Cruise Tips and Gratuities Explained: What You Pay Per Night, for Two, on 7 and 14 Nights
A daily gratuity is added for every guest, and it is not part of your fare. Here is the rate, what it comes to for two guests on 3 to 28 nights, and what a back-to-back does to it.
Royal Caribbean adds a gratuity of $18.50 per person for every night aboard, or $21.00 in a suite. For two guests on a seven-night cruise in a regular stateroom that is $259. Those are the rates set on 1 November 2024, the latest change we could confirm from a published report (see the sources at the end). The gratuity is not in the fare. It is added to your onboard account, so it is easy to forget when you add up the cost of a cruise.
The short version
- Daily gratuity: $18.50 per person per night in a regular stateroom (Junior Suites too), $21.00 per person per night in a suite.
- On drinks and food extras: 18% is added to bar drinks, room service, mini-bar items and specialty restaurants.
- Spa and salon: 20% is added.
- Every guest pays it, including a second guest whose cruise fare was cheap or free. A casino offer takes money off the fare. It does not take away the gratuity.
What it comes to for two guests
Multiply the nightly rate by the number of nights and by the number of guests. Here it is worked out for two guests sharing a cabin.
| Nights aboard | Regular stateroom, $18.50 each | Suite, $21.00 each |
|---|---|---|
| 3 nights | $111 | $126 |
| 4 nights | $148 | $168 |
| 7 nights | $259 | $294 |
| 14 nights | $518 | $588 |
| 21 nights | $777 | $882 |
| 28 nights | $1,036 | $1,176 |
Our arithmetic from the published daily rates. One guest pays half of each figure. The drink, room service, specialty dining and spa percentages are extra and depend on what you buy.
What the gratuity is for
It is the line's way of paying the crew who look after you: the people who clean your cabin, serve your dinner and work behind the scenes. Instead of tipping each person yourself on the last night, the amount is added each day. That is why the rate is per night and not per cruise.
What it does on a back-to-back
A gratuity is a daily rate, and it follows the nights, not the number of bookings. Two seven-night sailings in a row are fourteen nights aboard, which for two guests in a regular stateroom is $518, the same as a single fourteen-night cruise. A longer back-to-back does not make the rate worse or better. It just adds more nights. We explain what carries over and what starts again in what you pay twice for on a back-to-back.
This matters most for trips funded by a casino offer. When the cruise fare is covered, the gratuity and the taxes and port fees are most of what you pay, and the gratuity grows with every night. See what a back-to-back cruise costs for all the parts together.
Plan for it
- Pick your number of nights and multiply: nights x guests x the daily rate.
- Add it to the taxes and port fees shown with every trip on legtolegcruises.com. Together they are what a covered cruise really costs you.
- Set aside a separate amount for drinks and spa, because the percentage is added to what you buy.
- Look at your booking confirmation for the rate that applies to your stateroom.
Sources
The legtolegcruises.com Logbook is independent editorial and is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International or Club Royale. Offers, fares, and program rules vary and change often; confirm every detail with Royal Caribbean before you book.