Tipping w a small child

[kathneric]

We r traveling to Canada on a 5 day cruise with our 1 year old. We have the second dinner seating so most likely my daughter will be asleep in her stroller thru dinner. If she is awake by chance she will probably watching a movie in the mdr but won't be eating. I would assume in this case I will not be tipping for my daughter since she isn't eating or needing any assistance from anyone? What did other parents of small children do?
Obviously the stateroom host will be tipped including her for getting her bed together and such so this only applies to he servers.
Thanks for any advice

 

[shburks]

We r traveling to Canada on a 5 day cruise with our 1 year old. We have the second dinner seating so most likely my daughter will be asleep in her stroller thru dinner. If she is awake by chance she will probably watching a movie in the mdr but won't be eating. I would assume in this case I will not be tipping for my daughter since she isn't eating or needing any assistance from anyone? What did other parents of small children do?
Obviously the stateroom host will be tipped including her for getting her bed together and such so this only applies to he servers.
Thanks for any advice

You tip per person regardless of age...

 

[Dislaney4n6]

We r traveling to Canada on a 5 day cruise with our 1 year old. We have the second dinner seating so most likely my daughter will be asleep in her stroller thru dinner. If she is awake by chance she will probably watching a movie in the mdr but won't be eating. I would assume in this case I will not be tipping for my daughter since she isn't eating or needing any assistance from anyone? What did other parents of small children do?
Obviously the stateroom host will be tipped including her for getting her bed together and such so this only applies to he servers.
Thanks for any advice

The tip for servers covers all food venues on the ship not just MDRs at dinner. Your daughter will eat at some point on the cruise (quick service/buffet/MDRs for breakfast/lunch) thus tipping is still appropriate.

 

[kathneric]

I hadn't thought abt that. Thx for your response

 

[jsolar]

Once you see the amazing service you get from everyone on the ship, you will want to tip.
Have a fun time.

 

[Gdes1]

Yes, people don't realize that the MDR servers at dinner don't just work the dinner hours, they work all day at the buffet or other venues. And small kids end up needing MORE help in some ways. The dining staff will help carry your stroller if there are a few stairs to the restaurant (like Lumiere's on the Magic). They bring out special things like pureed food (you can have things pureed, just ask). It's easy for them to have a table full of adults and just bring those courses on schedule. It's harder to bring up special requests from the galley.

One day my Mom was walking to the buffet just to get some milk for my toddler, and she ran into our Server. He asked her if she needed anything and she said she was just going to the buffet to get some milk. He had her wait by the pool and came back a few minutes later with several small cartons. I'm not even sure he was on duty, but was probably on his way to or from a shift somewhere.

 

[Alexander]

You will be so impressed with how well the servers take care of you, you won't even question wanting to tip them for your little one.

We had a head server once who took the fork and knife out of my husband's hand and continued cutting up DS's food. He said, "Sir, you are on vacation!" The ketchup poured into a Mickey Mouse, the notes to DS from our Assistant Server on his cup that was always on the table when we got there, the Server who insisted on bringing one of each dessert every night or insisted that we could each eat 2 or 3 lobster tails and brought them out, the Head Server who gave us a gift on the last night because we made our B2B so easy for him, the chef who came out, took our room number and sent treats to our room.....I could go on and on.

 

[kathneric]

Thanks for all the responses!! I'm really looking forward to this cruise and now you all have me even more excited!
Thanks again!

 

[Yokelridesagain]

The thing to understand is that your child will be assigned a seat in the dining rotation regardless of how small they are. (For example, my wife and our at the time 3 and 1 year old were at a 4 top table.)

The standing server assignment is and 8 person, 6 person, and 4 person table. So if you don't tip for a child, the server loses that percentage of their income.

 

[shaycamp21]

We were on the Fantasy in May with a 9 month old and though she was in the nursery some of the time for dinner the servers more than earned their tip when she joined us for meals. She does not like to be fed and prefers to feed herself so she made quite a big mess, our serving team was great and would get upset if we tried to clean up the mess she made. They were also great about keeping her entertained and cutting up her food and even cut up Dh's meat as he would often be holding her by the time the main course came as she got tired of the high chair. Even at Cabana's any of the servers who came to take our plates would interact with her and would stop us from trying to clean up her mess.

 

[mufasa0505]

When you see how much they fuss over your one-year old, you will give them the full tip. They deserve it.

 

[princesskayla]

I guess I got unlucky in the dining room lottery. I had a 2 yo with me and never once felt like the server was "helping" me with my daughter.

 

[Grandma4ever]

I guess I got unlucky in the dining room lottery. I had a 2 yo with me and never once felt like the server was "helping" me with my daughter.

Although most of the staff are the best they are human and have bad weeks or may have been new and just had not learned the DCL culture. Next time if the service is not what you desire be sure to ask for what you want. If the servers cannot meet your needs, talk to the dinning room manager. The wait staff do not know what you want unless we tell them. Some folks want more interaction and others perfer to be left alone to enjoy the meal. My experence has been that they will provide what you desire if at all humanly possible.

The other thing to watch for is that group that feels it is fair to expect that the staff spend all the time at their table and do not consider that the servers have other people that they are responsible to as well. (You know those who feel they paid for 24 hour one on one staff)


DCL has always done right by me.

 

[markuehl]

We also did not win the server or room attendant lotto thisnwas one place insist I hadn't read so many wonderful thing about fabulous service they were just ok no special treatment at all and we are not difficult we never got offered extra deserts or my daughters meat cut or anything beyond the basic one night I couldn't decide on dessert and asked our server and he suggested on but when you read here it seems like he should have brought both so don't go in expecting the extras you can always ask though!

 

[GeneMachine]

Yes, people don't realize that the MDR servers at dinner don't just work the dinner hours, they work all day at the buffet or other venues.

Here's another reason why we always tip, no matter what:

Once while in port last year, our ship was fairly empty. We had gotten back early from an excursion and my son (then 6) was at the foosball table on the pool deck, just flipping the handles around, bored at the thought of having to play his mother again. One of the MDR servers (not ours, by the way) who was working on the pool deck clearing tables that day approached and challenged him to a game. They ended up playing two games, and OF COURSE my son won each time. I hardly need to tell you my son is the worst foosball player around.

So here's a crew member who made my son's day a little more magical, and did it for no other reason that out of genuine kindness and regard for a guest. There was no angle for a tip, as he wasn't even our server. It's little things like this that might go unnoticed that are the reasons we cruise Disney, and are the reasons why guests should always tip even if they don't feel they should because of [insert reason here]. Unless you get abysmal service, and it is not corrected after you talk to the Head Server, really, there is no reason not to tip the recommended amount, if not more.

By the way, I did write a fabulous letter of recognition for this crew member and left it at guest services. Felipe from Portugal, what a great guy.

 

[Manon_Paul_Nina]

I guess I got unlucky in the dining room lottery. I had a 2 yo with me and never once felt like the server was "helping" me with my daughter.

Same as us!
Our DD doesn't like fries, every meal i order something like baked potato or rice or something like that, our cruise was 14 nights, and only once they did it the right way as we order!
We told them every time it wasn't right but our waiter couldn't fix it he said! Thats why we didn't pay any gratuties to the waitstaff from our DD, that said they didn't like that we didn't pay for her an we noticed it during breakfast on the last morning!!!
So do what feels right!

 

[Alexander]

On our last cruise, we missed dinner one night due to a late returning excursion. At breakfast the next morning our server was clearing the tables at the buffet. He came right over to us and asked if everything was okay because we weren't at dinner the night before. This same server realized early on that my DS (13) was very quiet and shy. He would pull pranks on him to get him to smile and loosen up. It was great! We have had such great experiences with our servers, I cannot imagine otherwise.

We did have a stateroom host once who was just okay. He did a great job in our room, but there was really no interaction other than that. I did have to ask for more shampoo a couple of days in because he clearly didn't get the hint when I left the empty bottle on the counter!

Our assistant server once who was so amazing with my DS (4 at the time) had a little one at home and really "adopted" my DS for the week as her surrogate. Her name was Angel and she was nothing short of an angel!

 

[Anaklusmos30]

You will be so impressed with how well the servers take care of you, you won't even question wanting to tip them for your little one.

We had a head server once who took the fork and knife out of my husband's hand and continued cutting up DS's food. He said, "Sir, you are on vacation!" The ketchup poured into a Mickey Mouse, the notes to DS from our Assistant Server on his cup that was always on the table when we got there, the Server who insisted on bringing one of each dessert every night or insisted that we could each eat 2 or 3 lobster tails and brought them out, the Head Server who gave us a gift on the last night because we made our B2B so easy for him, the chef who came out, took our room number and sent treats to our room.....I could go on and on.

Oh wow! This sounds like the ultimate pampering! No need to wonder about the tipping! It sounds so well deserved. Also, maybe thank you cards as well when the tips are due

 

[nemofanatic]

so how does the tipping work on a disney cruise? Do they charge you upfront before you get on the ship? Or, do you tip at the end in the form of envelopes?

Thanks for the help. This is our first dcl cruise.

 

[Dislaney4n6]

Same as us!
Our DD doesn't like fries, every meal i order something like baked potato or rice or something like that, our cruise was 14 nights, and only once they did it the right way as we order!
We told them every time it wasn't right but our waiter couldn't fix it he said! Thats why we didn't pay any gratuties to the waitstaff from our DD, that said they didn't like that we didn't pay for her an we noticed it during breakfast on the last morning!!!
So do what feels right!

I am glad you feel you did right, but service was still provided to your child. I feel it is safe to assume your child ate at other venues on the ship throughout the 14 nights. What did the assistant server 'not do'? Wrong beverage? Did you complain to the head server to try to rectify before not paying their tip too?? These people are serving you throughout the trip, not just MDR dinners.

IMO not giving ANY tip to those individuals for your DD was a bit overkill. $56 lost over french fries.