Ralph Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 So I just booked a cruise for next June with my family, 3 cabins on the Symphony out of NJ. One of the cabins has my 2 year old grandchild who will have a crib. I was a little surprised that we had to pay for him since "kids cruise free". Well, they don't cruise free in June! And secondly, I have to pay gratuities for him. I called Royal to double check and they said I do. Has anyone cruised with their two year old? Is there any way around this? I mean it is not a lot, but still. Thanks! Ryan79 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 We are taking our two granddaughters (and our son + dil) on a cruise in February 2024. The two girls will be 1 and 3. We are paying for them just like they were full grown adults. We had to get a cabin that is made for four. Im sure more articulate people than me will explain in detail, but it’s normal. RCIfan1912 and Hoppy2cruise 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Oh In regards to “Kids sail free”, it’s not an ongoing thing, just a promotion that runs sort of frequently. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 This is one problem I don't have to deal with, but it is my understanding the KSF does not apply to most summer sailings. Xaa, teddy, Baked Alaska and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Just now, WAAAYTOOO said: This is one problem I don't have to deal with, but it is my understanding the KSF does not apply to most summer sailings. We’ve seen this for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaa Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 KSF, like @WAAAYTOOO said isn't applicable for sailings in peak summer. When it is applicable, it only applies to cruise fair, not port charges or gratuities. No way around it that I know. RCIfan1912, Linda R and WAAAYTOOO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Yep- everyone else nailed it. We sail during the school year because that's basically when Kids sail free exists. It is blacked out for major holidays, summer break and spring break. You pay gratuities for kids even when they do sail free- kids are often more work than adults when it comes to the dining room and the state room attendants, so they are getting charged for on board services, as well. CruzOnBye and RCIfan1912 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Kids Sail Free applies to new bookings made between July 1 – 31, 2023 (“Offer Period”) on sailings departing between August 1, 2023 – April 30, 2025 (“Offer Cruise”), providing free cruise fare for third guests and higher who are 12 years old and younger as of Offer Cruise departure date on sailings 3 nights or longer booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom. Kids Sail Free excludes Thanksgiving Sailings departing between November 17, 2023 – November 24, 2023; November 22, 2024 – November 29, 2024, Holiday sailings departing between December 16, 2023 – January 5, 2024; December 20, 2024 – January 3, 2025, Spring break sailings departing March 8, 2024 – March 22, 2024; March 7, 2025 – March 28, 2025, Holy Week/Easter sailings departing March 22, 2024 – April 4, 2024; April 12, 2025 – April 24, 2025, Radiance Alaska Cruise Tour sailings departing May 19, 2023 – September 15, 2023 and Summer Sailings departing May 24, 2023 – September 1, 2023; May 22, 2024 – August 30, 2024. Taxes, fees, and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. Ryan79, ScottD, Linda R and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Sometimes promotion gets confused for policy. This seems to be one of those cases as the promotion CLEARLY states that sailings in June 2024 are specifically excluded. RC has no policy where “kids sail free”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjcruisers Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Here's a situation where Royal could provide a better search. I just looked at the promotion page and it called out Kids sail free*, I can see the confusion. Why not provide a filter checkbox, (i.e. Kids sail free cruises) which filters out the ones that aren't applicable jbrinkm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseRoyalDad Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 We've taken advantage of kids sail free in the past (to great savings) but it's really only available when they are supposed to be in school. However, as mentioned all major "school" holidays are excluded. Suffice it to say "kids sail free" is ongoing but it has more blackouts than North Korea or California during a heatwave. It's imperative that one takes into the account the fine print and if the kids are out of school just assume it doesn't apply. It's just the way it is. Trust me as a father of four, and the oldest aging out of getting pulled out of school, I wish this wasn't the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 If you wish to not pay gratuities for the 2 yr old, you can go to guest services and ask them to remove that charge from your account. I have never done this, but was at guest services when someone next to me was having this done on their account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 1 hour ago, Kathleen said: If you wish to not pay gratuities for the 2 yr old, you can go to guest services and ask them to remove that charge from your account. I have never done this, but was at guest services when someone next to me was having this done on their account. I can't imagine removing gratuities for a 2 year old. I'm quite confident that when my son was that age he generated more trash than me, made greater messes at the dining table, and created a far messier bedroom. If anything, the gratuities for a 2 year old should be higher! Kathleen, 27th Lady, KJones and 5 others 5 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colombia20102018 Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 3 hours ago, smokeybandit said: Kids Sail Free applies to new bookings made between July 1 – 31, 2023 (“Offer Period”) on sailings departing between August 1, 2023 – April 30, 2025 (“Offer Cruise”), providing free cruise fare for third guests and higher who are 12 years old and younger as of Offer Cruise departure date on sailings 3 nights or longer booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom. Kids Sail Free excludes Thanksgiving Sailings departing between November 17, 2023 – November 24, 2023; November 22, 2024 – November 29, 2024, Holiday sailings departing between December 16, 2023 – January 5, 2024; December 20, 2024 – January 3, 2025, Spring break sailings departing March 8, 2024 – March 22, 2024; March 7, 2025 – March 28, 2025, Holy Week/Easter sailings departing March 22, 2024 – April 4, 2024; April 12, 2025 – April 24, 2025, Radiance Alaska Cruise Tour sailings departing May 19, 2023 – September 15, 2023 and Summer Sailings departing May 24, 2023 – September 1, 2023; May 22, 2024 – August 30, 2024. Taxes, fees, and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. This varies by promotion. I’m going in a cruise in August and kids sail free. The same itinerary in June was part of the kids sails free promotion. The savings vary. Sometimes one can save a lot, other times the difference is minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky1987 Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 17 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said: I can't imagine removing gratuities for a 2 year old. I'm quite confident that when my son was that age he generated more trash than me, made greater messes at the dining table, and created a far messier bedroom. If anything, the gratuities for a 2 year old should be higher! Some will use any excuse possible to not tip. Baked Alaska, tjcruisers, Ryan79 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey79 Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 5 hours ago, smokeybandit said: Kids Sail Free applies to new bookings made between July 1 – 31, 2023 (“Offer Period”) on sailings departing between August 1, 2023 – April 30, 2025 (“Offer Cruise”), providing free cruise fare for third guests and higher who are 12 years old and younger as of Offer Cruise departure date on sailings 3 nights or longer booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom. Kids Sail Free excludes Thanksgiving Sailings departing between November 17, 2023 – November 24, 2023; November 22, 2024 – November 29, 2024, Holiday sailings departing between December 16, 2023 – January 5, 2024; December 20, 2024 – January 3, 2025, Spring break sailings departing March 8, 2024 – March 22, 2024; March 7, 2025 – March 28, 2025, Holy Week/Easter sailings departing March 22, 2024 – April 4, 2024; April 12, 2025 – April 24, 2025, Radiance Alaska Cruise Tour sailings departing May 19, 2023 – September 15, 2023 and Summer Sailings departing May 24, 2023 – September 1, 2023; May 22, 2024 – August 30, 2024. Taxes, fees, and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. At least they haven’t figured out that some schools have a fall break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda R Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 Also, for kids to sail free, you need 2 paying adults in the room to qualify. So having adjoining cabins will not work unless each cabin has 2 paying adults. We took our 3 grandkids and had 2 cabins with 1 adult booked in each cabin, so disqualified us from the kids sail free program. But all worked out and we just paid for all 5 of us. USCG Teacher and WAAAYTOOO 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 14, 2023 Report Share Posted July 14, 2023 1 hour ago, Linda R said: Also, for kids to sail free, you need 2 paying adults in the room to qualify. So having adjoining cabins will not work unless each cabin has 2 paying adults. We took our 3 grandkids and had 2 cabins with 1 adult booked in each cabin, so disqualified us from the kids sail free program. But all worked out and we just paid for all 5 of us. This is very useful information. It’s the first time I’ve heard this. USCG Teacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda R Posted July 15, 2023 Report Share Posted July 15, 2023 1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said: This is very useful information. It’s the first time I’ve heard this. Yes, in previous post the rules to qualify it said in cabin with "two gualifying guests" that kids sail free. That means 2 full paying guests/adults. USCG Teacher and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlantix2000 Posted July 16, 2023 Report Share Posted July 16, 2023 On 7/14/2023 at 8:07 PM, Linda R said: Yes, in previous post the rules to qualify it said in cabin with "two gualifying guests" that kids sail free. That means 2 full paying guests/adults. Are you sure they have to be adults? I haven't looked carefully at the rules lately, but I think the kids sail free promotion is basically the equivalent of getting guests #3 and higher free but guests #1 and #2 are still full price. I don't think guest #2 has to be an adult though (Guest #1 must be an adult of course). So one adult with 3 kids in a single room should get 2 of the kids free. ScottD and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ampurp85 Posted July 16, 2023 Report Share Posted July 16, 2023 7 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said: Are you sure they have to be adults? I haven't looked carefully at the rules lately, but I think the kids sail free promotion is basically the equivalent of getting guests #3 and higher free but guests #1 and #2 are still full price. I don't think guest #2 has to be an adult though (Guest #1 must be an adult of course). So one adult with 3 kids in a single room should get 2 of the kids free. It has to be an adult, which is anyone over the age of 13 in Royal's book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPPJJ-GCVAB Posted July 16, 2023 Report Share Posted July 16, 2023 8 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said: Are you sure they have to be adults? I haven't looked carefully at the rules lately, but I think the kids sail free promotion is basically the equivalent of getting guests #3 and higher free but guests #1 and #2 are still full price. I don't think guest #2 has to be an adult though (Guest #1 must be an adult of course). So one adult with 3 kids in a single room should get 2 of the kids free. Yes this correct. The first 2 (1 adult/1child) pay the listed price and the other 2 children only pay taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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