Does a 4-year old tip?

[Simmons]

I have seen the RCCL website and read what they recommend that their service providers be tipped. However, does this also apply to my 4-year old son?

 

I know their are lots of varying opinions on tipping. What do you all think?

[wrp96]

Children should tip the same amounts as adults.

[KelJ]

The recommended tips are per person, regardless of age. The waitstaff will serve your child at dinner. The cabin attendant will make your child's bed and bring him/her fresh towels.

[Sue L]

Yes they should no matter the age.

[Retired LEO]

Yes. Every passenger regardless of age tip the same.

[Morecruisesplz]

I have seen the RCCL website and read what they recommend that their service providers be tipped. However, does this also apply to my 4-year old son?

 

I know their are lots of varying opinions on tipping. What do you all think?

 

Will he sit at your table and have the waiter/asst. waiter bring his food and drinks to him?

[drfun48]

Most definately,but I believe it is the child's parents who will tip on his behalf. I think they should do so more generously than for an adult since the child often requires more attention and frequently makes more of a mess.

[Merion_Mom]

Does a 4 year old tip?

Only if he has a job. Personally, I would tip on behalf of my 4 year old. Of course, I'd have him sign an IOU and let him pay me back over time.

 

:D :D :D :D

[negc]

Only if he has a job. Personally, I would tip on behalf of my 4 year old. Of course, I'd have him sign an IOU and let him pay me back over time.

 

:D :D :D :D

Including a reasonable rate of interest, no doubt.;):D

[wrp96]

Only if he has a job. Personally, I would tip on behalf of my 4 year old. Of course, I'd have him sign an IOU and let him pay me back over time.

 

:D :D :D :D

 

 

And have yours started paying you back yet?;) When are they going to take YOU on a cruise?

[finnegan14]

Yes definitely. We pre-purchased gratuities for all of us, 2 year old and 14 month old included. The cruise lines don't consider age, they just consider souls on board.

[Sue L]

Only if he has a job. Personally, I would tip on behalf of my 4 year old. Of course, I'd have him sign an IOU and let him pay me back over time.

 

:D :D :D :D

 

My daughter is taking her next cruise without us (spring break) and some how the words

" I will pay for your tips and fuel surcharge" came tumbling out of my mouth so even at 22 I am still paying for the tips. :D:p But she is paying for her own cruise!!

[negc]

Yes. Every passenger regardless of age tip the same.

Some cruise lines suggest a lower amount for children, but all suggest that every passenger tip regardless of age, and I agree with those who believe that sometimes youngsters require more work and attention from the wait staff and the room stewards than adults.:) RCI does not differentiate by age the amount of the suggested tips.

[Quampapetet]

When he eats at restaurants, the tip includes for his food, too, so of course he should tip everybody on the cruise, too. ('Course, you'll be doing the tipping for him, but he could always leave a purty colored picture or something as his own additional "tip" if he wanted to....)

[jts510]

All of these replies are false. Tipping for children of that age is usually about half of the adult tip. Please see the following excellent site :

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/ and then fill in the blanks.

 

We have a 3 year old getting ready to sail for the 4th time and NEVER has her tips been the same as the adult recommendation. As per Draget, just the facts, ma'am.

[wrp96]

Umm, if you ask RCCL, they will tell that the suggested tipping is the same for both children and adults. If you prepay or add them to your seapass account, they will be for the full amount suggested.

[wrp96]

All of these replies are false. Tipping for children of that age is usually about half of the adult tip. Please see the following excellent site :

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/ and then fill in the blanks.

 

If you'll notice, his website has the option to do full tip for kids or not and full tip is the default for RCCL. For cruiselines where kids tip half, it does not default to full tip.

[jts510]

I am talking from personal experience with a 3 year old getting ready for her 4th cruise. It seems that there are a lot of people pretending to know what they are talking about when the reality of the situation is, as usual, they don't have a clue. I have provided personal experience, not only with RCCL but also with Carnival and NCL and they are all the same. I have provided an EXCELLENT website that is totally current with the tipping standards, at least as far as I can tell. I have asked people to get their calculators out and see for themselves. That's about all I can do. If you or anyone else wants to challenge, I really don't care anymore. I have presented the facts for someone who asked a very legitimate question but unfortunately was being fed wrong answers from people who had no personal experience in this matter. Unfortunately, this is the case too many times on this board: too many people being experts in a field that they really have no idea what is fact or what is fiction. Hopefully, I helped the original poster out from personal experience, with a website to back me up. That's about all I can do.

[FL_Cruiser64]

All of these replies are false. Tipping for children of that age is usually about half of the adult tip. Please see the following excellent site :

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/ and then fill in the blanks.

 

We have a 3 year old getting ready to sail for the 4th time and NEVER has her tips been the same as the adult recommendation. As per Draget, just the facts, ma'am.

 

Why not?

Does the state room attendant makes the bed? Does he/she clean up after her as well just as for the adults? Does he/she not change the towels of the child just as the one for the adult?

 

Does the child sit at the table like the adults and gets food and drinks served?

[MissKise]

Is he or she a person in your cabin..............???

 

then yes, you tip. Full tip.

[Sue L]

I am talking from personal experience with a 3 year old getting ready for her 4th cruise. It seems that there are a lot of people pretending to know what they are talking about when the reality of the situation is, as usual, they don't have a clue. I have provided personal experience, not only with RCCL but also with Carnival and NCL and they are all the same. I have provided an EXCELLENT website that is totally current with the tipping standards, at least as far as I can tell. I have asked people to get their calculators out and see for themselves. That's about all I can do. If you or anyone else wants to challenge, I really don't care anymore. I have presented the facts for someone who asked a very legitimate question but unfortunately was being fed wrong answers from people who had no personal experience in this matter. Unfortunately, this is the case too many times on this board: too many people being experts in a field that they really have no idea what is fact or what is fiction. Hopefully, I helped the original poster out from personal experience, with a website to back me up. That's about all I can do.

 

Actually the website was created by a regular poster here on the RCCL boards.

[wrp96]

I have provided an EXCELLENT website that is totally current with the tipping standards, at least as far as I can tell. I have asked people to get their calculators out and see for themselves. That's about all I can do.

 

 

Yes, and TP Keller's website shows that children tip the full amount on RCCL.

[will work to cruise]

If your 4 year old is going to tip, make sure he squares his bill using his RCCL VISA card. It's a good age to start earning those points you know.;)

[veryhotred]

It is only $10 per day for an adult/person so why not just pay the adult amount? It really isn't much and IMO to pay half is just plain cheap. The crew is doing the same thing for a child as they are doing for an adult. I would never think to adjust my child's tip amount lower. This is just MY opinion, you have to do what you want though.

 

Here is an idea too, if you DO adjust the tips, pay the other half to the AO crew! They do a great job and deserve extra $$! I ALWAYS tip them money for the things they do with the kids. They are always cheery and excellent with my children!! I want them to know they are greatly appreciated!!

[Rancher Dave]

We just got back from a combo of 5 night RCCL GOS cruise and a 2 night stay at WDW on the Dining Plan. In each case add tips either as Prepay on ship or pay as you go at WDW dining...and if you wish for Mousekeeper.

 

First cruise with DW and DD who is 7. In the end I think the wait staff did more for DD than they did for us. Ironically both at WDW and on the GOS. Wait staff on GOS would make sure she liked the food and got different food ASAP one night when she was not fond of whatever it was she had...happened so fast I can't recall the details. <<At WDW she did not like the soup and it was replaced ASAP also.>>>

 

We personally tipped extra to Waiter, Asst Waiter, and Room Steward, no extra for Head Waiter although I saw more of him and interacted with him more than those on the past two cruised added together and cubed. He was great as were the waiter and asst. waiter. We did so in part because they worked harder with our family than if we had been three adults. Also, I felt somewhat bad that we were placed at a table for 4 so really the wait staff lost out on the opportunity for a fourth person tip. I generally made it up to the wait staff, and I know seeing them the next morning after they saw the tips, they were very pleased to get more than just the prepaid tips.

 

I believe they knew a couple days into the cruise tips were prepaid. They had been great with us since moment 1... The cabin steward bent over backwards to take care of any request we had...especially the immediate fetching of a child life jacket for DD at 1pm even though sinking in port would not require the life jacket...:D Actually we had plans all afternoon around the ship and didn't want to run to the room to grab it when the alarm bells chimed.

 

Seeing how much extra work is involved in the extra bed...set up and put away each day, I am pretty sure he earned all of the 3 full pre-pay tips as well as the extra tips.

 

Tip according to service as you would elsewhere.

 

Back to the WDW bit...the extra service did yield extra tips, but it is all recommended on the bill as 18-20% and under the 2008 Dining Plan it is up to user to tip if they want, not part of the dining package as it was in 2007...made it tough on several of the various servers. I really did feel bad as they had to explain to diners, we heard it each time, that tips were not included any more and if we wanted to leave any money we had to write it on etc... The guys on the ship had it better as a set per day $$$ is recommended whereas at WDW the child total was less and 18-20% of less is still less than a per person...except at Narcosees where our tip was equal to about what we normally pay for dinner when eating out. DD portion though was still less than a day on the ship where as DW and I spent on tips more than we ould have per day. In fact all of the WDW tips added up for 2 nights were more than we tipped based on recommended tipping for RCL Waiter, with the extra we gave he got more but for 2X the days. All in all both experiences were great and deserved the tips...had service ben lacking I would have shrunk the tips accordingly after first asking for service issues to be corrected.

 

I will post a GOS review later this week...only complaint is with a tour vendor and the weather...weather is not RCCLs fault.