Tipping camp carnival staff

[michaelandjoanne]

My son, 6 will likely be in camp carnival a lot during the cruise. What is the typical tip for the staff and how is it normally paid if there is more than one individual involved!

 

Thanks

 

 

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[scorpion94]

I don't know I would say that one price fits all. First, you don't have to tip and I have had many that just would not accept one, plain and simple. Others, I have felt went above the norm of just being their and doing their job. They made sure my children were engaged and having a good time. Taking the time to treat them as individuals and not a hive mind. Those I have tipped. So, like any service, remember a tip is what it is, doing more than required. A tip isn't for doing their job, that's called a paycheck. Tip when they earn it

[Tapi]

We've never tipped the Kids program staff (on any of the cruise lines we've sailed with kids). While they do an excellent job, it's a salaried position unlike the stateroom and MDR staff.

 

IMHO, tipping the Camp Carnival staff would feel awkward, like tipping our kids preschool teachers back home.

 

 

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Edited February 21, 2014 by Tapi

[twindaddy]

On our last Splendor cruise, one of my girls made a connection with a young man named Nick in the kids club. I watched on the cameras outside the club, he painted with her, played with her, knew all her likes as soon as she walked in "Hey, Grace, you are back! I have some dolphin stuff for you to color (cue scream from my daughter). He was outstanding, he seemed to really enjoy interacting with kids.

 

The last night, after the club closed, I knocked on the door and tipped him $30. He seemed very happy to get it. Maybe he has to share it, who knows, but her make my daughters cruise. It was not awkward at all, INMHO.

[Lerin]

I don't find it awkward, it's not like tipping a teacher. It's more like when you give a teacher a gift.

Tips are appreciated by people in many professions. If someone goes above and beyond the expectation, feel free to tip.

[Velvetwater]

Interesting time to post this actually as hubby and I are teachers and we have talked about jacking it in and working on ships as kids entertainers while we are still young.

 

According to Carnival corp the average wage for youth workers is £1740 ($2900) per month.

 

 

Thats more than a newly qualified teacher in London so not too shabby.

[Love my butler]

Interesting time to post this actually as hubby and I are teachers and we have talked about jacking it in and working on ships as kids entertainers while we are still young.

 

According to Carnival corp the average wage for youth workers is £1740 ($2900) per month.

 

 

Thats more than a newly qualified teacher in London so not too shabby.

 

That is a tidy salary considering they get room/board/medical etc paid for. The $2900 is walking about money.

[kirasmom]

On my January cruise camp carnival put out a tip jar on the last night.

 

 

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[TheCalicoCat]

 

IMHO, tipping the Camp Carnival staff would feel awkward, like tipping our kids preschool teachers back home.

 

We tip our son's preschool teachers at home - in the form of a holiday gift = cash.

[TheCalicoCat]

Tip if you want to & feel that the service you your child was worth it. We have tipped on some cruises & not on others...

[Tapi]

We tip our son's preschool teachers at home - in the form of a holiday gift = cash.

 

 

Yes, we do a Christmas gift too, but not in the form of cash. We also invite out for dinner one of the teachers that has been extra special to our son.

 

I can see how any one of these ways of showing appreciation could be the equivalent of a "tip".

 

 

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[beberenn]

Our daughter is now 7. On her first cruise she was 4. We sailed on Glory, well my DH and I read that you would begin paying for child care services at 10pm, and that it ended at 3am. We had one of those phones they give you when you have young kids, 1st night we received a call at 145am saying our DD was the last one there, could we come get her....so we did. Figured they were closing early because of it being the fist night. Well, same thing happened again the 2nd night. I asked why they were closing early, she said if there is no demand, they will close. I was upet, so I inquired at guest services. They are indeed supposed to stay open until 3 if there is a child needing care. Anyhow, it really rubbed my DH the wrong way, he felt like they were saying we were bad parents for staying out too late. So, for the rest of the cruise...he insisted we pick her up by midnight.

 

So the NEXT cruise, I took her to camp carnival and tipped $20 when I dropped her....and guess what, no calls. So, now....we do that every cruise and my DH tips an additional $10 every night!

[Prinycesa07]

We tipped last year on our pride cruise because we felt one of the counselors went above & beyond. My daughter loved her & she tried her hardest to get my 2 yr old son to stay & play every time we dropped my 3 yr old off. She also had candy or little things waiting for him and even gave him a tee shirt to take home even though he never stayed in camp. We saw her with her friends on the beach In half moon cay & she even came to say hi to my son. We tipped her on the last day and they all shared it. They were very appreciative.

[Mykal]

$2900.00 per month comes out to around $675.00 a week, plus room, board & medical. Where do I sign up? From what I have seen all the crew members on these ships do a great job, sure some will have a bad day here & there. These crew members here are taking care of your children, giving them an experience that will last a lifetime. Take care of them & show your appreciation. If it wasn't for them you wouldn't have had that nice day at the pool on your day at sea or that night meal in the specialty restaurant that night. And dudes forget the hoochie coochie next time if there is no Camp Carnival.

[midwestcruiser2001]

Our first cruise, with our DD (8 at the time) I tipped all the staff, in her group, $10 on the last night. (I think there was 4 or 5)

 

The next cruise our DD complained about some of the staff not interacting with the kids, so I watched several days and only tipped the staff that seemed to really work with her. There were 2 that were really good and I tipped them each $20. I told them thank you for making her trip so enjoyable. They seemed genuinely grateful.

 

I concluded to only tip those who I feel go above and beyond for kids.

[FlaMommy75]

Interesting question! We used to tip them the last night. However, we haven't been on Carnival for a couple years and are going on the Dream in March and I just read that the prices for camp and have gone up quite a bit (especially if you have more than one child there is no longer a discount) and they now tack on 15% gratuity. I was thinking there was really no longer to tip them additionally unless we really feel it was exceptional service, which could be the case so we will have to wait and see..

Same goes for the other areas of tipping onboard. We always pre-pay our gratuities and that tip at the end of the week.

[twindaddy]

Interesting time to post this actually as hubby and I are teachers and we have talked about jacking it in and working on ships as kids entertainers while we are still young.

 

According to Carnival corp the average wage for youth workers is £1740 ($2900) per month.

 

 

Thats more than a newly qualified teacher in London so not too shabby.

 

That is a tidy salary considering they get room/board/medical etc paid for. The $2900 is walking about money.

 

$675 a week, for working probably 12-16 hours days 7 days a week.

 

So they are working for about $7-8 dollars an hour, at most, to be away from their family living in a cell.

 

Oh, and don't forget, if they are American they still have to pay taxes on that huge salary.

 

If they do their job to standard, no tip is fine. Above and beyond, I am going to tip. I know many of you look for any reason not to tip, so much so you would create a signature about how to remove tips. Disgusting.

[michaelandjoanne]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I see this type of tipping isn't as black and white as it is for other staff. I will use my discretion and if there is someone special who helps make this cruise memorable for my son, I will show my appreciation.

 

 

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[jhaasz]

The way my husband and I did it on Royal Caribbean (Camp Carnival was a disaster years ago) was $1 per kid per hour spent in the kids club. The kids loved it and they received coupons for every activity (1 coupon per hour, basically). At the end, we added up all of their coupons together and that was the amount tipped. When they stayed late (10 pm - 1 am), we tipped that at the end of each evening ($1 per hour per kid).

[TPFKAH]

$675 a week, for working probably 12-16 hours days 7 days a week.

 

So they are working for about $7-8 dollars an hour, at most, to be away from their family living in a cell.

 

Oh, and don't forget, if they are American they still have to pay taxes on that huge salary.

 

If they do their job to standard, no tip is fine. Above and beyond, I am going to tip. I know many of you look for any reason not to tip, so much so you would create a signature about how to remove tips. Disgusting.

 

you make it sound like there's only one counselor. Not sure about the other stuff you injected here that's disgusting. Tipping is simply up to the tipper.

[mere08]

Our daughter has sailed with us on our last 2 cruises and participated heavily in the 2-5 camp. She had a ball, we had a little freedom, and the staff was tipped $40 at the end of each cruise because we felt they did a wonderful job and deserved it.

[MoeDeckedOut]

I'm not sure I remember much about our first cruise with the kids but we tipped something on the last day. But the second one we had some great folks on the Breeze for our daughter. She loved them. They were great with us and so fabulous for her. They made my daughter want to go more so we gave some extra $ to the specific counselors.

 

It doesn't matter what any of us do for a living. But when someone seems to do a great job I try to call the company and talk to a manager, or give a tip or send an email. I get a bonus when I do a good job and I get a smile when someone sends an email to my boss about how I performed. I should repay the favor.

 

And for my first negative comment on cruise critic... to the poster who was pissed because they didn't stay open till 3am for multiple nights for your 4 years old. Really. Shouldn't it tell you something that your kid was the only on there. Why are you even bringing them.

 

 

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[Naomi John]

Tipping CC staff seems to be a new hot topic. It appeared once the new "night owls", occurred and a 15% was added. I started cruising in 2007, joined cruise critic in 2008, and noticed tipping for Camp in 2011. I could be wrong, maybe people have been tipping the counselors prior to my research.

 

We only tipped once. It was a Triumph cruise in 2012. This one counselor went way above and beyond. I cannot remember her name.

 

Tip or don't tip. It's the parents judgment.

[boaterette]

We've never tipped the Kids program staff (on any of the cruise lines we've sailed with kids). While they do an excellent job, it's a salaried position unlike the stateroom and MDR staff.

 

IMHO, tipping the Camp Carnival staff would feel awkward, like tipping our kids preschool teachers back home.

 

 

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Wow. Just wow. We have always tipped.

[Velvetwater]

$675 a week, for working probably 12-16 hours days 7 days a week.

 

So they are working for about $7-8 dollars an hour, at most, to be away from their family living in a cell.

 

Oh, and don't forget, if they are American they still have to pay taxes on that huge salary.

 

If they do their job to standard, no tip is fine. Above and beyond, I am going to tip. I know many of you look for any reason not to tip, so much so you would create a signature about how to remove tips. Disgusting.

 

It would be rather wonderful to have a discussion without mindless rabble that goes off topic. I have never seen this signature you speak of.

 

 

The particular wage I quoted was based on 6 day week 12 hours per day as posted on the advert. Not forgetting bed and board is paid for among other things.It is the interesting prospect that makes any young westerners chase after these jobs.I would even consider leaving my well paid teacher position for it.

 

Tipping is of course up to the person but we shouldn't get so tipping crazy that we forget which people on a ship are salaried and that their wage is already of at least the minimum wage standard and fair.