Carnival Cruise Lines
Gratuities & Tipping Policy

Carnival Cruise Lines

It may be intentionally strong or it may be poor writing, but Carnival comes across as needlessly demanding and heavy-handed in their gratuity policy statement.

For instance, they use the word required;it's not an option.

And you have to pay the full amount before your ship leaves port.

After all is said and done, it comes to US$10 a day per person, including children.

Here's the Carnival gratuity statement:

Guests can pay their shipboard gratuities in one of two ways:

1. Reverse Gratuity Policy - For our guests' convenience, we automatically add the recommended gratuities to the onboard Sail & Sign account on embarkation day.

Guests will have the discretion to adjust these gratuities based upon the level of service received during the cruise. This includes the option to adjust gratuities (up or down) for any individual on the Dining or Housekeeping staff.

In order to do so, the guest will need to visit the Information Desk on board.

2. Pre-Paid Gratuity Policy - Gratuities are pre-arranged and paid at the time of booking or any time up to two weeks prior to the sail date.

All guests on each booking must prepay the gratuities, with the exception of children under two.

The pre-paid gratuities can not be removed once the booking has been ticketed. The guest will not have the option to adjust the gratuities (up or down) based on the level of service received during the cruise.

The dollar amount of the gratuities will appear in the Miscellaneous Charge field on the booking. The guest copy on the cruise ticket will indicate if gratuities have been paid.

The total amount will be $10 per guest, per day, which breaks down as follows:

$5.50 pp/pd for Dining Team Service (Headwaiter and Waiter)

$1 pp/pd for Bistro Service(Waiter/Cooks)

$3.50 pp/pd for Cabin Services (Cabin Steward)

Tipping the Maitre D' is strictly at guest's discretion, based upon services rendered. For guests who wish to extend this gratuity in cash, an envelope will be available on the last evening of the cruise.

Tipping still applies regardless of the dining options selected, such as eating at the casual dining restaurant or utilizing room service.

Bar Waiters, Deck Stewards and Bell Boys - Certain personnel, as noted above, may be tipped as service is rendered. A 15% gratuity is automatically added to beverage purchases which the guest may adjust appropriate to the service received.

Note: Guests under two years of age are not required to extend gratuities.

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