Cruise Travel Information: All You Need To Know About Cruise Tipping

Cruise tipping is a delicate and important subject, whether you are a veteran cruiser or this is your first time aboard a luxury liner. Even if you have an all-inclusive package where your gratuities are built into the fee, there is other cruise travel information regarding tipping you are going to need. For instance, even when all your gratuities have been paid up front this does not cover gratuities paid in pubs, bars, salons and spas. These you are responsible for yourself while on the cruise.

The staff on your luxury ocean liner has only one ambition: to ensure you have the vacation of a lifetime. They spend all their waking hours spoiling you, pampering you and generally living up to your high expectations. They are certainly owed the gratuities that are due to them. The cruise lines pride themselves on superb service, outstanding service. But the lines can pay their staff only so much. It is up to the vacationer to pay the staff what they deserve, over and above their basic pay. It is therefore advisable to find out when making your cruise reservation all the cruise travel information regarding tipping that you can.

An added complication is that while much of the advertising concerned with cruises promotes a cashless cruising philosophy, in practice it is much different. In fact you do need to carry a
wallet while on board and you need to know when to tip. Having all the cruise travel information for tipping at your fingertips before you set out will make things much easier. On the other hand, you are not obliged to tip. So there is no need to feel you will be breaking some law if you do not. But this is the accepted way to show your appreciation for good service.

Some cruise lines offer a one-stop tipping service at the end of your cruise whereby the passenger contributes a single sum which is then distributed among the staff according to a predetermined formula. However, these tips are distributed in a neutral way so the people who truly gave the very best service might not be the recipient of your cruise tips. The only way to thank individuals is to tip them individually.

When assessing your cruise travel information and drawing up a budget, you can use the following guide to help you provide for the "hidden costs" of cruise tipping. Cabin stewards can be tipped at the same rate you would tip a porter in a hotel -- about $5 per room per night. The same applies to dining staff, although in this case the amount will be divided between the waiter and busboy. Room service staff can be paid about $2 to $4 a time. Maitre d'hotels do not need to be tipped unless there is a problem with your table and he really goes out of his or her way to sort it out.

When it comes to pub and bar staff, things are somewhat more complicated. Some cruise lines automatically build a tip into the price of the drink but if you feel so moved you can tip the bar staff $5 per person per day. Baggage handlers should be tipped the same as a bellman, about $1 per bag. Spa and salon staff should be tipped the same as you would at regular spas and salons -- 10% to 20% of your bill, depending on your satisfaction with the service. You can sign for your tip at the conclusion of your treatment. For shore excursion staff you should tip $5 per half day per person and double that for a full day. You should tip the driver separately.