Changes to stateroom cleanings

[DntlGal]

I just got off the Serenade of the Seas where they started the once a day cleaning service. So now the cabin stewards have more rooms to clean which takes longer. Gone are the days when you left for breakfast and when you returned to your cabin your room was already cleaned. Our cabin wasn't cleaned till around 2:00. We would return from our shore excursion wanting to relax, get cleaned up but no, we weren't able to because our room was just being cleaned. We would take a shower around 3:00 getting ready for our early dinner at 5:00. So our towels, washcloths would lay on the bathroom floor till 2:00 the next day. If we took a shower in the morning, our towels along with the ones we used the night before were all piled up on the floor. There was only 2 of us, but cabins with 3-4 people in them good luck dealing with all those wet towels. Will people start putting them on their balcony or pile them up in the hallway along with their dirty dishes?  Needless to say, it's a tripping hazard along with having musty wet towels laying around for 23 hours. I don't need someone to turn down my bed, I want someone to clean the bathroom, removed the used towels and replace them with fresh ones and refill my ice bucket. If you ordered room service, your dirty dishes would sit around till the next day to be picked up. There isn't much room in the cabins for all these items to be laying around...along with the smell of old food. I noticed more dishes put outside in the hallway which then makes another tripping hazard and wheelchairs and walkers have an obstacle course for them to maneuver around. With norovirus on the rise and COVID still around, cleaning the cabins is a must in my opinion. Wait till the lawsuits start from people tripping,and getting sick from not having their cabins cleaned. 

[nimbex1970]

Am I the only one that puts morning room service trays outside the door in the hallway?  This sounds sucky, with the towel situation as there is generally morning and afternoon showering after a pool or beach day.  Also seems like more work for the cabin stewards with folks asking for more towels, handing over wet ones. At some point, trying to keep prices competitive, folks are going to move to other lines.. which are owned by the same corporation anyway.. or swallow higher fees for satisfaction.  I don't see how this is sustainable.  

[Sunshine3601]

Did you have the option to pick an evening cleaning?   

If so, that is what we plan on doing then we will have clean towels for the next day and all wet towels will be removed from our showers pre-dinner.    

[nimbex1970]

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Did you have the option to pick an evening cleaning?   

If so, that is what we plan on doing then we will have clean towels for the next day and all wet towels will be removed from our showers pre-dinner.    

 

makes me wonder if this is a set up to pay extra gratuities, cruisers choice for a second servicing... 

[mjkacmom]

6 minutes ago, nimbex1970 said:

Am I the only one that puts morning room service trays outside the door in the hallway?  This sounds sucky, with the towel situation as there is generally morning and afternoon showering after a pool or beach day.  Also seems like more work for the cabin stewards with folks asking for more towels, handing over wet ones. At some point, trying to keep prices competitive, folks are going to move to other lines.. which are owned by the same corporation anyway.. or swallow higher fees for satisfaction.  I don't see how this is sustainable.  

I guess they won’t be switching to NCL or carnival. I think folks are supposed to call room service to pick up dishes.

[poocher]

So I hang my towels up after my shower.  Not necessarily for them to dry but so they aren’t piled up on the floor.  Why would you just drop them on the floor?

[ShillyShally]

20 minutes ago, poocher said:

So I hang my towels up after my shower.  Not necessarily for them to dry but so they aren’t piled up on the floor.  Why would you just drop them on the floor?

Usually if they’re hanging it’s assumed you want to keep the towels and on the floor indicates you want them changed. I hang them too but may adjust since our fall cruise will be the first one since the change to once a day

[nelblu]

If there are too many towels simply put them out in the hallway along with dishes and glasses.😀

Edited March 11, 2023 by nelblu

[nelblu]

41 minutes ago, nimbex1970 said:

Am I the only one that puts morning room service trays outside the door in the hallway?  This sounds sucky, with the towel situation as there is generally morning and afternoon showering after a pool or beach day.  Also seems like more work for the cabin stewards with folks asking for more towels, handing over wet ones. At some point, trying to keep prices competitive, folks are going to move to other lines.. which are owned by the same corporation anyway.. or swallow higher fees for satisfaction.  I don't see how this is sustainable.  

Unfortunately, Royal is following other lines in the single service per day.  

[DntlGal]

When the steward asked us when we wanted our rooms cleaned.... I said I wanted morning and evening. She said we can only have one so we picked the morning. We did ask for extra towels so we would have enough. I did have to track her down a few times as she didn't give us enough of each. I wonder how the laundry is handling getting mass quantities of towels instead of a few throughout the day. We were told to put the dirty towels on the floor unless we wanted to reuse the towels to hang them back up. I hate putting them on the floor, not only is it nasty, but they are in your way. In the past, we didn't have to keep them there very long....now it was 23 hours till they were removed. I quess we could have put them in the shower, but would have to removed them to take another shower. I just want them removed and my bathroom cleaned. The people who have children in diapers will love not having them removed but once a day. Let's see if they are put in the hallways ..yuck !!!

[mjkacmom]

Do people struggle with these issues in hotel rooms? We stayed at a DCV 2 bedroom villa at WDW, I don’t think there was housekeeping for the 6 nights.

[fpcruiser]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

So I hang my towels up after my shower.  Not necessarily for them to dry but so they aren’t piled up on the floor.  Why would you just drop them on the floor?

Exactly

 

[cruiseboy89130]

5 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Do people struggle with these issues in hotel rooms? We stayed at a DCV 2 bedroom villa at WDW, I don’t think there was housekeeping for the 6 nights.

Totally different! The minimal space makes a big difference!

[mjkacmom]

9 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Totally different! The minimal space makes a big difference!

So it’s okay to only get towels and garbage changed once a day?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I've been hanging towels in hotel bathrooms for years.  If I KNEW they were going to be taken away, then yes, maybe leave them on the floor.  But, as mentioned, there's not a lot of floor space.  After a single day of seeing them still on the floor, I'd hang them up.  

 

This is the new reality.  Love it, tolerate it, or hate it, it's what Royal has decided to do.  

[RobInMN]

Yep, there's already a 30 page thread on this where it's been discussed for the last 3+ weeks.

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by RobInMN

[Morecruisesplz]

3 hours ago, poocher said:

So I hang my towels up after my shower.  Not necessarily for them to dry but so they aren’t piled up on the floor.  Why would you just drop them on the floor?

Cause if you hang them up they are not changed. Haven't you read the signs: Save the Waves!

[poocher]

9 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Cause if you hang them up they are not changed. Haven't you read the signs: Save the Waves!

Yes I have but I have yet to have them actually leave the towels I’ve hung up.  No matter what I do, they change them.  I hate a messy room, our clothes are hung up/in drawers.  Shoes are in the closet. Dirty clothes are in the pop up hamper, toiletries are stowed away.  I could not deal with towels left on the bathroom floor. If I want them changed, I fold them & leave them on the closed toilet lid.

[Ashland]

Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought suites still get twice a day service.

[SplashOfWater]

7 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Perhaps I'm wrong but I thought suites still get twice a day service.

Correct. From our March 3rd Jewel Cruise Compass:

 

[sjb317]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Did you have the option to pick an evening cleaning?   

If so, that is what we plan on doing then we will have clean towels for the next day and all wet towels will be removed from our showers pre-dinner.    

We thought choosing evening service would work for that reason but found it did not.  We shower before going out for the evening around 6pm but there were several days where we stayed out until about 5 and came back to get ready, only  to find our room finished. So wet towels had to be hung up and were  still a little dampish the next morning. I learned to keep the magnet on our door that said we were sleeping so she would not come in before we had showered.

 

Sherri🙂

 

 

 

[DallasGuy75219]

4 hours ago, ShillyShally said:

Usually if they’re hanging it’s assumed you want to keep the towels and on the floor indicates you want them changed. I hang them too but may adjust since our fall cruise will be the first one since the change to once a day

99% of the time stewards change out the towels you left hanging, even if you intended to use them.again.

[DallasGuy75219]

42 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Cause if you hang them up they are not changed. Haven't you read the signs: Save the Waves!

Most stewards change towels that are hanging up anyway.

[Ryder101]

Everyone who kept saying they were OK with this said just ask for extra towels. But see it's not that easy. Has anyone tried calling for extra towels, instead of hunting down attendant? Would like to know how that works out for people.

[Sunshine3601]

14 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

We thought choosing evening service would work for that reason but found it did not.  We shower before going out for the evening around 6pm but there were several days where we stayed out until about 5 and came back to get ready, only  to find our room finished. So wet towels had to be hung up and were  still a little dampish the next morning. I learned to keep the magnet on our door that said we were sleeping so she would not come in before we had showered.

 

Sherri🙂

 

 

 

Thank you for the tip. 😀   We will request evening service and will simply leave the magnet on our door until we leave for dinner.   That way we will have wet towels removed from our day time activities and have clean towels for the evening and next day when we shower again.    Problem solved, let's hope that works on our next cruise in 2 weeks.