There’s an old joke Down Under. You know the difference between an Australian and a canoe?
A canoe tips.
That’s the basis for the battle brewing in Australia’s cruise industry. To tip or not to tip. It is not customary there, it is not expected and generally it is not practiced. In fact, a “tip” in Australia is either a garbage dump or gambling advice. Period.
As our colleague Phil Reimer points out today in his blog, Ports and Bows, tipping varies from cruise line to cruise line. Anybody who has been on a ship knows that tipping is an accepted and integral part of the process. There are daily, per-passenger amounts automatically charged to your room bill. Some cruise lines call them “suggested” amounts 
— usually $10 and up — but you’d probably have to create some kind of scene to get them removed from your bill.
Not in Australia, and therein lies the impending cruise conflict.
According to an article in The Australian by Brian Crisp, Celebrity Cruises CEO Don Hanrahan plans to change that when the Celebrity Solstice (left) arrives there 15 months from now.
“We will teach Aussies to tip,” he told Crisp. “The tipping structure will be explained in our daily planner. Some guests will struggle with it, but I’m certain it will go well. We will deliver a level of service that guests are happy to reward.”
Tipping is so not a part of Australian culture that one cruise company has dropped it…probably P&O, which has an Australian wing of its operation. If it is P&O, that would be ah, intriguing, because the same company that owns P&O (Carnival) also owns Princess, Holland America and Costa, all of which have ships in Australia. And since Norwegian doesn’t do Australia, and Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity, what other major cruise line could it be?
In any case, Don Hanrahan might be in for a tough challenge. Right, matey?