Tipping for toddlers?

[tweegalady]

I understand that the tipping guidelines are per person, and that a toddler is, most assuredly, a person :) , but I'm still curious about whether those of you that travel with babies or toddlers take them into consideration as a third (or fourth, fifth, whatever...) person when tipping. I can understand doing it for children that are a bit of a handful and create extra work for stateroom attendants and wait staff.....but what about kids that don't really generate extra work, and in fact use many fewer services aboard (not eating or drinking much, too young to participate in AO activites, etc.)?

 

My son is 2, yet he's been dining with us in restaurants since he was an infant, and we've never had issues with him acting up at the table....seriously. He isn't a messy child - and I'm a bit of a neat freak anyway, so there's never much beyond the norm that needs tidying in our stateroom, much less additional mess from my son. I have no problems whatsoever in tipping cruise staff for the hard work that they do, and won't hesitate to add a little extra for those that really went above and beyond....but in circumstances where the children are very young and there aren't any special circumstances, would you expect to tip for the little guys? Full amount, or half, or ????

 

Thanks for your input!

[Merion_Mom]

I understand that the tipping guidelines are per person, and that a toddler is, most assuredly, a person :) , but I'm still curious about whether those of you that travel with babies or toddlers take them into consideration as a third (or fourth, fifth, whatever...) person when tipping. I can understand doing it for children that are a bit of a handful and create extra work for stateroom attendants and wait staff.....but what about kids that don't really generate extra work, and in fact use many fewer services aboard (not eating or drinking much, too young to participate in AO activites, etc.)?

 

My son is 2, yet he's been dining with us in restaurants since he was an infant, and we've never had issues with him acting up at the table....seriously. He isn't a messy child - and I'm a bit of a neat freak anyway, so there's never much beyond the norm that needs tidying in our stateroom, much less additional mess from my son. I have no problems whatsoever in tipping cruise staff for the hard work that they do, and won't hesitate to add a little extra for those that really went above and beyond....but in circumstances where the children are very young and there aren't any special circumstances, would you expect to tip for the little guys? Full amount, or half, or ????

 

Thanks for your input!

 

.....I understand that if I am a bit of a handful, and create extra work for stateroom attendant and wait staff, but what if I don't really generate extra work, and in fact use many fewer services aboard (not eating or drinking much, too old :D to participate in rockclimbing or basketball or other athletic activities? I am 49, yet I've been dining out in restaurants since I was an infant, and no one has ever had issues with me acting up at the table.....seriously. I'm not a messy person - and I'm a bit of a neat freak anyway, so there's never much beyond the norm that needs tidying in our stateroom, much less additional mess from me.

 

I have no problems whatsoever in tipping cruise staff for the hard work that they do, and won't hesitate to add a little extra for those that really went above and beyond....but in circumstances where I am 49 and there aren't any special circumstances, would you expect to tip for me? Full amount, or half, or ????

 

********************

 

I'm not poking fun at you, tweegalady, I just want you to see how your question reads with just a few changes of nouns and pronouns. Why shouldn't you tip the full amount for your son? He is, as you said, a person, a passenger. Yes, you should tip the full amount. He will receive AT LEAST the normal amount of service from your steward and your waiters. You should give them AT LEAST the normal amount of gratuity.

 

Carol

[toolongnocruise]

Where you say you have no problem tipping for those who go above and beyond the call of duty...well, that will do it right there --- at least that has been my experience. When the staff see your child -- they WILL go above and beyond. You will have towel animals every evening to entertain your son, you will have extra treats for him in the cabin and the wait staff will be sure he has a suitable child's type meal if you so desire. Time permitting, he may be treated to napkin tricks too.

 

I would just plan on the full tip if I were you. When all is said and done, you may feel you should leave even more. At least that has been our experience in travel with nephews at age 5 and 18 months, and with our own son at ages 6,8,and 9

[tweegalady]

No worries about "poking fun"....it was a fresh perspective, and I hadn't thought about it that way.

 

I'm just a bit new to all this, really - only a couple of cruises under my belt, and only one with my son, and that was just a 3 day repositioning tacked onto Disney when he was a lot younger. At the time I did tip the full amount - but it was brought up to me by more than a few people that it wasn't necessary. Friends mentioned a policy on...I *think* it was Carnival?...that the guidelines for kids 2 and under were essentially half the recommended amounts, and that's why I was wondering.

 

I think the reason I'm thinking about it more this time is that hubby went ahead and booked a GS, as our local TA had a great offer. I've since learned that tipping guidelines for suite categories are higher than other staterooms....I know that the money is well-earned, but I suppose I've just been questioning whether it's really necessary to tip what amounts to over 16.00 p/day for a toddler - and please understand, I'm not at all suggesting that we shouldn't tip anything! - when adults in lower cabin categories are paying less, yet possibly utilizing the staff more (in terms of making requests for time and services, as opposed to having the staff choose to lavish time and attention).

 

Thanks for responding.

[barbgazz]

In my opinion, you should tip the full amount for children, however, some cruise lines say only half tip is necessary. Opinions on this will vary. It certainly doesn't seem fair that a cruise filled with children/toddlers will produce less of a paycheck for staff that week. After all, they also have families to support and still have to work the same number of hours per day, even though most of the vacationers are children.

[1corona4u]

A child is charged the same as an adult for the cruise, aren't they? So why wouldn't someone tip as if they were an adult? I haven't read the whole thread, but it's not as if kids don't add to the workload of the staff......I believe tips are requested per person. No age is attached to that.

[49holding]

We have cruised 6 times with our children starting when they were 9 and 12 and have always tipped at least the full amount if not more except on the triumph where we experienced extremely poor service in the DR and from our room steward. I am not a tightwad, always tip 20% in a land base restaurant, however I would feel hard pressed to tip the extra suggested gratuitiy for a suite for a toddler. I would tip the RS 3.50 per day for the toddler in the suite.

[just4kixx]

Just wondering how you came up with the $16./day in tips figure. If memory serves me correctly, it is more like $12./day for suite guests. Not much difference , but over the course of a week it adds up ;)

 

A~ :)

[ducklite]

Actually I would think a toddler would cause more work. Diapers in the garbage, a crib of some sort which poassibly needs fresh linens more often than an adults bed would, etc.

 

I would plan on tipping fully for my child.

 

Anne

[Stircrzy]

....but in circumstances where the children are very young and there aren't any special circumstances, would you expect to tip for the little guys? Full amount, or half, or ????

Thanks for your input!

 

I would (and have in the past) tip the full amount.

[Travelgrrl]

One way to look at it is that the ships are capacity controlled. If it's a popular sailing and the ship is full, your 2 year old counts as much as a 50 year old in terms of passage.

 

And waiters, cabin stewards and so on are assigned their workload based on X number of people (and correspondingly, tables and cabins), so your son represents a figure, a certain tip they are hoping for, for the week, just as they would expect it from an adult.

 

On the other hand, no one is going to stone you (on board) for giving 100% for you and your husband plus another 50% for your son. There are plenty of people who tip less than that.

 

I have always tipped over the recommended amount (or that amount plus a gift, such as a Christmas stocking or Easter basket or whatever) for me and my kids, but they were never that young.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Devo1994]

The way I look at it is...tip what the person deserves and what you can afford! Cruising is expensive and it takes alot of hard work just to save up enough money to pay for a family of 4. Not all of us are blessed with wealth.

[barbgazz]

I think tipping should be budgeted for and not just what you want to give because you really can't afford to cruise. If you can't afford tipping then you can't afford to cruise. Stay home.

[raerae]

I have to agree with barbgazz, you really need to budget and save for the full tips also. If you can't afford the tips then maybe you are over-extending yourself by cruising. :rolleyes:

 

The crew work very hard and it is a known fact that they count on their tips as salary. If you and every other passenger tipped what they could afford....the pampering would not exist. :eek:

Cindy ;)

[MrsPete]

Dining room tips -- I think you should tip the full amount for a toddler. The waiter is probably going to bring some type of food for the toddler, and cleaning up after him or her will take effort. On the other hand, I would not tip for an infant who just slept next to the table, or whom I fed a bottle (prepared by me, of course) during dinner. Because an infant would not be eating, he would cause the waiter no extra effort.

 

Stateroom tips -- I would probably tip 1/2 of an adult's amount for a toddler (my children were potty trained as toddlers, and I'm making that assumption here). The steward is coming to the room every day anyway. Cleaning the bathroom and vaccuming the floor require the same amount of effort regardless of whether the room is occupied by 2 adults or 2 adults plus a toddler. The only extra work required by the toddler's presence would be removing one extra towel each day and making the sofa into a bed each evening.

[madforcruising]

The way I look at it is...tip what the person deserves and what you can afford! Cruising is expensive and it takes alot of hard work just to save up enough money to pay for a family of 4. Not all of us are blessed with wealth.

 

Sorry but I have to disagree with this. The amount that is tipped should have absolutely nothing to do with what you can afford. The staff is working very hard and should get paid for it.

You know upfront how much the cruise will be for your family of four and you know about the tipping guidelines upfront, so you can calculate how much money you´ll need at least for tipping for your family of four. If you can´t afford it stay at home or take a vacation you can afford. I´m not blessed with wealth but tipping is part of the vacation cost and I take it into consideration before booking. If I can´t afford it I may have to wait a little longer until I can spend the money.

I know it´s a tipping guideline and if a crew member is delivering poor service the tipped amount should reflect that. But please never look for reasons to not tip the crew just because you don´t have the money left at the end of vacation. They worked hard for their money and they deserve to get paid for it.

I´ve seen too many people that spent too much during their vacation so there was no money left for tips at the end. That´s poor:mad: .

 

 

To the OP. I would plan to tip the full amount and decide towards the end how much of a tip the crew onboard deserves for serving your toddler.

[tweegalady]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

And, just to clarify again - I'm not AT ALL suggesting that I don't plan to tip for my son!! The increased tipping guidelines for suite categories are new, and I'm aware that some people feel that they shouldn't be higher than any other category, and so I wondered what ya'll would do with a child in that situation, that's all. Other cruise lines suggest 50%, and I couldn't find anything on RCCL that addressed my question directly.

 

With regards to staying home if you can't afford to tip - I don't know that I can completely agree with that. For all intents and purposes, and as much as the cruise lines like to do everything to indicate otherwise, tipping ISN'T mandatory! Is it deserved? Absolutely. Is it proper? Of course. But suggesting that someone who, for whatever reason, can't swing to the full amount should just forget going on vacation is ridiculous! There are plenty of people for whom money isn't an issue that either don't tip, or tip much less than the recommended amounts - and their reasons for doing so can be somewhat flimsy, IMO.

[Tjukka]

I understand that the tipping guidelines are per person, and that a toddler is, most assuredly, a person :) , but I'm still curious about whether those of you that travel with babies or toddlers take them into consideration as a third (or fourth, fifth, whatever...) person when tipping. I can understand doing it for children that are a bit of a handful and create extra work for stateroom attendants and wait staff.....but what about kids that don't really generate extra work, and in fact use many fewer services aboard (not eating or drinking much, too young to participate in AO activites, etc.)?

 

My son is 2, yet he's been dining with us in restaurants since he was an infant, and we've never had issues with him acting up at the table....seriously. He isn't a messy child - and I'm a bit of a neat freak anyway, so there's never much beyond the norm that needs tidying in our stateroom, much less additional mess from my son. I have no problems whatsoever in tipping cruise staff for the hard work that they do, and won't hesitate to add a little extra for those that really went above and beyond....but in circumstances where the children are very young and there aren't any special circumstances, would you expect to tip for the little guys? Full amount, or half, or ????

 

Thanks for your input!

 

I would tip double the amout for toddlers and children because they make twice the mess. Just my opinion.

 

Tj

[tweegalady]

Tj, I think that's a very general assumption!

[madforcruising]

With regards to staying home if you can't afford to tip - I don't know that I can completely agree with that. For all intents and purposes, and as much as the cruise lines like to do everything to indicate otherwise, tipping ISN'T mandatory! Is it deserved? Absolutely. Is it proper? Of course. But suggesting that someone who, for whatever reason, can't swing to the full amount should just forget going on vacation is ridiculous!

 

IMHO it´s absolutely NOT ridiculous. We all know that the crew is not properly paid by the cruise line and that the tips are their real salary. Knowing this we have to take the recommended amount as part of the cruise fare although it´s not built in upfront. If it would have been built in as some cruise lines do it already I would have to decide upfront if I can afford it or not too.

So is it ridiculous to say someone has to stay at home when he can´t afford to pay for the cruise fare ???. I think you would say no if it would be a cruise line where the tips have to be paid for upfront. How is it different from a line like RCCL where the tip is paid onboard.

I think nobody shoud receive a service an don´t pay for it. If you use any local service buiseness at home you have to pay for it too and can´t tell them after being served sorry I can´t afford to pay for it.

 

 

There are plenty of people for whom money isn't an issue that either don't tip, or tip much less than the recommended amounts - and their reasons for doing so can be somewhat flimsy, IMO.

 

I know that there are people llike that out there and it´s not right either, however it doesn´t make a difference. If one makes something wrong it´s not right to do the same. If they jump of the bridge you won´t do it either.

[malsha]

I would tip double the amout for toddlers and children because they make twice the mess. Just my opinion.

 

Tj

 

Uh, well sorry to say that is just a falsehood. Maybe if I had toys that he could spill all over but what is there in the room for my son to make a mess with? Nada. And my toddler son is actually a neat eater. I on the other hand am usually the messy one. But regardless I clean my messes and my son's up at home or at a restaurant. My son also will be in the fold out couch in our stateroom, not a crib. Very rude assumption TJ.

 

OP, I also am taking my 2 year old on a cruise in a week (YEH!) and we plan to tip the full amount but we have a standard ocean view stateroom. My suggestion would be to tip for your toddler as they were in a standard room and you and your husband for a suite. That is about 75%.

[madforcruising]

Uh, well sorry to say that is just a falsehood. Maybe if I had toys that he could spill all over but what is there in the room for my son to make a mess with? Nada. And my toddler son is actually a neat eater. I on the other hand am usually the messy one. But regardless I clean my messes and my son's up at home or at a restaurant. My son also will be in the fold out couch in our stateroom, not a crib. Very rude assumption TJ.

 

OP, I also am taking my 2 year old on a cruise in a week (YEH!) and we plan to tip the full amount but we have a standard ocean view stateroom. My suggestion would be to tip for your toddler as they were in a standard room and you and your husband for a suite. That is about 75%.

 

What is rude in TJ stating her opinion ???:confused:

 

I can follow the opinion that toddlers can definitely make more mess than others, however there are differences between adults too. I am one that always clears his stuff away before leaving the cabin for the steward to be made up, I think there are many others that leave a lot more mess. I still don´t think that even if I leave less mess I should tip less than recommended.

 

Think about all the diapers that have been taken away from the room by the stewards. I think that allone is a lot more mess.

[tweegalady]

Madforcruising,

 

My point is that NOT everyone "knows" that cruise ship staff are underpaid - I myself didn't at all realize how little they are paid until I started to read posts on boards such as this. There are a lot of people that don't really research particulars such as this before they go on a vacation....and likely believe that staff are paid fairly, and so the tips are more of a "thank you" for that extra special service. A lot of people realize there is a push for tipping on cruise lines, without genuinely understanding why.

 

I still stand by the fact that tipping should be a reflection of service received - not a pre-determined amount regardless. And I also don't necessarily believe that a family of 4 occupying one stateroom, and NOT creating much in the way of additional work for the room steward, should have to feel like they MUST pay double in tips than the double-occupied stateroom next door. That quad stateroom could just as likely have been booked as a double - there's no guarantee that the attendant will receive "x" number of passengers each cruise. What about people who pay the supplement to travel as a single? Since they are potentially "taking away" a tip had that room been booked as a double, should they be expected to tip double? For a family, costs can increase exponentially, yet the level of service doesn't necessarily change (again, this isn't always the case, but for many families it's true). All I'm saying is that - especially in the case of families occupying once space - there are sometimes other factors to consider when deciding on an amount to tip that is fair while still remaining affordable.

[madforcruising]

Madforcruising,

 

My point is that NOT everyone "knows" that cruise ship staff are underpaid - I myself didn't at all realize how little they are paid until I started to read posts on boards such as this. There are a lot of people that don't really research particulars such as this before they go on a vacation....and likely believe that staff are paid fairly, and so the tips are more of a "thank you" for that extra special service. A lot of people realize there is a push for tipping on cruise lines, without genuinely understanding why.

 

I still stand by the fact that tipping should be a reflection of service received - not a pre-determined amount regardless.

 

I know that not everybody is informed about this, but I we are talking about and with people on these boards and most of them are informed. I also think that the cruise lines might rethink the system and I would be much happier if the crew would be paid properly by the cruise line and the tip would be a "thank you" for extra special service. But it´s not the reality right now.

 

And I also don't necessarily believe that a family of 4 occupying one stateroom, and NOT creating much in the way of additional work for the room steward, should have to feel like they MUST pay double in tips than the double-occupied stateroom next door. That quad stateroom could just as likely have been booked as a double - there's no guarantee that the attendant will receive "x" number of passengers each cruise. What about people who pay the supplement to travel as a single? Since they are potentially "taking away" a tip had that room been booked as a double, should they be expected to tip double? For a family, costs can increase exponentially, yet the level of service doesn't necessarily change (again, this isn't always the case, but for many families it's true). All I'm saying is that - especially in the case of families occupying once space - there are sometimes other factors to consider when deciding on an amount to tip that is fair while still remaining affordable.

 

I definitely think that four people occupying a stateroom create much more work to a steward than a couple or a single person. There are four beds instead of two to make up. There are bunk beds to pull up and down each day, or sofa beds to fold out and back every day. There are more towels to change, the cabin will be much more crowded with the additional bedding etc. that makes it much harder to go around in the room (makes it much more complicated to clean up. There is more waste created by four people than by one, ......

Regarding single travelers I have to say again it´s only one bed to be made, waste of one person, etc.

 

The recommendation of the tip is per person, not per double occupancy stateroom. So the family of 4 is recommended a tip for four persons and the single is recommended a tip for one person.

 

I stand by my opinion that if the tip is not affordable for the family, they should save a little longer until it is affordable. The crew should not be held responsible for the money that the travelers are able to spend. It´s as simple as to say you have to pay for the service you received.

 

I´m sure we have to agree to disagree on this topic as I won´t change my mind on this and stand to my opinion as well as I´m sure you´ll stand to your opinion.

 

I know you stated you´ll tip and I´m sure the people that serve you will apreciate it. However I feel sorry for the crew that won´t get their tips from people for whatever reason and not being able to afford it is definitely a poor excuse in my eyes.

[1corona4u]

Dining room tips -- I think you should tip the full amount for a toddler. The waiter is probably going to bring some type of food for the toddler, and cleaning up after him or her will take effort. On the other hand, I would not tip for an infant who just slept next to the table, or whom I fed a bottle (prepared by me, of course) during dinner. Because an infant would not be eating, he would cause the waiter no extra effort.

 

Stateroom tips -- I would probably tip 1/2 of an adult's amount for a toddler (my children were potty trained as toddlers, and I'm making that assumption here). The steward is coming to the room every day anyway. Cleaning the bathroom and vaccuming the floor require the same amount of effort regardless of whether the room is occupied by 2 adults or 2 adults plus a toddler. The only extra work required by the toddler's presence would be removing one extra towel each day and making the sofa into a bed each evening.

 

Making the sofa into a bed, and putting it away in the morning IS extra work. If you had an adult in that bed, you would be tippin for 3 in the cabin.