Beach towels

[Dayenu]

I think they've solved the loungers' reservation by the pool. On our Caribbean cruise on Brilliance no beach towels in the cabin (window) - we had to leave the key card to get a towel by the pool. This means, you can't take towels on shore - you need the card for that. And you won't leave your towel by the pool if you go back to the cabin.

 

Good for them, bad for us - going to the Caribbean, bring your own pool towels - bulky! - and pay the airline for another checked in bag. :mad:

[Eng23]

I think they've solved the loungers' reservation by the pool. On our Caribbean cruise on Brilliance no beach towels in the cabin (window) - we had to leave the key card to get a towel by the pool. This means, you can't take towels on shore - you need the card for that. And you won't leave your towel by the pool if you go back to the cabin.

 

Good for them, bad for us - going to the Caribbean, bring your own pool towels - bulky! - and pay the airline for another checked in bag. :mad:

Interesting. Has anyone experienced this recently on any other ships????

[niksmom630]

Interesting. Has anyone experienced this recently on any other ships????

 

Not on my recent cruise on Liberty. While you had to scan sea pass card to get a towel, as long as you scanned them back in at some point in the future (in my case I took them back to them room, scanned them back in the next day and got fresh towels), it was not an issue.

[tneah]

You can the beach towels on the ship to the beaches. We have never had an issue. Just make sure you return what you took or you can be charged for not returning them.

[akcruz]

I think they've solved the loungers' reservation by the pool. On our Caribbean cruise on Brilliance no beach towels in the cabin (window) - we had to leave the key card to get a towel by the pool. This means, you can't take towels on shore - you need the card for that. And you won't leave your towel by the pool if you go back to the cabin.

 

Good for them, bad for us - going to the Caribbean, bring your own pool towels - bulky! - and pay the airline for another checked in bag. :mad:

 

What happens if you want a drink while lounging by the pool? You need the seapass for that. Something is not adding up here :confused:

[Mark_K]

I think they've solved the loungers' reservation by the pool. On our Caribbean cruise on Brilliance no beach towels in the cabin (window) - we had to leave the key card to get a towel by the pool. This means, you can't take towels on shore - you need the card for that. And you won't leave your towel by the pool if you go back to the cabin.

 

Good for them, bad for us - going to the Caribbean, bring your own pool towels - bulky! - and pay the airline for another checked in bag. :mad:

Did you mistakenly assume that you would get charged if you didn't return your towels before you left the pool area? You can take the towels anywhere you want, and keep them as long as you want, as long as you get them checked back in by the end of the cruise.

[wwcruisers]

What happens if you want a drink while lounging by the pool? You need the seapass for that. Something is not adding up here :confused:

 

I agree -- why would RC risk losing revenue by holding your "magic card" hostage for a $20 towel? Especially since the towel-exchange card scanning procedure has been implemented fleet-wide, for a number of years. Maybe Brilliance's card-scanners at the towel station were down for a while, and this was their fall-back plan?? :confused:

[Langley Cruisers]

What happens if you want a drink while lounging by the pool? You need the seapass for that. Something is not adding up here :confused:

 

 

Agreed; I don't think OP either explained the situation correctly, or knew that this was not necessary. I would never surrender my SeaPass card to anyone, ever... it's connected to my credit card and I am not letting go of it.

[Trekker954]

Agreed; I don't think OP either explained the situation correctly, or knew that this was not necessary. I would never surrender my SeaPass card to anyone, ever... it's connected to my credit card and I am not letting go of it.

 

Its also your room key. The OP must have misunderstood. No way would I leave my sea pass with anyone. I'm not even crazy when the pool bartenders walk away briefly with it.

[cb at sea]

You may have to show or scan the card for the towels, but you do NOT have to leave the card/key to get towels.

[NYCRUISR]

Its also your room key. The OP must have misunderstood. No way would I leave my sea pass with anyone. I'm not even crazy when the pool bartenders walk away briefly with it.

 

Ditto on that about the bartenders.

[Langley Cruisers]

OP, in thinking about this further, I've come to the conclusion that even though you are a regular member here with a lot of posts on this board, you must have missed the part about the pool towels and the policy RCI follows now. Towels are not left in your cabin - they haven't been for quite some time. You swipe your Sea Pass card which entitles you to 2 towels, which you can exchange every day for 2 clean ones. At the end of the cruise, usually on the last day or evening, you settle up by swiping your card again and if all accounted-for towels are returned, everybody's happy. :)

 

I'm still not certain what happened with you but rest assured, one's card is never "kept", as confirmed by other members in this thread. It just would never happen. I do hope you'll come back and elaborate further. :)

 

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[Ashland]

So the OP is saying "they" left their SeaPass with the attendant at the towel station and didn't find this unusual or question it :eek::confused:

[amybear912]

I haven't sailed with RC since the new towel policy... We really can only get 2 towels now???

 

In the past we have always snagged a few extra as DH likes to use one as his shower towel... DH is a big guy and the ones in the room just dont cut it for him...We always turn them all in...

 

So this is no longer possible?? You have to pick them up at the pool area??

 

We are sailing on Freedom if that makes a difference...

 

Sorry to hijack... This is just a detail we hadn't considered...

[royalcruz]

I haven't sailed with RC since the new towel policy... We really can only get 2 towels now???

 

In the past we have always snagged a few extra as DH likes to use one as his shower towel... DH is a big guy and the ones in the room just dont cut it for him...We always turn them all in...

 

So this is no longer possible?? You have to pick them up at the pool area??

 

We are sailing on Freedom if that makes a difference...

 

Sorry to hijack... This is just a detail we hadn't considered...

It's really no problem. You can get 2 towels per Sea Pass card. Yes, you get them at the pool area but you can take them to your cabin or ashore. You just have to turn them back in by the deadline near the end of the cruise. If they are dirty or wet, just exchange them at the towel stand (no card needed for exchanges.)

[amybear912]

Thanks! Mind is now at ease... Crisis of packing a beach towel for DH averted...

[Toddcan]

Another related question:

 

On our Liberty cruise (3 years ago), I was pretty sure that when we took the pool towels back to the cabin, the room steward would replace them 1 for 1 with clean ones. If we didn't have any pool towels in the cabin at the time, there was nothing for him to replace.

 

Has that changed?

[JeffKoz]

The jewel was not enforcing a 2 towel limit on the past xmas cruise. I went up and got 4...i suppose it is possible when they scanned my seapss they saw there were two in the cabin.

 

As for the original comments, the only place on the ship (radiance class anyway) where you have to surrender a sea pass is if you want a locker in the gym. They provide you a key for the locker and you get your seapass back when you return the locker key...There is no way i would be able to surrender my seapass for pool/beach towels...

[1cat4jan]

And you won't leave your towel by the pool if you go back to the cabin

 

On Oasis, we had to "check out" our towels, but that did not prevent people from leaving their towels all over the ship. The reserving of chairs by leaving towels was the same as any other ship I have been on.

 

We took our towels on shore. Only thing I missed was the towel "check in" when we boarded the ship. We had to go to the pool deck to return them. At one of the ports, I saw someone checking towels in when we boarded. I thought check in would be available for all ports. Since they are so stringent with their towel rules, I wish they would be more accommodating.

[Big_G]

On Oasis, we had to "check out" our towels, but that did not prevent people from leaving their towels all over the ship. The reserving of chairs by leaving towels was the same as any other ship I have been on.

 

We took our towels on shore. Only thing I missed was the towel "check in" when we boarded the ship. We had to go to the pool deck to return them. At one of the ports, I saw someone checking towels in when we boarded. I thought check in would be available for all ports. Since they are so stringent with their towel rules, I wish they would be more accommodating.

 

I don't know how accommodating you want them to be without losing boat loads of towels on every cruise.

 

 

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[gerif]

Thanks! Mind is now at ease... Crisis of packing a beach towel for DH averted...

 

Just be careful to not just leave the wet ones in the cabin. There have been reports of room stewards scooping them up with the regular towels and then the passenger was charged for not checking them back in.

[cruisegirl1]

What happens if you want a drink while lounging by the pool? You need the seapass for that. Something is not adding up here :confused:

 

My thoughts too. We sailed in Janaury and had the usual card swipe for a towel. One swipe lasted us the entire week, as we simply exchanged towels for fresh ones.

 

M

[bouhunter]

Obviously "towel loss" was once high enough to warrant the current policy. Can't believe people were stealing so many (but the must have been), the towels are nothing special that I'd want, let alone take up the space in my luggage to steal them.:rolleyes:

[1cat4jan]

I don't know how accommodating you want them to be without losing boat loads of towels on every cruise.

 

I guess I wasn't clear.

 

After a beach day in port, I wish they had towel check-in when you first enter the ship.

 

It was available at one port and not available at the other.

[Trekker954]

We took our towels on shore. Only thing I missed was the towel "check in" when we boarded the ship. We had to go to the pool deck to return them. At one of the ports, I saw someone checking towels in when we boarded. I thought check in would be available for all ports. Since they are so stringent with their towel rules, I wish they would be more accommodating.

 

Coming back from coco cay and labadee, on a few of our ships, there has been a towel return set up right after the xray.