Room service and to go food

[esp13]

I expect to feel like a valued guest when I am on the ship and, hopefully, when talking to customer service by phone. I don't expect the CEO of the line to view me as anything other than a source of revenue, especially when speaking to investors. We are a captive audience and every single line makes it's living off of that fact.

 

These changes will work or they won't. But I can't see why they are being taken so personally. If I cruise on a different line because I find a better value, I don't expect NCL to take it as an insult. So, when NCL makes changes without asking me whether I like them or not, I don't take that personally either. It's a business decision on both sides of the equation.

[CavalierX]

\I think a lot of the fine folks here are just venting and a lot of them will still continue to sail with NCL.

 

As I told my wife: I won't rule it out entirely because of this, but I'm now less likely to book with Norwegian in the future. NCL needs to hear this from as many people as possible before they do something we like even less.

[warriorking]

As I understand it it Room service is extremely slow and most food arrives cold..

So how are they going to handle the complaints?

At 7.95 I and everyone else expects the food promptly and Hot..

Seems we are going to see an increase of angry passengers demanding the service charge be removed do to poor service....

[CruisinHarvey]

For us, it' still a better value than other lines, given the entertainment options on the newer ships, food etc.. When it's not, we'll go elsewhere. Being loyal to cruise line makes no sense. If you're a frequent cruiser on one line, you can become the same type cruiser on another.

 

The big can of worms NCL is opening, is that some folks haven't even thought about another line for a long time. Make enough changes and it only wakes the sleeping giant as one japanese admiral was known to say. Surely, none of these changes are expected to add customers. The industry continues to add ships at a faster pace. No line needs empty berths. It's a calculated risk, they're obviously willing to take. I can't remember the first airline to add baggage fees anymore.

[MicheleRos]

hello i am new here. Is it true all these changes? Room service fee? and no bringing food to your cabin?

 

Michele

[NLH Arizona]

hello i am new here. Is it true all these changes? Room service fee? and no bringing food to your cabin?

 

Michele

Yes, they are charging $7.95 for room service, except for continental breakfasts in the am.

 

I wish someone who really knew would tell us what the real deal is with no bringing food to our cabins. I've heard all of these statements from NCL or those that said they talked with NCL. So what is the real deal?

 

*No food can be taken out of any restaurant to the cabins

*No food can be taken out of any restaurant or buffet to the cabins

*No hot food can be taken out of the buffet to the cabins

*Snacks can be taken out of the buffet to the cabins

 

Then we have returning passengers saying:

 

*No food out of any restaurant

*Many passengers have been seen walking around the ship with food from the buffet without issues

*Restaurant won't allow you to carry out your uneaten food if the child has a meltdown and you have to leave

*Restaurant will wrap your uneaten food and deliver it to your cabin if your child has a meltdown and you have to leave

[SissasMomE]

I'm stuck on the "child has a meltdown" thing. I've never experienced that with mine ... must be lucky, I guess :rolleyes:

[petesweet]

 

NCL can raise fees, add charges, etc. and, while I may not agree with the way in which they were implemented, I'll deal with them as services that I may or may not choose to use. However, I will definitely not be told when or where I can consume a plate of cheese, fruit, pretzel rolls, etc. that I paid for, along with the balcony that I paid for in order to relax how I want to . . . .

 

That was beginning to sound like the much-touted "freestyle cruising" until you take it in its context.:D

 

Happy sails.

 

Kathy

Edited May 11, 2015 by petesweet

[3XX1XY]

I'm stuck on the "child has a meltdown" thing. I've never experienced that with mine ... must be lucky, I guess :rolleyes:

 

You know, I'm a bit stuck on that one as well. Heres the deal, one of my kids is autistic and the other is possibly autistic with a heaping dose of ADHD. They have meltdowns, sometimes big ones. HOWEVER, when dining out, as long as I take a few simple steps they are UTTERLY avoidable in nearly all cases. If I just 1) let them order what they want off the kids menu (which yes, will likely be exactly the same every night) , 2) promise them a treat for good behavior and 3) provide entertainment during the wait time (this could be a card game, a small craft, or even an electronic device like a tablet) then everything will be fine. The entertainment is key for my kids. There is no way I can bring my autistic 7 year old to a restaurant and expect her to be entertained by our conversation. She can talk, but prefers not to and takes little interest in social conversation. This is something we work on AT HOME but the cruise ship is not the place for that if a meltdown could happen. It's a vacation, so we let her have a vacation too. She can have her tablet at the table as long as she puts it away when the food arrives.

 

Anyway, I have to assume that these folks going on about their children melting down either have kids in the 2-3 year old range OR they have severely autistic children. Otherwise... I'm not really sure as my other child is younger and can also be really easily entertained and really doesn't complain about food. The number of meltdowns experienced in a restaurant or in a cruise ship dining room can literally be counted on one hand by me and my kids have lots of meltdowns, I just prepare for the dining appropriately so that we avoid meltdowns there as I really don't want to bother other people.

[SissasMomE]

You know, I'm a bit stuck on that one as well. Heres the deal, one of my kids is autistic and the other is possibly autistic with a heaping dose of ADHD. They have meltdowns, sometimes big ones. HOWEVER, when dining out, as long as I take a few simple steps they are UTTERLY avoidable in nearly all cases. If I just 1) let them order what they want off the kids menu (which yes, will likely be exactly the same every night) , 2) promise them a treat for good behavior and 3) provide entertainment during the wait time (this could be a card game, a small craft, or even an electronic device like a tablet) then everything will be fine. The entertainment is key for my kids. There is no way I can bring my autistic 7 year old to a restaurant and expect her to be entertained by our conversation. She can talk, but prefers not to and takes little interest in social conversation. This is something we work on AT HOME but the cruise ship is not the place for that if a meltdown could happen. It's a vacation, so we let her have a vacation too. She can have her tablet at the table as long as she puts it away when the food arrives.

 

Anyway, I have to assume that these folks going on about their children melting down either have kids in the 2-3 year old range OR they have severely autistic children. Otherwise... I'm not really sure as my other child is younger and can also be really easily entertained and really doesn't complain about food. The number of meltdowns experienced in a restaurant or in a cruise ship dining room can literally be counted on one hand by me and my kids have lots of meltdowns, I just prepare for the dining appropriately so that we avoid meltdowns there as I really don't want to bother other people.

 

At first, I thought they did mean autistic children ... but there are an awful lot of posts from folks worrying about their kids having meltdowns. I'm beginning to think these are either 1. very spoiled children who have no boundaries or 2. Children of parents who insist on both overwhelming them, and keeping them awake far longer than they should be so they (the parents) don't "miss out".

[NLH Arizona]

At first, I thought they did mean autistic children ... but there are an awful lot of posts from folks worrying about their kids having meltdowns. I'm beginning to think these are either 1. very spoiled children who have no boundaries or 2. Children of parents who insist on both overwhelming them, and keeping them awake far longer than they should be so they (the parents) don't "miss out".

You are right on all counts, plus add to that the parents that totally ignore their children in the restaurants. I was having a nice dinner at Cagney's on one of my cruises and all I heard over and over and over again was "mommy". The mother never acknowledged her daughter (who was 5 or 6), as she continued conversation with her tablemates. Pretty soon the little girl (and I don't blame her at all) started crying and throwing a fit. It could have all been avoided if the mother would have just given her daughter a little attention.

[SissasMomE]

You are right on all counts, plus add to that the parents that totally ignore their children in the restaurants. I was having a nice dinner at Cagney's on one of my cruises and all I heard over and over and over again was "mommy". The mother never acknowledged her daughter (who was 5 or 6), as she continued conversation with her tablemates. Pretty soon the little girl (and I don't blame her at all) started crying and throwing a fit. It could have all been avoided if the mother would have just given her daughter a little attention.

 

I agree. I never could figure out why parents do that. I think it's very sad. That child just learned that the only way to get Mommy's attention is to "meltdown".

[jackson bernard]

You are right on all counts, plus add to that the parents that totally ignore their children in the restaurants. I was having a nice dinner at Cagney's on one of my cruises and all I heard over and over and over again was "mommy". The mother never acknowledged her daughter (who was 5 or 6), as she continued conversation with her tablemates. Pretty soon the little girl (and I don't blame her at all) started crying and throwing a fit. It could have all been avoided if the mother would have just given her daughter a little attention.

 

 

Did you ever think the kid had a meltdown because some weirdo at another table was staring at them the whole time? Maybe next time you should mind your own business. You know nothing about them or what they are dealing with.

[3XX1XY]

You are right on all counts, plus add to that the parents that totally ignore their children in the restaurants. I was having a nice dinner at Cagney's on one of my cruises and all I heard over and over and over again was "mommy". The mother never acknowledged her daughter (who was 5 or 6), as she continued conversation with her tablemates. Pretty soon the little girl (and I don't blame her at all) started crying and throwing a fit. It could have all been avoided if the mother would have just given her daughter a little attention.

 

I also don't get why people bring their kids to the specialty restaurants. My general rule of thumb tends to be that I wouldn't bring my kids to a fancy upscale place at home.... so I wouldn't on the ship either. I was reading on another thread about a parent having their meal boxed up when their kid melted down in a specialty restaurant and they were lamenting that with the new policy they wouldn't be able to do this anymore... really? I'm kind of glad! I question their judgement bringing a young or hard to manage child to a place like that anyway when its 100% possible on the ship to feed a child at the buffet 1st, and then drop them off at the kids club while the adults go to Cagneys or Le Bistro. Little kids really, really don't care as long as you feed them. They get nothing from going to a fancy restaurant.

[cadien]

My child didn't have a meltdown at dinner. He just fell asleep. With his head on the table. The other passengers would have found it unbelievably tacky for us to have just left him there instead of taking him back to the cabin.

[cadien]

I question their judgement bringing a young or hard to manage child to a place like that anyway when its 100% possible on the ship to feed a child at the buffet 1st, and then drop them off at the kids club while the adults go to Cagneys or Le Bistro. Little kids really, really don't care as long as you feed them. They get nothing from going to a fancy restaurant.

 

Unfortunately, as we discovered, if your child starts falling asleep at the kids club after you've done all the above, they call you at the specialty restaurant to come get them.

 

(Different evening from the above.)

[rockdoctor]

I'm really glad that we don't have any NCL cruises book in the immediate future. I hope this just "blows over".

[NLH Arizona]

Did you ever think the kid had a meltdown because some weirdo at another table was staring at them the whole time? Maybe next time you should mind your own business. You know nothing about them or what they are dealing with.

Thank you so much for adding your insights to the conversation, it is much appreciated.

[ZandZ]

I might be too late to this 45 plus page party but once my husband broke some ribs 2 days before our cruise.. these things are painful and take a while to heal... i brought food back to the cabin for him a few times a day...... on another topic, out neighbors must have thought we werw having lots of fun with all the sounds he made in his sleep....

[jaja]

Did you ever think the kid had a meltdown because some weirdo at another table was staring at them the whole time? Maybe next time you should mind your own business. You know nothing about them or what they are dealing with.

 

I normally do not jump in on these kinds of posts...but..had to here...INMO you are totally out of line ...your post contributes nothing to the topic and is just an attack on another poster...

[rockdoctor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gooch47

This might not be relevant, but in the past we have been told we could not take food away from the MDR on Princess ships. They, too, cited the health aspects and they had no room service fees to protect.

 

Not true. Took food to my wife from the MDR on the Golden in March.

[Barb Nahoumi]

How about this rumor being proven 1st? Because, how is NCL going to stop people from going to buffet and then outdoor seating right outside the buffet doors or upstairs/where outdoor grill is? Hmm, think about that for a second before going Chicken Little - pondering minds would like to know.....Let alone to their rooms or elsewhere on the ship.

 

Edit- Doom & Gloom forgot that obvious glaring fact about the buffet /grill outdoor seating

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

I read in other threads that taking buffet food to the outdoor seating is permissible. Why else would there be tables out there?

[rockdoctor]

The daughter of a good friend worked for NCL. They treated her very fairly. We are Loyalty Club on three other cruise lines. We have been looking a NCL cruises but not any more. Do you have to raise you handr and have a table monitor OK your leaving the buffet?

[maywell]

I read in other threads that taking buffet food to the outdoor seating is permissible. Why else would there be tables out there?

Because for some reason-I guess in their own minds without really thinking calmly about it - people forgot about the dining seats outside and in some cases, the outdoor grill area upstairs (staircase is right outside the buffet entrance). There's also, the drink station right outside the buffet doors plus the aft elevator/stair doors in the middle of the buffet for Breakaway-class ships - how was NCL going to stop anyone from taking anything from there? NCL would have to remove /rope off / close those things down and honestly I don't see them doing that with the aft-elevator/stairs because of emergency /fire hazard.

 

That's why I said what I said/wrote - I sailed the Breakaway and did buffet walk around while making notes of those minor tidbits. There's no real way to 'police' the buffet without NCL doing something drastic - They can't get some people to 'Washy Washy' going in; you think they're going to stop someone from taking 2 full plates of hamburgers out of there?!?

Edited May 11, 2015 by maywell

[LrgPizza]

It has been stated repeatedly that it is okay to take food from the buffet to eat on the pool deck. It has been stated repeatedly that it is okay to take snacks back to the cabin, just not meals. It has been stated repeatedly that in the case of problems or emergencies, the staff will take your dinner to your cabin for you. I wish people would start paying attention and stop trying to exaggerate this minor policy change. What purpose does that serve?