Well – it’s probably about time really. I’ve been booking cruises for 7 years and the expected gratuity for the service providers on cruise ships has been in the neighborhood of $10 a day per guest. It’s gone from pay them cash in little envelopes to the cruise line just charges it to your hotel tab daily and you pay with the credit card you check in with. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity had held off from the automatic gratuity thing until mid January and now they are doing it also. They pushed the envelope with that announcement and said $11 something and now NCL is changing theirs to $12 per guest, regardless of age. This amount is split between the room seward, and his assistant, and the dinner waiter and his assistant and the mater’de that takes care of your section of the dining room.
This amount may seem high, but when you realize that none of these ships are flagged in the US… minus the one in Hawaii – these workers are not getting minimum wage or overtime pay etc…. It’s still a great gig for them, as if they go back to their countries with great English stills they can get great jobs upon thier return.
I just got off a ship and am desparately missing having my room cleaned twice a day and wishing someone would ask me what I would like for dinner… and dessert.
