Charges for babies?!

[My4Men]

I'm booking a Sept '11 4 night cruise trip for four families. I honestly have to ask: Why is Disney charging $209 for babies that are 6 months old? I can even see some charge for the kids that we know will eat from Mom's plate. But these babies wont' even be able to hold their body up good. So can someone please help me make sense of this to the other moms? One mom has a 5 yr old and having a baby in January. So she's paying 299 for a 5 yr old and 209 for a six month old. I can't blame them for being upset about that. I see no sense in it. If there was no second child in that room, they wouldn't charge her for not having enough kids, would they?

I am a Disney addict so I'm not complaining as much as wanting some input to tell the other moms so they will understand it cause I have no explanation. Kids 2 & under were usually totally free at the parks so we all expected that.

 

[noladave]

Other than it's Disney's rules... Maybe some kind of insurance requirement, or Coast Guard, or something??

We did it in 1998. My daughter was 5 months old when we went... We either had to pay, or not go on the cruise. We chose to pay.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that you are charged only (port?) taxes for infants.

 

[My4Men]

Yeah, one mom has already made her deposit. So she's going. But we are all scratching our heads and they're feeling a little "ripped off" about it. I hate it for them. I just wish we had an explanation like "well, it's to cover ____" or something to tell us WHY! We are a family of 5 so I'm always having to pay more because we require bigger rooms, etc. So to see her quote almost as high as mine was a real shocker! And the other mom was really fighting to get to go so I really hope this isn't a deal breaker for her.

 

[My4Men]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that you are charged only (port?) taxes for infants.

The quotes we got showed it split up per person. One mom's charges had 299 for her 5 yr old and 209 for her baby who should be about six months old. It didn't show anything about it being port charges. I would love to know it's something regulatory like that rather than Disney making extra for a baby, not even up and walking.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I'm booking a Sept '11 4 night cruise trip for four families. I honestly have to ask: Why is Disney charging $209 for babies that are 6 months old? I can even see some charge for the kids that we know will eat from Mom's plate. But these babies wont' even be able to hold their body up good. So can someone please help me make sense of this to the other moms? One mom has a 5 yr old and having a baby in January. So she's paying 299 for a 5 yr old and 209 for a six month old. I can't blame them for being upset about that. I see no sense in it. If there was no second child in that room, they wouldn't charge her for not having enough kids, would they?

I am a Disney addict so I'm not complaining as much as wanting some input to tell the other moms so they will understand it cause I have no explanation. Kids 2 & under were usually totally free at the parks so we all expected that.

They might not be able to eat, but they will need to be cleaned up after, even with a pack&play, they'll have sheets to clean, and trash to empty, and as a PP also put in, there's port taxes as well, so all in all, that's what the cost covers... (Maid service being the one service that infants use as well...)

 

[My4Men]

They might not be able to eat, but they will need to be cleaned up after, even with a pack&play, they'll have sheets to clean, and trash to empty, and as a PP also put in, there's port taxes as well, so all in all, that's what the cost covers... (Maid service being the one service that infants use as well...)

Okay. I can see that. I will tell them about that perspective also. But they don't use that as a reason to charge at the resorts, which is what's making it hard to understand the difference. I can see the port charges, etc. mentioned. I sent that reply to my friends already. We're just all in shock somewhat. One mom is calling Disney in the morning to find out about it. The guy she talked to earlier today mentioned that the "baby didn't count" so we took it to mean like at the resorts where there was no charge. But now she's wondering if he meant you didn't have to make a deposit on the babies because that was the topic they were discussing at the time. I just figured someone on here had a definitive answer, esp before my friend's hubby shoots their plans down due to that extra.

 

[Keira1387]

Just did a quick Internet search. It looks like the price Disney charges is for the port fees and taxes only.

 

[armyferret]

honestly? i have a 1yrs old - EVERYONE charges for infants for at least tax. airlines, cruiselines, it doesn't matter.

THAT said - if you were going to an all inclusive resort, they would charge for the baby - view the ship that way. NOT living in America for the last few years has really taught me appreciation for the perks that we are given for our babies, it is NOT the same the world over.

I mean seriously? We are on a 11 night cruise in a couple of weeks - I had to pay a whopping 250 for my son - and i am thankful they are not charging the full kids rate - yeah he doesn't eat much, but it takes man power to clean up after us, not only in the room, but at the dining table - -

So, thank you disney for the SUPER cut rate for my baby.

 

[Jey12]

We are traveling in Sept of this year with friends who are bringing their 8 month old along. I asked this very question to her last night about why they would charge for an 8 month old. She said she was told that it not only covered the taxes and port fees, which Disney has no control over, but also something about the life boats. I can't remember exactly what it was about the life boats that were included in the price for the infant but we both agreed whatever it was it would be worth it if we should need to use a life boat.

 

[My4Men]

Thank you for the responses. This makes me feel a lot better. I took my child on airplanes at under 2 and never paid a dime extra for him. But the charges for port and accountability per person for safety, life boats, etc. make sense to me now. That does explain the difference in no extra charge at the resorts which we're used to and having to pay on the cruise. I'll pass the information along!

 

[jali@WDW]

Unfortunately, Disney now charges a fee for infants and toddlers. We discovered this fact earlier this year when we added my infant son to our December cruise reservation. Prior to 2010 they didn't charge a fee, only gov't port charges, fees, and taxes that Disney didn't control. Now they do. It was explained to me that it is supposed to cover administrative costs and other incidentals that Disney was not charging for previously. I guess they believe that they have to recoup those costs.

 

[My4Men]

Unfortunately, Disney now charges a fee for infants and toddlers. We discovered this fact earlier this year when we added my infant son to our December cruise reservation. Prior to 2010 they didn't charge a fee, only gov't port charges, fees, and taxes that Disney didn't control. Now they do. It was explained to me that it is supposed to cover administrative costs and other incidentals that Disney was not charging for previously. I guess they believe that they have to recoup those costs.

Really? That's a little different than previous responses. Thank you for posting that because I was getting the impression I shouldn't have even asked or thought that babies were free. So it's changed this year?! Interesting. Well, I still think they'll go but we have to be honest and say it was a shock.

 

[mmouse37]

Actually, DCL charges less for infants than other cruise lines. On other cruiselines infants/babies/toddler are charged a full child's fare. We found this out when we cruised other lines and really brought the cost up.

On DCL they only had been charging for port fee/taxes of a little over $200. But, as mentioned before it seems they have started adding a fee to the port charges and taxes as well. They are still charging less than a full fare but more than just the port charges and taxes.

It is my understanding that DCL had to at least charge the port/tax fees...no way around it. This additional fee is new and I don't know much about that or why they started charging it. It used to be any child under 3 only had to pay the port charges and gov't fees.

I do know that every single person (including infants) are counted toward the passenger capacity and lifeboat capacity and room capacity. So, even if you feel an infant won't be using a bed they are still in the cabin and will be counted as using a bed....so a family of 5 including an infant can't book a cabin that holds only 4.

MJ

 

[nenner1]

Yes they do charge a fee now in addition to port fees, taxes etc. for children under 3.

Our DD got to sail "free" back in 2008 (at 4 m/o) when it was port fees/taxes only etc. Her total was under $200 IIRC.

Now, after the change we had to pay I think $299 plus port fees and taxes for our upcomng cruise. I can see why it can be upsetting to those with infants.

But like MJ said the other cruiselines charge waaaay more. Our 18 month old cost $699 PLUS port charges/fees on RCCL's Independence of the Seas this past January!

 

[anna08]

Just a guess but do cruise ships have to pay for the trash disposal when they get back to port? I only know that some businesses have to pay for trash by volume or weight and maybe it's all those heavy swim diapers that they find costly?

 

[Stinkerbe11]

Don't forget about tips, I think you are expected to tip for children too and I think people are sometimes caught off guard by this.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Don't forget about tips, I think you are expected to tip for children too and I think people are sometimes caught off guard by this.

Yes, I was on our 1st cruise, (not on DCL). Then I realized that having kids there makes more work for the crew and on DCL they really do bend over backwards to keep everything clean in cabin and servers are great with kids at dinner too. For my younger one they cut his steak, crack his lobster and do magic tricks to entertain. Now we tip above the recommended amount.

I would imagine even more work for an infant: emptying dirty diapers 2x/day, heating baby food or bottles, keeping room babyproofed. The servers and stateroom attendants do everything they can besides babysit to make it a relaxing vacay for parents too.

 

[rngrblu9]

back in 2006 i was shocked that we had to pay for my 6-month-old son when we cruised disney...but once we were cruising i realized that even though it does entail less work for the crew when it comes to infants there is still work involved...

 

[shmoogrrrl]

My daughter was 10 months old on her DCL trip back in 2003. I don't remember what we were charged for her, but I am pretty sure it was the port fees and taxes. At the time, there was a rash of comments on this board about why you'd have to tip the wait staff at dinner if the kids were not really eating much or people were bringing their own jar food, etc.....Well, I figured out on that first night why. They not only volunteered to heat up bottles or food, but they discovered her fondness for bread, bananas and the little cut up carrots and peas and every night when we got there, they had bread and a plate with a cut up banana ready for her and our friends daughter as well (who was five months older than my girl.) They let us order small portions of different foods for her to try and at the end of the first night, they read us the riot act because we were attempting to pick up all the food that she had dropped or thrown on the floor.

We tipped them for all of us PLUS more because I know they worked harder than they would have otherwise for my wee girl.

OP, I hope your friend has a great cruise with her wee baby. We had so much fun with ours!