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i never pre pay tips if you paid what the cruise recommended per person i cetainly could not afford it i would love to have a couple of hundred pounds to spare for tips but i would rather save it for another cruise give a token payment to whoever you think has give you good service TIPPING IS NOT COMPULSORY

"Also, if you prepay gratuities why are charged 15% aservice charge for drinks?" It's because when the gratuities are divided up, the bar staff do not get a share. I presume this is because, while everyone has their beds made and everyone eats meals, some people do not use the bars at all, or very little, while others spend a lot of the time propping them up. So those who want to use the service have to pay for it.

i go with celebrity , and don't do pre-paid tips . i like to tip my cabin stewards and restaurant staff and thank them personally .

We always cruise RCI or Celebrity and have no problem paying gratuities. We do however not like prepaying. I think you cannot pay for service before you have it. We normally pay cash on the last night and pay it willingly we have never felt the need not to pay and many time we have paid more. I think us Brits have to bear in mind these are American cruise lines and Tipping in the USA really is a part of life, Taxi’s restaurants, shuttle buses etc etc all have their hand out for a tip. People who don’t turn up to dinner on the last night quite frankly should be ashamed of themselves and either shouldn’t be cruising or find a cruise line that includes tips in the price

You pay the 15% on drinks, because the main gratuities which you pay are for your cabin steward and dining room waiters, not for the bar staff.

""Also if you prepay gratuities why are we charged 15% service charge for drinks?"" Because that has ALWAYS been the procedure. Also Automatic Tipping has, in the past ALWAYS been this way, weather it was the old Ocean liners or on Cruise ships. It is only recently that "new" cruisers are trying to change the system that has been in place for ove100 years. So many cruisers from the UK are now not paying their tips the staff are just not going the extra mile any more, I certainly have noticed a radical drop in standards especially on the Independence of the Seas. All the good service staffs do not want to sign up for any ship that is based in the UK as they know they will not receive their tips which are part of their salary.