Go Green—reduced housekeeping services—is this new?

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, little britain said:

There is nothing saying they won’t deliver the service. 
At the nightly turndown I found they tidied up a bit and despite me hanging the towels up indicating I’d reuse them; they would change them anyway ( this happens on every line )… as far as I can see the “ green” bit means they probably won’t now reclean my shower and perhaps they now won’t give me new towels.

 

We have never ever had clean sheets daily on any cruise (73 at last count).

 

So you won't sign up for the green program, correct?

[little britain]

30 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

So you won't sign up for the green program, correct?

Yes I have signed up for the programme because as I see it there is little change. 

[sanger727]

14 hours ago, sergel02 said:

Am I the only one who thought cruise lines only did a turn down service at night and not a full clean?

 

 

 

No, your not the only one. What they describe as the "green" service is what I thought they already did. Yes, this is fine, I don't need the captain's club points but offering it as an opt in instead of opt out is customer forward. 

 

I have no idea why people are so quick to judgement based on a thread title/OP and don't read another single post. Clearly, anyone who is posting in page 4 and still doesn't realize that the green service includes their room being cleaned and towels change every day just enjoys complaining, and doesn't really care what it's about. 

[Laurab23]

I will wait and see how it is for cruisers before me. I have until May 2022 and who knows what will change by then.

 

Laura

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, ch175 said:

Stayed in a Hilton a couple of weeks ago for 5 days. They don’t enter your room unless you ask. Had to set the trash can outside the door, and had to call the front desk to request toilet paper.

 

This is all about reducing costs. There is zero measurable effect on the environment. If you accept this “green” program, service will continue to slowly slide.

The service industry has been decimated by the pandemic and they are having a very difficult time staffing, it will be some time (if ever) this industry will return to normal.  Whatever I can do to help them is IMO a very small price to pay.

[ch175]

24 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

The service industry has been decimated by the pandemic and they are having a very difficult time staffing, it will be some time (if ever) this industry will return to normal.  Whatever I can do to help them is IMO a very small price to pay.

Who are you helping? Is the hotel or resort taking $20 off the nightly rate since they are servicing rooms less?

 

I would prefer to not have to schedule room service when I am on a vacation.

 

Remember the “temporary” baggage fees airlines imposed due to high fuel prices? Of course you remember them, as they are still there.

 

Do not confuse having empathy for overworked employees with service cutbacks. We are all being suckered.

[LGW59]

16 minutes ago, ch175 said:

Who are you helping? Is the hotel or resort taking $20 off the nightly rate since they are servicing rooms less?

 

I would prefer to not have to schedule room service when I am on a vacation.

 

Remember the “temporary” baggage fees airlines imposed due to high fuel prices? Of course you remember them, as they are still there.

 

Do not confuse having empathy for overworked employees with service cutbacks. We are all being suckered.

Do not confuse having empathy for overworked employees with service cutbacks. We are all being suckered.  Duly noted 🙄

[Germancruiser]

I do not get what people are complaining about. Nobody has to agree to the new concept- I simply declined and got the service as usual- and I, too tip extra. One CAN go GREEN - nobody MUST! 

If a hotel is doing what a poster described- well thank you and good bye- threre are other hotels around. 

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

CCL.  I called room service to request a dirty dish pickup, the person on the phone said to leave it in the hallway

I knew it was not unusual to see a tray and dirty dishes in a hallway floor, but I have always considered it disgusting and selfish.  I am surprised that a cruise line with encourage the behavior because it must be a safety hazard and also sometimes difficult for handicap people using the hallway.  

[Alakegirl]

CCL May encourage it, but Celebrity doesn’t

[Fouremco]

Do I understand correctly that you get the the same number of bonus Captain's Club points whether you opt in for a 2-night or 14-night cruise?

[NutsAboutGolf]

22 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Do I understand correctly that you get the the same number of bonus Captain's Club points whether you opt in for a 2-night or 14-night cruise?

 

The way I read it, yes

[jg51]

20 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

My WAG (Wild A$$ Guess) is some bean counter came up with the idea to actively advertise this service pre-sailing in exchange for CC points.  The number one reason behind this IMO is to reduce staff.  Reduced water consumption, reduced cleaning supplies and other backend admin duties further reduce costs.

.

Hello, "NutsAboutGolf."

 

We don't think that your conclusion is a "WAG" at all.  We think that it is completely correct.  Celebrity (and other lines) need to "reduce staff," as you said, as part of their financial recovery from the last fifteen disastrous months.

 

How will the permanent reduction in staff take place?  If a cruise line can persuade enough people to agree to the "Go Green" option, they will be able  -- according to our own WAG -- to decrease the number of stateroom stewards by at least one per residential deck.  We think that they will assign a few more staterooms to each steward, who will then have to work a longer (perhaps one hour longer) morning shift, but a shorter (possibly much shorter) evening shift.  The stewards will then be able to retire to their own cabins a good bit earlier each night.  [The cruise line will have to pay perhaps ten to twenty fewer salaries -- per ship.]

 

We only wish that the "Go Green" option had been available since we started cruising (2006), as we have been "living it" throughout the years.  On each of our (more than thirty) Embarkation Days, we have given a letter to our stateroom steward.   In the letter -- in order to remove some of the steward's (and the laundry's) heavy burdens and to do our part for the environment -- we have made the following requests:

 

~~ Please replace towels only if they are on the floor (where we will put them only every two days).

~~ Please clean the shower only when you pick up those towels.

~~ Except on the day that you change linens, please do not touch the bed -- neither (1) in the morning [when we will take 15 seconds to arrange the sheets and pillows ourselves] nor (2) in the evening.

~~ In the bedroom, please do not dust surfaces (nor touch our property that is on those surfaces -- such as the alarm clock, papers, etc.).

~~ Please do all your other morning cleaning (replacing glasses, vaccuuming, trash removal, etc.) whenever and however you wish.  We will leave a magnet on the outside of the door to signal that we are "not home."

~~ Each morning, please leave a bucket full of ice in the empty minibar.  (Unless the minibar is defective, the ice will stay solid all day.)

~~ Please do nothing in the evening except (1) to leave the next day's "Celebrity Today" and (2) to leave chocolates.  [Don't worry.  We will keep things so neat and clean that you won't need to do anything else.]

~~ Please take one morning "off" completely -- a "free day" -- if you have a customary day of worship.

 

Despite thereby relieving our stewards of several of their usual duties, we have almost always (1) continued to provide the full computer-generated gratuities and (2) given our stewards additional cash gratuities at the ends of cruises, because we have appreciated their hard work.

 

Aha!  We just realized that, if Celebrity had implemented the new points "incentive" before we started to cruise, we'd be a good bit closer to the Zenith tier by now.  [Jest kidding!]

.

Edited July 5, 2021 by jg51

[ken_ll]

Go Green - Sounds like a great program.  As mentioned earlier, Hilton provides no services for your hotel stay duration.

 

One person commented that the room stewardess gave them opportunity to sign up for Go Green.  Room stewards are probably rated as to how many passengers are signed up.  E.g. sign up 5 cabins this cruise and get two hours ashore (this cruise).

 

Give it a year, more or less and Celebrity will probably announce due to passenger demands, the Go Green program was so successful that the program is permanent fleet wide.  But wait, there is more, Celebrity could then introduce a newer program I’ll call, “Go Greener” aka “Go Leaner” similar to Hilton.

 

While you have it, you still have choice, the additional points are of no use to us.

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

There are some misconceptions of the Hilton not offering daily service:

- Hilton is no longer offering daily service pro-actively, you have to request it

- They will automatically clean your room on the 5th day

- Hilton luxury brands will continue to offer default daily service

[happy cruzer]

When friends ask what do you like the most about cruising, what do most mention?  The pampering and service which of course you have a high mandatory service charge for?  That is one of the things that make cruises and luxury cruise lines popular ; not the only thing but one thing that most will mention.  The more a cruise is just like staying at a land based option, the more difficult it will be for them to exist.  They have to get people to trade off having larger accomodations, larger facilities like pools and restaurant, flexible deposits, flexible itineraries, etc to go on the ship for carefree, stress free vacation?

[dreams_of_travel]

That one extra day of captain's club points (for me that is 3 pts b/c I sail in a regular veranda, usually) is not worth the cut in service.  If I was closer to the next level, or it was more than one extra day of pts, then maybe.  YMMV

[markeb]

39 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

There are some misconceptions of the Hilton not offering daily service:

- Hilton is no longer offering daily service pro-actively, you have to request it

- They will automatically clean your room on the 5th day

- Hilton luxury brands will continue to offer default daily service

 

Is this a "new normal", or for the duration of current events? Chain wide?

 

I stayed in three different Marriott properties a couple of weeks ago (first time in a long time). The one full service property was doing daily service, but on request. The first of two Fairfield Inns had complete service, and their full breakfast (including the waffles!). The second Fairfield we were only at for one night, so I'm not sure what their cleaning policy was, but they didn't have the usual breakfast offerings. Three different states but the properties were only about 200 miles apart.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

Is this a "new normal", or for the duration of current events? Chain wide?

 

I stayed in three different Marriott properties a couple of weeks ago (first time in a long time). The one full service property was doing daily service, but on request. The first of two Fairfield Inns had complete service, and their full breakfast (including the waffles!). The second Fairfield we were only at for one night, so I'm not sure what their cleaning policy was, but they didn't have the usual breakfast offerings. Three different states but the properties were only about 200 miles apart.

 

Hilton has said it's chain wide and applies to regular Hiltons properties.  Generally, hotel management has some flexibility to create rules/reduce services.  I've been to serval hotels (just landed from Hawaii) and every experience has been different.  The worst is when you should be receiving a free breakfast but they instead give you a $10 voucher that doesn't even cover a single breakfast food item.

[Fouremco]

4 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

That one extra day of captain's club points (for me that is 3 pts b/c I sail in a regular veranda, usually) is not worth the cut in service.  If I was closer to the next level, or it was more than one extra day of pts, then maybe.  YMMV

On a short cruise I'd opt in, but we typically choose 12- to 14-night cruises where I would be less inclined to go with the cut in service. I might reconsider if they were to offer the bonus points for every 6 or 7 days sailed or otherwise increase the points for longer cruises.

[Baron Barracuda]

6 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I believe X cut down staff a few years ago. We always had a cabin Steward and his assistant. I believe they had dispensed with the assistant on our June 2018 sailing.

Yes, they went from teams of two stewards covering 20 cabins to single steward handling 14 (not talking about suites).  This theoretically allowed them to reduce the number of non-suite stewards by 30%.  

[dreams_of_travel]

27 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

On a short cruise I'd opt in, but we typically choose 12- to 14-night cruises where I would be less inclined to go with the cut in service. I might reconsider if they were to offer the bonus points for every 6 or 7 days sailed or otherwise increase the points for longer cruises.

That's an excellent point.  I haven't done any short cruises with Celebrity, so I would consider opting in for those. I agree that for a longer cruise, bonus points every 6-7 days or increased points would be more attractive. 

[mom says]

From some of the reactions in this thread you'd think they'd  eliminated all cabin services altogether. 🙄 Is the cabin cleaned daily ? Yes. Is the trash removed? Yes. Is the bathroom cleaned? Yes. Are the bed linens changed as usual? Yes. Are the towels changed daily? Yes. Is there evening turn down service? Yes. I find nothing unacceptable with any of this, so we would certainly opt for the program.

 

Quick question for the outraged - how many of you do a full cleaning and towel change at home twice every single day?

Edited July 5, 2021 by mom says

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 minutes ago, mom says said:

From some of the reactions in this thread you'd think they'd  eliminated all cabin services altogether. 🙄 Is the cabin cleaned daily ? Yes. Is the trash removed? Yes. Is the bathroom cleaned? Yes. Are the bed linens changed as usual? Yes. Are the towels changed daily? Yes. Is there evening turn down service? Yes. I find nothing unacceptable with any of this, so we would certainly opt for the program.

 

Quick question for the outraged - how many of you do a full cleaning and towel change at home twice every single day?

 

I believe people do not realize what the reduction actually is.  It isn't crystal clear but it appears turndown service is being reduced from a full cleaning (wiping down surfaces) to a straighten/tidy up service.  The program doesn't even mention towels.  I have a feeling there's more info about the program that X left out because there hardly looks like there's any major reduction to their night service besides not wiping down surfaces.  As I stated earlier, it would be great if you can select your cleaning preferences in the app.

[WonderMan3]

Trimming back included services is something happening throughout the travel industry right now obviously due to staff shortages. Unfortunately prices are not dropping accordingly so customers are essentially paying more money for their service (in same cases prices are increasing while at the same time services are being reduced). For the short term, after everything we have all been through, it is bearable. But I think we as customers need to be wary, especially with businesses like cruise lines who have a notorious history of mistreating staff. I worry that if enough people sign on to these voluntary cutbacks they will turn into mandatory cutbacks and not only will the value of our cruise fare decrease but the cruise lines will reduce staff and likely create a situation of more work for the staff that remains. That already happened when they cut the room attendant assistant a few years back. While it did reduce the number of rooms the single attendant now managed it still increased their overall workload (this I have heard directly from talking to staff onboard). I think we should push back on any and all cutbacks. This includes Captain's Club changes or any service area where you see something removed that was once included. Make your voice heard when this happens. When enough of us do that we might see them back off.