How to prepay cruise gratuities before sailing is something I’ve done on every cruise I’ve booked over the last three years, including trips with Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian. Yet I still see people get it wrong at check-in. Most guides simply say, “go to your account and pay it,” but that leaves out the details that can actually cause problems. You need to know when rates are locked, what happens to prepaid gratuities if you cancel, and whether your cruise package already includes gratuities so you don’t pay for them twice.
The Direct Answer
To prepay cruise gratuities before sailing, log into your cruise line’s website or app, open your existing reservation, and add “prepaid gratuities” or “service charges” as an onboard purchase, then pay with a credit card. Most lines let you do this any time after final payment and up until about three days before departure, and the charge locks in the rate in effect on the day you pay, not the day you sail.
What Prepaying Actually Locks In
Here’s the part most articles skip. Gratuities aren’t a fixed government fee, they’re a rate the cruise line sets and can raise mid-year. I’ve watched Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, and Holland America all bump their daily rates in 2026 alone, sometimes with only a few weeks’ notice.
If you prepay before an announced increase, you typically keep the old, lower rate for your entire sailing. If you wait and pay onboard, you get charged whatever the current rate is on your sail date, even if you booked the cruise a year earlier at a lower price. This is the single biggest financial reason to prepay early, and it’s rarely mentioned outside of forums like Cruise Critic.
Step-by-Step: How to Prepay on the Major Lines
The exact screens differ, but the path is nearly identical everywhere. Here’s how it breaks down by line.
Royal Caribbean
- Log into your account at RoyalCaribbean.com or open the app
- Go to “My Cruises,” select your sailing
- Under “Add Extras” or “Onboard Purchases,” find Gratuities
- Choose the amount (it auto-calculates based on cabin type and sailing length) and pay
For a deeper breakdown of current per-person, per-day rates and what’s included, I’d point you to our full Royal Caribbean gratuities guide, since the rate depends on whether you’re in a standard stateroom or a suite.
Carnival
- Sign in to your Carnival account, open “Manage My Booking”
- Select “Prepaid Gratuities” from the extras menu
- Confirm passenger count and pay by card
Carnival’s cutoff is stricter than most: prepayment closes two days before sailing, after that it converts to a daily Sail & Sign charge automatically. If you want the full breakdown of what Carnival’s gratuities actually fund and how the tipping pool works, see our Carnival gratuities and tipping guide.
Norwegian Cruise Line
- Log into My NCL, pull up your reservation
- Select “Onboard Service Charge” under pre-cruise purchases
- Pay the full amount for all guests in the cabin
NCL is one of the few lines that explicitly states prepaid service charges are fully refundable if your cruise is cancelled, which isn’t universal across the industry.
MSC, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Disney All five follow the same basic flow: manage your booking online, find the gratuities or service charge line item, and pay it as an add-on. Princess and Celebrity both fold gratuities into their all-inclusive fare packages (Princess Plus/Premier and Celebrity’s AI packages), so check your fare type before prepaying separately, otherwise you’ll pay twice.
The Deadline Nobody Explains Clearly
Every line has a cutoff, and it’s not always the same as your final payment date. In practice:
- Most lines close prepayment 2 to 3 days before embarkation
- Once the window closes, the system switches to daily automatic billing on your onboard account
- If you booked through a travel agent, some agencies process gratuities on their own schedule, sometimes weeks ahead of the cruise line’s own cutoff, so ask your agent directly rather than assuming you have until the last minute
I’ve had a booking where my travel agent prepaid gratuities during final payment without telling me, and I nearly paid a second time before catching it on my cruise planner. Always check your onboard account balance a few days before sailing to confirm what’s already been applied.
2026 Gratuity Rates by Cruise Line
Rates change during the year, so treat this as a snapshot rather than a permanent number, but it’s useful for budgeting before you prepay.
| Cruise Line | Standard Cabin (per person/day) | Suite/Premium Cabin (per person/day) |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Caribbean | $18.50 | $21.00 |
| Carnival | $17.00 | $19.00 |
| Norwegian (NCL) | $20.00 | $25.00 (Haven) |
| Celebrity | $19.50 | $20.50–$24.50 (Retreat) |
| Princess | $18.00 | $19.00 |
| Holland America | $18.00 | $18.00 |
| MSC | $17.00 (varies by region) | Varies by fare/region |
| Disney | $16.00 | $27.25 (Concierge) |
Rates apply per guest, per day, including most children over age two or three depending on the line, so a family of four on a seven-night sailing can easily add $400 to $700 to the total cost before a single drink is ordered.
Does Prepaying Actually Save You Money?
Not always, and this is where a lot of advice oversimplifies things. Prepaying doesn’t give you a discount, it gives you rate protection and budgeting certainty. If gratuities go up between your booking date and your sail date, prepaying early locks in the lower number. If rates stay flat, you break even either way.
Where prepaying genuinely helps:
- You’re on a tight vacation budget and want the total cost settled before you board, with no daily account creep
- You’ve read about a scheduled rate increase (cruise lines usually announce these a few weeks out) and want to beat the deadline
- You’re paying for a large family and don’t want a five-figure onboard account surprise on the last night
Where it doesn’t matter much:
- You booked an all-inclusive fare that already bundles gratuities (double check your invoice line items before adding more)
- You’re on a very short sailing where the total difference is under $20
When You Should Skip Prepaying
A few real scenarios where prepaying is the wrong move:
- You’re planning to adjust gratuities onboard. If you have a legitimate service issue you expect to raise with Guest Services, it’s easier to negotiate an adjustment on an unpaid daily charge than to request a partial refund on something you’ve already paid in full.
- Your fare already includes it. MSC Yacht Club, Princess Premier, Celebrity’s All-Included fares, and some Norwegian promotional bookings already fold the service charge into the cruise fare. Adding a separate prepayment here means paying twice, and refunds for accidental double payments can take weeks to process.
- You’re using onboard credit that expires if unused. Some guests prefer to let the daily charge draw down non-refundable onboard credit rather than paying cash upfront for something the credit would have covered anyway.
What Happens If Your Cruise Gets Cancelled or Changed
This is the part that causes the most anxiety, and it’s rarely explained well. If you prepay gratuities and then cancel the cruise, or the cruise line cancels the sailing, prepaid gratuities are refunded back to the original payment method, separately from your cruise fare refund. NCL states this explicitly in its FAQ, and Royal Caribbean and Carnival follow the same practice, though refund timing (typically 7 to 14 business days) can lag behind your main fare refund.
If you change cabins to a higher category after prepaying, most systems automatically adjust the charge and either bill or credit the difference. If you drop from a suite to a standard cabin, keep your original payment confirmation in case you need to request that difference back manually, since I’ve seen this not auto-correct on at least one older-generation booking system.
A Quick Reality Check From Experience
Field note: On my last Carnival sailing, I prepaid gratuities four months out. Two weeks before we sailed, Carnival announced a $1-per-day increase. My rate stayed locked at the old number, and Guest Services confirmed it on day one when I asked. That’s roughly $28 saved on a family of two for a seven-night cruise, not huge, but it’s the kind of detail that adds up if you cruise more than once a year.
Family and Multi-Guest Bookings
Gratuities are charged per person, not per cabin, and most lines apply the charge to every guest in the room regardless of age, with a few exceptions. Carnival exempts children under 2. NCL starts charging at age 3. Disney charges gratuities for every guest including infants. If you’re booking a connecting cabin or a larger group, prepay each cabin separately through the group booking portal, since some systems won’t let you prepay for guests outside your immediate stateroom in a single transaction.
FAQS About How to Prepay Cruise Gratuities Before Sailing
Does it make sense to prepay gratuities on a cruise?
For most travelers, yes, mainly for budgeting certainty and protection against mid-year rate increases. It doesn’t save you money outright unless a rate hike happens between your payment date and sail date.
Do cruise staff know if you prepaid gratuities?
Crew members generally don’t see individual payment status, and it has no bearing on service quality. Staff are trained to deliver the same standard of service to every guest regardless of how or when gratuities were settled.
Is it cheaper to pay cruise gratuities in advance?
Only if the daily rate increases after you pay. If rates stay the same, the total cost is identical whether you prepay or pay onboard.
What percentage of cruisers remove gratuities?
Cruise lines don’t publish exact figures, but Guest Services staff and crew forums generally describe it as a small minority of guests, since most cruisers view the daily charge as a standard part of the cruise cost.
How do I prepay cruise gratuities on Royal Caribbean’s website?
Log into your account, open “My Cruises,” select your sailing, then choose “Add Extras” and select Gratuities from the onboard purchases menu. Payment posts immediately to your reservation.
Is gratuity mandatory on a cruise?
It’s billed automatically as a default, but nearly every mainstream line allows you to adjust or remove it at Guest Services onboard, though crew members overwhelmingly rely on this income and removing it isn’t something most cruisers do casually.
Can I prepay gratuities after final payment but before the cruise?
Yes, on every major line. Prepayment stays open from booking right up until a few days before sailing, well after your final payment date.
What happens to prepaid gratuities if I get seasick and skip a formal dinner?
Nothing changes. The daily rate covers your full cabin and dining team for the length of the cruise regardless of which meals or venues you personally use.