Careful with towels if you have two staterooms

[irun5k]

Just got back from Allure- we had two staterooms for our family of 4 (one adult, one child per room).

 

On the final folio that was emailed on departure day I noticed we had a $25 towel charge.  I suspect this is because I used my child's (from the adjacent stateroom) sea pass to get her a towel.  However when I returned it, I used my card.  Even though our folio was fully linked, it must not work for towel purposes.  I also noticed the messenger feature inside their app did not understand the two rooms were linked either because an adult in one stateroom couldn't message the child in the other stateroom. 

 

So, outside of the usual advice (that I'll now follow- I should know better!) of being more proactive in checking for these charges- it is probably a good idea to use the same card to check out and return a towel if you have two rooms.

 

I've emailed guest services- it is more about the principle of it than the actual $25.  It is petty and a poor way to treat guests that have spent several thousand dollars on a cruise.  Not to mention, these towels were in bad shape- I can't imagine anyone actually stealing one, and unless you lose it in Nassau there is no other non-RCCL place to even lose a towel on Allure's itinerary.   I would have to guess for every 1 towel that is actually lost in port, there are 99 that are just not scanned back in properly, or left somewhere in the pool area where they are reclaimed by staff anyway.

[firefly333]

Maybe they couldn't use chat feature if child was under 13. Not because of how the cabins were linked. 

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

I agree it's a shame they use the towel charge, but if they didn't, I think you'd see a LOT more towels left in ports.  And, it does take up crew time to gather towels left around the ship (which you'd also have a lot more of if there was no charge).  

 

So, how do you, as a company, fix this?

1) Use scanners with sea passes?

2) Use a "card" system (every cruiser is given a card.  Turn in the card, get a towel.  Turn in a towel, either get a card or a new towel.  At the end of the cruise, turn in the cards and no charge.  Missing a card? Charge.)

3) Don't do anything and write off the labor charges and replacement towel costs?

4) Don't do anything and increase fees to make up for the added labor and replacement towel costs?

[irun5k]

4 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

So, how do you, as a company, fix this?

I've seen the physical card system used somewhere- can't remember where.  Maybe on a cruise I took decades ago?  I can appreciate and would prefer the transparency of that sort of system, but I would presume it would be seen as going backwards from a tech enablement standpoint.

 

So maybe, (5), add a dashboard widget in the app that displays something to the extent of "3 towels checked out".

 

You do make a good point on towels left in port- I think the potential financial damage varies by itinerary.  A port-heavy 7 nighter might have a much larger issue with this than a 3 or 4 night that calls on Coco Cay and Nassau.

 

[irun5k]

40 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe they couldn't use chat feature if child was under 13. Not because of how the cabins were linked. 

He is 16, but yes I suspect it is maybe an age issue that unfortunately couldn't be circumvented by having the reservations for the two cabins linked.  

[SG65CB]

It would be good if the app would let you see how many towels you have checked out. 

[not-enough-cruising]

Book a suite, no towel check out or check in, no problem

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Book a suite, no towel check out or check in, no problem

Or if towel charges are a frequent issue, go on Celebrity where they don’t track towels for all passengers. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Or if towel charges are a frequent issue, go on Celebrity where they don’t track towels for all passengers. 

Another good option

[Mum2Mercury]

Several thoughts: 

 

- I like the idea of the app showing how many towels you /your room has checked out.  

- A method to minimize towel problems:  Check out your towels on Day 1 and never return them -- just exchange them for fresh towels (until the last evening, obviously).  The fewer times your number goes in and out of the computer, the fewer opportunities for human error.  

- On the last evening of a cruise, I always ask the towel station attendant, "Do I have any towels checked out?"  Perhaps with two cabins, it'd be smart to check both rooms.  

- While I hate the idea of charging, I do remember (thinking way back) leaving beaches and seeing blue towels all over the place.  Carrying a wet towel back to the ship isn't fun, and a lot of people used to take the path of least resistance.  

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

 

4) Don't do anything and increase fees to make up for the added labor and replacement towel costs?

Best option, plus do as the cruise line does and add a 18% Grat to the fee.

[macmax]

5 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Or if towel charges are a frequent issue, go on Celebrity where they don’t track towels for all passengers. 

Or most other cruise lines.  Towel check-in/out is inconvenient and tacky IMO.

 

 

[irun5k]

4 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

  - A method to minimize towel problems:  Check out your towels on Day 1 and never return them -- just exchange them for fresh towels (until the last evening, obviously).  The fewer times your number goes in and out of the computer, the fewer opportunities for human error.  

Yes, given the current system I believe this is probably the best way to do it.  Although, what does the stateroom attendant do when he/she finds wet beach towels in your room?  Do they leave it, swap it for a dry one, or check it back into inventory for you?

 

If I recall, Carnival places a pool towel per guest in the room, so you start with a towel and as long as you leave a towel when you vacate the room on disembarkation day, you're good.  This system makes some sense because the stateroom attendant will swap them out for dry ones.

[sjb317]

6 minutes ago, irun5k said:

Yes, given the current system I believe this is probably the best way to do it.  Although, what does the stateroom attendant do when he/she finds wet beach towels in your room?  Do they leave it, swap it for a dry one, or check it back into inventory for you?

 

If I recall, Carnival places a pool towel per guest in the room, so you start with a towel and as long as you leave a towel when you vacate the room on disembarkation day, you're good.  This system makes some sense because the stateroom attendant will swap them out for dry ones.

We don’t take wet towels back to our cabin as any wet ones are exchanged for dry ones before we return to cabin. 
 

Sherri🙂

[moesyk4]

We had two staterooms and checked our towels for each other a lot. The day before we ended the cruise, we asked how many were checked out of each room to get it sorted out. We were worried about the same thing!

[Stick93]

10 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Book a suite, no towel check out or check in, no problem

Funny I was just on allure in a suite and I came back to $100 of towel charges. They removed them when I called but I never scanned my card! 
 

I think allure is towel trigger happy. 

[gluecksbaer]

12 hours ago, irun5k said:

an adult in one stateroom couldn't message the child in the other stateroom. 

Are you saying that the "invite to chat" feature wasn't working in your children's accounts or that even after inviting/accepting an invite you still couldn't send/receive messages?

[jean87510]

15 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Book a suite, no towel check out or check in, no problem

Not the case all the time.  We have had to get ours on 2 GS sails.  In the JS sails, our attendant did replace.  

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Not the case all the time.  We have had to get ours on 2 GS sails.  In the JS sails, our attendant did replace.  

We have to get our own towels as well, but they NEVER have swiped any of my sea pass cards when staying in a suite

[irun5k]

6 hours ago, gluecksbaer said:

Are you saying that the "invite to chat" feature wasn't working in your children's accounts or that even after inviting/accepting an invite you still couldn't send/receive messages?

The former- my 16 yr old couldn't invite his mom in the cabin next door, nor could she invite him.  He and I had no issue chatting however as we were in the same room.  If I recall there was an option to make yourself discoverable, or something to that extent and they had that enabled as well.

[Mum2Mercury]

10 hours ago, irun5k said:

Yes, given the current system I believe this is probably the best way to do it.  Although, what does the stateroom attendant do when he/she finds wet beach towels in your room?  Do they leave it, swap it for a dry one, or check it back into inventory for you?

No, no, don't bring a wet towel back to your room.  When you're done at the pool, stop by the Towel Station and exchange for fresh towels -- only store fresh towels in your room.   

 

Pro:  If you decide to hit the hot tub super early (or late), you have towels, even if the Towel Station is closed. 

Con:  More than once I've forgotten my towels and had to turn around and go back to the room to get them.  

[Miloomar]

Anytime you lose a towel just look for a chair hog and just take their towel and turn it in... Actually do this even if you don't need a towel just bc they are chair hogs

[jean87510]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

We have to get our own towels as well, but they NEVER have swiped any of my sea pass cards when staying in a suite

And we had to for ours.  

[not-enough-cruising]

28 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

And we had to for ours.  

More Royal inconsistencies

[jimdalva]

Towel check in/out frees up lounge chairs! Without it, people would just leave towels on chairs and never return.