TIPPING QUESTION - Do Baby's Count?

[ginacc]

Hi, we're taking our 13 month old son on CCL next month and want to know if the $10 pppd rule counts for babies too? That would mean an extra $50 we'd have to tip, which we hadn't factored in before. We're moving into a new home the day after we get back from the trip, so we're trying to save every penny we can, and only allowing ourselves $200 spending money for the entire cruise.

 

Thanks for any help.... Gina

[Travelitis]

Babies leave dirty diapers that do not smell like roses, and they use towels and need bedding, so they make work for the room steward, which is why you tip. I understand wanting to economize, but the economic reasons are irrelevant. The question is if you tip for toddlers, and, yes, tipping is per person with no age limits. Could you really be able to look that room steward in the eye knowing he was handling trash with smelly diapers and that you were going to stiff him? No, because if you could, you wouldn't have posted. :) You'd probably like to hear that it's OK not to tip for your child, and I do understand about a tight budget, I really do, but I can't tell you not to tip, because that is a cut-back I have not made no matter how we'd scraped to afford a cruise. I remember how I got used to handling my kids' diapers and thought they weren't that big of a deal. Now, though, when I have to take care of someone else's baby's diaper, it IS a very big, nasty deal. Yuck! The room steward earns the tip just by handling that trash and still smiling at you like your little one is adorable and is not just a little manure factory. ;)

 

You'll still have enough with $150 to spend on the ship. We can go on 7 nt cruises and not spend that much on the ship. You will have to really watch it in port, but getting off the ship and window shopping is free. We've done ports with practically no money, so I'm sure you can do it and have a great time. Maybe you can pack some beverages to help you keep within your budget?

[crusinmama06]

It's a personal choice but in our family YES babies count too. ;)

 

On our last cruise we had a suite and the tipping rate was $12.50 pp per day...and it was a 7 day cruise. And we included our young children in the tipping.

 

The cabin attendants and servers REALLY fall all over children. They give them soooo much added attention that I have no problems tipping for it.

[purplefrogs]

Carnival will not charge your sign and sail account the $10 for children under 2. However like other posters have said this is an extra body that will be taken care of by the room stewards and dining room staff. We didn't think twice about giving our room steward extra, the day we met him and again towards the end of the cruise when he had to change our bedding thanks to my 20 month old and a little accident. Same went for our head waitress, she most certainly deserved extra. It wasn't because my daughter was unruly or messy but because of the care she took with my daughter and how attentive she was to her each night.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

As purplefrogs said, Carnival does not charge your Sail and Sign card for tips for a child under two.

 

But, as others have said, the crew really works hard and that includes caring for young children. The first time we cruise, DD was only 21 months old, and we tipped for her--the crew will treat your child incredibly well!

 

Have a wonderful cruise and congratulations on the new house!

 

Cheers!

Jayne

[sas80]

When DS was 6 months od he went on his first cruise. We never brought him to dinner so we did not tip the wait staff extra.

 

The room steward was really late in getting the pack n play to the room. We got there at 1 pm and I had to ask 4 times. DS really needed a nap after the drive and we could not wait so I finally put him to nap in the bathrub. We finally got it after muster.

 

We also had to wait until just before muster to get a life vest for DS. The first one was broken. The second one worked fine but neither were infant rated to keep his head above water - they were from the "splash zone".

 

Other than that, there was really nothing else the room steward had to attend to concerning DS so there was no reason to tip her for a 3rd person. So we didnt.

 

We are leaving soon for DS's next cruise and will make the "to tip or not to tip" decision at the end of the cruise, after we see what kind of impact DS has on the room steward.

 

I should note here that, while the charge for babysitting per hour is $8, we did pay the babysitter $20 every night for the 2 hours that she babysat while we were at dinner. So we are not as cheap as I make us sound. We just use discretion when we choose to tip.

[cruisead]

If your child doesn't take up a seat in the dining room, and if you don't have the waiter bringing food for the child or warming up food or bottles, then you don't need to tip the waiter. But an infant will make work for the cabin steward, so it's unfair not to tip at least a dollar a day to the room steward for the baby. And , sas80, I know you realize that your family isn't the only one that a very busy room steward needs to attend to, and meeting the needs of a guest isn't the only thing they do on changeover day. Room stewards have many other duties on embarkation day, so they need to be given a little slack. And, in the future, if you request your pack n play before you even leave for the cruise, it will be in the cabin when you arrive. To wait to request one only when you get in the cabin means that you could very well be out of luck if there are lots of infants on board who requested the pack n play earlier than you. Oh, and you don't need to have the infant life vest at the muster drill, so there was no need to worry that you didn't get that right away. At every muster drill, they announce that if you need an infant cot, just ask the room steward right after the drill.

[merela]

the room steward and his assistants the required amount because of those stinky diapers. It is because most of the time, the garbage cans in the room and the bathroom do not have garbage bags, so the room stewards would have to fish the soiled diapers out of the garbage cans.

 

What I did was to bring lots of plastic grocery bags with me and put the soiled diapers in them and then make a dead knot. However careful, the smell still persists. So it's not a pleasant job for the room steward. Once in a while, I would ask him for extra garbage bags and he would know why I needed them.

 

Anyways, if your baby eats in the dining room at all, I would tip accordingly.

Some babies would spill juice and cereal all over the floor, especially those kids between 6M-2YO. The waiter and the assistant waiter would have to clean that whole area. But if your baby eats in the buffet area, you can tip the waiters up there individually, if you wish.

 

Tipping is personal and do whatever makes you comfortable.

[ElsieToo]

And, in the future, if you request your pack n play before you even leave for the cruise, it will be in the cabin when you arrive. To wait to request one only when you get in the cabin means that you could very well be out of luck if there are lots of infants on board who requested the pack n play earlier than you.

Just out of curiosity - why do you assume she *didn't* request one ahead of time? Her post doesn't say that. Many times I've read posts where people had requested things ahead of time but for whatever reason they had to re-request the item/service once they arrived onboard.

 

 

At every muster drill, they announce that if you need an infant cot, just ask the room steward right after the drill.

Not true. This was not mentioned on either of our previous muster drills. I was pregnant on our last cruise and paid extra attention knowing that we were planning on cruising once our baby arrived and I know no one mentioned this. Perhaps it is standard to mention this on some cruise lines/itineraries but not others, but again: I wouldn't make an assumption that it happened.

[ElsieToo]

I meant to actually answer the OP in my response but hit reply too soon. :o Hee.

 

We're cruising with our 9 month old in September and we will also make the final determination for how much to tip at the end of the cruise. I anticipate that we will likely do the cruise lines' suggested tip rate, but I'd like to see what actually happens before we make our decision. We may tip more to some people and less to others that what is recommended depending on the actual services.

[Kerry's Girls]

So many people are helpful on board, that I would find it inconvenient to try to tip each one as we go. Bringing $$ to the buffet every time we eat would be a pain, and if I didn't do that, it wouldn't be fair to tip some of the people who helped me with my baby and not others. That's why I find the auto tip to be the easiest and most fair way to go (one worker brings a high chair, someone else clear our plates while we're eating, someone else cleans up after us when we're finished). Also, if we have breakfast or lunch in the dining room, we'll have different waiters each time, and I don't want to deal with tipping them each at each meal. I go on a cruise to NOT have to worry about bringing cash with me all the time.

 

The one thing I do is bring a stack of $1 bills because I order milk, etc. from Room Service in the morning and at night, and I tip $1 each time.

 

Best,

Mia

[jlbl4902]

After going on 3 cruises with my son – I can tell you that I have tipped differently on each one. It all depends on the service that my son as gotten. Did he get the same service as I did? :confused:

The last one we went on he had great service at the bar, I buy the soda card as I have a diet coke addiction and the bar lady would always give my son a couple of cherries so at the end of the cruise I gave her a little tip and said Thank you for being so nice to my son. (I know it is her job to be nice but she went out of her way to be extra nice to him)

The first cruise I took him on we had horrible service all the way around. I did however trip $5.00 a day for him. (We had broken glass on our balcony and had asked for it to be picked up as I didn’t want my son to step in it. We ended up picking it all up ourselves and the gross dead bug in our room) My son didn’t even get a life jacket for that cruise. :mad: He was almost 18months old.

The other two cruises that we have been on I have paid the $10.00 a day plus given our room guy extra since he has extra work due to my son. We haven’t had the issues we had on our first one.

We leave in September for his forth cruise and he will be almost 3 ½. I am planning on paying the $10.00 a day plus give our room guy or gal something extra as we are potty trained during the day but we still have those night time accidents. (Even with those night time pull-ups on) However it could all change depending on the service he receives.

I personally feel that tipping is a personally choice and you have to do what you feel comfortable doing.

Most important have a wonderful trip!! Then enjoy your new home!:D

[ginacc]

Thank you for the replies. It's good to know that they don't automatically charge for it, so I guess it will depend on the level of service we recieve.

 

We're both ex-service industry workers, so we're NOT cheap when it comes to tipping. We overtip, always. I'm just trying to be frugal on this trip because of the new house and all.

 

We'll be bringing our own soda and limiting our shore excursions to the one we got for free and to the free beaches. We already paid nearly 2 Grand for this trip already, so I'm pulling in the reigns on everything else.

 

Thanks again!

[BethCarp]

What about the waitstaff if the kids don't eat in the dining room? They'll be there the first night since AO is closed. But we'll be taking them to the WJ all other nights. Do we tip WJ staff at dinner?

[bplazo]

Do not stiff your room steward or your server because you are watching your budget. Having a 13 month old can cause quite a big mess at the table and in your cabin. Your child is also taking up a seat that someone else maybe would have been sat at counting as a tip.

 

As for the children eating at the WJ most nights, they will still have a spot for them in the dining room and they are being served somewhere on the ship so I have always tipped at least the suggested amount.