“a small sum of money given as a reward for good service”

 The main issue seems to be that cruise lines nowadays want you to pay in advance for good service. Now we may not be like our American cousins across the pond where tipping is an everyday and expected occurrence, but I don’t think we British are mean. It’s just that we are used to rewarding good service after we receive it and not before and at an amount that seems appropriate to the situation. As the definition states it is for services rendered not service that may be rendered.

Why would staff go out of their way to give exceptional service if they have already been rewarded? Would we give a hairdresser or a taxi driver a tip before they have cut our hair or taken us safely and courteously to our destination?

We are told that we can alter or remove gratuities from our on board accounts but have you ever tried doing that?

One Princess cruise we did as a family of four a couple of years ago added an extra £440 to our bill for tips. Having paid around £3500 for the holiday this seemed a bit excessive and I queried it at reception. I then had to fill in a couple of forms to reduce the amount and received three subsequent letters in my cabin during the cruise asking me to reconsider my decision.

When we are paying out for our holidays, personally I would rather pay a bit more and include these extras in the fare. The cruise companies and their staff would probably then do even better as we would be more likely to reward those, and there are very many who do, who go the extra mile.

What do you think? Do you think it’s all rather awkward or are you happy to pay the amounts set by the cruise lines?

I’d love your opinions on this.