OHagan

This has not been my experience. All gratuities have been a separate item in our cruises. Not sure if this is because we book directly in Australia. Cruises booked through Australia usually have their gratuities separate or do not need to pay. I did forget to mention in my original post though that we do tip for exceptional service.

We are doing a Brilliance of the Seas Alaskan trip in July and are wondering if rumours are true that the dinning dress requirement is more casual than other cruises. We are used to taking good trousers to wear, but wondering if we can wear jeans to the restaurants.

...also...if you don't want to pay gratuities, then the cruise line can not enforce this. Many Australians cancel their gratuities onboard as we are not used to paying tips or such.

If you have a copy of your Booking that confirms your free gratuities, then take it to the service desk as soon as you have boarded the ship, and they will sort it out for you. You don't need to do anything prior to boarding. We have done this before.