Tipping for Children?

[TC@SEA]

Do people pay the full recommended tip for children. We have a six year old for which we always tip in full which for the record I have no objection in doing but I have read and heard otherwise.

 

Is there a guideline? I was thinking of families who have three or even four children. Are they expected to pay the full amount.

 

Kind Regards.

[cb at sea]

You should tip the same amount for all persons in your cabin....

[unklez]

Do people pay the full recommended tip for children. We have a six year old for which we always tip in full which for the record I have no objection in doing but I have read and heard otherwise.

 

Is there a guideline? I was thinking of families who have three or even four children. Are they expected to pay the full amount.

 

Kind Regards.

 

Full amount.

[DVC_Chris]

Yes, it is recommended that you pay the full amount per child. Some people feel differently, but it is what RCL recommends.

[TC@SEA]

Interesting - Family of 5, 3 kids, that's one expensive holiday.

[Kim4]

Do people pay the full recommended tip for children. We have a six year old for which we always tip in full which for the record I have no objection in doing but I have read and heard otherwise.

 

Is there a guideline? I was thinking of families who have three or even four children. Are they expected to pay the full amount.

 

Kind Regards.

 

We tipped the full amount for all four of our children. If anything, they caused extra work for the staff, not less.

 

For example:

Our waiter had fruit on the table waiting for all four of my kids

 

The area around my one year old was quite messy and needed a good cleaning each night.

 

There were extra beds for the room steward to make up each day.

 

We factored it into our budget, and with the way my kids were treated, the staff earned every penny (and more :))

[unklez]

Interesting - Family of 5, 3 kids, that's one expensive holiday.

 

You bet.

[MrPete]

Yes, full amount. You may be inclined to up the amount when you see how they treat the kids.

[TC@SEA]

I agree entirely regarding dining room staff. They are absolute stars keeping the kids entertained etc. I was thinking more of the stateroom attendant. Seems a little excessive that you should pay more than twice the amount for what amounts to the same service.

[Kim4]

Interesting - Family of 5, 3 kids, that's one expensive holiday.

 

Just wanted to jump in here -- we're a family of 6. We expect anything we do to be expensive. Just going out to dinner costs us at least $50. (and that's with the two littlest ones sharing off Mom and Dad's plate...it's just going to get worse!)

 

We looked at different options of vacations for our whole family (we had 11 of us that went on this last cruise), and a cruise vacation was the best value for what we got. The crew on our cruise more than earned their tips with their service.

 

I see your point about the stateroom attendant -- but you could make the same argument about having a couple vs. one person in a cabin, whether or not they are kids. The stateroom attendant isn't doing double the work for two people vs. one person in a cabin, but I don't think anyone would try to argue that they should only get tips from one person in the cabin.

[ChipLondon]

Sell the kids and take more cruises............or is that still illegal;):)

[unklez]

Sell the kids and take more cruises............or is that still illegal;):)

 

lol

[daisysheridan]

We tipped the full amount for all four of our children. If anything, they caused extra work for the staff, not less.

 

For example:

Our waiter had fruit on the table waiting for all four of my kids

 

The area around my one year old was quite messy and needed a good cleaning each night.

 

There were extra beds for the room steward to make up each day.

 

We factored it into our budget, and with the way my kids were treated, the staff earned every penny (and more :))

 

 

Yea you! I hope a lot of people read this and end up feeling the same way!

[daisysheridan]

Sell the kids and take more cruises............or is that still illegal;):)

 

A cruise may even be a good time for the children to go visit the grand parents!

[crusinmama06]

Are they expected to pay the full amount.

 

Kind Regards.

 

Yes they are and yes they should. :)

 

My kids get treated better than I do on ships most of the time. They are almost always greeted before I am. They are high fived. Made a zoo of towel animals. Have assistant waiters that make their straw papers into paper straw hearts. And have waiters that make origami frogs out of their kid menus. They are always served first. And are always the first to get a hug when we leave.

 

So, yes, I have no doubt that the crew deserves the full tip amount for the kids. :D And then some. ;)

[akcruz]

We tipped the full amount for all four of our children. If anything, they caused extra work for the staff, not less.

 

For example:

Our waiter had fruit on the table waiting for all four of my kids

 

The area around my one year old was quite messy and needed a good cleaning each night.

 

There were extra beds for the room steward to make up each day.

 

We factored it into our budget, and with the way my kids were treated, the staff earned every penny (and more :))

 

I 100% agree with this. As for the stateroom, little ones can leave extras in the room and often cause additional beds to be needed so there is work for each PERSON in the room. Besides, often times the stateroom attendants will leave extras for the kids (more complex towel animals, additional compasses for their age, etc). Full tips need to be paid for each person sailing regardless of age.

[MrPete]

I agree entirely regarding dining room staff. They are absolute stars keeping the kids entertained etc. I was thinking more of the stateroom attendant. Seems a little excessive that you should pay more than twice the amount for what amounts to the same service.

 

Huh? Making 4 beds instead of 2? Linens for 4 instead of 2? Garbage for 4 instead of 2? Extra towel animals for the kids delight?

 

If the tips are a deal breaker, leave the kids home.

[Rancher Dave]

Full amount Plus!!! DD has always been well cared for by her room steward and the wait staff. Also, by the Concierge so we have gone above and beyond for most of the crew.

[CruiseDreaming]

We give the full tip for our son gladly. He's cruised twice and the staff have always been exceptional to him--particularly the dining room staff. We budget the tip into the entire trip.

 

Kerrie:)

[CruisingGoddess]

We tipped the full amount for all four of our children. If anything, they caused extra work for the staff, not less.

 

Absolutely agree! If anything, you should tip more for each child!!

 

Interesting - Family of 5, 3 kids, that's one expensive holiday.

 

Good reason not to have kids! :D

[RetireeWannabee]

Per Person would mean Per Person.

 

maybe they don't eat as much, but probably make more mess. still use towels, sheets.

[jchiefs13]

My two cents... from waiting tables w/ kids when I was younger and then cleaning hotel rooms too... if you have kids you SHOULD kick in a little extra above the two ppl in the room as you tend to make more of a mess.

 

Now, that isn't everyone. Seriously, if it were me... I'd be doing everything to keep things cleaned up on my own to minimize the extra strain on the staff, and that would be the only way I could justify not paying another full head price on tipping.

 

Judy

[cruzendude]

I'm with the "leave em at home" crowd....better on your wallet and better for my sanity! :eek: :p Better yet....cruise with Disney!!!

[fleckle]

Besides, the children typically sleep on fold-out sofas or pull-down type beds which are even more work for the cabin steward to make up every day than the regular beds for the parents.

 

Another way to look at it is that if you were all adults, nobody would even be questioning whether a short person should pay less than a tall one.

[misika]

Absolutely tip for every person. And if the kids are little, then kick in a little extra because as several have said, the staff takes EXCELLENT care of the kids!

 

We went on a Carnival cruise with my then 3 year old (15 years ago!). Even after 15 years and a couple cruises, my daughter still remembers the waiter's name, Carlos.

 

He went so out of his way to make her trip enjoyable (which made the rest of our group have an enjoyable time!).

 

We have been on cruises since, and the kids have always been treated well, but Carlos sticks out in our minds even after all these years.

 

Some of them have kids at home that they do not get to see, so I think they enjoy that part of the job - getting to interact with kids that are the same age as their kids at home. However, as pointed out above, kids make a bigger mess and require a little extra attention, so the servers/stewards should be rewarded for that.