zatita

Then you should never, ever dine out in the United States. The chances of being in a place where tipping is not expected is rare, indeed.

I know this because I recently had to travel to the U.S. on business, and like all my European friends, was disgusted at the aggressive "service charge masquerading as tips". I lived in the U.S. until the 1960s, and this ugly game did NOT exist. I guess at some point businessmen realized they could save a lot of money if they enforced tipping. Did you know there are countries where tipping of any kind is against the law?

Yes. And the cost of your ticket price is a lot higher than HAL, Costa, Princess, Cunard, Carnival etc.

 

Do you want to have it included on your ticket they could... and used to... even at HAL. You want a higher ticket price just to be able to say it is 'included'?

Let's get real. There are tips, and then there are service charges. They are not the same thing. At all. "Obligatory tipping" is an oxímoron, because tips are, by definition, voluntary. For me personally, the practice of tipping is nauseating, it makes me feel like a plantation "massa" tossing coins to the darkies. It is a degrading practice for all concerned.

mafig, we were in 6141. I just checked my notes and, honestly, I don't know who is right now.:D I wrote his name in my notebook like "Xevior". But if you put your stateroom number and the date of the sailing then they [Miami office] will know who was your stateroom steward.

Xavier is a common Spanish name...remember Xavier Cugat?