Automatic Tipping

[MNFreeze]

Does anyone know if kids (son is 5) are less than the $11.50 a day auto gratuity?

 

Thanks

 

MNFreeze

[uppitycats]

I just checked the Celebrity website. They make no distinction between adults and children when explaining the gratutities.

 

I'm assuming your son will sleep somewhere in a bed with sheets, use towels, washcloths, a bathroom?; will eat 3 meals a day using dishes, utensils, glassware?; for at least some of those meals be sitting in a restaurant where a waiter will bring his food to him, whether it be meals off the adult menu, or the children's menu?; will make some degree of "mess", at least equivalent to what an adult makes that is cleaned up by the steward (and having observed lots of kids in restaurants over the years, a mess under his seat?)

 

If so..then the stewards, waitstaff, cleaning people and all the others in the tip pool have earned their tips..which, after all, are considered part of their compensation (salary, wages, whatever you prefer to call them) for making your trip pleasurable.

[patseacruiser]

Kids of 5 are the same price as an adult. And someone will correct me if I'm wrong but Celebrity doesn't have auto tipping. You have to elect to have it put on your seapass card or give it in cash. That doesn't mean you should give less than the suggested amount just because they don't have auto tip.

[mgmigs]

Kids of 5 are the same price as an adult. And someone will correct me if I'm wrong but Celebrity doesn't have auto tipping. You have to elect to have it put on your seapass card or give it in cash. That doesn't mean you should give less than the suggested amount just because they don't have auto tip.

 

i just returned from the summit where they automatically charged the tip to your seapass and you had the option to modify it by request.

[cruie4ever]

Kids of 5 are the same price as an adult. And someone will correct me if I'm wrong but Celebrity doesn't have auto tipping. You have to elect to have it put on your seapass card or give it in cash. That doesn't mean you should give less than the suggested amount just because they don't have auto tip.

 

Yes with Celebrity & RCCL you can give your tips in cash ;which is our choice .

[dkjretired]

Yes with Celebrity & RCCL you can give your tips in cash ;which is our choice .

 

The default is the tips are placed daily on your account unless you remove them. You can't remove some of them and you can only adjust them upward. YOu can however remove them completely and pay in cash. The only exception is if you choose Select Dining and then tips are pre-paid.

 

Children used to be 1/2 the tip when staying in a cabin as a 3rd or 4th but that was changed several years ago and they are now a full tip.

[MNFreeze]

Thanks for most of your answers. The Celebrity site was unclear so I thought I would ask.

 

On our last NCL cruise the 3rd and 4th passengers were at a discounted rate in the tipping. That makes sense to me but not to some I am sure.

 

Note to Uppitycats - Not sure if you meant to come across as a smart arse but you did. A simple answer is much more appreciative than attitude...

[uppitycats]

Thanks for most of your answers. The Celebrity site was unclear so I thought I would ask.

 

On our last NCL cruise the 3rd and 4th passengers were at a discounted rate in the tipping. That makes sense to me but not to some I am sure.

 

Note to Uppitycats - Not sure if you meant to come across as a smart arse but you did. A simple answer is much more appreciative than attitude...

 

You're welcome. You didn't ask whether there was a discount for a 3rd or 4th passenger. You asked about a CHILD. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think that their child shouldn't be charged full rate, or charged for tips, or somehow should cruise "free" just because it's a child. The ship books by "passenger"..not size or age.

 

When I was last on NCL 2 years ago, everyone .. adult, child, 3rd, 4th passenger were charged the same rate for tipping, but there was a discount in fares for the 3d or 4th passenger.

[dkjretired]

You're welcome. You didn't ask whether there was a discount for a 3rd or 4th passenger. You asked about a CHILD. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think that their child shouldn't be charged full rate, or charged for tips, or somehow should cruise "free" just because it's a child. The ship books by "passenger"..not size or age.

 

When I was last on NCL 2 years ago, everyone .. adult, child, 3rd, 4th passenger were charged the same rate for tipping, but there was a discount in fares for the 3d or 4th passenger.

 

I think some of the confusion was because Celebrity from their inception until about three years ago had 1/2 tips for kids sharing the same room as their parents as 3rd or 4th. There were many children tipping threads back them with all opinions placed on the board and some got very heated (think dress codes). It is a moot question now but there are some who may be coming back to Celebrity after a few years. I believe the change was made right around the same time they went to auto tips on the account..

[MNFreeze]

You are correct I did not mention that my 5 year old son was going to be a 3rd or 4th passenger. I made the mistake of assuming that was obvious.

 

We were on the NCL Jewel in March of 2009 and at that time our son was at 50% tip.

 

Oh well things change. I will not loose sleep over $57.50.

 

I can imagine that a topic such as this can get some people rather heated. I could see it becoming a battle between those with kids and those who do not have kids.

 

Thanks for the responses

 

MNFreeze

[Lsimon]

The default is the tips are placed daily on your account unless you remove them. You can't remove some of them and you can only adjust them upward. YOu can however remove them completely and pay in cash. The only exception is if you choose Select Dining and then tips are pre-paid.

 

Children used to be 1/2 the tip when staying in a cabin as a 3rd or 4th but that was changed several years ago and they are now a full tip.

 

Since there are a couple different answers above - I'll reiterate that everything said by dkjretied is 100% accurate now.

 

...I can imagine that a topic such as this can get some people rather heated. I could see it becoming a battle between those with kids and those who do not have kids. ...

 

While it might be a battle to be debated here there is no debate as to what Celebrity's policy is: everyone on board has the same auto tip or prepaid tip amount regardless of age or the number of people in a cabin (except that certain upper stateroom categories have a slightly higher standard gratuity due to additional staff).

[cynbar]

In fairness, there have been a lot of threads on these boards re tipping for kids, with many suggesting that kids SHOULD tip less. This brings on many replies that point out how much work there often is to clean up after kids --- crumbs in the DR or buffet, dirty towels and sheets, occasional spills, and so on. So I think that certain posters just made an assumption, took a shortcut and went right to the justification for full tips. Some parents make it clear that they have no intention of following the suggested guidelines because their kids are perfect and will be no work at all for the staff ---- but I have to point out, the OP did not say that.