Gratuities for under 2 year olds?

[Prinycesa07]

I read that Carnival doesn't automatically charge gratuities for passengers under 2. Is this correct? If so, do i just go to the service desk and add them on if I wish?

 

Also, my 2.5 yr old will be in camp carnival. Do her tips go to them or do i tip them separately? Thanks so much, just trying to save & budget now.

[cb at sea]

You can add them for your child, or just hand out cash tips in addition to your pre-paid on the last night....that would be a nice thing to do. The room attendant will be cleaning up after your child as they would for you, and the dining room staff will be serving her, too....

 

The kid's club staff aren't "service" tipped people. Unless they go out of their way to do something really special, no tips for them are needed.

[Prinycesa07]

Awesome, thanks! Yeah, i will add on for him. She will already be included (will be almost 3).

[mary_228]

The kid's club staff aren't "service" tipped people. Unless they go out of their way to do something really special, no tips for them are needed.

Wrong wrong wrong. CB at sea, I wish you would stop posting this ill-conceived notion. Have you ever left your children in the Youth Program? If so, perhaps you will remember that the staff there played an enormous role in ensuring the happiness of your child and as a result, the enjoyment of the entire family. These workers earn less than minimum wage, yet, as any parent knows, work extremely hard taking care of your child. They are perhaps far more deserving of a tip than many onboard with respect to the amount of enjoyment one receives from any given service, yet most parents blithely walk away from hours upon hours of care without so much as a thank you, thanks in part to the misinformation you supply time and time again on this board.

 

Parents, please consider giving a tip or at least positive feedback on the post-cruise survey to the Youth Staff if you were happy with the care your child received.

[queenL]

It is true that most lines do not require tips for children under 2. They leave that to your discretion. That said, I've never sailed a cruise line that wouldn't allow you to add additional to your room or leave additional $ in envelopes.

 

I'm not sure why cb at sea was flamed. She has been on these boards a long time and has helped a lot of cruisers. Besides what she said was factual. The cruise line DOES NOT consider the kids club to be service staff and DOES NOT require a tip. She wasn't trying to dissuade anyone from exercising their right to choose.

[mary_228]

I'm not sure why cb at sea was flamed. She wasn't trying to dissuade anyone from exercising their right to choose.

I have read multiple posts by cb at sea on this topic and while he or she says "no tips are needed" on this post, on others the message has been that these are highly trained professionals, with the implication that tipping is inappropriate. They may be highly trained, in that some have teaching degrees, but they are not highly paid. My post was an attempt to counter that message with some factual information and my own perspective on the role Youth Staff plays in the overall satisfaction of a family cruise.

[calikak]

When we cruised with our under-2 son on NCL 4 years ago, they automatically charged us tips for him. So, I'd just check once you get onboard to see what your cruise line is currently doing, to make sure you're tipping the amount you want to.

 

(Personally, I think our cabin steward deserved an extra tip for having to take out our trash filled with DS's stinky diapers. LOL!)

[Prinycesa07]

When we cruised with our under-2 son on NCL 4 years ago, they automatically charged us tips for him. So, I'd just check once you get onboard to see what your cruise line is currently doing, to make sure you're tipping the amount you want to.

 

(Personally, I think our cabin steward deserved an extra tip for having to take out our trash filled with DS's stinky diapers. LOL!)

 

Hmmm, interesting. THey must have changed their policy. We sailed with NCL 2 years ago, DD was 10 months old and they didnt charge tips automatically. I'll defintiely check into it, thanks!

[Prinycesa07]

Wrong wrong wrong. CB at sea, I wish you would stop posting this ill-conceived notion. Have you ever left your children in the Youth Program? If so, perhaps you will remember that the staff there played an enormous role in ensuring the happiness of your child and as a result, the enjoyment of the entire family. These workers earn less than minimum wage, yet, as any parent knows, work extremely hard taking care of your child. They are perhaps far more deserving of a tip than many onboard with respect to the amount of enjoyment one receives from any given service, yet most parents blithely walk away from hours upon hours of care without so much as a thank you, thanks in part to the misinformation you supply time and time again on this board.

 

Parents, please consider giving a tip or at least positive feedback on the post-cruise survey to the Youth Staff if you were happy with the care your child received.

 

Wow, thanks! I had no idea that they made less than minimum wage. THey absolutely should be tipped then!

[cruzinlisa]

When we went on Carnival Conquest in April they did not charge us tips for DD (15 months). We prepaid our tips and they only charged us for the two of us. We gave our room steward an extra cash tip. We would have given them to our wait staff but we were not happy with the service. DD was too young for regular kids club. We used after hours baby sitting 1 time for a couple of hours and did not tip extra because they added a 15% gratuity to the price. Regular camp I would tip for, since its included in the cruise there is not an added gratuity.