Oceania Upgrade

Oceania cruises which are a deluxe cruise line have announced a multimillion dollar spend to upgrade their fleet of 3 passenger ships.  The 684 passenger ships have already started to undergo their upgrade.  Nautica has already been upgraded and Insignia and Regatta will follow later this year.

So what can be expected onboard Oceania cruises after their upgrades.
There will be new custom designed beds in all cabins.
Minibars will be installed in all cabins and soft furnishings revamped so that all the accommodation meets the standard of the Oceania new build Marina, which launches in January 2011.
In the restaurant’s the menus are being expanded and there will be a gourmet olive oil menu.
They are adding new and unusual shore excursions one will include a visit to the Pope’s private place of worship.

Oceania has decided with the upgrades to also raise their service charges.  The Gratuities will go up $1 per person a day.  Do they really need to do this or could they just include it in the cruise price?  Gratuities can cause so many arguments and a lot of the deluxe cruise lines have already rolled them into the cruise price.  Is this the best thing to do?