Housekeeping Services when cruising resumes

[ipeeinthepool]

I just returned from a trip to Phoenix, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Bryce National Park and a couple of other locations in Utah.  I stayed in 5 different hotels and none on the hotels provided daily housekeeping services to minimize Covid exposure.  If you were staying more than one night and wanted clean towels or trash removed you need to place them outside of your room and someone would leave clean towels and pick-up the trash.  This was our first post Covid trip and I guess this is the current hotel industry policy.  I wonder if Celebrity will follow this policy or perhaps limit housekeeping services to once a day or maybe every other day.

[cruisestitch]

Maybe but who knows?

[kwokpot]

For better or worse the current trends in the hotel industry will last beyond covid. Hotel companies are planning to reduce room cleaning frequency in their limited service hotel brands while keeping daily cleaning service on the higher end brands. Other changes include possible elimination of the In-Room Mini bar in favor of Lobby Level bar service and/or Self-Service pickup,Pay and go areas. For the limited service brands hotel companies are even looking into reducing and/or eliminating check-in desks in favor of self service kiosks similar to what the airlines have done for check-in and baggage tagging.

 

The pandemic has shown hotel companies that by cutting costs they can survive on lower occupancy levels. These service cut are inevitable and will be permanent; hotel companies such as Marriott and Hilton have already say so.

 

I have traveled and stayed in hotels throughout the pandemic (mainly Atlantic Casino hotels once they reopened last summer) and currently I don't require daily room maintenance. I'll ask for fresh towels every other day along with toiletries. 

 

We have always enjoyed the twice daily cabin service, although there are many times when we will tell the attendant either the turn down is un-necessary for a particular night or even regular service is not needed if we feel like staying in the room for the morning. TBH I'm not sure =what I'll look for when I start back cruising, which I hope to be later in the fall.

[Fouremco]

I doubt that all of the other guests and the hotel staff were fully vaccinated, so these precautions make sense. If everyone aboard a ship is vaccinated, there should be no need to take these extra measures from a health perspective, but I suppose a cruise line could save a few dollars by reducing housekeeping services and the related staff while claiming it to be a "safety measure".

[39august]

I imagine that is just what they will do for "safety" sake. I don't mind setting out trash or towels. What I do not want to do is make my bed every day. I can stay home and do that. One of the main reasons we both enjoy cruising is that we do not have any household chores or cooking while on board. 

[Jeremiah1212]

I hope the having vaccinated crew makes this comparison quite different. But hotels have been scaling back housekeeping services for several years pre-COVID. COVID will be the catalyst to make those changes permanent and more significant. From a cost cutting perspective it makes sense for cruise lines and profit is going to be #1 priority for a long time to come. 

[CroozFanatic]

Relevant post. Interesting info. Thx.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I can do all this housekeeping stuff at home.  I cruise to have a hotel that moves around and to have all this done for me.  No reason for me to pay the high prices they are currently asking for cruises if the level of service will be drastically decreased.

[davekathy]

46 minutes ago, 39august said:

I imagine that is just what they will do for "safety" sake. I don't mind setting out trash or towels. What I do not want to do is make my bed every day. I can stay home and do that. One of the main reasons we both enjoy cruising is that we do not have any household chores or cooking while on board. 

 

19 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I can do all this housekeeping stuff at home.  I cruise to have a hotel that moves around and to have all this done for me.  No reason for me to pay the high prices they are currently asking for cruises if the level of service will be drastically decreased.

Agree. We did a few land vacations last year that required multiply night stays at chain and independent hotels. It sucked that we had to make our own bed while on vacation and still paying the same if housekeeping was doing it. We should have had the choice to request full house keeping services or not. We hope Celebrity or other cruise lines don't go with limited stateroom services. 

[cruise kitty]

interesting, my hotel stays since Feb 2020 have been in December (Grand canyon DH VAX celebration) & Vegas in first week March (my vax celebration) in both cases our rooms were cleaned/made up daily... difference from before times was that I had to request this, & let them know when the room would be vacant.  Room service was available in both cases but all the utensils were pre packed disposable...  hopefully people & businesses will soon move on from the very early idea that you get this particular virus from 'things' rather than unvaccinated people.  

 

I'm going to guess that hotels or cruise lines that don't offer  good housekeeping won't last long in the social media age of reviews :)

[Host Jazzbeau]

We are starting to get some reports from actual cruises now – not Celebrity, but they may be relevant to what will happen when Celebrity starts up.  The American Queen Steamboat Company forum has reports from two Mississippi River cruises, one starting in New Orleans and the return starting in Memphis.  Both report that the pre-cruise hotel (Hilton NOLA and Sheraton Memphis) are not what they were [literally in the case of Memphis, since ACL used to use the Peabody...].  The bottom line is that all of the cruisers enjoyed their cruise 😀

[Miaminice]

We have already done a cruise under Covid guidelines. No change in housekeeping services!

[Algebralovr]

I stayed in a number of hotels in November and Febuary.  We found that that the "chain" hotels, even the high end ones, were minizing services to save $$.  The boutique hotels were not.  

 

I think the cruise ships will continue to do normal housekeeping, in large part because that is how they keep the ship clean and keep potential infection down.  Carnival already went to once a day housekeeping, from what I recall reading, but I don't expect Celebrity will do that.

[NMTraveller]

4 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

I just returned from a trip to Phoenix, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Bryce National Park and a couple of other locations in Utah.  I stayed in 5 different hotels and none on the hotels provided daily housekeeping services to minimize Covid exposure.  If you were staying more than one night and wanted clean towels or trash removed you need to place them outside of your room and someone would leave clean towels and pick-up the trash.  This was our first post Covid trip and I guess this is the current hotel industry policy.  I wonder if Celebrity will follow this policy or perhaps limit housekeeping services to once a day or maybe every other day.

Sedona?  Did you stop by one of the many psychics there and ask when cruising would restart 🙂

[ipeeinthepool]

11 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Sedona?  Did you stop by one of the many psychics there and ask when cruising would restart 🙂

 

Nope. I was there on a Wednesday and it was incredibly crowded and traffic jams trying to reach the old town section.  It was not my favorite place.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Nope. I was there on a Wednesday and it was incredibly crowded and traffic jams trying to reach the old town section.  It was not my favorite place.

Oh boy, I'll be there the end of July.

[sofietucker]

41 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Oh boy, I'll be there the end of July.

Sedona: we were married there in the 70s when it was a tiny artists' colony (before the vortexes, etc.) & go back or pass through (Oak Creek Cyn to/from Flag) from time to time. Because it's surrounded by parks/monuments/national forests, it's hard not to be a little hemmed in with lodging, but try to stay as far west of town as you can.

 

And GO as far west of town as you can, to see good red rocks without busloads on top of you. Caution: if you see BEAR signs, believe them and follow the directions (abandon all hope, ye who enter here). I vote Fay Cyn and Bear Mtn. Have a full tank of gas and carry plenty of water before heading out. Promise me, no driving on dirt roads, okay? The petroglyphs are not accessible by lone civilians.

 

The main road, 89A, is full of roundabouts now. This town will be packed with folks who don't know how to use them! If you're driving, look at the Google map on satellite, identify where they are and zoom in, to "practice" what lanes you will need to be in and on which spoke to exit. And expect to encounter yayhoos.

 

Ask yourself if you really want to do Oak Creek in the height of summer, bumper to bumper, on a very steep, extremely winding two-lane road... If so--it really is spectacular, you pass thru 7 climate zones--it's WAY better going down to Sedona from Flagstaff than going up. Even the driver can see stuff on the southward drive. 

 

Don't buy stuff there! That city has nothing to do with Indians. Tourist shops have mostly overpriced Made in China stuff. Exception: art by local artists. Go to Tlaquepaque for that (artist-gallery shopping village). If you want authentic Indian items, either Flagstaff (find some local jewelers or specialists, or my choice, the Museum of Northern AZ; Flag shops have junk too); Grand Canyon (horribly crowded) or on the rez. Or in some shops in PHX (also, Heard Museum gift shop). And be prepared to pay a bunch: ever bought a Dala Horse in Sweden? it will be like that, lol.

Also--I know, you haven't even mentioned shopping! But I see you're in Philly. The best places on the East Coast for excellent Indian items are the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI); one on the Mall in DC and one in Manhattan. Their gift shops are spectacularly where to go. They have inexpensive handmade toys & stuff too!

Edited April 27, 2021 by sofietucker

[kwokpot]

21 minutes ago, sofietucker said:

Sedona: we were married there in the 70s when it was a tiny artists' colony (before the vortexes, etc.) & go back or pass through (Oak Creek Cyn to/from Flag) from time to time. Because it's surrounded by parks/monuments/national forests, it's hard not to be a little hemmed in with lodging, but try to stay as far west of town as you can.

The main road, 89A, is full of roundabouts now. This town will be packed with folks who don't know how to use them! If you're driving, look at the Google map on satellite, identify where they are and zoom in, to "practice" what lanes you will need to be in and on which spoke to exit. And expect to encounter yayhoos.

Ask yourself if you really want to do Oak Creek in the height of summer, bumper to bumper, on a very steep, extremely winding two-lane road... If so--it really is spectacular, you pass thru 7 climate zones--it's WAY better going down to Sedona from Flagstaff than going up. Even the driver can see stuff on the southward drive. 

Don't buy stuff there! That city has nothing to do with Indians. Tourist shops have mostly overpriced Made in China stuff. Exception: art by local artists. Go to Tlaquepaque for that (artist-gallery shopping village). If you want authentic Indian items, either Flagstaff (find some local jewelers or specialists, or my choice, the Museum of Northern AZ; Flag shops have junk too); Grand Canyon (horribly crowded) or on the rez. Or in some shops in PHX (also, Heard Museum gift shop). And be prepared to pay a bunch: ever bought a Dala Horse in Sweden? it will be like that, lol.

Thanks for the information! Not my first time there, but it's been many, many years. It's part of a Vegas vacation. After starting in Vegas we're heading down to Palm Springs for a couple of nights, Phoenix for 1 night, up to Sedona for a couple of nights, then back to Vegas. I had thought to go in the opposite direction but I wanted to be in Palm Springs on a Thursday IN CASE they bring back their regular Thursday night Street Festivals which currently are cancelled for Covid.  We're going with my sister and BIL and she's a sucker for Street fairs and also Sedona Old Town shops and stuff.  Unfortunately this will put me in Sedona on a Saturday & Sunday.  We're staying in a timeshare Apt. complex West of the Old Town off 89A. We'll just have to deal with the traffic and crowds. It is what it is.

Edited April 27, 2021 by kwokpot

[LGW59]

8 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I hope the having vaccinated crew makes this comparison quite different. But hotels have been scaling back housekeeping services for several years pre-COVID. COVID will be the catalyst to make those changes permanent and more significant. From a cost cutting perspective it makes sense for cruise lines and profit is going to be #1 priority for a long time to come. 

I can very easily go on a 2 day rotation of replacing towels and changing bedsheets...don't do it at home, so will work fine on a ship.  Yes I Love the luxury of pre-pandemic cruising, but the past year has changed my perspective.  Luxury now is seeing and talking to people in an open environment.

[Auntiemomo]

Maybe for thee, but not for me.  I'm not going to pay for mediocrity.

[Cruise Gopher]

They won’t change housekeeping much, because they won’t just let the housekeeping staff sit around doing nothing for the rest of the day after they clean up rooms in the morning, they want to keep them working and fully utilized as much as possible. 

[LGW59]

15 minutes ago, Auntiemomo said:

Maybe for thee, but not for me.  I'm not going to pay for mediocrity.

Totally understand, using the same towel 2x and sleeping on the same sheets 2x, unbearable, but pandemic has opened my eyes, just a wee bit, I just want to get on a ship.  

[DaKahuna]

Stayed in a Courtyard by Marriott recently for two nights.  Was asked at check in if we wanted housekeeping or not.  Said we did.  
 

We were out all day and when we came back in the evening our room had been taken care of the same as pre-COVID.  

[jelayne]

I’m getting very tired of every cutback, delay or “temporary”  elimination of service being attributed to Covid.  In our area there is no mask mandate, things are open to 100% occupancy, thousands go to ball games with no mask or social distancing but the dressing rooms in stores are still closed due to Covid 🙄.  
 

For the price of a cabin at $500 and up per night I’m not making the bed or putting out the trash.  

[LGW59]

15 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I’m getting very tired of every cutback, delay or “temporary”  elimination of service being attributed to Covid.  In our area there is no mask mandate, things are open to 100% occupancy, thousands go to ball games with no mask or social distancing but the dressing rooms in stores are still closed due to Covid 🙄.  
 

For the price of a cabin at $500 and up per night I’m not making the bed or putting out the trash.  

Not talking about NOT making up the bed each day or not folding or hanging the towels.  Talking about a bit of conservation, wherein the towel used just once or the bed slept in just once, need to be replaced each day.  I do not do that at home and don't need to do so either when I travel, mostly on a conservation type effort.  I did it post COVID when I traveled for work or pleasure and I can easily suffer through the same on a ship.  When I walk back to my room, the bed is still made, towels are nicely folded and hanging, and I am not suffering by sleeping in the bed for the second night on the same sheets.