed the entire housekeeping department on Deck 8
• has "THE TRUTH THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW"
Enough.
You do you. Remove your gratuities. Leave them on. Tip extra. Hand your cabin steward a wad of cash and a kidney. Just please, stop trying to find support for wanting to NOT pay them (because that's what these posts are about).
So let's flip this a little bit with a question of our own:
When the cruise line runs a FREE GRATUITIES (they call them crew appreciation now) promotion, do you call and demand another discount?
"Excuse me, I'd like $20/day taken off my fare because I need to make absolutely certain no crew member accidentally benefits from my vacation."
Nobody has cracked the Great Cruise Gratuity Conspiracy in a Facebook comment section. Nobody has produced the sacred scroll explaining exactly where every nickel goes. And Chad from Cabin 8247, whose waiter "told him everything," is not an audited financial statement.
Cruise lines (and your travel agent) tell you what the gratuities cost. You know before you book. We usually suggest pre-paying them, because your bill at the END of the cruise will probably be big enough (we're looking at you, casino and on-board shoppers!)
Whatever you choose, all we can say is this: we know how hard the staff onboard work, and they appreciate every single dollar they receive, whether it comes through wages or gratuities.
These are people who can spend six, seven, eight, even nine months away from their families. They live in cabins smaller than most of our walk-in closets, work ridiculously long hours, and spend those months making sure you have an incredible week.
Just remember there are MANY people who benefit from those gratuities whom you will never actually meet.
Laundry. Galley. Housekeeping support. Dining support. And countless other crew members working behind the scenes who contribute to your vacation without ever handing you a drink, making your bed or learning your name.
So if you're committed to "tipping directly," make sure you set aside a day or two of your vacation to wander through the crew-only areas tracking all of them down with envelopes of cash: maybe knock on the laundry-room door. Pop into the galley. Find the person washing the 4,000th dinner plate of their shift. Track down whoever washed your sheets, folded your towels, hauled supplies, cleaned the spaces you never noticed were clean and did a hundred other jobs you never even knew needed doing.
Make a little scavenger hunt out of it.
OR…
Prepay the gratuities. Then, when someone gives you exceptional service, tip them a little extra directly if you want to. Nobody is forcing you to do anything. Remove them if that's what you choose.
I'll bet most of you (who have cruised) can still remember your favourite crew person, or have a memory or two of a crew member who went above and beyond, ?
They appreciate the money, and we appreciate them
