Empty bar, still charged.. Advise?

[sheilb4]

Hi all, I was wondering if any of you have advise on this issue....

On the past 4 cruises now, I have asked my room attendant to empty my fridge of all items so I can put my own things in there as needed. They have graciously done this for me of course, and when it comes to disembarkation day I have taken to reminding them that they had emptied my fridge, also I show them my robe, as these have been charged for before, in error.

Still it happens that I get home and the charges for fridge contents and robe are on my account... They have reimbursed me after some hassle, but would like to know if anyone has fool proof advise how to stop this constantly recurring?

Thanks

[Lynnees]

Pay in cash.

[Chicky2181]

That's odd. I've never experienced that. We actually had the opposite experience on our first freedom cruise may years back. My mom completely devoured the candy and soda. And we were never charged......even after she ate the candy that was restocked. She has an m&m addiction.

 

On our last cruise we took some stuff out to make room for bottled water and baby food/formula, and still was not charged.

[39august]

I have never before heard of people being charged for a robe! That would really irritate me. And in more than 30 cruises, all of which I removed items from the fridge to make room for mine, I have never been charged.

[kymbakitty]

Pay in cash.

 

Paying for anything in cash makes me a little light headed! We charge EVERYTHING...even a bolt that cost .89 cents at Home Depot--to get the points. I won't even buy gas at ARCO because I would forfeit points on my Hilton AMEX or Marriott VISA. Of course we pay it off every month so there is never any interest paid.

 

But back to OP....this has never happened to us on a cruise ship. A hotel--yes. But never a cruise ship.

 

Dawn

[jebl]

On our last cruise on a ship with a fridge, I asked about having the fridge emptied. Room steward said that someone from the Bar Staff would need to do that. Rather than go through any hassle, I just took everything out and lined it up neatly on the top shelf over the desk. It was in plain sight and just needed to be moved back to the fridge when we left the ship.

 

Worked out just fine and no charges on our Sea Pass account. I have never been charged for a robe or a beach towel.

 

Only trouble I had was with internet minutes. They did not give me my free minutes with the coupon from the Diamond book. That was easily rectified.

[pcur]

The bar staff comes in at the end of each cruise and check the contents of the fridges in the cabins. They have a checklist of what was stocked, and compare it to the contents. Then, on turnaround day, they restock the fridges, with a final check being done. Telling your cabin steward doesn't always mean the bar staff gets the message; different people coming and going at different times. The cabin steward may never see the bar staff.

 

I empty our fridge to make room for our own food/drink items, and sometimes my husband will drink the diet cokes, then replace them with cans purchased in port. But, I always leave the rest as-is. If I empty it completely, I put everything in the shelves above the desk to keep the clutter at a minimum.

 

At the end of the cruise I always put all the contents back in the fridge arranged the way they were when you started the cruise. It's pretty easy, because larger items are in the back, and all the cans are grouped by product.

 

If anything is left out of the fridge, they think it's your personal items that you left behind, and they don't know it's from the fridge. Always fill the fridge back up at the end.

 

About the robes: fold them and leave them on the table or bed. Don't leave them on the floor or in the bathroom on the floor. They look too much like towels, and may be missed. Then, the cabin steward (who has scooped up all the "towels" and put them in the laundry bag outside the cabin) will not find the robes, and think you took them home and want to buy them.

[denamo]

Have gotten a soft drink as welcome gift on board and put can in trash when finished. Not sure if bar staff just saw can in trash and charged us without opening the refrigerator. Was corrected. Wish we didn't have to go through the process of getting it corrected. Don't mind at all paying when we've used items from the refrigerator. Not happy being charged when we haven't. :(

[sheilb4]

Thanks for your input guys... I have done it in different ways too, with taking stuff out myself and leaving on a shelf, folded up robe or left it hanging....seems that it only happened on Oasis and a few times on Freedom....not going to stop me going on her again...... maybe just coincidence....Am Going on Jewel next week so will take care again... ;)

[Trekker954]

That's odd. I've never experienced that. We actually had the opposite experience on our first freedom cruise may years back. My mom completely devoured the candy and soda. And we were never charged......even after she ate the candy that was restocked. She has an m&m addiction.

 

On our last cruise we took some stuff out to make room for bottled water and baby food/formula, and still was not charged.

 

 

You need to buy and pack some M&Ms from home before you leave for mom. I sure if and when they do get around to charging her,, it will be triple the price if not more.

[callmewhatever]

Maybe leave a note on the fridge stating the cabin person has them :D

[Langley Cruisers]

The bar staff comes in at the end of each cruise and check the contents of the fridges in the cabins.

 

They come in during the cruise, sometimes every day if the DND is not in the door when they come by.

.

[rubrrick]

If you are not sure how items were packed when you want to restock everything that you have removed, so that you can use the cooler for your own items, first, before removing anything, take a picture with your camera, or phone.

 

Then on the last morning, refer to the picture and return everything to it's original place.

 

We have never been charged for anything that we did not use, and being Pinnacle Club members will give an idea of how many times we have cruised on Royal Caribbean.;)

 

Rick

[CVU]

We have the fridge emptied as well. The cabin attendant organizes it or once removed everything and put it under the bed/in the closet.

 

We have been charged in the past for an item but they reversed the payment when we either called from home after getting a bill after we disembarked or at the front desk during the cruise. They said it was a mix up in room numbers........

 

I have been leaving the robes on the hooks behind the front door.

[AussieVisi2r]

Paying for anything in cash makes me a little light headed! We charge EVERYTHING...even a bolt that cost .89 cents at Home Depot--to get the points. I won't even buy gas at ARCO because I would forfeit points on my Hilton AMEX or Marriott VISA. Of course we pay it off every month so there is never any interest paid.

 

But back to OP....this has never happened to us on a cruise ship. A hotel--yes. But never a cruise ship.

 

Dawn

 

Don't know how people travel if they dont play the poins game. I even choose coffee shops that take cards.:D

[seetosea]

We have been charged on several cruises for random items that we did not use so it does happen. When it occurs, we go down and stand in line at guest services and get it taken care of. If it's the last day, it can be really annoying because the line is really long.

 

Don't know how to help you but I did want to confirm that it does happen.

[DebJ14]

We were once charged for a phone call to the Phillipines. Luckily we looked at the bill and went to Guest Service the morning of debarkation. They argued up one side and down the other that the call came from our room. I said it very well may have, but I don't know anyone in the Phillipines and I have never called there. Wanna guess where our room steward was from?