Originally Posted by
Pausanias
In the past year I have been on two so-called luxury cruise lines - Seabourn and Silversea - and didn't tip anyone. It is not expected or necessary and if you lurk on the SB and SS boards on Cruise Critic you will find that people who do tip are regarded with some disdain. Of course, being European/British we seldom tip anyone and rather resent the degrading North American tipping culture.
I have a cousin who emigrated from the US to Sweden after she married a Swedish woman. She's been living just half an hour away from Stockholm for almost 12 years. She said she was quite surprised how many Swedish people tipped at restaurants.(sometimes even directly to the chef, which I find amusing)