SEATTLE, June 14 (Our Washington Times) — Holland America Line is now charging cruise passengers up to $20 per person, per day in automatic “Crew Appreciation” fees, according to the company’s own policy pages — a built-in cost Washington travelers need to count when comparing cruise prices.
A review of two Holland America FAQ pages shows the current daily charge is $18 per guest for non-suite staterooms and $20 per guest for suites. The company says the fee is “automatically added” to a passenger’s onboard account rather than folded into the base fare.
That daily math adds up quickly. On a seven-day sailing, the posted charge would total $126 for one passenger in a non-suite room and $140 for one passenger in a suite. For two passengers, that would be $252 in a non-suite room and $280 in a suite, based on the rates listed in Holland America’s FAQs.
Holland America describes the charge as a pooled gratuity for workers across the ship. In one 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.”
The line’s booking FAQ separately lists the same rates and says they are “subject to change.” The versions reviewed for this story show one Holland America FAQ updated June 9 and another updated June 14.
Fox News reported June 13 that the higher rates took effect June 1, citing company policy materials. Fox also reported that the new amounts represented a $1 increase from the earlier daily charges. The official Holland America FAQ text reviewed for this story confirms the current $18 and $20 rates, but it does not, in the material provided here, spell out the earlier rates or the June 1 start date.
Fox News also reported that passengers may adjust the daily gratuity while onboard. In the same report, 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.” That adjustment policy and those comments were not included in the Holland America FAQ text reviewed for this story and are attributed here to Fox’s interview with the company.
What the reviewed records do show clearly is the structure of the charge: it is per guest, per day, automatic unless changed, and separate from the cruise fare shown at booking. For travelers in Washington trying to budget a sailing, that means the posted ticket price is only part of the onboard total.
The source material reviewed for this story did not include Washington-specific complaint records, state enforcement action, or a comprehensive industry dataset to test Holland America’s claim that the fee is in line with competitors. It also did not include an official Holland America notice, in the records provided here, confirming separate reports that some onboard service charges on bar, spa or specialty dining purchases also increased.
The company’s current public FAQs, however, leave little ambiguity about the main charge now in place: Holland America lists automatic Crew Appreciation at $18 a day for non-suite guests and $20 a day for suite guests.
