Children are People too!

[BadKitteh]

I am fairly new to these boards and so far have learned a lot. I would like to make it clear to anyone who believes that their dear angel child should be exempt from tips because they are so young and are sharing amenities, etc is not being open minded.

 

Sure, your child may be one of the rare well-behaved ones who is a joy to have around in public places because they do not tantrum, spill piles of food on the floor, whine, make messes, etc but keep in mind that is NOT the norm! I see people all the time in public allowing their children to be terrors and leave all sorts of messes for employees because "it's their job." Isn't the job of a parent to take responsibility for their children? I may not be a mother yet but I spent plenty of time teaching preschool, tutoring and babysitting that I have seen the "dark" side of kids as well.

 

Please do not stiff your staff on the DSC or other tipping because you think your child requires no additional effort. If this were the case then leave your child at home because everyone on the ship will make some sort of mess, use up toilet paper/tissue, need towels, sleep and such and the result is crew having to make those areas acceptable once you are doing utilizing them. If nothing else, be happy to provide the tips as a way of thanking these folks for being so kind to your child and making your experience memorable! :D

[control-alt-delete]

 

Sure, your child may be one of the rare well-behaved ones :D

 

Rare? They are extinct!

[johnql]

Here, here! (Or is it, "Hear, hear!"?)

[benreecemom]

As the mother of 5 and 8 year old boys, I whole heartedly agree. I am not under the delusion that my children are perfect. As a matter of fact I always ask the daycare teachers to give me the truth about our kids. And they actually appreciate the fact that we discipline them when they misbehave and make bad choices. I also work in the service industry as a restaruant manager, and you would not believe what parents allow their children to do. The tips should be paid by all as everyone on the ships work very hard taking care of all of their guests.

[BIG_Steve]

I am fairly new to these boards and so far have learned a lot. I would like to make it clear to anyone who believes that their dear angel child should be exempt from tips because they are so young and are sharing amenities, etc is not being open minded.

 

Sure, your child may be one of the rare well-behaved ones who is a joy to have around in public places because they do not tantrum, spill piles of food on the floor, whine, make messes, etc but keep in mind that is NOT the norm! I see people all the time in public allowing their children to be terrors and leave all sorts of messes for employees because "it's their job." Isn't the job of a parent to take responsibility for their children? I may not be a mother yet but I spent plenty of time teaching preschool, tutoring and babysitting that I have seen the "dark" side of kids as well.

 

Please do not stiff your staff on the DSC or other tipping because you think your child requires no additional effort. If this were the case then leave your child at home because everyone on the ship will make some sort of mess, use up toilet paper/tissue, need towels, sleep and such and the result is crew having to make those areas acceptable once you are doing utilizing them. If nothing else, be happy to provide the tips as a way of thanking these folks for being so kind to your child and making your experience memorable! :D

 

Stirring the pot are we?

[CanadianTwosome]

As the mother of 5 and 8 year old boys, I whole heartedly agree. I am not under the delusion that my children are perfect. As a matter of fact I always ask the daycare teachers to give me the truth about our kids. And they actually appreciate the fact that we discipline them when they misbehave and make bad choices. I also work in the service industry as a restaruant manager, and you would not believe what parents allow their children to do. The tips should be paid by all as everyone on the ships work very hard taking care of all of their guests.

 

I think we might belong to the same parenting school. :) We always ask supervisors to relay the same information to us. I think it's one of the reasons that my daughter actually is one of those kids that is well behaved, polite, and respectful of others. Obviously she's not perfect, but considering how few 'perfect' adults there are in the world, I always find the idea that so many of them expect kids to be that way rather humorous.

 

As for the DSC, I'm in full agreement with the OP, though I'm curious what prompted the thread. Did I miss someone complaining about their kids' DSC? Was the OP on a recent cruise where someone was asking to have their kids' DSC removed?

 

I also thought I'd point out that being 'open minded' maybe doesn't mean what the OP thinks it does... In my opinion, accepting that your child should pay the DSC is more about being responsible than open minded; expressing the opinion that well behaved children are NOT the norm (ie having a preconceived notion about an entire group of individuals), on the other hand, is definitely not being 'open minded'. :cool:

[cynbar]

Yes, there was a recent very long thread from an OP who was adamant that his child would be no trouble and he was not going to tip for her. I believe the child was 3.No amount of persuasion would convince him that all passengers make work for the crew. I found it quite amazing, actually.

[discjoker]

I agree about the DSC. We went on a cruise this past September and my daughter was 18 months. She was actually pretty perfectly behaved and didn't create any huge messes but she received a ton of special attention from the crew and because of her we made some special requests (ordering off the menu, etc). Since she was under 3 she wasn't subject to the DSC but that didn't stop us from adding an additional tip as well as leaving a cash tip to our stewards at the end of our cruise.

[jp2001]

If 4 adults share a room, all have to pay the service charge so I don't understand why some parents don't want to pay the service charge for their kids (of course, I understand it does add up but it's just normal).

 

As well behaved as an estra person (kid or adult) may be, the steward still have to make up/turn down an additional bed (usually it's a fold out couch that is much more work for them than a regular bed), change more bedding a few times per cruise, carry more used and clean towels, etc. And also, the more people in the room, the more cluttered it might get (even if someone tries to keep it tidy, the ''stuff'' on the tables, counters mean more work for the steward to clean).

 

In the restaurant, the waiter has to take one more order and deliver all course to this person (it doesn't matter for them if it's a steak or chicken nuggets, it's about the same work).

[Vyhanek]

I haven't seen parents on these boards arguing that they shouldn't have to tip for their children OP!??? I've been on this board for maybe 5 years and can't remember ever someone thinking that a child's tip should be removed. Parents know kids are messy, ALL parents, even the one's that raise hellions know kids are causing a lot of work for the service staff.

 

I do think this poster is specifically trying to stir the pot. This issue isn't debatable.

[discjoker]

I haven't seen parents on these boards arguing that they shouldn't have to tip for their children OP!??? I've been on this board for maybe 5 years and can't remember ever someone thinking that a child's tip should be removed.

 

Have you been reading the same boards I have been reading? It has and does come up.

[Planer's Edge]

Have you been reading the same boards I have been reading? It has and does come up.

...in fact there was a VERY contentious one about 2 weeks ago.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1106255&highlight=

 

And this is only the most recent one.

 

PE

[Host Star]

this subject has been debated before,, just do a search and you will have enough to read about it rather than kick a dead horse.....