tipping for baby

[spealex]

Looks to me like you have already made your mind up, so why ask for opinions:confused:

 

I wanted to know what others thought. I have never cruised with a baby and others tipping method is what I wanted to hear. Thanks to those that responded.

[dutchess43]

Last Aug we did a family cruise in three cabins on the Explorer. In one cabin was my DS & DIL with my 14 month old granddaughter at the time. They did not leave the dirty diapers in the room & cleaned up after themselves most of the time. Not only did they tip the cabin person & wait staff the amount requested for the baby but tipped more then what was the required amount. In the cabin when cleaning they have to clean around the pack & play, high chair(the cabin person got one from the dining room) stroller, diapers, bottles etc. It had to take much longer just to move around the balcony cabin & then to clean it & their cabin was spotless. The wait staff could not do enough even helping to escort them to the table & helping with the stroller. High chaair was alway there as well. We brought a portable DVD player to the table each night so if she got a little cranky(no one likes a screaming child) we did not disturb the surrounding guests. Our last night there was a large family next to us & they remarked as how well behave my granddaughter was. We all enjoyed the cruise experience.

[jmcross]

But, please keep in mind that the dining staff is also the Windjammer staff, so if you are feeding him formula rather than breastfeeding, or he is on any kind of solids that you may need to ask for things to be heated (dining or 'Jammer or anywhere), or you use the utensils, napkins, etc., then a nominal dollar or so for clean-up per day would be nice.

 

I completely agree with you but he is solely breastfeeding. No heating of anything. No solid foods at all.

 

Also, I have checked with RCCL on the age of an infant and the 3 month rule is not true. Any age can sail.

 

Sorry to the OP, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. I can just see where the person is coming from about tipping for an infant.

 

Joanne

[katerkat]

Sorry to the OP, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. I can just see where the person is coming from about tipping for an infant.

 

While I agree with you - I don't consider 20 months old, as the OP's baby is, the same as an infant. We thought about cruising when my son was four months old, completely breastfed with no solid foods. I would have an issue tipping the wait staff for him at that age, as he requires nothing from them. (Unless he was awake and the wait staff entertained him.)

 

However, at 20 months old, my son was eating and MESSY. The tip would have been well-worth the amount of food he dropped on the floor and scattered about the table. He'll be a month short of three years on our cruise and I plan on tipping the full amount for both the room and dinner.

[AMommyof2]

Our DS was 12 weeks old and totally breastfed on his 1st cruise. We tipped the room steward for our son, since he did bring the pack-n-play and make it up for our son each night. Did we tip the dining room staff? No! They didn't do anything for him. We brought him into the dining room each night in his stroller and simply put it between our seats. Most nights he was asleep and didn't require anything, from anyone. From his 2nd cruise on, we do pay the full amount for him.

 

On a different note, if you choose to use the baby-sitting service: we tried ONCE to use it. We put in the request, giving them more than the required 24 hrs notice. We were told that we would receive a note in our stateroom to inform us if someone would be available to sit with the kids. When we never got a note, we assumed that noone was available and canceled the plans we had. I put the kids to bed and about 10:30 that night, someone knocked on the door saying she was the babysitting service. Needless to say, I turned her away and DID NOT pay for the service.

 

As other posters have said, your baby will get lots of attention from the staff. I agree about the portable DVD player. Our DS is now 3 and we take his each night, so as not to disturb others in the dining room.

[SusieV]

My point is I will tip based on service, not RCCL's reccomendation. I would rather them give a standard tip per cabin and not per person.

 

That would penalize the solo travellers for no reason. I am sure the more people there are in a room, there more work there is for the steward. It makes perfect sense to charge per person. And I think that the cabin steward absolutely deserves a full tip for an infant or child of any age, if not more!

[Merion_Mom]

Our DS was 12 weeks old and totally breastfed on his 1st cruise. We tipped the room steward for our son, since he did bring the pack-n-play and make it up for our son each night. Did we tip the dining room staff? No! They didn't do anything for him. We brought him into the dining room each night in his stroller and simply put it between our seats. Most nights he was asleep and didn't require anything, from anyone. From his 2nd cruise on, we do pay the full amount for him.

 

On a different note, if you choose to use the baby-sitting service: we tried ONCE to use it. We put in the request, giving them more than the required 24 hrs notice. We were told that we would receive a note in our stateroom to inform us if someone would be available to sit with the kids. When we never got a note, we assumed that noone was available and canceled the plans we had. I put the kids to bed and about 10:30 that night, someone knocked on the door saying she was the babysitting service. Needless to say, I turned her away and DID NOT pay for the service.

 

As other posters have said, your baby will get lots of attention from the staff. I agree about the portable DVD player. Our DS is now 3 and we take his each night, so as not to disturb others in the dining room.

 

In-cabin babysitting is available for children one year and up.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do;jsessionid=0000AcydIS_6Hk0kCSedguqivP3:10kohi76p?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Extras&faqId=2002&faqSubjectId=337&faqType=faq

[orientodyssey]

Our son spent his first year birthday on the cruise. Although he was no longer breast fed and we brought lots of baby food for him, he neverthless was arranged a full table set and a high chair at the main dinning room table. He probably did not consume much food on the cruise, burt the waiting staff all spent extra effort to entertain him...... The room steward certainly took on more tasks because I do believe with a kid this age, our room involves more time to clean - we washed bottles & baby staff ourself but I always saw they were neatly placed in clean tower after the bath room was cleaned....... We can see the extra work of our stewardess every corner.

 

Hence we always tip more than recommended to all personals, especially when we travel with children. Our son is now 4 years old and this Dec we are bringing him and our 1 year old daughter to another cruise to East Carribean, we will certainly do the same in regards to the tipping.

 

In the past sevearl cruises, I tried both tipping in advance and at the end, I also tried tip half in advance and half at the end, I never experienced a visable difference in service standard and staff's attitude. So now I stick with the original formula - tipping at the end of the cruise in cash.

 

I always doubt the method to automatically put tipping on card - as most of the amount will be automatically charged on the card - I always wonder whether the staff will actually get the full amount like we pay by cash. Credit card do charge a service fee whenever we use our card - between 1.5% to as much as 4%, it seems impossible to me that the cruiser will pay for those surcharges and honor all the amount we tip to the actual personals......So I always choose to tip in cash at the end in the envelope, giving directly to the one who is supposed to receive it.

 

I am always surprised to see some one argue the suggested tipping amount is too high in relates to the actual salary standard of the country where the staff is coming from. To me, it does not matter whether the staff's mother land is poor or rich, the service they provide on the cruiser is the same. Tipping is simply the recognition of their extra effort and hard work, hence the same service should be rewarded equally - whether the waiter is from USA or any poor country in Africa. After all, you purchased the cruise journey in USA or other "rich" countries.

 

In short, my opinion is we should tip more or at least the suggested adult amount if we bring a child, as staff will provide extra / abnormal service,

whether we see it or not.

[orientodyssey]

Our son spent his first year birthday on the cruise. Although he was no longer breast fed and we brought lots of baby food for him, he neverthless was arranged a full table set and a high chair at the main dinning room table. He probably did not consume much food on the cruise, burt the waiting staff all spent extra effort to entertain him...... The room steward certainly took on more tasks because I do believe with a kid this age, our room involves more time to clean - we washed bottles & baby staff ourself but I always saw they were neatly placed in clean tower after the bath room was cleaned....... We can see the extra work of our stewardess every corner.

 

Hence we always tip more than recommended to all personals, especially when we travel with children. Our son is now 4 years old and this Dec we are bringing him and our 1 year old daughter to another cruise to East Carribean, we will certainly do the same in regards to the tipping.

 

In the past sevearl cruises, I tried both tipping in advance and at the end, I also tried tip half in advance and half at the end, I never experienced a visable difference in service standard and staff's attitude. So now I stick with the original formula - tipping at the end of the cruise in cash.

 

I always doubt the method to automatically put tipping on card - as most of the amount will be automatically charged on the card - I always wonder whether the staff will actually get the full amount like we pay by cash. Credit card do charge a service fee whenever we use our card - between 1.5% to as much as 4%, it seems impossible to me that the cruiser will pay for those surcharges and honor all the amount we tip to the actual personals......So I always choose to tip in cash at the end in the envelope, giving directly to the one who is supposed to receive it.

 

I am always surprised to see some one argue the suggested tipping amount is too high in relates to the actual salary standard of the country where the staff is coming from. To me, it does not matter whether the staff's mother land is poor or rich, the service they provide on the cruiser is the same. Tipping is simply the recognition of their extra effort and hard work, hence the same service should be rewarded equally - whether the waiter is from USA or any poor country in Africa. After all, you purchased the cruise journey in USA or other "rich" countries.

 

In short, my opinion is we should tip more or at least the suggested adult amount if we bring a child, as staff will provide extra / abnormal service,

whether we see it or not.

[RevSmith]

I asked on another post but not sure if this will be answered there. What is with tipping the full adult amount for a 20 month old as you would an adult. We decided to take our 20 month son on the crusie last minute, adding him to our cabin. I was reading the tip recommendation and it suggest that regardless of age to tip the full amount. I am taking his pak and play which I will pick up and put out daily for my son, just in case the attendant is unfamiliar with my model. He doesnt need any services that the ship would give in a room. We are even taking his hooded towels. The dining room is a different thing. I understand all the people involved to give you a good dining experience, sometimes it takes more effort to go out of the way and put a small plate of veggies togeher rather than the normal plate. But the room attendant, why would I give $30 for a week for my son? Dont get me wrong, I consider myself to be a great tipper, hardly ever less than 20% on a meal. I will probably even overtip the attendant for a job well done in our cabin, but for RCCL to reccomend full tip for an infant, they should set guidelines of tipping for infants.

Tipping is such a personal matter. You must do what you feel right doing in your heart. It really does not matter what others do or others think, unless you want to use that information to formulate your decision. But it really is a private and a personal decision. Have a wonderful trip.

[JTJ]

Will the cabin steward cold store breast milk or formula for you? Especially if you are in a cabin without are refrigerator.

[MakinGold]

Tipping is such a personal matter. You must do what you feel right doing in your heart. It really does not matter what others do or others think, unless you want to use that information to formulate your decision. But it really is a private and a personal decision. Have a wonderful trip.

 

You make it sound almost like a religious belief. It's not all that private and personal. There is a standard that is generally set by the culture that you live in. Those standards are often based on a percentage of the cost of the service you are receiving. In the case of a cruise, since it can be difficult to decide what the cost of the individual services are, the cruise line tends to set the standard for us.

 

You have a choice to be more generous or to be cheap, but there is a standard.