How Much Money Cruise Ship Crew Make & Their Side Hustles

Ever wonder what crew members make and how they spend their time onboard when they aren’t working?

Firstly, all crew receive free room and board and all of their meals. They pay high rates for internet and phone, but most cruise lines include WhatsApp now. Unless they are in an Assistance Manager role or higher, they generally share a very small room with 3 other people and one bathroom. Because they all work different shifts, someone is always coming and going - making room and board great for saving money if you’re single without rent or a mortgage, but most crew are working to pay bills at home and raise families. They still have to make ends meet and work 10-12 or more hours a day. Therefore, it’s not a vacation.

Crew work 7 days per week and are employed on 6 month to 8 months on average and some do 10 months. They are required to take 2-3 months unpaid between contracts. Some crew can only receive a maximum of 9 months salary in a year.

Some of the lowest paid positions (such as a Storekeeper making $700-$800 USD per month and a Galley Steward averaging about $850 USD a month on bigger lines), works through their rest periods. They “side hustle”, taking up jobs helping other crew members like a Stateroom Steward. However, there are a lot more jobs they can do, some of which might be more secretive because they aren’t technically allowed. Alcohol sales are one of them. The side hustle earns them anywhere from $25-$1500 more, but at a great sacrifice to their wellness.

It is the lower paid crew who tend to pick up other jobs (crew that passengers don’t engage with). That is why this isn’t commonly known. Other crew might go ashore, take naps, or hang out in the crew areas such as the gym or the crew mess.

There are also crew who make decent to fabulous money and still sacrifice their rest time to make more. For example, a Carnival Bar Server we interviewed said they can have a base (or contracted) salary of approximately $1500USD, and make $3k-$5k per month with fixed gratuities and added tips. They usually work on commission and gratuities only. They are not part of the daily service charge pool, but there is typically an 18% gratuity added to every bill that goes to them or to their own tipping pool. Unless someone had prepaid the drink package, which includes beverage gratuities.

Bar Servers only get the base salary if for some reason they don’t earn it in gratuities and tips. They don’t get both. If they work through their breaks and rest time, and push those drinks, some have reported making up to an average of $8k per month. They shouldn’t be working this many hours however. These examples were based off of Carnival crew responses. Other cruise lines bar servers reported making less or having fixed salaries instead of the gratuities and tips. Princess crew reported a fixed salary plus commission for beverage packages.

What about managers? Often Assistant Managers and Managers make less than their crew because they no longer make gratuities and tips. They might choose the promotions for more privileges like single cabins, and to work up to the director roles where the money and their career trajectory is. A single cabin changes the experience significantly. Napping hours are better coordinated, and “hooking up” is easier. They say stripes and single cabins make you popular. Love, lust and laundry pick up come with this upgrade.

Those spa people pushing so hard for you to buy something? That’s because they work only on 3% in service commission, 10% of retail commissions and tips. However, if they don’t make at least $1500 (in commission, less gratuities), per month, their company tops them up to this amount. (Along with “coaching” about doing better with selling you some retail products.)

Does it feel like the Concierge is available 24 hours? They know that’s where the money is at. Some Concierges on bigger ships or luxury ships have made upwards of $20k in a good month. That is the exception, not the normal. Nonetheless, Concierge and Butlers make good money with tips.

Now let's talk about those service charges. There is a pool of crew that are paid gratuities - typically the main dining room crew, the culinary crew and the mystery "other hotel crew". These crew members make a base salary that is generally contracted in the range of $1200USD - $1500 USD. It's the service charges that guests pay that top their salaries up to an average of $2500USD per month. That is, if the service charges are not adjusted off by too many guests who seem to feel that tipping cash to the people who helped them is better. They aren't thinking about the laundry people that they don't meet, or the culinary crew who are part of every meal they eat.

If for some reason there mass amounts of service charges removed, the crew will still always receive that base salary. But it isn't easy living off $1200 a month when you need to send it home and pay those bills, feed those babies, and pay that mortgage. Service charges take care of many, but not all, crew that you don’t see but are very much part of your experience.

The only exception is Virgin Cruise Lines, and Seabourne, who doesn’t have fixed gratuities and discourages tipping, but they lost a number of crew over this. They also pay their crew more to bring them up to par with the cruise lines that have service charges. Where a stateroom attendant on other lines makes about $1250-$1500 before service charges, and then $2500 after service charges - Seabourne pays the stateroom attendants $2200. Therefore, the cost of service charges is included in your fare.. You're still paying them in some sense, you just don't see it. On cruise lines who charge service charges, you are essentially topping up the crew salaries. You’re also generally paying a lot less for your fare though.

Finally, crew are paid different amounts based on their nationalities. The same position for someone in a least developed country will be paid less than a European or American. Some of the reasons for this are tax laws in different counties. Flags of convenience allow the cruise lines to get away without labor laws. This is a huge industry issue. If you choose to vacation this way though, you are inadvertently supporting it, so being knowledgeable about how they operate is worthwhile.

The short of it? Above all else, kindness goes a long way. Some crew make a really good living with tips, and it’s a shame that some of the behind the scenes crew are paid so very low. If you can’t tip, but you’re treating the crew well, you will find it’s reciprocal. If you do, use cash and don’t bring them food as they are no longer encouraged to accept it. Try to leave those service charges in place and tip the crew that help you. Budget for it as part of the trip if you can. Even when the cruise lines say you don’t have to.