Cruise lines lie that tips go to the employees. However, this is not the case. I didn't see any the money as all goes to the cruise lines. I have been working in several major cruise lines for over a decade and I am utterly disgusted about how they cheat customers to pay them extra instead of honestly giving the money to the crew who deserves it.

Gratuities given him by customers are used to increase my salary, but they reduce the amount of money my employer gives me. A generous customer who gives me a $50 tip would simply reduce my salary by the same amount, and not increased the total money I receive. If you tipped less, I would not receive any less. Please understand that the employees do not benefit from tips. This is why your should remove auto-gratuities and tip employees directly so that nobody sees you tipping them or they will have to give the money away. Here is an honest video talking about the issue.

Thanks for sharing. I'm just wondering are Celebrity Cruises slave ships just like cruise lines are the modern pirates of Caribbean?
How about the other cruise lines? Same same?

Gratuities, tips and crew appreciation payments are a hidden cost of a cruise and used for scamming more money customers and misleading them with lower prices. Crew wages are partially outsourced to passengers through gratuities. They are part of crew’s standard pay, not a bonus. If there are tips, cruise line pays crew less and if there are not enough tips, crew gets anyway guaranteed salary. And in case there are more tips than expected, they go the cruise line and the crew will never see any of the money.

Cruise lines play you and if you agree with automatic gratuity payments, you become part of the problem. To fix the issue, always cancel automatic tips. If you want to tip someone, do it in case and privately so that nobody sees. That way the crew member can keep your money.

That said, I think the whole tipping culture is American cancer spreading all over the world and should be eradicated.