Me&Red

Well that makes sense, I never considered it that way. Of course the hotel staff is paid differently. Thanks for enlightening me.

Good to know, TRLD. Thanks for that clarification. I'm guessing all the cooks would be included, also. That's still a lot of people providing services, and we never see them.

The problem with tipping only the staff members with whom we interact is that the rest of the staff, who also work very hard to make our cruises safe and enjoyable, benefit nothing. What about the laundry workers? Cooks? Engine room? Maintenance? By pooling the gratuities, everyone benefits. Cruise companies are registered outside of the US so they can pay low wages. If this outrages you, I suggest you either stop cruising or add to the daily gratuity for ALL workers. We pay the daily gratuity and additionally tip the face-to-face waitstaff and stewards. If we can afford to take a cruise, we can afford to be generous with the low income workers who make the cruise possible.