How Much Cruise Crew Really Earn – One Crew Member Reveals All!

Ever wondered how lucrative it would be to work on a cruise ship?

Can you make a decent living, or do you sacrifice that for the benefit of a job that may not pay well, but lets you travel and see the world?

One crew member from Royal Caribbean has revealed all by sharing his payslip – and you might be surprised.

Chris Wong Shared His Payslips With Us

Chris Wong is a British crew worker who joined Royal Caribbean in 2013, starting out in the gift shops before finding his niche in the casino.

Away from the tables he runs @ChristopherWongVLOGS, one of the most-watched cruise-life channels on YouTube, with 114,000 subscribers.

And in one of his most popular videos, titled “How Much Money I Currently Earn Working On A Cruise Ship in 2025”, he announced that his current contract will be his last – but not before revealing exactly what a month in the job paid.

Crew Pay Revealed

Royal Caribbean pays its crew every two weeks, and Chris shared that in January 2025 he received two payments.

Pay Period	Net Pay (USD)	Net Pay (GBP)
First half of January	$2,890.21	£2,145.52
Second half of January	$1,450.09	£1,076.50
Monthly total:	$4,340.30	£3,222.93

What’s important to remember is that this salary doesn’t take into account Chris’ lifestyle as a crew worker, and what he doesn’t have to pay for.

Because he’s working on a cruise ship, he enjoys:

Free accommodation
No utility bills, except optional internet expenses
Free food

“That’s a lot of money, especially when you’re not paying rent or car payments… It’s actually pretty difficult to earn that kind of salary back in the UK right now.”

Chris, in his video

Why the Numbers Change

A casino host’s income is made up of:

Base salary – fixed each month.
Commission – a percentage of casino revenue, usually higher on larger, North-American-based ships.
Guest tips – often added to a player’s account or handed over in cash at the tables.

When Chris worked as an assistant host on the Caribbean-based Icon of the Seas, a bumper month of tips pushed his earnings close to US $5,000 – more than he currently makes in a more senior role on a smaller ship sailing from Australia.

In other words, where the ship sails and who the guests are can matter as much as your job title.

How Gratuities Work on Royal Caribbean

Many crew rely on tips to make up part of their salary, and those on Royal Caribbean are no different.

Guests on Royal Caribbean see an automatic service gratuity added to their SeaPass account unless they choose to pre-pay before sailing:

US $18.50 per person, per day in standard cabins
US $21.00 per person, per day in suites

Those amounts are pooled and divided among hundreds of “front-of-house” crew – stateroom attendants, dining-room waiters, assistant waiters and head waiters.

A cheerful bartender in a vibrant blue Hawaiian shirt and straw hat pours a drink at a Royal Caribbean bar, sharing a moment of joy with laughing guests clad in tropical attire, encapsulating the lively spirit of a cruise vacation.

Back-of-house teams (galley, laundry, provisions) are paid fixed wages, while revenue-generating departments such as the casino rely on a mix of salary, commissions and discretionary tips.

Because the pot is shared, removing the automatic charge at Guest Services – something the cruise line allows, but discourages – reduces the entire pool and everyone’s share, not just the service you happened to be unhappy with.

Seasoned cruisers who prefer to hand over cash tips still tend to leave the automatic amount in place, then reward individuals on top.

Where Extra Cash Tips Make the Biggest Impact

Stateroom attendant – the person who turns your cabin around twice a day.
Dining-room wait team – especially on longer voyages where they get to know your preferences.
Bar staff – drinks carry an 18 per cent service charge, but an extra dollar or two per round goes straight to the server.
Casino staff – dealers and hosts are usually excluded from the main gratuity pool, so consider tipping directly if you enjoy their service.

Because casino staff aren’t generally included in automatic gratuities (although it varies by cruise line), typically anything you pay as a cash tip in the casino will be pooled and shared equally amongst the casino staff.

That way, all crew members in the casino get to share in some form of tipping pool even if they aren’t the ones dealing the winning hands to the guests (when they are often at their most generous).

Chris Wong’s Next Chapter

After eleven contracts Chris is handing the casino-host baton to a colleague and “sailing into the next phase” of his life.

He has not yet said whether dry land or another cruise line is in his future, but with a healthy savings pot, a thriving YouTube channel and a decade of stories to tell, his options are wide open.

His example shows that ship life offers more than sunsets and buffet dinners; it can provide a solid income with minimal overheads if you are willing to work hard, live in close quarters and keep smiling when the passenger at the roulette wheel asks for five more red chips.