Wot! no more chocolates

Recently returned from a RCL back to back cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and was very disappointed to find lots of cut backs evident since our last sailing. We especially missed the chocolates on the pillows at nights!

I know these are only little touches but I have always felt that its these little touches that make cruising so special. It seems as if money is everything as the answer I got to my question about this was "we have to pay for these new ships somehow!". Sad:mad:

You must not have cruised for a while, evening chocolates being a suite only perk is not at all new.

The end of chocolates was indeed a travesty; a slap in the face of mankind.

We average 3 cruises per year but will confess its been a couple of years since we did RCL. Certainly Princess were still doing it in January this year.

I wonder if they too will make the cut backs?

I've been blaming myself for the cutbacks on chocolates. When I was 8, I stole a large bag of them from the housekeeping cart on the Sovereign. It was after that that the chocolate was cut back. I tipped the scale and made the program too costly and they had to end it :(

Recently returned from a RCL back to back cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and was very disappointed to find lots of cut backs evident Sad:mad:

So chocolates was at the top of your list for disappointments, wonder about the rest of your list:rolleyes:

You must not have cruised for a while, evening chocolates being a suite only perk is not at all new.

We got them on and Oct 2008 cruise and did not on our April 2009 cruise. So its been over 4 years. Too bad. We saved them and put them in a jar when we got home. After a couple of years we through them away.

Honestly, it wasn't a deal breaker for us, but I do miss them!

Wonder if I brought some and gave them to our steward if he/she would put them out for our kids at turn down. What do you think?

Well, I could not care less... I come from the land of chocolates and I can certainly live without lousy little chocolates on my pillow. But I love the towel-animals, if they EVER took those away... :p

We did it the other way around and brought our cabin-steward a biiiiig bar of Toblerone-Chocolate from Switzerland. She was really happy :D.

I've been blaming myself for the cutbacks on chocolates. When I was 8, I stole a large bag of them from the housekeeping cart on the Sovereign. It was after that that the chocolate was cut back. I tipped the scale and made the program too costly and they had to end it :(

So it was you, CodyC! I was wondering what broke their budget for chocolates all this time! ;)

Just kidding, of course. :)

Just curious, did you eat them all?

Well, I could not care less... I come from the land of chocolates and I can certainly live without lousy little chocolates on my pillow. But I love the towel-animals, if they EVER took those away... :p

 

We did it the other way around and brought our cabin-steward a biiiiig bar of Toblerone-Chocolate from Switzerland. She was really happy :D.

That is a really lovely idea and I may well take a little gift for our cabin attendant :)

Somewhere I read only formal nights you get towel animals. So sad

We average 3 cruises per year but will confess its been a couple of years since we did RCL. Certainly Princess were still doing it in January this year.

I wonder if they too will make the cut backs?

The only time I have gotten them was on Allure this year and only a couple of nights. Before that it had been years since I have seen them. My guess is if you do a search you will find they were gone 4 or 5 years ago for sure. Of course I never do a suite and only Balconies.

Just did a search and it looks like around Oct. 2008 is when the posts started on here about freedom not having them. So its been awhile

Somewhere I read only formal nights you get towel animals. So sad

Well, bring your cabin-attendant some chocolates! :D

Or, if he/she is from the Philippines, a few words in Tagalog may help. I had a little advantage here, as I lived 5 years in the Philippines. My Tagalog is not really good, but enough for a few kind words. Works magic!

We had lots of towel-animals! :)

I always bring Hersheys . i somtimes bring mimi bars and sometimrs bring full size. i put them out for the kids and they love it. we usually travel spring break around Easter, so there is always a huge slection of holiday candy too.

I've been blaming myself for the cutbacks on chocolates. When I was 8, I stole a large bag of them from the housekeeping cart on the Sovereign. It was after that that the chocolate was cut back. I tipped the scale and made the program too costly and they had to end it :(

We also stole extras from a room attendant. We also contributed to the end of chocolate for all!

We did it the other way around and brought our cabin-steward a biiiiig bar of Toblerone-Chocolate from Switzerland. She was really happy :D.

Oh my! I have had the pleasure of visting your beautiful country twice. The first time I was only 12 years old and I fell in LOVE with Toblerone!

Bringing some extra for the attendant is a great idea!

I just buy a bag of Ghirardelli for a few bucks and give those to the kids.

You must not have cruised for a while, evening chocolates being a suite only perk is not at all new.

Oooh! I didn't know suites still got them. Not that I ever ate them anyhow. Why did hearing that I'll get them later this month make me excited?

I've been blaming myself for the cutbacks on chocolates. When I was 8, I stole a large bag of them from the housekeeping cart on the Sovereign. It was after that that the chocolate was cut back. I tipped the scale and made the program too costly and they had to end it :(

I laughed majorly out loud reading your post. It's okay, we, Sovereign, and one VERY confused housekeeper forgive you. :o

Judy

I have recently done my 1st RCI cruise and noticed the subtle differences to Princess and Celebrity. Its the little things that often make that difference and I missed my chocolates :mad:

You must not have cruised for a while, evening chocolates being a suite only perk is not at all new.

Not even suites anymore. We stayed in the OS on the Mariner of the Seas on the Transatlantic and there were no chocolates. On the 3 formal nights we were delivered chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies in the afternoon, but that was it.

Wouldn't make or break a cruise for us but I noticed on our recent transatlantic there were no chocolates, plus I was disappointed to learn the daily news update is no longer offered. { We were on the Indy} but they offered a printed news update paper for around $5. I wasn't sure if this loss of news was on all ships but I felt the cost was a bit steep. Ah well won't stop us from cruising but cutbacks are out there and on many lines I would imagine. That said cruising can still be a bargain.:)

I remember the question being asked on a cruise not long after RCL made the decision to stop the chocolates. It appears that only 7% of them were ever eaten, and the others either thrown away immediately (or at the end of the cruise) or taken home and found in luggage months later only to be thrown away at that stage. The annual cost for the chocolates was reported to be something silly like $3million. So, it seems like a no-brainer to discontinue them and, even if the money isn't used elsewhere for the benefit of the customers, at least it isn't wasted. By the way, there are very few other vacations where you can stay in such opulence including meals, some drinks and entertainment for, in some instances, less than $50.00 per day. Whilst the chocolates were a nice touch, their demise doesn't make that much of a difference in the big picture ..

I remember the question being asked on a cruise not long after RCL made the decision to stop the chocolates. It appears that only 7% of them were ever eaten, and the others either thrown away immediately (or at the end of the cruise) or taken home and found in luggage months later only to be thrown away at that stage. The annual cost for the chocolates was reported to be something silly like $3million. So, it seems like a no-brainer to discontinue them and, even if the money isn't used elsewhere for the benefit of the customers, at least it isn't wasted. By the way, there are very few other vacations where you can stay in such opulence including meals, some drinks and entertainment for, in some instances, less than $50.00 per day. Whilst the chocolates were a nice touch, their demise doesn't make that much of a difference in the big picture ..

I'm a little unclear how RCI could know that people that brought them home threw them away, or that they were "found in luggage months later", and not eaten right away. :confused:

I didn't get any on my Jewel cruise a week ago and we had a grand suite. But my friends who sailed with us said that they got them in their Grand Suite on the Oasis back in January.