Another cut being tested: Once per day cabin service

[nancy2vues]

The only thing that we would miss would be ice as a previous poster mentioned.  

 

 

[goldfish65]

Another my $.02 I feel that we can politely tell the steward whatever our preference is and they'll do their best. From the responses here with so many only wanting cabin service once a day, those who want more should be able to get it if they ask. Thanks for the heads-up about this. 

[CanHardlyWait4NextYear]

Again, I am upset that right after I paid for next 2 years non refundable trips, the cuts started almost daily and over the weeks haven't stopped or showed signs of stopping. And I'm stuck having paid for more then the services I believed I was to receive. 

[NHProud]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

When we meet our steward the afternoon of boarding day, we make 4 requests

 

No towel animals

1 extra blanket

No morning service, evening only

2 compasses every day

 

And we tip a little extra when we depart

 

It works well for us

Then, you or your lovely wife must make the bed in her stateroom every morning. I know she keeps a tidy house . I’ve seen pictures. 

Edited December 8, 2022 by NHProud

[Pellaz]

12 hours ago, ballarinamom said:

we just took a Carnival cruise this summer and they were once a day. We actually preferred it and had a choice of morning or evening. We chose morning so we never had to worry about coming in after an evening activity and them being in there. We had everything we needed.

Same here with us on all recent Carnival cruises, although we chose evening service because we liked not being potentially awakened by the steward in the morning...although they almost never knock when the room is occupied anyway.  They somehow know when you leave and return.  They're ninjas, I tell ya!   

 

On the first day, we DO ask for daily ice replenishment mornings and evenings...along with tipping a crisp $20...and we nearly always get it.   (The one exception was when our steward had shore-leave at the port that day and he apologized profusely...until we told him it was fine.)

 

 

12 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

FYI, some hotels still do twice a day service (bed turndown service).

This also means no more cute towel animals on the bed.

lol, in my recent experience on RCCL I've gotten towel critters on maybe 30% of the days...tops.  

A bit disappointing, unless you actively hate towel critters.  

 

Couldn't help but contrast that with Carnival, where the towel animals join us in the room virtually every evening; my friend Kathy then preserves them on one of the shelves until the last day and gets a group-photo.  🙂   

 

 

[ldubs]

2 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

Again, I am upset that right after I paid for next 2 years non refundable trips, the cuts started almost daily and over the weeks haven't stopped or showed signs of stopping. And I'm stuck having paid for more then the services I believed I was to receive. 

 

"the cuts started almost daily and over the weeks haven't stopped or showed signs of stopping"

 

That is certainly a lot of cutbacks.    

 

[joeyancho]

I definitely would miss the twice a day service.  To me it is part of what makes a cruise different from other vacations.  I see many are okay with it and that is fine.  Perhaps we could  be given a choice at the time we book a cruise.  Kinda like dining time preference or bed together or separate.  

[bretts173]

2 hours ago, Allograft said:

 

I doubt any stewards are US citizens and require US average salary requirements. Remember, cruises rely on cheap imported labor. Separate from the modern day colonialism and global exploitation of resources argument, the fact is cruises always have at least one International stop to get away with stay that is nearly entirely a foreign labor force.

My point was prices of everything goes up over time. That's the way the capitalist world has worked for as long as I remember. If you whined everytime something went up it would be a miserable life.

[grapau27]

10 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Sit and watch food handlers wearing the same gloves while they touch multiple surfaces.  There is a HUGE misperception that rubber gloves do something special when all they do is keep the wearers hands clean.

 

 

+1.

[zebra36]

Did the once a day thing by choice on last cruise and works for me.

[jean87510]

6 hours ago, Longford said:

Observations: 

 

1.  A whole bunch of Carnival passengers posting to a Royal thread expressing their dislike for Carnival.  I hope they've posted similarly to the Carnival forum(s).  ❤️

 

2.  Recently, I was a first-time cruiser.  Serenade of the Seas.  Small ship, not 100% occupied.  So, I have no valid comparisons of ships of RCL or other lines.  However, earlier in my career I was a hotel general manager.  Far fewer rooms and restaurants than on Serenade ... but, generally, some similarities when it comes to service comparisons.  👍

 

3.  Regarding housekeeping staff and twice-daily outside view room visits on Serenade:  4 star, IMO.  As a solo traveler I paid more per person than many couples do for similar accommodations, etc.  I am a neat freak when I travel (not so much at home) and respectful of housekeeping and other staff, and when I pay a premium to travel as I did recently on my first cruise (11?05/2022) I want to be pampered a bit - whether or not my room or I need it.   Why else travel?  And though I'm tidy, I appreciated the attention to detail shown by my Room Steward.  ❤️

 

4.  If I cruise again and do not think housekeeping services are up to my expectations, I will correspondingly reduce the cash gratuity I give the room steward.  💥

 

Question:  My cruise was 7 nights.  Western Caribbean.  I was uncertain of the appropriate cash gratuity I should leave the room steward.  I was pleased with the service and interaction.  So, I left $50 cash ... the morning before arriving back in Tampa.  After leaving the gratuity I encountered the room steward twice.  Not once did he thank me.  Is lack of expressions of thanks typical, or required by RCL?  I know that when my hotel housekeeping staff was rewarded they typically left a note of thanks.  Since I'm a newbie to cruising, I just don't know.  😁

 

 

I can answer 2 of your questions.  Re Carnival, they were used as a comparison because they are doing 1x a day cleaning.  Any other war stories is to be expected on this forum.  Regarding steward not thanking you with a personal or stock note, no, I've never seen that.  I have been thanked in person.  

[lovesthebeach2]

17 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Not a problem for those of us that do not participate in auto gratuity 

how do you opt out of auto gratuity? 

[cruzeluver]

The perceived "cut-backs" started in the late 80's/early 90's when the major lines decided "economy of scale" was the way to go. Build bigger ships that can hold more people, charge lower fares and reduce service. This is hardly new. And since that time there have been those that have complained long and loud thinking it will change things, or that these changes are going to drastically hurt the cruise lines. They have been wrong on both counts. 

[nelblu]

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

My point was prices of everything goes up over time. That's the way the capitalist world has worked for as long as I remember. If you whined everytime something went up it would be a miserable life.

So are you saying that inflation is limited to those countries with capitalistic system.  
I think I’ll go refresh with an economic course.  Maybe supply & demand has something to do with the situation. 
 

Or possibly push for worldwide price control. 

Edited December 8, 2022 by nelblu

[SargassoPirate]

Cutbacks rankle me as much as the next person, but there are lots of choices for cruising and there seem to be fewer reasons to be "loyal" to any one line.  My first cruise was on Royal, and in the 50-some cruises since I've been on Celebrity, NCL, HAL, Viking, and Cunard so far, and have a cruise on Oceania booked.  Even a mediocre day at sea is better than a good day at the office, so I make do with the benefits and amenities available.  It also helps not to take cutback issues out on the workers who provide personal services.  A ready smile and some conversation goes a long way and can put one ahead of the entitled complainers that they deal with.

 

If something really bothers me - a fire safety issue from scooters and wheelchairs parked in corridors or a food sanitation issue for example - I seek out and speak to the appropriate management official.

 

Any questions?  See my signature line below. 😉

[John&LaLa]

5 hours ago, NHProud said:

Then, you or your lovely wife must make the bed in her stateroom every morning. I know she keeps a tidy house . I’ve seen pictures. 

 

Always make my bed every day, regardless of where I am 😁

 

Laura, not so much 🙄 

[Tenderpaw]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

So are you saying that inflation is limited to those countries with capitalistic system.  
I think I’ll go refresh with an economic course.  Maybe supply & demand has something to do with the situation. 
 

Or possibly push for worldwide price control. 

Thread officially derailed!

[loman]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Always make my bed every day, regardless of where I am 😁

 

Laura, not so much 🙄 

Cool speech , and he`s a Black Sabbath fan i see,

with the hand sign at the end.🤘 😂

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

If one is not impacted why would they complain?   

 

If one is not impacted, why would they feel resentment?  

 

I think it likely that without all the changes over the years there would be much higher fares.  Some folk say they would prefer paying more for things the way they used to be.   That option is available for those who prefer it.   

Agree. Can't complain I pay lot less to Cruise, and Fly, then did 25, 30, 35yrs... ago. 

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Always make my bed every day, regardless of where I am 😁

 

Laura, not so much 🙄 

Same, made my bed since preschool. Wife, never did. Don't have a Room Attendant in am and have always pull sheets back up myself in my Cabin and looks like had not been slept in

[little britain]

I’ve just stayed in 5 different hotels in various cities in the USA. Only one did the room get serviced ( aka bed made)  which came as a total shock to me. No notification in the other hotels that the room would not be serviced… 

At least RCI are letting you know and fwiw I’m quite happy with a once a day service. 

[ballarinamom]

7 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

 

Couldn't help but contrast that with Carnival, where the towel animals join us in the room virtually every evening; my friend Kathy then preserves them on one of the shelves until the last day and gets a group-photo.  🙂   

 

 

Same. On our July Carnival cruise, we had daily towel animals even with the once a day service.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

But, if you truly don't like it, why not consider a change?  You might enjoy and taking one's business elsewhere will send a clear message.

I mean, that's what exactly we did. We realized Carnival's product had changed due to cutbacks and we began to prefer Royal more, so we started sailing Royal more frequently. Only to have them begin to make the same cutbacks. Isn't that how it goes with most of them, though? Instead of keeping the perks and marketing the differences as an advantage, they all end up conforming with the same cutbacks over time. It's to be expected, I suppose, but it's still hard to accept when they discontinue  something you appreciate.

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

how do you opt out of auto gratuity? 

Just go to or phone Guest services once onboard. 

[lovesthebeach2]

12 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Just go to or phone Guest services once onboard. 

Calling sounds much easier than standing in the long line at GS on boarding day. I always wondered why that line was so long when we boarded.

I don’t intend to remove Gratuties, I just was interested in how it was done.Thanks 

Edited December 8, 2022 by lovesthebeach2