$600 Charge for Two year old

[bdmarine]

I think they should charge more for two year olds than for adult passengers. I didn't pay my hard earned money for a vacation to be tripping over some mewling baby. I don't appreciate the screaming and food throwing at meals. I don't appreciate the spice they add to the swimming pool.

 

I wonder sometimes why people think their children are some kind of gift to the world, a gift that I have to support with my tax dollars and my forebearance for the chaos they inject into my life. Pay for your own children and get your hands out of my pocket.

[jhannah]

Meow!

[Giorgi-one]

dam1050:

 

Are we getting a little testy? Or are you just jealous that you cannot afford to book 4 SS suites?

 

Actually, we are about the least demanding people who ever boarded a cruise ship. When the room steward comes in, he usually jokes that it looks like no one has been in the cabin. We keep everything in its place and there is never anything lying around. We usually reuse our towels for more than one day as suggested to save water, etc. In 14 cruises, we have used room service about 3 times. And we always tip the waiters and room stewards about twice the suggested tip.

 

As I responded to Seattle Holland Dude, you have no idea of someones financial position just because they have booked a suite. They may have saved 10 years for this one vacation. Remember the first three letters in the work assume.

[gizmo]

Iluvcruzin;

 

Different issue. Most posters are justifying high charges for 3rd and 4th passengers based on cost for food which is very small in the overall scheme of things. Also, remember that most waiters and room stewards are on a fixed salary and that extra tips for 3rd and 4th passengers goes directly to HAL. Waiters and stewards make out better if additional passengers leave extra tips.

Where did this piece of information come from? I have never heard of Hal getting the tips for the 3rd and 4th pax.:confused:

 

 

Actually, everyone makes out better except the four passengers in the same room who are now like sardines.

Not true. Singles have to pay anywhere from 150% to 200%.

[doone]

I get a cabin to myself, never thought the single supplement was fair either, but it is what it is, I pay it and I have an absolutely wonderful time.

[Giorgi-one]

Gizmo:

 

Under the new tipping system, all tips go to HAL. The waiters, stewards, etc. are paid a salary based on experience, position, etc.

[Giorgi-one]

Gizmo:

 

I am not trying to stick it to singles, but that is just my point. Cabin pricing is based on double occupancy. So, if rate per person is $1,000, the cabin is worth $2000 to HAL. That is why the single rate is usually 200%. Very little of that fare goes toward consumables like food.

 

My point is that once the $2,000 is paid by the first two passengers, most of the fare from the 3rd and 4th passengers in the same cabin is pure profit. And the additional money in tips, casino, excursions, etc. is like hitting the lottery!

[peaches from georgia]

Under the new tipping system, all tips go to HAL. The waiters, stewards, etc. are paid a salary based on experience, position, etc.

 

ALL TIPS GO TO HAL? Not so.

 

The automatic tips put on a pax' ship account (the $10/pp/day) are pooled and divided- $3 to the room steward, $3 to the dining steward, and the remaining $4 divided among several other employees. Anything you tip directly to a steward in cash over and above the automatic $10 tip he may keep and it is not pooled with anybody else.

 

I don't see where ANY of these tips are going to Holland America. They are all going to the stewards and/or other employees in one way or the other, but they are not kept by the cruiseline. :confused:

[sail7seas]

I asked, and asked and asked various stewards on Maasdam last week about where additional tips above and beyond the $10 pp per day goes. Each and every one of them assured us that the additional envelopes we gave them were theirs to keep and would not be shared. The only sharing is out of the $10 charged to our accounts.I agree that an additional charge for small children in a cabin is appropriate and tipping in at least the same amount as all other passengers is earned by the hard working stewards who will take extra care for the children.

[JoeCruisin]

This is even more of an issue for someone like me. My wife and I are bringing our 11 month old daughter on a cruise in October. We are also cruising with Grandma and Grandpa so we can have someone help watch her while we're on vacation. This was one of the main reasons we booked a cruise in the first place. She will still be on formula at the time which means she will consume no food from Holland America and she is too young for any of the kids programs. But we will have to pay $600 for her to go. I have no problem paying the govt and port charges but the $390 or whatever it is HAL is charging for her seems quite ridiculous. Every other vacation medium (all inclusives, regular resorts, etc) charge $0 for kids under 2. Why should crusing be different?

[digby]

I asked, and asked and asked various stewards on Maasdam last week about where additional tips above and beyond the $10 pp per day goes. Each and every one of them assured us that the additional envelopes we gave them were theirs to keep and would not be shared. The only sharing is out of the $10 charged to our accounts.n

 

 

That is the direct opposite of what we were told on the Westerdam by the cruise director. Maybe your stewards hide those extra envelopes?

[doone]

Joecruisin, HAL will provide babyfood, not sure about formular, diapers, etc if you notify them ahead of time. At least you won't have to perhaps pack formula and diapers, but its worth asking. I read it in the back of the brochure.

[peaches from georgia]

That is the direct opposite of what we were told on the Westerdam by the cruise director. Maybe your stewards hide those extra envelopes?

 

If the pax removes the automatic $10/pp/day from his ship account and then gives cash directly to his stewards, then the steward must turn in the cash tip to be pooled. However, if the pax does not remove the auto tip from his account and in addition to that tips a steward in extra cash, then the steward may keep the extra and it is not pooled.

 

HAL is just assuring that up to $10/pp/day is pooled. Anything over that is not. I think enough posters here have been on cruises under the new system for this to be pretty much the known, accepted and correct procedure.

[Giorgi-one]

Peaches:

 

I read several posts on this board which indicated that waiters, room steward, etc. were now on a salary based on experience. The $10 per day collected from each passenger may be used to pay these salaries. I would assume that is why HAL makes such a big fuss if anyone has the $10 taken off their account.

 

Can anyone confirm this?

[gizmo]

Gizmo:

 

Under the new tipping system, all tips go to HAL. The waiters, stewards, etc. are paid a salary based on experience, position, etc.

This is not correct. See the post by Peaches who explained it. Where did you get your infomation?

 

My point is that once the $2,000 is paid by the first two passengers, most of the fare from the 3rd and 4th passengers in the same cabin is pure profit. And the additional money in tips, casino, excursions, etc. is like hitting the lottery!

Cruise lines are in the business to make a profit. The 3rd and 4th pax are at a reduced fare since they are sharing. It is not pure profit.

[blndee77]

This is even more of an issue for someone like me. My wife and I are bringing our 11 month old daughter on a cruise in October. We are also cruising with Grandma and Grandpa so we can have someone help watch her while we're on vacation. This was one of the main reasons we booked a cruise in the first place. She will still be on formula at the time which means she will consume no food from Holland America and she is too young for any of the kids programs. But we will have to pay $600 for her to go. I have no problem paying the govt and port charges but the $390 or whatever it is HAL is charging for her seems quite ridiculous. Every other vacation medium (all inclusives, regular resorts, etc) charge $0 for kids under 2. Why should crusing be different?

JoeCruisin - We booked the Z for an end of Sept cruise with our DD who will be 14 mos at the time. We're in the process of transitioning her over to milk and table food so that we don't have to lug as much! We are booked in an A cabin (the highest verandah below the SS mini-suite) and we are paying $175 for her fare plus the port charges and takes of approx $150. Much more reasonable than your $600. Does anyone know why the difference? Do infants in suites get charged that much more? Or is it by the week travelled? I would think October is also off-season and wouldn't cost as much as the summer or big school vacation weeks.

[Giorgi-one]

I noticed that most people had no problem in paying additional port charges for the 3rd or 4th person in a cabin. I am still not convinced that there are any additional port charges for extra passengers. I briefly checked the topic in Google and found that most port charges are based on the GRT of the ship. I cannot be sure, but I am guessing that cruise lines determine the port charge based on a predetermined number of passengers, probably based on less than full capacity so they will not lose money. Someone out there will confirm sooner or later.

[cruzincurt]

Seems to me the port charge is per person. There was just an article in our paper that Tampa and some other ports such as Gulfport are fighting for cruise ship business. I think Tampa lowered their per person charge to $6.75 per person. I also heard some time in the past that dockage is charged per foot of the ship times duration. Perhaps that's why ships seem to be cutting their in-port times.

[CoastalCounseling]

I think they should charge more for two year olds than for adult passengers. I didn't pay my hard earned money for a vacation to be tripping over some mewling baby. I don't appreciate the screaming and food throwing at meals. I don't appreciate the spice they add to the swimming pool.

 

I wonder sometimes why people think their children are some kind of gift to the world, a gift that I have to support with my tax dollars and my forebearance for the chaos they inject into my life. Pay for your own children and get your hands out of my pocket.

 

 

 

***** may help. :) SMILE!

 

(Im a therapist... Im allowed to suggest this!) :)

[Roadguy]

I find this entire thread to be a joke.

Original complaints were:

$600 for a 2yo- then posts that it isn't a problem.

$10 per day- will have it removed-suggesting no tipping

port charges- who ever worries about them.

 

I still don't understand takin a 2yo on a cruise?

[gizmo]

Sorry Girogi-one, we posted at almost the same time and I did not see yours. Maybe you misunderstood what you read about the tips and salaries. Salaries are seperate. There has been complaining about tipping and some comments like Hal should pay there salaries, and I don't want to pay their salary. Most of these comments referrenced that 4.00 that is split between "behind the scenes people".

[Giorgi-one]

Roadguy:

 

Sorry if my opinions don't live up to your high values. But to recap for you:

 

1. Yes, I think $600 is a bit much for a two year old sharing a cabin. I didn't change my mind, I simply moved onto another connected topic.

 

2. Charging almost 90% of regular fare for 3rd or 4th persons is too high based on the difference in cost for food, etc. which is minimal. I will never have a 3rd or 4th person in a room, so this is just an observation.

 

3. As far as port charges are concerned, I am just not sure how they are charged and how the cruise lines calculate them. I don't worry about them but they sometimes amount to almost 20% of the full fare. So if you shop around to save $50 on your cruise, you would better spend your time worrying about port charges.

[WindyCity]

Just curious - does the cruise line provide a crib for the child? diapers? formula? baby food? Does the cruise line not have to pay for these items? Even if the child is on breast milk, there are other expenses. Bedding for leaky diapers (and it does happen) Don't you think there is some cost involved in this? If you feel that the cost is too high, maybe you should consider another type of vacation.

[dam1050]

Are we getting a little testy? Or are you just jealous that you cannot afford to book 4 SS suites?

 

No, "we" are certainly not getting testy, nor am I jealous in the least about your cabins category. What makes you think I could not afford suites?

 

What I was saying (and perhaps I did not write clearly enough to be understood) -- was that if I was paying for a suite I would certainly NOT be trying to nickel and dime room stewards when you don't think you should have to pay for your children.

 

Remember the first three letters in the work assume.

 

And you might want to remember how to spell "WORD" before calling others an ass.

[Golfgrl1911]

When I was a young child, (1960's), My parents believed that children were children and adults were adults. This was a time when the kids ate hot dogs while the adults ate steak. I do not remember going to kiddieland at 2 years old, I've only seen the pictures.....why in the world would the parents not want to enjoy the time by themselves when the baby isn't even going to remember ANYTHING??? Get a babysitter, (Gram & Gramps), enjoy the adult experience and let the people who have chosen not to have children or already have raised them the peace and quiet of their exclusive and expensive vacation. This is not and infant oriented vacation....leave that for Disney or Universal.......sorry to sound so anti-child but I really believe that this is an adult type experience. Save your money for Disney in the future when the kids will remember and appreciate it. Sorry if I've ruffled some feathers but I've been on a ship where the baby cried the entire dinner hour. Not fun for me!!:eek: