Charging For Infants on Cruises

[Babo02]

My niece, her husband and their 7 month-old daughter will be cruising in May. My brother told me that it is costing them $800.00 for their infant daughter and I was amazed. Is it normally that expensive for infants to travel?

[tuggers]

Yes. On the up side I understand that they will furnish things like baby food and diapers with advance notice. But everyone knows I have 4 legged kids (oh, and Cody, she has two legs) so they may have been funning me on that one!:D

[mahdnc]

Children 2 yrs old and under used to cruise for free on Celebrity when traveling as a 3rd/4th passenger in a cabin (they did have to pay for port taxes & fees). This practice was discontinued beginning with the 1999-2000 cruise season.

[lysolqn]

Our children have been cruising with us every year since our grandchild was four months old. At first glance, the idea of paying full fare for an infant is outrageous (frankly, it's outrageous at second glance too!), but we've had no choice but to pay.

 

X charges full fare for infants and children as a 3rd or 4th passenger in a cabin, and even as a second passenger in a cabin. The rationale is that the cruiseline has a per passenger break point at which its operating costs are covered, unlike hotels which have a per room break point. Since an infant occupies a berth that might otherwise be occupied by an adult, chargng anything less than full fare means the cruiseline is operating at a loss for that particular berth. Then add to that onboard revenue that is generated by adult passengers (pure profit for the most part) like drinks, photos, souvenirs, shore excursions, spa treatments, etc., but not generated by an infant, and that berth is really operating at a deficit.

 

Correction, Tuggers, while X does provide baby food (provided you arrange for it at least three weeks prior to a cruise), it does not provide diapers.

[hajekfam]

Children 2 yrs old and under used to cruise for free on Celebrity when traveling as a 3rd/4th passenger in a cabin (they did have to pay for port taxes & fees). This practice was discontinued beginning with the 1999-2000 cruise season.

 

Let's see - Celebrity merged into Royal Caribbean in 1997, could that be the first season totally planned by Royal?

[mahdnc]

Let's see - Celebrity merged into Royal Caribbean in 1997, could that be the first season totally planned by Royal?

 

Yes, that occurred to me as well. Even if that was the case I would think that Celebrity would have eventually dropped it on its own anyway. Are there any cruise lines left that still do this (infants cruise for free)?

[bigbratt]

We cruised on RCCL last year (7night) with our children and grandchildren. We had a suite and our daughter and 1 yr old granddaughter stayed with us. DH & I of course paid full and DD and DGD $199 ea. as 3rd & 4th pax. My son, DDIL and 7yr old DGD had an OV and DGD 3rd pax, so $199 for her too. They really spoiled our granddaughters in the dining room. We had a fantastic time. Hope you do too.

Connie

[zaandam_2]

Yes, that occurred to me as well. Even if that was the case I would think that Celebrity would have eventually dropped it on its own anyway. Are there any cruise lines left that still do this (infants cruise for free)?

 

If there is a line where infants cruise for free, I'd really like to know about it :eek:

[HARTREF]

I was told by a travel agent that Disney & Norwegian allow infants to cruise for free.

[HurricaneSally]

I know that Norwegian only charges taxes and port fees for infants, maybe you should look to that line.

[shadow8899]

It is the port fees that are really expensive, not the fare that they charge for the 3rd and 4th pax. We will be cruising in May and the port charges and taxes are almost the same amount as the fare.

 

By the way, Celebrity will provide baby food (premade stuff) and formula, but you have to give advanced notice, up to 80 days for some destinations. They will however puree whatever you want without advanced notice.

[Chick's pal]

If you think about it for just a few minutes, you can understand that even though the passenger is an infant, the little darling still uses many aspects of the ship and causes labor to be incurred.

 

1. Ship must keep track of the passengers on their manifest, etc. I assume they keep track of even babies on all government paperwork as well as corporate records. (We've all heard the horror stories of little ones being listed on the no-fly list, so assume the US is keeping track of them as if they were big people.)

 

2. "Waste" happens, biological and otherwise. Even if you just wipe baby's nose, that kleenex has to be incinerated. We all know babies' needs include lots of disposable items like diapers, wipes, etc. (No one wants to bag those used ones up for the week and take them home to throw out like you would on a camping trip.)

 

3. Water is used for bathing, that water needs to be conditioned and heated on board.

 

4. Towels and linens are used. They need to be laundered and staff need to remove dirty and return clean linens to the stateroom.

 

5. Some accommodation must be made for feeding, even if the passenger supplies food...need refrigeration? Maybe dishes? Want something warmed?

 

6. One might want some sort of crib or contraption for sleeping.

 

7. One might use a babysitter, and we know that the cost to the parent does not cover the ship's costs in having a "supply" of people on board who can / will deviate from their normal day's events to provide this service.

 

7. And, in my opinion, the most important reason: All attention is given to life safety in an emergency REGARDLESS of the age of the passenger. $800 may be a small price to pay to know there are infant lifejackets and procedures in place to accommodate the rescue of infants. The cruiseline had to pay the costs associated with developing these procedures and acquiring these supplies, and it seems fair that the "end-user" is involved in recouping those costs.

 

Have a great trip. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long life of awesome travel opportunities for the little ones.