Phone call from NCL

My guess would be that enforcement will be in the form of a "cleaning fee," if Housekeeping reports finding glasses and/or dishes in a cabin -- and there's no record of room service being ordered since the last room cleaning. So there will be even more dishes left in the passageways than before. And if they try to bill a similar fee to any cabin that happens to have dishes outside its door, there's going to be a lot of angry people visiting Guest Services.

No need. Just dispute the charge with your credit card company. :)

18 cruises and I have never seen dirty plates and food in elevators or on staircases.

 

Lois

Me either. However, I see empty glasses everywhere! Window sills, bathrooms, elevators, staircases, floors in the theater, etc....and I'm not talking about water, juice or ice tea glasses! LOL

Harriet

No need. Just dispute the charge with your credit card company. :)

Yeah, could do that... but angry mobs are more fun. And cruises are all about fun, right? :p

Cost savings:

- less wasted food

- less clean up for the crew

- $7.95 fee is to deter us from placing orders, they'd rather have less crew or have them do other things that generate real money.

I respectfully disagree with some of these points. I believe that there will be a greater waste of food. 1. People who bring back food for a snack, or for an ill/tired/injured/elderly family member usually get a small amount for their consumption. If ordering off RS, it will be human nature to maximize the value of their purchase, and order enough to ensure that the passenger(s) will be well fed in their room. 2. Passenger who eat a large meal and order dessert will no longer be able to take it back for later. Most likely they will have a taste of the dessert, wasting the rest, and then hit the buffet later in the evening.

I agree that it might result in less clean up for the crew, but perhaps not. Given that there will be room service available, and that passengers who wish to eat in their cabins for the above reasons have to utilize that, and that they are likely to over-order, it is possible that they will generate more plates to be bussed.

The concerns noted about plates in public areas, such as hallways could be remedied by posting notes of requesting that no plates be left in public areas that aren't usually bussed. I think that would be more effective, and cost effective.

As to the cost savings, I'm not sure that is a likely outcome either. 1. It would seem to me that they might need more staff for some of these changes (such as policing the restaurants and hallways). Perhaps instead of hiring more staff to prevent people from taking food away from dining venues, they could work on reminding passengers not to leave a mess.

2. I'm not sure that there isn't an intent to generate more direct revenue with the RS fee. If so, it is an odd business practice that wants to discourage usage of something and then creates policy that will cause more people to use it more.

All that being said, I agree wholly with you that money is at the heart of these decisions. Perhaps NCL is thinking that it will work out exactly as you predict. I only intend to give some other possible thoughts.

Cheers :)

Yeah, could do that... but angry mobs are more fun. And cruises are all about fun, right? :p

Yes Sirree, they sure are!

I received a phone call from NCL Corporate regarding the email I sent to them last night. My inquiry was concerning the article Cruise Critic published. As stated on another thread, I received an email from them earlier ... and now the phone call. No food is allowed to be removed from the restaurants to take back to your cabin. That portion of the article is accurate. However, you can still get your food from the buffet and eat outside by the pool - not a problem at all with doing that.

 

Pretty impressed that I received a response via email and now by phone call.

Did you explicitly ask about the lounges by the pool? The post in the other topic indicated that there still would be outdoor seating that can be used? That might mean it is limited to the table area near the pool, but not the lounges themselves.

I suspect that part of the reason for the new rule and the room service charge is to cut use. Room service is rather labor intensive. The charge would reduce use and thus save on staff. Would not accomplish its goal if they have to spend the labor that they would have saved from reduced room service on picking up dishes and other cleanup from hallways and cabins.

The price point is low enough that if room service is really important someone would still pay, but is enough to cut back on a lot of demand for it.

As far as food waste not really an issue. Labor is a major expense, food waste is a rounding error.

Did you explicitly ask about the lounges by the pool?

Yes, and the answer was yes.

I've been on 30+ cruises and have never taken " leftovers" from the dining room to my cabin. I've taken cookies and fruit from the buffet but not "food". If I want food I call room service. It's worth a fee to me to have food delivered to my cabin. Cruiselines can increase the cruise fare or the fees. I prefer the fees.

Did you explicitly ask about the lounges by the pool? The post in the other topic indicated that there still would be outdoor seating that can be used? That might mean it is limited to the table area near the pool, but not the lounges themselves.

 

I suspect that part of the reason for the new rule and the room service charge is to cut use. Room service is rather labor intensive. The charge would reduce use and thus save on staff. Would not accomplish its goal if they have to spend the labor that they would have saved from reduced room service on picking up dishes and other cleanup from hallways and cabins.

 

The price point is low enough that if room service is really important someone would still pay, but is enough to cut back on a lot of demand for it.

 

As far as food waste not really an issue. Labor is a major expense, food waste is a rounding error.

Labor is NOT a major expense on cruise ships unless the company is taking the DSC and not distributing it properly among the crew. The wages are very low, and the majority of the crew's pay comes from the DSC which is a set charge for each passenger on the ship.

The reports of plates and glasses left is public areas is a housekeeping issue. You will see those things when the person assigned to the area is not on duty, but if the stuff is left there too long, someone is not taking care of their assignment.

Regarding dishes left outside the cabin, we have been told by the steward to either leave it in the cabin or put it outside the door. In both cases, it doesn't remain there very long before it is removed. Again, it is a housekeeping issue and can be corrected by the officer in charge of that department.

that

I received a phone call from NCL Corporate regarding the email I sent to them last night. My inquiry was concerning the article Cruise Critic published. As stated on another thread, I received an email from them earlier ... and now the phone call. No food is allowed to be removed from the restaurants to take back to your cabin. That portion of the article is accurate. However, you can still get your food from the buffet and eat outside by the pool - not a problem at all with doing that.

 

Pretty impressed that I received a response via email and now by phone call.

Wonder if they are going to check anyone who is carrying a bag to make sure they didn't take anything out. Should be interesting to see the many confrontations that will occur.

My guess would be that enforcement will be in the form of a "cleaning fee," if Housekeeping reports finding glasses and/or dishes in a cabin -- and there's no record of room service being ordered since the last room cleaning. So there will be even more dishes left in the passageways than before. And if they try to bill a similar fee to any cabin that happens to have dishes outside its door, there's going to be a lot of angry people visiting Guest Services.

Can't see that as a viable option,way too easy to get around that. Maybe they just hope the majority plays by the rules.

It will be interesting to hear reports of people boarding ships that will be clueless about the change.

Labor is NOT a major expense on cruise ships unless the company is taking the DSC and not distributing it properly among the crew. The wages are very low, and the majority of the crew's pay comes from the DSC which is a set charge for each passenger on the ship.

When you think of labor you have to include all of the costs. Travel, training, salary, and also space on the ship. Often decisions about services and staffing comes down to bunk space.

According to their last 10k, payroll runs about 14.5% of NCLH revenue, food runs about 5.4%. The payroll category is second only to the commissions, transportation and other category. DSC is not part of the payroll expense. By running them as a service charge, they are passed through and are not in either the revenue or expense lines.

The breakfast menu that you hang on your door to pre-order breakfast is no charge up until 10 a.m.

 

The room service charge is per order.

 

Most cabins have coffee makers

 

Harriet

Great! Thanks! I would miss the breakfast in the morning and certainly wouldn't pay $7.95 for it!

They are taking the "Free" out of Freestyle!:rolleyes:

When you think of labor you have to include all of the costs. Travel, training, salary, and also space on the ship. Often decisions about services and staffing comes down to bunk space.

 

According to their last 10k, payroll runs about 14.5% of NCLH revenue, food runs about 5.4%. The payroll category is second only to the commissions, transportation and other category. DSC is not part of the payroll expense. By running them as a service charge, they are passed through and are not in either the revenue or expense lines.

What impact is the food restriction going to have on the 14.5%? They still will need stewards, waitstaff, housekeeping, cooks, laundry staff, etc. They have the staffing and bunk space for the present staff, and if they reduce ten of the present thousand or more, it will not even show on the percentages. If they cut too deep, it will impact the service and will result in loss of customers. These things are self correcting, so a minor thing like the food restriction can cut revenue much more than the resulting cost saving.

The expenses associated with the crew onboard are a very small percentage of the cost of ONE CEO or the other senior shoreside officials of the company.

The breakfast menu that you hang on your door to pre-order breakfast is no charge up until 10 a.m.

 

The room service charge is per order.

 

Most cabins have coffee makers

 

Harriet

I never had a coffee maker in an inside cabin.

What impact is the food restriction going to have on the 14.5%? They still will need stewards, waitstaff, housekeeping, cooks, laundry staff, etc. They have the staffing and bunk space for the present staff, and if they reduce ten of the present thousand or more, it will not even show on the percentages. If they cut too deep, it will impact the service and will result in loss of customers. These things are self correcting, so a minor thing like the food restriction can cut revenue much more than the resulting cost saving.

As I said earlier room service, if done well is very labor intensive. You have to have sufficient staff on call to deal with orders at any time, it also requires labor on the back end to collect all of the dishes. That allows them to cut or shift staff to other functions where it can be used more efficiently.

You notice that they do not charge for room service for the standard breakfast orders. During that time frame when the main dining rooms are generally not staffed and they have the labor easily available. During other hours the labor for room service is in addition to dining room and buffet staffing, especially in the evening hours.

As I said earlier room service, if done well is very labor intensive. You have to have sufficient staff on call to deal with orders at any time, it also requires labor on the back end to collect all of the dishes. That allows them to cut or shift staff to other functions where it can be used more efficiently. Eveytime they increase service levels in one area, that labor has to come from somewhere else.

 

You notice that they do not charge for room service for the standard breakfast orders. The time frame when the main dining rooms are generally not staffed and they have the labor easily available. During other hours the labor is in addition to dining room staffing, especially in the evening hours.

Take a look at how much they pay these people before you delve too deeply into your fantasy.

Such arrogance and disrespect from the CEO will most certainly trickle down through management and degrade service. We have all seen the difference from ship to ship, for example.

I can foresee the big "compromise", that you can send your dessert to your room for a fee. :rolleyes: what a weenie this guy is. But as someone said, there will be others to take the place of loyal cruisers who fall away. I havebeen involved in nonprofit fundraising for some years and there is an axiom that it takes five new contributors to replace one lost long term contributor. Obviously, this not a nonprofit :eek: but it takes a lot to replace a platinum member.

Take a look at how much they pay these people before you delve too deeply into your fantasy.

I do know how they pay them. There does happen to be a lot of people running that ship.

Their peak period for both the kitchens and wait staff is during the evening when all of the dining venues are open. Any room service during that period requires personnel in addition to that peak period demand for wait staff.

Because of the limits on ship personnel they have to use staff for longer then an 8 hour day. During the day and morning they use wait staff from the main dining venues in a number of locations such as the buffet area. The decisions concerning labor are as much about maximizing efficiency as it is about cost savings. If they can reduce peak load for wait staff, then they can make sure that they make better use of that staff during non-peak times. If they have a high peak for a given service function then to make the best use of staff they need to have those personnel trained to do other functions or be idle. Cruise ships do not do idle.

The goal for scheduling to to get the best match of skills, to required function with the best efficiency and maximum productive hours. By its nature room service staffing is not efficient since demand fluctuates and load tends to take place during time periods when the staff one would most likely use (food wait, service) is also at peak load.

HERE IS ANOTHER SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.

 

 

 

Get together with your neighbors and friends and order enough food for all of them on one order. Split the $7.95 among all of them and distribute the food when it arrives.

Doesn't work that way, AFAIK there is a two-dish-per-person-booked-in-cabin limit for room service after the charge was deployed fleetwide.

Cost savings:

- less wasted food

- less clean up for the crew

- $7.95 fee is to deter us from placing orders, they'd rather have less crew or have them do other things that generate real money.

Subtract from that the number of people who will be leaving NCL for other cruise lines & they have plenty of food, less cleanup for remaining crew to cater to those remaining on the ships. :p

swedish weave- I know you're a big NCL fan but you should give some thought to returning to Princess after this latest move. After all at least you don't have to smuggle food out of the buffet. :D

I never had a coffee maker in an inside cabin.

We book OV cabins and we've never had a coffee maker either. I heard you can ask for them but I haven't tried that yet.

If they plan to actually enforce this policy,the number of crew members dedicated to stopping people from taking food to their cabins will be huge.

For every Washy-washy maid at the portal there will have to be a big burley

crew member also to prevent the exit of food bearing cruisers.

On a similar note since this applies to FOOD what about BEVERAGES ?

They are taking the "Free" out of Freestyle!:rolleyes:

Nah; they're just taking the "r" out of "Free!" :)