I don't know at what point, if any, the stewards are told that the gratuities are removed. Would he have been upset if these young people left him a big cash tip instead? It just seems odd to me that stewards would be told -- those auto grats go to the waitstaff and other service people as well. Are they also all told grats were removed? Does the whole ship know? I'm not knocking your experience just that in all practicality I don't see how this would be a common practice -- that's all.