Carnival cuts daily service Princess to follow?

[joeyancho]

The cutbacks that Carnival takes generally do not show up at Princess. They are different lines with different focus. So I would say that for now we can still expect twice a day. For me it would not be make or break, but it is very nice. Part of the pleasure of cruising.

[Michelle19]

Once a day is totally fine with us too.. As long as they bring me ice for our sodas and water, we are good.. Theres a thought! I would love to be able to get our own ice. Like a hotel! :D

[moki'smommy]

Theres a thought! I would love to be able to get our own ice. Like a hotel! :D

 

 

You can on other lines....I don't remember if there was an ice machine at the beverage station place on the Caribbean Princess.

[GweninTX]

Actually a closer reading states that the cabin stewards are telling people to choose one or the other, day or night service but many passengers are demanding both. I certainly hope it doesn't spill over to Princess but you never know when it comes to the cruise saving money.

 

Here's a quote from that board "I think the point has been that yes it is a trial to let you chose however the stewards are telling guests they only get once a day. Thus the issue is the steward deliberatly giving bad information given that jh says it is the guests option to get once or twice a day.

 

 

We did NOT demand- we were given a card while visiting with the steward and we checked morning and evening. His response was thanks, that will be fine. He asked if we needed ice and we said in the evening only. He did not even remotely suggest once a day - he truly wanted to know our desire. Others may have had different situations, but ours was pleasant in 1/16.

[happysnapper]

Once a day is enough. On one occasion, just for something to do, I made the bed while waiting for DH to finish in the bathroom only to return from breakfast to find it was redone. More than happy not to have Steward come in of an evening. They could hand out a box of chocolates on boarding and we could ration them for the length of the cruise.:D Or eat them all in the first few days.

Edited May 16, 2016 by happysnapper

[Sea Hag]

stir, stir

 

i heard they were going to hand you a hershey bar on embarkation and are telling you to appropriately portion it for the entire cruise.

 

lol!

Edited May 16, 2016 by Sea Hag

[satxdiver]

CCL is a low cost cruise line much like a Super 8 or Motel 6 here in the USA. Princess is an upscale cruise line more like a Marriott or Hilton where it costs more to stay but more value is offered. Carnival Corp has positioned their different cruise lines to different segments of the market and tries to keep them from competing with each other. If you want an economical cruise choose CCL but if you want more quality pick Princess etc. So no I would not expect Princess to follow CCL's lead on this.

[OCruisers]

Carnival Corporation owns Carnival Cruise Line, Princess, HAL, etc., ect.

Each brand is managed differently.

Edited May 16, 2016 by OCruisers

[Murphey]

The stewards would be given more rooms to clean due to only servicing the room once a day instead of twice a day. I believe room stewards are available from 8:00 am - 11:30 am then from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. That's only a 6 hour working day. Have them working from 8:00 - 12:00 then 1:00 - 5:00 pm they could service more rooms and no turn downs - more productive. Stewards would be given more rooms to clean in an 8 hour period rather than a 6 hour period. .

 

Room Stewards are on duty from 7:00 - 2 and then from 5:30 -10 (or whenever they finish) Perhaps I misunderstood your post.

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Stir, Stir

 

I heard they were going to hand you a Hershey bar on embarkation and are telling you to appropriately portion it for the entire cruise.

 

Funny:D

[SteerageJack]

Make the bed, clean the bathroom, vacuum and then leave me alone. Once per day is all i need.

[elliair]

Room Stewards are on duty from 7:00 - 2 and then from 5:30 -10 (or whenever they finish) Perhaps I misunderstood your post.

 

Not from the card I saw on our vanity on the Coral Princess. 7:00 am was not on the card, nor was 5:30 - 10. Maybe the length of the cruise has something to do with it. We were on a 15-day Panama Canal cruise.

[Star Travler]

Nothing new. On MSC the number of times your cabin is serviced depends on the price/level of cabin you are in.

 

 

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[OzKiwiJJ]

The stewards would be given more rooms to clean due to only servicing the room once a day instead of twice a day. I believe room stewards are available from 8:00 am - 11:30 am then from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. That's only a 6 hour working day. Have them working from 8:00 - 12:00 then 1:00 - 5:00 pm they could service more rooms and no turn downs - more productive.

 

I'm fairly certain they work later than 5:30pm. We prefer late traditional dining and are usually in our cabin from 5:30/6pm to 6:45/7pm showering and changing for dinner. We have always had our cabin tidied and towels changed after we have left for the evening.

 

Having them finish at 5pm would serious disadvantage late diners.

 

Also I would be very annoyed if they removed the evening service. Since the bathrooms are so small it is almost a necessity to have the wet towels changed after evening showers and, especially on a warm climate cruise, we need showers in the evening after swimming all day.

 

And I wouldn't like to lose the morning service either. I really dislike having beds staying unmade all day.

Edited May 16, 2016 by OzKiwiJJ

[iceleven]

Cabins on ships are small so I manage to keep our cabin neat and orderly myself. I'd be totally OK with just having our towels replaced daily and having any room service plates/trays removed. How difficult is it to pull the covers up neatly on the bed? It certainly wouldn't ruin my vacation if I had steward's service only once a day or even skipped occasionally. Personally, I find it a bit of a bother when I feel I have to be out of the room to accommodate their schedule. We've often told them to not bother with straightening up and just leave fresh towels. We always say, "Take the night off." They generally have always obliged and receive an additional tip at the end of the cruise anyway.

[Gwendy]

Nothing new. On MSC the number of times your cabin is serviced depends on the price/level of cabin you are in.

 

 

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In 2014 we stayed in interior cabins cheapest of all. Our rooms were serviced twice a day on both Preziosa and Orchestra, both only 7 day cruises

[golfb4cruzing]

Steward on Carnival asks you on day one of you want once or twice a day. We asked for twice and it was no problem.

 

We just got off Carnival and steward never asked us, we just received twice a days. Maybe he knew we were long time cruisers and skipped the question. Passenger migration or attrition is Carnival's friend in implementing some changes. We were missing Princess within 10 minutes but we were sailing with a group. Better times are coming in October.

[SadieN]

Some Carnival ships (Breeze?) are testing a program where you're given a choice for service at morning, night or both.

 

 

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[shredie]

Some Carnival ships (Breeze?) are testing a program where you're given a choice for service at morning, night or both.

 

Thanks for explaining that.

[ejatczak]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2356034

 

Since Carnival owns Princess it's not a far leap to believe if Carnival is successful in cutting cleaning up cabins to once a day Princess would follow. It seems cruising continues to be less attractive with each new cut back and combined with the nickel and dimeing might become a bad value.

 

I don't see why cruising would be LESS attractive because my cabin was only cleaned once a day! I'm having a wonderful vacation on a floating resort traveling to new destinations! I don't clean my house or bathroom twice a day. I find this very pretentious!

[HI-C-Dubs]

I think we need to realize that Carnival is going for the kind of cruiser who wouldn't care if their room was done twice... In fact, most people who are on Carnival for the first time may never notice a difference because they don't know better! Princess won't follow Canival's lead because it's going after a much different market segment... In fact it's more likely to keep the status quo to differentiate itself from the 'Carnival' lines.

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

<sigh>

 

Carnival Cruise Lines does not own Princess Cruises.

Carnival Corporation owns both.

And the various divisions of Carnival Corporation are more or less autonomous in their decision making.

 

That said, closer reading of this topic on the Carnival Cruise Lines board reveals that evening turndown is still done on request, and reports from the fleet are that many stewards are continuing to do twice a day service unless the passenger clearly states that one a day is fine.

 

My guess is Carnival simply made the policy of one-or-two cabin service per day flexible as there are a growing number of passengers who leave the Do Not Disturb sign on their door 24/7. A topic not infrequently brought up even here on the Princess board.

 

Yup, that they do.....:):):)

 

Bob

[floridalover5623]

Since they consider this a money saving feature then I can also save money by reducing their gratuity by a certain amount. It works both ways.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I don't see why cruising would be LESS attractive because my cabin was only cleaned once a day! I'm having a wonderful vacation on a floating resort traveling to new destinations! I don't clean my house or bathroom twice a day. I find this very pretentious!

But there is an issue with saying that since I don't do something at home, I shouldn't expect it on a cruise. It's the same when people claim that since they don't have to cook and clean up from their meals, cruise dining experiences, regardless of quality, are fine. I don't pay extra to stay at home. I do pay extra to cruise. I guess, for that reason, my expectations are a bit higher than what I experience at home.

 

I love having service twice a day, and a main reason is I hate drying off with wet, used towels. Sure, there have been several times where we've simply exchanged towels with the steward and told him to not worry about us in the evening, but we generally shower twice daily while cruising, and each round of showers trashes the bathroom. We don't have comfortable seating beyond the bed so it gets messed up too, on sea days, even if we don't nap.

 

Maybe I'm a snob but I would consider only once daily service to be a major decision criterion for bypassing a cruise line.

[PghCruiseGrrrl]

I prefer having my cabin refreshed twice a day. I understand the people who question why when most land based hotels only clean your room once a day, but you tend to have a lot more room in those hotels as well. I need to take a shower first thing in the morning otherwise I would scare people and myself! If I swim or sweat at all I like to take a shower before dinner. In a land based hotel I have much more space in the bathroom to dry towels so I can reuse them, not to mention there is normally a fan in the bathroom to assist. There is VERY limited space in the bathroom on a ship, and no fan. The clothes line in the shower is usually occupied with swimsuits. I would venture to say if you tried to reuse towels you would never get dry after showering thus making you miserable and cranky.