When cruises restart, passengers onboard will have to wear a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) passed a new order that requires people to wear masks on public transportation.

"Persons must wear masks over the mouth and nose when traveling on conveyances into and within the United States. Persons must also wear masks at transportation hubs as defined in this Order."

The order pertains to forms of travel including aircraft, train, road vehicle, vessel or other means of transport.

The order goes into effect as of February 1, 2021.

It applies within any state, locality, territory, with the exceptions of while eating, drinking, or taking medication, for brief periods.

Children under 2 years old are exempt, as well as a person with a disability who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of the disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cruise lines must provide adequate notice of the rule and disembarking any person who refuses to comply. Moreover, guests should be made aware that Federal law requires wearing a mask on the conveyance and failure to comply constitutes a violation of Federal law.

The new rules require what the cruise lines have already agreed to do on their own.

The Healthy Sail Panel proposed passengers and crew members wear face masks on cruise ships back in September 2020.

Read more: Royal Caribbean new cruise ship health protocols include masks, social distancing, testing and more

Royal Caribbean specified in its rules face masks will be required on its cruise ships when they return to service, with exceptions similar to what the CDC outlined.

Specifically, Royal Caribbean says guests should wear face masks in nearly all public settings regardless of physical distancing measures but will not be required to wear face masks in their own stateroom.

There are exceptions, however, such as dining venues, where guests can eat and drink without face masks while seated, provided physical distancing is observed. All restaurant seating will be arranged to allow for physical distancing, so guests can eat and drink without face masks while seated, and tables and chairs will be disinfected.

Read more: Where and when will you have to wear a mask on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Also, guests should not wear masks while engaged in activities that may cause the mask to become wet, like when swimming in our pools, or when participating in strenuous activities, such as jogging, running, or fitness classes at the Vitality Spa and Fitness Center.

Face masks will be required at all bars or nightclubs when not seated and actively eating or drinking with your party. 

Crew members will wear masks at all times, and gloves.

It is unclear yet if Royal Caribbean will change any of these protocols based on this new order.

The rationale for the new rule is aimed at ensuring people in close contact are not putting the public health at risk.

"Traveling on multi-person conveyances increases a person’s risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 by bringing persons in close contact with others, often for prolonged periods, and exposing them to frequently touched surfaces.

"Air travel often requires spending time in security lines and crowded airport terminals. Social distancing may be difficult if not impossible on flights. People may not be able to distance themselves by the recommended 6 feet from individuals seated nearby or those standing in or passing through the aircraft’s aisles."

Read more: 5 ways cruise ships have tougher COVID-19 protocols than airplanes

"Travel by bus, train, vessel, and other conveyances used for international, interstate, or intrastate transportation pose similar challenges."

The CDC believes using masks along with other preventive measures, including social distancing, frequent handwashing, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched
surfaces, is one of the most effective strategies available for reducing COVID-19 transmission.

More information

• We asked our readers when they think cruises will restart
• Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean test cruises
• Royal Caribbean Group CEO says decision will be made if covid vaccine will be mandatory to cruise

Have you ever wondered where all the waste on a cruise ship goes?

Once while I was relaxing in my stateroom on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, my daughter asked where her poop went after she flushed the toilet and it is actually a good question.

Cruise ships are often described as floating cities, and their waste management is no different than a small municipality.

With thousands of people onboard a ship, there is a need for a sophisticated approach to managing where everything goes once people are done with it, from human waste to recycling to leftover food.

In fact, cruise lines are highly-regulated and work with environmental government agencies to ensure their waste practices are approved. These protocols ensure ships comply with strict requirements set out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other regional and national authorities with a responsibility to protect the environment. 

Trash

Royal Caribbean touts the fact Symphony of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, is actually a zero-landfill ship.  This means the ship can deal with their own waste, ranging all the way from recycling to water filtration.

Cruise ships like Symphony have a designated waste and recycling center. There are separate teams to deal with each incoming recyclable: glass, cardboard, plastic, and metal.

The ship's waste incineration room is manned twenty four hours a day by crew members who differentiate glass based on its color: green, brown and white.

It is then sent for being crushed.

The ship has an incinerator, as well as a compactor for processing plastic waste. The compactor crushes approximately 528 gallons of water bottles.

Once the ship returns to port, it can then transport plastic, aluminum, paper, and glass for recycling through a third party vendor.

In 2018, Royal Caribbean recycled 43.7 million pounds of waste.

Read more: 15 really cool things to do that you can only find on Royal Caribbean cruise ships

Food

If you have been on a cruise ship, you have noticed there is always plenty of uneaten food.  Either food people leave on their plates, or food that is never picked up from the buffet or ordered at a restaurant.

The chefs on Symphony of the Seas segregate food scraps into different buckets, which is then put into a big pipe that leads to the ship’s hydro-processor for incineration.

Incinerating food waste reduces the volume of the leftover food waste, and that reduces the ship's weight and thus, fuel needed by the ship.

Where your poop goes

Time to tackle my daughter's question of where your poop, shower water, and any other wastewater goes.

Cruise ships have a water-treatment system onboard, similar to your hometown. With over 7,000 passengers and crew, Symphony of the Seas generates 210,000 gallons of black water and one million gallons of grey water during a one week cruise. 

All the wastewater onboard is collected and absolutely nothing goes overboard unless it is first run through a treatment plant. 

Water is divided into three categories:

• Grey water: sinks, laundries, and drains
• Black water: galleys and toilets
• Bilge water: oils released from equipment in engine compartments that collect at the bottom of the vessel.

Wastewater is run through the advanced wastewater-purification plant on the ship, which is above the US federal standard for purified water.

When black water enters the integrated treatment system, it first passes into a bioreactor ‘aeration chamber’ which is filled with bacteria that break down organic contaminants dissolved in the wastewater.

The sewage then enters a membrane filtration system to further filter impurities. In the ‘settlement chamber’, dense substances sink to the bottom and the water floats to the top. The residual sludgy material is repeatedly returned for reprocessing. At the end of the cycles the remaining material is disposed of in low-emission incinerators. 

Finally, the clean sewage enters the ‘disinfection chamber’ where any remaining pathogens are sterilized by UV radiation. This leaves clean, safe and bacteria-free water, which is transferred to a storage tank until it can be discharged. 

Believe it or not, this water is near tap-water quality.   The water is either kept on board or discharged overboard when the cruise ship is at sea with a certain distance from land in order to meet the different local and international regulations.  The ability to discharge water depends on where the ship is located, as some oceans and areas prohibit the practice.  

Grey water can be discharged far out to sea after minimal treatment because it rarely includes harmful bacteria. Just like black water, it can only be discharged at sea in areas that are not designated environmentally sensitive regions.

While it remains unclear what will happen with Alaska cruises in 2021, it looks like Canada is not yet moving in a direction friendly to cruises.

The Canadian government has added a mandate for travelers entering the country to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense.

The Canadian government is looking to discourage international travel by adding these tougher rules. By requiring isolation in a hotel instead of a house, it would mean an added expense for travelers to incur.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Friday.

"Travelers will then have to wait for up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results, at their own expense, which is expected to be more than $2000," Trudeau said.

"Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement."

The cost includes the hotel stay, as well as a private PCR test, security, food and the cost of measures the designated hotels will have to take to keep their workers safe.

Read more: Will there be any Alaska cruises in 2021?

Canada's new rule mirrors Australia's rule, which requires most travelers to quarantine at a government-arranged hotel for 14 days for $2,800 AUD per adult and $4,620 AUD for a family of four.

The U.K. also introduced a similar rule earlier this week to require citizens arriving from dozens of high-risk countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense.

Since March, Canada has banned non-essential travel into the country by anyone that is not a citizen, as well as banning cruise ships from its waters until at least February 28, 2021.

There is already a rule that requires those entering Canada to self-isolate for 14 days and to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days before arrival. 

Rules like this, as well as the ban on cruise ships, makes operating cruise ships to Alaska or New England effectively impossible because U.S. cabotage laws require foreign-flagged vessels leaving from a U.S. port of call to first call on a "distant foreign port" before returning to the United States.

Read more: Comparing the Royal Caribbean ships sailing in Alaska 2021

Along with the No Sail order in the United States, Royal Caribbean was unable to offer cruises to Alaska in 2020, but a ban from Canada would prevent any Alaska cruises from operating.

Those who do not comply with the prohibition could be subject to penalties: $5,000 per day for individuals and $25,000 per day for corporations.

Two new 2022 itineraries have been quietly released by Royal Caribbean.

The itineraries revealed are on Spectrum of the Seas in Asia and Quantum of the Seas repositioning cruises to/from Hawaii.

Spectrum of the Seas will sail 4-8 night itineraries in 2022 from Shanghai (Baoshan) and for the first time ever, Beijing (Tianjin).

Sailings on Spectrum will visit Japanese ports such as Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Sasebo.

These new Spectrum of the Seas sailings begin in January 2022 and run through October 2022.

In addition, two long sailings on Quantum of the Seas to and from Hawaii have been added.

Quantum will depart Honolulu in April 2022 to head to Vancouver, and then will stop back in Hawaii in October 2022.

Read more: Hawaii cruise on Royal Caribbean: Everything you need to know

Royal Caribbean does not offer regular cruises to Hawaii, but does stop there as part of repositioning cruises between Australia and North America.

Royal Caribbean has not announced any deployment schedule yet for the remainder of 2022-2023 cruises.  These new sailings appeared without warning.

For the first time in quite a while, two Royal Caribbean ships visited Port Canaveral.

Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas each stopped in Port Canaveral this week for short resupply visits.

Allure of the Seas came into port first on Monday and docked at Terminal 1.

Photos by Paul Crow

Explorer of the Seas arrived in Port Canaveral on Thursday.

Photos by Twangster

Royal Caribbean did not disclose the purpose of the visits, but the safe bet is for resupply.

Throughout the cruise industry shutdown, cruise ships have made periodic visits to select ports to offload waste and bring on new supplies.

In North America, Royal Caribbean has primarily relied on PortMiami for these visits.  Other ports of resupply have included Barbados, Southampton and St. Kitts.

Both Explorer of the Seas and Allure of the Seas recently made the transatlantic crossing after spending their summer in Europe in warm lay up.

Both ships were also in Europe primarily to receive Royal Amplifications in 2020, but those plans had to be postponed until further notice due to the cruise line's current financial situation.

Cruises or not, it looks like Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas has a new look for its pier.

Celebrity Cruises Captain Kate McCue shared a video on TikTok of the Celebrity Edge docking at the private island recently, and the pier definitely looks different than the last time cruise ships visited with passengers.

CocoCay pier in 2019

CocoCay pier in 2021

The new look features either painted textures or decals affixed to the ground in a multitude of colors that lead all the way from where the cruise ships dock to the island itself.

Previously, the pier's ground was not painted and only had multicolored umbrellas along the way.

Read more: Do's & Don'ts of Perfect Day at CocoCay

In looking at the original concept art for the Perfect Day at CocoCay makeover, it does appear the pier was designed to have both decorations on the ground and umbrellas.

In August 2020, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said some minor work was still being done at CocoCay during the cruise shutdown.

In addition to finishing up some landscaping and painting work, there was a pressing need for a repair to Oasis Lagoon pool.

"We've also been conducting a fairly significant repair that we had to do on the Oasis Lagoon."

"We were struggling enormously with having to make a repair on the lagoon and we could never figure out when we could do it, but we knew we had to get it done at some point."

'We could never figure out when to do it because of Covid, obviously we have plenty of time, so that works."

According to Mr. Bayley, the island has an operational team to maintain things.

Read more: Who is maintaining Perfect Day at CocoCay while there are no cruises?

Thank you to Wise_Blueberry_5709 for spotting this change.

I'm a firm believer that there are no Royal Caribbean ships you should avoid, I do believe some ships are a better fit than others, depending on your personal preferences.

People tend to come up with their own list of favorite anythings: ice cream, television shows, and even cruise ships.  But, sometimes we also try something and vow never to do that again.

Not every ship will necessarily be everyone's cup of tea. Luckily, the fleet of cruise ships is large enough that there is bound to be a good fit for just about anyone.

Read more: What is the worst Royal Caribbean ship?

I reached out to our readers on our Facebook page to ask: is there a cruise ship you’ve been on that you would never go back on again? If so, which one and why?

Needless to say, there were a lot of opinions out there about which ships they love, and which they could live without. 

Being a very subjective question, the responses largely were based on their experiences and tastes for what each reader thought a cruise ship should be all about.

Ironically, this is a good reminder to everyone why you can't trust online reviews of cruise ships.

Enchantment of the Seas

There were quite a few responses regarding the only Vision Class ship to be cut in half and stretched, and many of the critiques were about the ship's size and onboard offerings.

Quite often the words "too small" were used to describe Enchantment, and the lack of activities (perhaps compared to other ships) stood out.

The smaller ships are, well, small compared to the newer ships that have come out in the last ten years or so.  If you are used to the largest ships, there is a bit of "culture shock" when you try out a Vision Class vessel.

I think the key is to understand before you get onboard what the ship offers (and doesn't offer) to avoid disappointment during the cruise.

Anthem of the Seas

To prove that the size of the ship isn't everything, plenty of big ships made the  list of comments, such as Anthem of the Seas.

One reader commented that Anthem's areas "always seemed way too crowded." Another reader complained about the lack of late night parties onboard.

Interestingly enough, there was a lengthy discussion about the people that cruise out of the Northeast versus Florida, and their attitudes.  I'm not touching that debate with a ten foot pole.

Oasis of the Seas

Yup, there were people who claimed they did not like one of the world's largest cruise ships, primarily because of its size.

Remember the people that did not like Enchantment because it was too small? Well, there were plenty that did not care for the enormous size of Oasis either.

One reader said, "it was just way to big for us." Another elaborated, "First time on a ship like that and just didn’t think it was great. The circus theme took up a lot of space and did nothing for me."

Just like Enchantment, these comments serve as a good reminder that a lot of people become accustomed to the first cruise ship they sail on and largely use that as the standard they judge other ships by.  In many cases, it has been my experience that people that start with small ships tend to have issues with larger ships, and people that start with big ships get turned off by smaller vessels.

Of course, plenty of cruisers like cruise ships of all sizes, so it's just a matter of finding a good fit for you.

Read more: First Timers' Guide to Oasis of the Seas

Majesty of the Seas

While Majesty is no longer in Royal Caribbean's fleet, she was still memorable enough to be "one and done" for many readers.

Having sailed on Majesty, I thought this comment was indicative of the experience for many, "Layout was very strange. You often couldn’t get from here to there. Had three sets of elevators. They didn’t all go to the same floors. Centrum elevators just went 4 floors."

Another reader agreed, but thought everything was relative for the time, "It’s tough to bad mouth the old ships. They were once the biggest and best. I love Oasis class and I personally could not sail Sovereign class if she were still sailing."

The lesson I would glean from the comments about Majesty is not all Royal Caribbean cruise ships are exactly the same, and design trends change over the years. 

It is always a good idea to learn about your cruise ship before you sail to get a better understanding of what you can expect onboard.

Explorer of the Seas

Another ship that got repeated quite often was Explorer of the Seas, and there was concern about the appearance of the ship and even the crew.

• "So run down and crew truly didn’t want to be there"
• "She was run down and the crew just seemed apathetic. "
• "Explorer as it felt like we were on the training ship with new recruits!"

Personally, I love the Voyager Class ships and sailed on Explorer of the Seas to Alaska in 2018 and enjoyed the cruise.

I think an unintended side effect of the Royal Amplification program that brought tremendous upgrades to so many cruise ships in the fleet is any ship that had not been upgraded seemed tame in comparison.

Explorer of the Seas was scheduled to get a major refurbishment in 2020, but those plans were sidelined due to the global health crisis and Royal Caribbean having to cut back on any unnecessary spending.

Read more: What was added to each Royal Caribbean ship during its Royal Amplified refurbishment

And a lot of people who didn't like other cruise lines!

Being a Royal Caribbean group of readers, you could quickly tell why so many prefer Royal Caribbean based on negative comments about other brands cruise ships.

Every cruise line has its plusses and negatives about it, but quite a few non-Royal Caribbean cruise ships made people's lists:

• Norwegian Epic: "Service was the worst and it took hours to get passengers off at the private island."
• Carnival Sensation: "There were so many things about it that just made me want to go on another cruise."
• Norwegian Gem: "So many dead ends on that ship. Did a 10 day and took me the whole cruise to figure it out."
• Norwegian Pride of America: "Freestyle dining meant 2-3 hour waits for dinner in the dining room & the service was below par compared to all the other cruises."
• SilverSea Silver Whisper: "Crazy expensive cruise, very old and outdated ship."
• Norwegian Breakaway: "Such a disappointment after Oasis class ships."

Bonus: The funny comments

I love a good snarky comment thrown in now and then, and there were a few that took this opportunity to bring some levity to the poll.

• "Carnival sensation... honeymoon with ex wife."
• "The S.S. Minnow because it only was supposed to be a three hour tour."
• "Mayflower was just terrible. Kept us below decks for weeks, stench was awful, ship bobbed around like a cork."
• Titanic: "swim team practice was chilling"

Everyone is trying to get an idea of when cruises might restart by "reading between the lines", so perhaps Port Canaveral's commissioner meeting could shed some light on the subject.

Port Canaveral holds public meetings to discuss the port's business operations and plan its budget accordingly.  Ordinarily, this is pretty mundane information to digest, but it includes some speculation on when it can expect more revenue in the form of cruise ships returning.

According to Port Canaveral officials, they seem to think some cruises might return in July.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray said he believes by July, the Covid-19 vaccine will be widely distributed and the industry could get restarted.

Captain Murray explained, "The issue with July is, we’ve been doing this now for a year and you can take a very practical look at how things are happening.”

"We have a new administration. The cruise lines themselves have kicked everything down the road for three months already, or at least through March and April. The reality given the pandemic right now, until those numbers start coming down, we just don’t see that this industry is going to get any attention that it needs to get restarted."

Port Canaveral's projection is based on what officials now foresee as a worst case scenario.  Under this worst case scenario they are estimating cruise lines will each have at least one ship sailing by July even though current data suggest ships will sail before that.

The revised dates were arrived at independently and are not based on any cruise line statements.

He also seems to think the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has no interest in working with the cruise lines until the health situation in this country improves, "The CDC’s motivation right now to put the cruise lines back on the water is not there, and probably won’t be there for the next three months."

"So rather than look at this entire operation and say, ‘Well, let’s just kick the can to April and then we’ll look at it again,’ it doesn’t make any sense to keep coming back to you guys with a rosy picture that we’re going to start in April or May and then say, ‘Whoop, that didn’t happen.’ So we took the very hard approach of, like I say, ripping off the Band-Aid, and making it a bad situation for the port just to show you that we have a plan to get through this if it does go as far as the fourth quarter."

Officials at the meeting said the most likely scenario is the initial restart phase will have one cruise ship per cruise line, and each ship will operate at half capacity.

Port Canaveral Chief Financial Officer Michael Poole is projecting $32.59 million in operating revenue and a $43.12 million loss for the port in the current budget year that ends September 30.

"We just want to put something in front of you that can show you as a board that we’re going to be OK to get through this even if it doesn’t start before July, and I’m hopeful and optimistic and all that good stuff that we do get started before then."

Royal Caribbean, and the entire cruise industry, has been shutdown from U.S. ports since March 2020.  With the exception of Quantum of the Seas in Singapore, no ships have been able to restart in its fleet since then.

In order to be able to restart, cruise lines need to get their new health protocols onboard approved.  This will be done in conjunction with test cruises that will demonstrate the viability of the cruise line plans.

Once a ship is approved for service by the CDC, then a cruise line can resume regular passenger service.

While Royal Caribbean has not announced any firm restart plan, many believe cruises will start back up again first from ports like Port Canaveral or PortMiami.

Royal Caribbean announced yesterday that it will not extend the Lift and Shift program beyond January, but it turns out the option will still remain under one scenario.

Lift and Shift allows guests to take the cruise they have booked and defer it by a year, while protecting the original price they paid.

While the option to take advantage of Lift and Shift anytime is going away, if there are more cruise cancellations, Lift and Shift will remain an option for guests.

Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, confirmed to travel agents that the popular choice will return for those that have cancelled cruises on any new cancellations in the future.

"I do want to be clear on one thing about Lift and Shift. If Royal Caribbean, cancels or suspends a sailing at any point, Lift and Shift will still be available for those people who have an active booking on the sailing."

"Those are the people that didn't elect to go with Cruise with confidence and cancel on us."

"If you have clients on a sailing and we cancel that sailing or suspend it, lifted ship will still apply."

Read more: Royal Caribbean Lift and Shift information & frequently asked questions

Lift and Shift is still available to all bookings, if you take advantage of it before January 31, 2021. After this point, Lift & Shift will expire and is no longer available at any time.

With Lift and Shift, you can move a reservation by a year and protect the original cruise fare and promotion to a qualifying sailing departing on or before April 30, 2022 on the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within 4 weeks before or after the date of the original cruise.  Subsequent sailings do not apply.

You do not need to book the same ship or even class of ships when you lift and shift.

Select restricted rates are ineligible for Lift & Shift and Best Price Guarantee - including but not limited to Net rates, Casino rates, Travel Agent Friends & Family rates, Travel Agent Reduced rates, and complimentary staterooms.

Christmas, New Year’s, and Chinese New Year’s cruises are ineligible for Lift & Shift, unless you are  currently confirmed on one of these sailings and wish to take advantage of Lift & Shift to move to the same sailing next year (assuming all other qualifying criteria are met).

There can also be some issues with unique itineraries, where there is no equivalent sailing to move to in the next year, such as longer sailings to lesser-visited ports.

In order to take advantage of Lift & Shift, names and full deposit must be placed on the booking. If it is after the Final Payment due date, the booking must be paid in full.

When leveraging Lift & Shift to move a booking to a future sail date, taxes & fees will be adjusted to reflect the charges associated with the new sailing. Taxes & fees from the original sail date will not be protected.

Royal Caribbean provides excellent service to guests of all ages, and with that service comes an automatic gratuity that you can either prepay before the cruise or be charged each night of the sailing while onboard.

Every week I dive into the RoyalCaribbeanBlog mailbag to answer a commonly asked question about cruises that one of our readers has sent in.

My husband and I are experienced cruisers, but have a cruise planned soon where we will be taking our 11 month old with us. We have to bring her formula, baby food, and she will be too young to do any activities onboard.  So do I need to pay gratuities for an infant? - Jill A.

This sounds like an easy question to answer, but as you dig into the scenario more, you can start seeing the argument from both sides of the fence.

Let's start off with the simple fact that Royal Caribbean makes no distinction between anyone's age, and how it pertains to gratuities.  All guests onboard are charged the automatic gratuity.  

The gratuity applies to individual guests of all ages and stateroom categories.

In fact, Royal Caribbean does not offer a discount for younger children. The first two passengers in a cabin always pay the most, and then the third or fourth passengers pays a reduced rate that is the same if they are 6 months or 6 years or 60 years old.

In a similar way, your child is counted toward the quantity of persons that your crew member is taking care of, your child is taking the place of another passenger.

Read more: Should you prepay gratuities for a Royal Caribbean cruise?

Getting back to the gratuities scenario, don't forget that your daily gratuities are not just kick backs for the crew, but a way to recognize the excellent service onboard.

Royal Caribbean says the gratuities are, "a way to reward our crew members for their outstanding service, gratuities are shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to enhance the cruise experience."

Moreover, the crew members onboard are servicing you and your family.  They don't make distinctions when cleaning your cabin who this was for or not for.  The cabin attendant is still emptying my kids' dirty diapers or vacuuming all the crumbs my kids left behind.  The dining room staff would bring out fruit for the kids, or even a stockpile of milk cartons that we could keep in the room so that I did not have to get some later.

Having taken both of my children on cruises when they were toddlers, I was always pleasantly surprised how much care the staff takes in ensuring my children were accomodated.

Here is a list of things crew members have regularly done for just my kids on a cruise:

• Making the pack-n-play/crib everyday
• Emptying dirty diapers each day
• Vacuuming up crumbs from under highchair each day
• Entertaining children in high chairs at dinner
• Cleaning fingerprints from balcony door
• Picking up loose food/crumbs in the cabin carpet
• Bringing extra towels and other items like ice to keep bottles cold
• Bringing the things to your table each night- like fruit
• Cleaning up the mess on the table
• Providing baby toys (and cleaning them) from Adventure Ocean
• Ships with baby splash pool routinely cleaned

Read more: Introduction to bringing toddlers on a Royal Caribbean cruise

In short, you would be surprised how much the crew does for young kids on a cruise, even if they are not taking drink orders or delivering them filet mignon.

Unfortunately, gratuities are a sore subject for some people who feel because they are technically not part of the cruise fare, that they are optional charges.

The reality is in practice, gratuities are compulsory and should be paid for all guests.  In Australia, Royal Caribbean actually includes them with the cruise fare to get around cultural differences regarding tipping.  

In summary, I think they should pay the gratuity for 11 month old, especially once they see all the attention and care the crew take to ensure everyone in Jill's family is taken care of onboard their ship.

Read more: Best reader tips for having fun with kids on a cruise