Originally Posted by
Gogie
In my experience there has never been a "requirement" to pay gratuities. The cruiselines generally will suggest what is appropriate in their view and will even automatically charge the gratuities to your onboard account, but you always have the option to have the charge removed from your account and pay whatever you think is fair.
Some cruise lines require now that you prepay your gratuities. My beef is when that happens, I still don't understand why I have to pay for 2 if only 1 person is traveling. The cabin fare is obviously different but it should be like the port fees (1 per person).