cruising with a babysitter

has anyone taken a babysitter with them on a cruise and if so do you have to pay for their trip and for babysitting? do you have them watch the child the whole time or just part of the time so they can enjoy themselves also

Re: cruising with a babysitter

Nope never did it, but I would think you would have to pay for the whole thing, cruise plus sitting. Or maybe just the cruise and work something out that you pay for the cruise and they baby sit for so many hours and then get to enjoy their cruise the rest of the time. A college kid might enjoy that.

Message edited 5/11/2011 6:40:25 PM.

Re: cruising with a babysitter

My sister was taken to Disney by a family she babysat for and they paid for all her expenses plus a set amount for the babysitting. They also gave her time off at a couple times during the trip to do her own thing.

Re: cruising with a babysitter

I agree with the above posters. If a caregiver is on vacation with the family- the trip is always paid for plus some extra hours of work. You can let them go off on their own during designated times and do not pay extra for that time. That is from my own experience and I think that is the right thing to do.

Re: cruising with a babysitter

Thier trip should be paid for. They are not on vacation. They should be paid for the hours they work plus something extra for being away from home. Years ago I went on a vacation with the family I baby sat for. They paid me for 12 hours a day and paid for all my meals.

Re: cruising with a babysitter

Re: cruising with a babysitter

At 26 (& a full time elementary school teacher) I was asked by a family that I had babysat for to go on a Caribbean trip with them. Liked the family a lot and was told by the mom that they would pay for everything, as well as my time. I agreed to go with them and watch their twins in Aruba. It was a lovely trip and I worked hard. They brought bagels for breakfast, we ordered sandwiches on the beach for lunch, they gave me time off each day (about an hour), we went to a few dinners together and other nights, they ate out and the kids and I ate a light dinner from the snack bar. Airfare, hotel (slept on a pull-out sofa in the living room) and meals were all paid for but at the end of the trip, they never paid me. I have a feeling that the dad never wanted to pay me because he felt that I got a "free" trip. I never addressed it but I did stop babysitting for them. Had I been a younger, more inexperienced babysitter, I may have accepted this as okay but because I was an awesome babysitter and truly treated their children like they were my own, I felt that I deserved what I thought I would get when I originally accepted the offer. I believe that you should pay for everything on the trip for this sitter, as well as their time.

Re: cruising with a babysitter

My cousin has a full time live-in nanny at her home. If she takes her on vacation, which she does, she pays all her expenses plus her salary and she gets her regularly scheduled time off, as if they were at home. Just because the location changes doesn't mean the nanny's job does.