Tipping for kids

[first-time-with-kids]

Nick,

 

I take 4 teens with me. I do pay the $10 per day per child and actually give a little extra on top. I figure the guide of £5.25 per day is the least I can give to the staff who, in my experience, are very attentive and responsive to our needs. You will hopefully find out for yourself in June, that the money is well deserved. You will undoubtedly see 'service with a smile'.

 

If you saw my note (on your other thread) about looking at the Nationwide Credit Card that should give you some savings (approx 3%) on your onboard expenditure. It's better than nothing.

 

It sounds like you got yourself a good deal. I'm a Brit but I now use a US Travel Agent and typically find it's cheaper than booking over here. It's more hassle, you need to do your homework but the rewards can be worth having i.e. in 2002 in the Med I was given two price drops after booking. Basically the fare was reduced and the TA passed on those savings to me. That definitely wouldn't happen over here.

 

You will have a wonderful time, but remember this cruising lark can be very addictive.

 

Laura

 

Nice one Laura, thanks.

[first-time-with-kids]

Can't find the Nationwide thing.

[ourlol]

Here is the thread in question. Mine was about the 8th or 9th reply.

 

Laura

[kernow]

As a fellow Brit I understand your reluctance at paying tips for your children (tipping's not part of our culture like it is in the US), however I think once you see the work these people do you will not resent it.

 

We have cruised 3 times previously with our son, now 10 and have always chosen to tip the full amount (and sometimes more) for all 3 of us. We generally find the wait staff in particular have always made a great fuss of him, getting his favourite food(even when its not on the menu), showing him tricks, napkin folding etc. As others have said many of these people are from third world countries, often working away from home for months at a time to send money back to their own families. They really do earn their tips.

 

As our son is usually a regular at the kids club we normally also put some money in an envelope for the staff there too.

 

Have a great time.

 

Julie

[spongerob]

The staff don't get paid a cent. The only pay they receive is from tips. I especially asked our room steward when we were on our recent trip. They get a pretty raw deal actually. Room stewards seem to be treated as the low of the low. They never get to see any ports and are not allowed off the ship. They work some ridiculous hours - 7 days week and even have to pay for the use of the staff pool. Don't begrudge them their share of your $10 a day tips.

 

The staff do get paid a salary, although it is ridiculously small and amounts to little more than a stipend. Stewards are allowed off the ship - in fact, we have bought drinks for our steward and his friends in port - but it is a privilege earned through the comments provided on the evaluation forms and the nomination cards that are provided at the purser's desk. These cards allow you to recognize those who have gone out of their way to do something special for you, or have just provided all-around great service.

 

They work hard and earn every penny, no doubt. Their life isn't quite as bad as has been described, though.

[SissasMomE]

£10 per day pp seems the story - $280 for 2 adults which is about £160-170.

 

Our kids were free on board and sharing with us and it's been suggested we will be charged tips for the kids too. Is that true? How do other parents deal with this?

 

Cheers

 

 

I removed my daughter's tips from our account. I do not know how you paid for your child (adult or child fare), but I shared a cabin alone with her, so I paid the adult fare for her. More than enough for me considering she ate chicken fingers every night LOL I did leave my auto-tip on though. Our room steward was excellent, so I gave him extra. Our waiter was mediocre, so I only gave the auto-tip for him. It's really your own personal preference. The room steward went above and beyond, and he was compensated for it. The waiter brought my daughter a plate of chicken fingers every night ... nothing extra ... no talking, no playing, no joking around. It was a shame, really.

[first-time-with-kids]

I removed my daughter's tips from our account. I do not know how you paid for your child (adult or child fare), but I shared a cabin alone with her, so I paid the adult fare for her. More than enough for me considering she ate chicken fingers every night LOL I did leave my auto-tip on though. Our room steward was excellent, so I gave him extra. Our waiter was mediocre, so I only gave the auto-tip for him. It's really your own personal preference. The room steward went above and beyond, and he was compensated for it. The waiter brought my daughter a plate of chicken fingers every night ... nothing extra ... no talking, no playing, no joking around. It was a shame, really.

 

Thanks for that, we'll see. Presumably it's hard to get the kids tips taken off though.

[SissasMomE]

Thanks for that, we'll see. Presumably it's hard to get the kids tips taken off though.

 

 

I actually had misplaced my daughter's cruise card. I had to go to the pursurers desk to get a new one. The pursuer asked me if I wanted her tips removed before I had even brought it up! It was not hard at all ... in fact, I was really only considering it until he brought it up ....

[ahracer]

Regardless of what you paid for the cruise the service staff are working for tips. If you do not tip them they are not getting paid.

 

I have three kids and would never consider removing their portion of the tip.

 

Scott

[SissasMomE]

Regardless of what you paid for the cruise the service staff are working for tips. If you do not tip them they are not getting paid.

 

I have three kids and would never consider removing their portion of the tip.

 

Scott

 

 

As is your prerogative. IMO, service aboard the cruise ships has decreased dramatically due to the automatic tipping. I have had better service in a mediocre restaurant where the staff has far more than the 4 tables our waiter had. Again, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't what I expected ... wasn't what I have experienced in the past ... and certainly not worth the extra tips. You hit the nail on the head - they are working for their tips. The service should reflect that.

[Toto2Kansas]

My opinion on paying gratuities for children is that they make just as much work (if not more) than the average adult does for the staff. The staff members deserve not only the gratuity suggested by the cruise line, but often times an added tip when they are extra good to them.

 

Amazing to me that some can rationalize removing the tips for children and can come up with excuses to save a few bucks. And people wonder why the cruise lines don't give kids a break in price when so many of the passengers don't even want to pay the suggested gratuity for the kids as they feel they paid full fare for them so they shouldn't have to pay anymore. The cruise fare goes to the cruise line, the tips go to the staff....................two totally different people receive this money. So you punish the staff because you don't like what the cruise line did by charging that full fare. :eek:

[SissasMomE]

My opinion on paying gratuities for children is that they make just as much work (if not more) than the average adult does for the staff. The staff members deserve not only the gratuity suggested by the cruise line, but often times an added tip when they are extra good to them.

 

Amazing to me that some can rationalize removing the tips for children and can come up with excuses to save a few bucks. And people wonder why the cruise lines don't give kids a break in price when so many of the passengers don't even want to pay the suggested gratuity for the kids as they feel they paid full fare for them so they shouldn't have to pay anymore. The cruise fare goes to the cruise line, the tips go to the staff....................two totally different people receive this money. So you punish the staff because you don't like what the cruise line did by charging that full fare. :eek:

 

I believe I stated the service was not up to par. Quite frankly, if not for the room steward having to turn over the extra money I gave him, I would have removed mine as well simply because I do not feel the waiter deserved the tip to begin with. The staff members to do not deserve a gratuity if the service is not up to par. I have to laugh at this now, but the waiter actually forgot to take my father's order twice! LOL Doesn't sound like someone who is working for a tip .... regardless, the extra money on my daughter's account was definitely not worth it nor was it deserved. I am satisifed with my choice.

[ahracer]

I believe I stated the service was not up to par.

 

 

Really?? I took this qoute from your other post about your cruise.

 

"The ship was nice. I have no complaints at all about our room steward, Robert. He was wonderful! The wait staff in the dining room were great; although they seemed frenzied."

 

 

Scott

[LARGIN]

SissasMomE.. Interesting comments however when I also read your review, it was way different. No disrespect but it amazes me how some people rationalize why they remove tips..

[Terre]

The crew works as harder, if not harder cleaning up after and serving children as they do adults. They deserve whatever tip they get and more in my opinion.

[Lynda90]

No disrespect to anyone, but IMHO, and remember it's only my opinion, it is comments such some of those on this thread, that will cause Princess to make the $10 pp, pd, mandatory. I for one, won't mind it a bit. Flame away.:D

[goodml]

We have cruised with our children 4 times and have tipped the recommended amount for all four of us on every occasion. It definitely is costly but to us it's a part of the cruise fare that we must budget for every time and we factor it in when deciding if we can afford to cruise at that particular time. On several occasions we have received service above and beyond and have recognized that particular staff member by giving them extra.

[LARGIN]

We have cruised with our children 4 times and have tipped the recommended amount for all four of us on every occasion. It definitely is costly but to us it's a part of the cruise fare that we must budget for every time and we factor it in when deciding if we can afford to cruise at that particular time. On several occasions we have received service above and beyond and have recognized that particular staff member by giving them extra.

 

Thank you for your comments and that is the way it should be..

[Micheller]

We're going on the same cruise as you "First Time With Kids" - 4th June for 2 weeks (Sea Princess)!! We're taking our kids too and was worried that there wouldn't be that many others on board because of the time of the year. We've got a 10 year old and a 7 year old - how old are your kids? And will they be using the kids club too?

[calikak]

I think a lot of first time cruisers don't know about the whole tipping thing, I know I didn't before my first cruise. If you don't book with a TA who tells you these things, you're not going to know about them until you get onboard or until you find a website like this one. It's hard to include tips into your budgeting for a cruise if you don't know that about them, especially if you're from a country (like most European countries) where tips are usually included in, not on top of, the bill. I think we all forget that tips are a cultural thing, and that not every country tips like we do in the US.

 

I wish there was better advertising of this kind of thing before people booked, especially since more and more first-time cruisers are booking through agencies that don't explain a lot of this info up front. That way, there would be less people who are surprised about the tipping and decide not to tip because they didn't budget for it, and less staff would get stiffed on tips.

[lb1cruiser]

I know when you're on a cruise you want to forget about anything but relaxing and having fun- but the fact is THOSE WORKERS ARE REAL PEOPLE TOO- people who leave their spouses and children for at least 9 months to clean up our messes, cater to our whims, use their miniscule free time to sleep and send their wages home to the third world countries where their families reside. They're taught to smile and be gracious, but if you bother to look a little closer and chat with them these things will become apparent. I accidentally made a staff person start sobbing when she was saying hi to my son (5 years old), she said he reminded her of her son at home, same age, etc.. I asked when she would get to see him again and she started crying. We ended up in a group hug. I found out from another worker they have minimum 9 month sailings- if they quit they find their own way home, which of course they can't afford to do. Another steward was always standing by his cart (we would joke to ourselves that he just stood there to look busy but never did anything), until one day we walked by the cart when he was in a room and there was a picture of his wife and 2 year old boy taped to the cart...These jobs are a lifeline to a majority of these folks, and to watch how badly they get treated by a lot of people on board is terrible. You can boo-hoo all you want about not being able to afford to tip for the kids, but the bottom line is the fact you're able to go on a cruise AT ALL says you have more money than most of them will ever dream of. Have a good time on your cruise, enjoy your vacation but don't forget these are real people with real families who deserve our respect. That waiter who doesn't "do any tricks or entertain you" enough is probably missing his wife and/or children like crazy, and having to pretend like he lives to serve you.

[ourlol]

IB1cruiser. Bravo

 

[cruise182]

IB1cruiser. Bravo

 

 

 

double ditto's!!!]

[coiran]

I have not seen any services on Princess deteriorating, room steward or wait staff - We have cruised before and after the auto tip and have seen no difference at all. That is my humble experirnce.

 

Ron

[NitaBcruising]

I agree! :D

 

I do think kids make more work for staff, than do adults. Have you ever noticed the mess around the table of a child??? :eek: Also, in the cabin lots of times. It would take the bestest, most concientious parent, to keep the cabin clean, with children!

 

Nick, budget a bit more until June, and enjoy your cruise! Be thankful you know in advance, and won't be embarassed onboard! :) We're on the Sea next Nov. and really looking forward to it!