SEATTLE, June 14 (Our Washington Times) — Washington travelers budgeting for a Holland America Line cruise now need to account for an automatic daily charge of up to $20 per person before other onboard spending is added.
Holland America’s official FAQ pages list a daily “Crew Appreciation” charge of $18 per guest, per day for non-suite staterooms and $20 per guest, per day for suites. The company says the charge is automatically added to a guest’s onboard account.
Because the fee is charged per guest, not per room, the totals rise quickly. A couple in a non-suite stateroom would pay $36 a day, or $252 on a seven-day sailing. A couple in a suite would pay $40 a day, or $280 over seven days, based on the company’s posted rates.
In its onboard FAQ, Holland America describes Crew Appreciation as “a daily gratuity automatically added to your onboard account” meant “to recognize the many Holland America Line team members who make your cruise feel effortless.” The same FAQ says the money is pooled across shipboard roles, including positions guests see every day and others “working quietly in the background.”
The company’s booking FAQ says those rates are “subject to change.” The current onboard FAQ page in the records reviewed for this story was shown as updated June 9, and the booking FAQ page was shown as updated June 14.
Fox News, citing Holland America, reported June 13 that the higher $18 and $20 daily rates took effect June 1. Fox also reported that guests may adjust the daily gratuity amount while onboard. In the same report, a Holland America spokesperson said “100% goes directly to our shipboard team” and called the charge “in line with the cruise industry competitive standards.”
For comparison, a February cruise tipping roundup by The Points Guy listed Holland America’s automatic gratuity at $17 a day for most cabins and $19 for suites at that time. That same roundup said some cruise lines’ automatic gratuity charges can reach $25 per person, per day, showing that Holland America’s current rates sit within a broader industry practice of per-person daily service charges.
Holland America’s official FAQ pages independently confirm the current $18 and $20 daily Crew Appreciation amounts, that the charge is automatic, that it is pooled among shipboard workers, and that the rates can change.
