What are the gratuity guidelines on Costa Caribbean cruises?

Costa suggests that passengers tip deck stewards, servers, bartenders and other staff at the time of service. Costa adds an automatic 15 percent gratuity to all beverage purchases.

Passengers on Costa cruises pay a mandatory daily service charge that the cruise line uses in part to pay for staff incentives, but this charge does not necessarily provide a gratuity for each employee serving a passenger. Costa does not permit reductions of this charge for poor service.

The service charge for children ages 4 to 14 is 50 percent less than the adult charge. There is no service charge for children under age 4.