04/11/2026
Controversial cruise opinion 🚢👇
If you can't afford the gratuities, you can't afford the cruise.
Let's talk about something that happens on embarkation day on almost every sailing. Before the ship even leaves the port, before they've had their first drink, before their bags have hit the cabin — some passengers are already in line at Guest Services to remove their automatic gratuities.
Day one.
Hour one.
Before a single crew member has had the chance to serve them.
And the reason a lot of people give?
"I heard the crew doesn't actually see any of that money anyway."
Let's address that. Because it's one of the most repeated claims in all of cruising — and it is completely unconfirmed.
Nobody has proven it. No crew member has gone on record with receipts. No cruise line has been caught redirecting gratuity funds. It is a rumor that has been passed around cruise Facebook groups and Reddit threads for years, and somehow it has become accepted as fact. It is not.
What we do know is that gratuities are pooled across the crew — room stewards, dining staff, assistant waiters, behind-the-scenes kitchen and laundry workers, the people cleaning public spaces at 3:00 AM while you sleep. These are people working 12-hour days, seven days a week, for months away from their families.
Before anyone gets defensive — I understand the other arguments too. "I want to tip in cash directly to the people who served me." Or, "Tipping should be for exceptional service, not mandatory." Or, "The cruise line should just pay their crew a proper wage."
On that last point, I genuinely agree. The cruise lines should pay their crew more and stop relying on passengers to make up the difference.
But until the industry changes, this is the system we are all participating in when we book a cruise. And removing your gratuities on day one — before anyone has served you a single meal — based on an unverified rumor you read online isn't a protest against the cruise line.
It's just not paying the people who take care of you.
If you want to tip extra in cash for great service, do it. They will appreciate it more than you know. But don't let an unconfirmed story be the reason you walk off that ship having paid nothing to the crew.
So I want to hear both sides.
Do you think the gratuity rumor is true? And should cruise lines make them non-removable — or should passengers always have the choice?
Drop your opinion below 👇
