Does a 4-year old tip?

[ShillyShally]

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

 

Hmmm, can I institute this policy with my older kids? :D

[wrp96]

Hmmm, can I institute this policy with my older kids? :D

 

Remember to include the interest rate on the IOU. I always liked to charge my brother 14% interest.:p

[canucks4]

OP - full fare tipping. Also tip the staff in the children's clubs if you use them - they too have earned it - how much will likely depend on how frequently your child attends - enjoy your cruise with your family.

[dougt1957]

I think the original poster asked what people THOUGHT the proper tip would be for a four year old, not what you could get by with. I think everyone knows your child won't eat or drink as much as an adult.

[ShillyShally]

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.

 

As a mother who has taken and paid full price for my 3 kids on 2 RCCL cruises I can assure you we paid FULL tips regardless of age and did so with no second thoughts.

 

I'll take my seapass bills as proof, Thank you!

[Sue L]

I think the original poster asked what people THOUGHT the proper tip would be for a four year old, not what you could get by with. I think everyone knows your child won't eat or drink as much as an adult.

 

Your tip has nothing to do with the amount you eat and you tip for your drinks as you pay.

[Woe is me]

Anybody that says their 3 year old is getting ready for her 4th cruise is kind of out there, somewhere?:confused:

[cruisePRN]

I don't have a child so I'm giving an opinion not from experience. Although the cabin steward does have an extra bed to make he only has one cabin to clean and vacuum and one bathroom to clean regardless of your child. If you felt compelled to downsize the tip I don't see the harm. In the dining room however they work just as much for a child as an adult so I personally couldn't see downsizing that tip amount.

[RN7997]

Just to add my 2cents worth............. I am preparing to sail with my 2 children. It'll be their 2nd cruise. I never questioned, even in my mind, whether or not to tip for them. I always prepay tips and then tip extra accordingly to how I felt the service was in each department. I know when DH and I go out to eat we tip well. Last night we did dinner and a comedy club. Our dinner was about $65.00 at a steakhouse. We tipped about 20.00 and our bar tab at the comedy show was about 23.00 and I tipped 10.00. I feel 68.25 pp for a whole week to cover so many people is almost robbery!!! I agree that it is possible some of the staff will do more for the kids, making the tips well worth giving. When the kids are happy mama is happy. LOL!!!! A good dining attendant knows little tricks to help get through a nice meal peacefully with happy kids. I was also always impressed at how well our stateroom was kept with the kids along!!!

[LadyZolt]

Personally, I think both the cabin stewards and the wait staff work more for a child than they do for an adult. Who is more likely to spill? Who is more likely to make a mess in the cabin? We just got back from a Disney cruise (just me and DH, both adults) and passed several open cabins that clearly had children as guests in them -- huge messes! Those people ought to tip more than adults traveling without kids. I do have kids that are all grown now, but believe me, our vacation rooms were much messier when they were small then the ones DH and I occupy just by ourselves now. To not tip at least the full amount when you have a child that requires at least the same amount of work as an adult, if not more, just seems morally wrong to me.

[Alexis]

I don't have a child so I'm giving an opinion not from experience. Although the cabin steward does have an extra bed to make he only has one cabin to clean and vacuum and one bathroom to clean regardless of your child. If you felt compelled to downsize the tip I don't see the harm. In the dining room however they work just as much for a child as an adult so I personally couldn't see downsizing that tip amount.

 

Speaking as a mother who had 4 little ones to clean up after. If my kids were in one small room for longer than 10 minutes. :eek:

Next time you are on a cruise, peek in a cabin occupied by children.

The cabin attendant deserves more of a tip.

Dirty diapers, Cheerios stuck all over everywhere, juice spilled all over, toys to step on and so on. :o

 

This is what the RCCL website states.

10. Tipping - So that you can thank those who have made your cruise vacation better than you could have imagined, we've developed these gratuity guidelines:

Suite attendant: $5.75 USD a day per guest

Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest

Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest

Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest

Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest

Note: These gratuities apply to guests of all ages.

[AMommyof2]

Anybody that says their 3 year old is getting ready for her 4th cruise is kind of out there, somewhere?:confused:

 

 

My DS will be 4 in May and off on his 5th cruise a month later. We tip full price for both kids. Not so much because that is the recommended practice, but because we fill the service warrants the tips. Our kids have always been treated very well on our cruises.

[ShillyShally]

Remember to include the interest rate on the IOU. I always liked to charge my brother 14% interest.:p

 

Great idea - perhaps I'll make the interest rate their age so it will always increase :)

[Merion_Mom]

I don't have a child so I'm giving an opinion not from experience. Although the cabin steward does have an extra bed to make he only has one cabin to clean and vacuum and one bathroom to clean regardless of your child. If you felt compelled to downsize the tip I don't see the harm. In the dining room however they work just as much for a child as an adult so I personally couldn't see downsizing that tip amount.

Really? You don't see "the harm"?

 

According to your logic, ANY person who is the 3rd in a cabin should only pay half the gratuities of each of the first two people in the cabin.

 

Absurd.

[Gonzo70]

I have provided personal experience, not only with RCCL but also with Carnival and NCL and they are all the same. 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.

 

 

Actually you are the one feeding wrong answers. Just because you undertipped on your cruise does not make you an expert on Royal Caribbeans tipping recommendations. Their website clearly states that the suggested tipping is the same for guests of all ages. That is as factual and objective as it gets. I do not understand why you feel that your "personal experience" trumps Royal Caribbean's comments about the issue on their web site.

[Alexis]

[quote name='Gonzo70']Actually you are the one feeding wrong answers. Just because you undertipped on your cruise does not make you an expert on Royal Caribbeans tipping recommendations. Their website clearly states that the suggested tipping is the same for guests of all ages. That is as factual and objective as it gets. I do not understand why you feel that your "personal experience" trumps Royal Caribbean's comments about the issue on their web site.[/quote]

Here it is from the RCCL website. ;)
[B][COLOR=#ff0000]This is what the RCCL website states.
[/COLOR][/B][Quote]:
[B]10. Tipping[/B] - So that you can thank those who have made your cruise vacation better than you could have imagined, we've developed these gratuity guidelines:
Suite attendant: $5.75 USD a day per guest
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest
[B]Note: These gratuities apply to guests of all ages.[/B] [/quote]
__________________

[MrsPete]

[quote name='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.[/quote]You may've done the wrong thing on multiple cruise lines, and you may have someone's personal website (not affiliated with the cruise lines) to back up your opinion -- well, actually, it doesn't back up your opinion: it gives you the choice to click full-tip or not . . . BUT you're still wrong.

Notice that the cruise line doesn't give you the choice to tip half for children -- that's a clue right there.

[MrsPete]

[quote name='Sue L']Your tip has nothing to do with the amount you eat and you tip for your drinks as you pay.[/quote]Right. Bringing a small plate of spaghetti to the table takes just as much effort as bringing a plate of lobster.

In the stateroom, the child might be MORE work: We shared a stateroom with our two children, so the steward had only to make up the bed that my husband and I shared -- he had to pull out /put away the sofa bed for our daughters, which is more effort.

[MakinGold]

[quote name='Simmons']Does a 4-year old tip?[/quote]

Usually 4-year-olds are a little low on cash, so the parents generally tip on their behalf.

[Jadai]

I think you should definitely tip regardless. Children are definitely just as much, if not more work than an adult (depending on the "adult", lol). We got to know the waitstaff and a few of the other staff on board pretty well so my niece and nephew also wrote thank you notes. It was really sweet and the staff just loved it.

[jts510]

[quote name='Gonzo70']Actually you are the one feeding wrong answers. Just because you undertipped on your cruise does not make you an expert on Royal Caribbeans tipping recommendations. Their website clearly states that the suggested tipping is the same for guests of all ages. That is as factual and objective as it gets. I do not understand why you feel that your "personal experience" trumps Royal Caribbean's comments about the issue on their web site.[/QUOTE]

The tips were automatically added to my accounts and the tips the CRUISE LINE added for my child was 1/2 the adult amount. And if you brainiacs went to the tipping website and added a child to the equation, you would see that the total amount for a standard tip included HALF for the child. As I stated before, for the mathematically challenged, get out your calculators and you will see that the total includes HALF for the child. What I have stated are facts and personal experience with what the cruise lines add to the onboard account in an attempt to help the original poster. If one wants to tip more, then do it. But if one wants the tips automatically added to their account, it will be done at 1/2 adult rate for the child. Period!

[uksimonusa]

[quote name='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.[/quote]

Just because you stiffed the waiters and stewards, who, I would think, took great care of your 3 year old, why would you suggest that other do the same and why would you present incorrect "facts" to a person who is asking a simple question, and who, I would imagine, asked that question, to get the correct answer. Many other posters have provided the correct answer, even cutting and pasting the information from the Cruise Lines web site. You even provided a LINK, to an EXCELLENT web site, that was provided for all to use by a member of this board, and provided the user enters the correct cruise line, this web site shows that full tips are expected of children. You're actually right, there are many so called experts on this and every other board, who do provide incorrect information, and it would seem that you are one of them. Your personal habits and traits regarding the treatment of other people and following cruise line suggested guidelines, are just that, your personal habits and are not the facts that should happen.:mad:

[pinkrosesdeb]

That website IS NOT an RCI website, therefore, the information you are giving is NOT what RCI recommends. Just because you chose, to cheat the stewards out of half their tips because some "other" site says so doesn't make it RIGHT!!! I am sure I could find a website that says it is perfectly okay not to tip at all but that doesn't mean it is RIGHT! Just one person's OPINION...not a fact! And, when you have tips applied to your acct. you can alter the amount yourself if you chose to do so. It doesn't mean it is what is recommended but they can't FORCE you to tip!

[jts510]

[quote name='pinkrosesdeb']That website IS NOT an RCI website, therefore, the information you are giving is NOT what RCI recommends. Just because you chose, to cheat the stewards out of half their tips because some "other" site says so doesn't make it RIGHT!!! I am sure I could find a website that says it is perfectly okay not to tip at all but that doesn't mean it is RIGHT! Just one person's OPINION...not a fact! And, when you have tips applied to your acct. you can alter the amount yourself if you chose to do so. It doesn't mean it is what is recommended but they can't FORCE you to tip![/QUOTE]

What part of THE SHIP ADDED THE AMOUNT TO MY ACCOUNT do you not understand? I don't care what the RCCL webpage says, I have stated numerous times from personal experience the reality of the situation. All you people posting this and that are not even speaking from experience with kids and tipping so just keep it to yourself. Go tell the guy who did the tipping page he is wrong, I don't really care anymore. The facts are from personal experience the cruise lines my child has been on (NCL, Carnival & RCCL) ALL automatically added her tip as 1/2 the adult rate. I guess on my next cruise I will tell the Purser they don't know what they are doing and you guys with absolutely no experience in this matter, know more than they do. Hopefully, I have helped the original poster with facts from personal experience instead of confusing comments from so called experts that have no experience in this matter at all.

[MakinGold]

[quote name='jts510']The tips were automatically added to my accounts and the tips the CRUISE LINE added for my child was 1/2 the adult amount. And if you brainiacs went to the tipping website and added a child to the equation, you would see that the total amount for a standard tip included HALF for the child. As I stated before, for the mathematically challenged, get out your calculators and you will see that the total includes HALF for the child. What I have stated are facts and personal experience with what the cruise lines add to the onboard account in an attempt to help the original poster. If one wants to tip more, then do it. But if one wants the tips automatically added to their account, it will be done at 1/2 adult rate for the child. Period![/quote]

It seems, looking back, as if you started all this animosity by saying everyone else was wrong and your way was right. If you want some real facts, look here:

[URL]http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=266[/URL]

Several lines, including RCL/Celebrity, Carnival/Princess and Disney recommend the same level of gratuities for both children and adults. Some others, including NCL, HAL and Costa, recommend half the normal adult tip for children.

Since this is the Royal Caribbean board, those who say you should tip the same as for an adult are correct.

BTW, from [B]PERSONAL EXPERIENCE[/B] with three cruises with my son, I know that RCI adds tips at the full amount for children, when you have them added to your shipboard account.