Carnival Gratuities, Soda Package Prices Rise April 2026
Carnival Cruise Line is increasing its recommended onboard gratuities and raising the adult price of its Bottomless Bubbles soda package for many itineraries. The change affects guests sailing on departures in the U.S. and Europe, with the updated pricing applying to sailings departing on April 2, 2026, and after. Travelers who want to avoid the higher daily rates should consider prepaying gratuities and, if it fits their onboard plans, buying Bottomless Bubbles in advance before the adjustment takes effect.
The Carnival gratuities April 2026 update matters because it raises the daily "baseline" cost many guests pay automatically onboard, and it changes the break even math for families and frequent soda drinkers planning pre cruise add ons.
For U.S. and European departures, Carnival's recommended gratuities move to $17.00 (USD) per guest, per day in standard staterooms, and $19.00 (USD) per guest, per day in suites. Bottomless Bubbles for adults increases to $11.99 (USD) per person, per day, plus a 20% service charge, while the child price remains $6.95 (USD) per person, per day, plus a 20% service charge. Carnival has said it will honor the current lower pricing for guests who prepay before the new rates take effect.
For Australia departures, Carnival's notice focuses on Bottomless Bubbles only, with adult pricing moving to $15.99 (AUD) per person, per day, and the child price remaining $10.95 (AUD) per person, per day. Guests who purchase ahead of the change can keep the current lower prepaid price shown on Carnival's Australia site.
Who Is Affected
Guests sailing on Carnival departures from the U.S. and Europe on April 2, 2026, or later are the core group impacted by the new recommended gratuity guidelines and the higher adult Bottomless Bubbles pricing. If you have an open booking that includes a suite category, the daily recommended gratuities rise faster in dollar terms, which compounds quickly on longer itineraries and for two cabin groups.
Families and multi generational groups are also affected unevenly because Bottomless Bubbles changes only for adults. That creates a scenario where the package remains a simple buy for some households, and a skip for others, especially if only one adult in the cabin regularly drinks soda or juice.
Australia based sailings are affected differently. The update shared for Australia departures covers Bottomless Bubbles pricing, and the same communication explicitly separates recommended gratuities from Australia itineraries, so travelers should avoid assuming the U.S. and Europe gratuity change applies in the same way to Australia sailings.
What Travelers Should Do
If you are sailing on or after April 2, 2026, and you already know you will prepay gratuities, do it sooner rather than later, and save the confirmation in case you need to reference it later. If Bottomless Bubbles is part of your plan, price it out per day for the adults in your cabin, and remember the service charge on U.S. and many non Australia itineraries when comparing it to buying individual drinks onboard.
If your cruise budget is tight, use a simple threshold: prepay when you are confident you will sail as booked, and you prefer predictable totals, but wait if you are still likely to reprice, rebook, or cancel, and you do not want more prepaid items tied to the reservation. For groups, rerun the full trip total, because a $1.00 (USD) per person per day increase on gratuities scales quickly, and can influence decisions like cabin type, sailing length, or whether to shift to a different departure date.
Over the next 24 to 72 hours, monitor Carnival's official pages for when the new pricing displays automatically for April 2, 2026 departures and later, and check your booking portal for how prepaid items appear on your invoice and in My Cruise Manager. If you plan to adjust gratuities onboard, understand the timing rules, since Carnival's policy framework emphasizes onboard convenience, and it may limit post cruise changes once the sailing is complete.
How It Works
Carnival's recommended gratuities are a daily guideline that, when not prepaid, is typically added automatically to the onboard Sail and Sign account to simplify tipping for common service roles across the ship. Guests can often choose to prepay those guideline amounts before sailing, which locks in the rate that applies at the time of purchase under the policy described in Carnival's guest communications and help content.
Bottomless Bubbles is a pre purchased beverage add on priced per person, per day, and it is designed for unlimited soda and juice access during the cruise under Carnival's package rules. On U.S. and many international itineraries, the package price is subject to an added service charge, which means the effective per day cost is higher than the headline rate. On Australia itineraries, Carnival publishes Australia dollar pricing through its local site, and the way service charges are handled can differ, so travelers should use the rules and pricing displayed for their specific departure market when doing comparisons.
Fee and guideline updates like this can ripple beyond the ship's bar and dining math. First order effects are higher onboard spending for guests who do not prepay, and more pre cruise add on purchases by guests trying to lock rates. Second order effects can include more Guest Services traffic early in sailings as travelers ask for explanations or adjustments, and more cautious shore excursion and specialty dining spending as travelers rebalance budgets to absorb higher fixed daily costs.