Thank you for the helpful advice re some countries including gratuities, while others do not.
My concern is with some cruise lines having fixed amounts for gratuities re. the cabin but listing that amount separately. In that case it makes no sense to me to have it as a separate cost. Yes, I can go to different cruise lines and calculate the total fare (excluding extra gratuities that I might wish to add later) but when I am considering several different cruise lines and itineraries it begins to irritate. Not a big thing, admittedly, but other than trying to hook a customer with a fare lower than it actually is I can see no rationale for it