SEATTLE, June 14 (Our Washington Times) — Washington travelers budgeting for a Holland America Line cruise now have a clear extra charge to factor in before the trip starts.
Holland America’s public FAQ pages show that the line’s automatic “Crew Appreciation” charge is $18 per guest, per day for non-suite staterooms and $20 per guest, per day for suites. Holland America says the charge is added automatically to each guest’s onboard account.
For a seven-day sailing, that works out to $126 for one passenger in a non-suite cabin and $140 for one passenger in a suite. For two passengers sharing a cabin, the total reaches $252 in a non-suite and $280 in a suite.
The current pricing appears in two Holland America FAQ pages reviewed by Times Media Service. In its onboard FAQ, the company says, “Crew Appreciation is a daily gratuity automatically added to your onboard account to recognize the many Holland America Line team members who make your cruise feel effortless.” The same page says the charge “is pooled to support team members across the ship who contribute to your experience, including roles you see every day, and those working quietly in the background.”
A separate Holland America booking FAQ lists the same daily amounts and says the rates are subject to change.
The company pages reviewed for this story establish the current amounts, but they do not state in the excerpt reviewed when those rates began. Fox News, citing Holland America materials, reported that the higher rates took effect June 1.
Fox News also reported that guests may adjust the daily gratuity amount while onboard. That detail did not appear in the Holland America FAQ excerpts reviewed by Times Media Service.
In remarks quoted by Fox News, a Holland America spokesperson said “100% goes directly to our shipboard team” and described the charge as “in line with the cruise industry competitive standards.”
What the public company records show most clearly is the structure of the charge. It is automatic, charged per person rather than per cabin, and higher for suite guests than for other passengers.
That matters for trip planning because the listed cruise fare is not the only daily lodging-style cost built into the sailing. On Holland America’s current published rates, a couple in a suite would add $40 a day in Crew Appreciation charges alone.
The materials reviewed for this story did not include a Washington state regulator, court filing or public enforcement action tied to Holland America’s Crew Appreciation policy. They also did not include a primary-source industrywide pricing table that would allow an independent, line-by-line comparison of automatic gratuity charges across major cruise companies.
As of the most recent Holland America FAQ updates reviewed by Times Media Service, the line’s published Crew Appreciation charges remained $18 per guest, per day for non-suite staterooms and $20 per guest, per day for suites.
