We feel that tips should be given at the end of the cruise to staff who deserve it. BUT I know cruise lines do not pay their staff well! This is the dilemma. If I go into a restaurant I tip the waiter. Not the chef nor the person who cleans the loo! Yet cruise lines take the tips and share it between everyone. They should pay the staff properly and not blackmail us into paying extra. Even if this means we pay more on the ticket.

we have cruised twice with princess and the staff have all been fantastic, however they automaticly add $10.50 per person per day for tips even children get charged, you can change this or even cancell it if you wish and tip the people you want too wich is what we did and lots of others did and no questions are asked. they also charge 15% to all bar bills, so when you work out £10.50 per person per day plus 15% bar bill it can add up to quite a lot. we don't think tips should be added automaticly at all, it should be up to yourself who and what you tip as cruises are not cheap

Whenever we go on a ship that states that an extra amount will be added to your onboard account for gratuities, we ALWAYS go to reception and state that we do not want it to happen. We tell them that we will reward good service individually. It very often costs us more than the planned percentage charge, but we know that the right people have had the benefit. I agree with the answer by 'morris', Thomsons ships are happy ships, we have been on them many times and prefer them to a lot of the bigger ships.

I agree with Mr/Mrs Morris. The idea of pre paying tips is a nonsense! A tip is a reward for good service - how on earth can anyone know beforehand that they are going to get good service. I personally would not even consider a cruise line which insisted on pre paid tips.

I think that the tip situation is a very emotive subject and I do wish that all cruise lines would follow the likes of Thomson and include tips in the fare, pay their staff accordingly and if necessary put up the fares. We have done four Thomson cruises and on every one the staff appear much happier than we experienced on two Princess cruises and the two Costa cruises we have done...we can only assume they are paid more to cover the lack of tips from passengers. (although of course some passengers do tip extra). The most miserable staff we have encountered were on Costa where tips are compulsory. Hello again Wilba, Neil and Ida!!!!

Yes! Happy cruising.

Neil knows my views on this subject, so I'll keep it short & to the point. In 60 cruises, only 2 stand out with poor/bad service. Both unfortunately were NCL. I rest my case.

There is a certain amount of truth in what you say, I can certainly remember when after tips had been received there was a great deal of incivility and lack of eye contact and greeting etc. I am also certain that this was down to poor management and now that seldom seems to happen. You must also take into account that many of the workers can have their contract ended summarily if they do not fit the bill and that can sharpen the attitude. It is down to the senior staff to create the right atmosphere and have a happy ship and this is always noticed and appreciated by passengers. So... poor management creates the worst kind of situation ..... Neil