Pool towels, what's the dilly doo?

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

I think the policy of checking out the towels serves two purposes:

 

It cuts down on towels being taken home as keepsakes and it also cuts down on chairhogs just throwing a towel on a chair to save it.

I get why they do it, I'm just trying to come up with a better way. We stayed at an AI in Mexico that had "towel cards". You were supposed to get one card for everyone in your room when you check in. You trade the card for a towel, or a wet towel for a dry one, or a towel for a card. Sounds good, but...

 

1) On the day we checked in, they were out of cards. So at the pool, they wrote your room number down on a notebook and the number of cards. When we went to return the towels later, they couldn't find our room number on the notebook.

2) Another time we went to return towels there was no one in the room

3) Not intentionally, but by our checkout day, we had ~15 cards and a towel or two. There were 5 in our room. :confused:

[smoosh21]

Anyone know if suite guests have pools placed in their suites, or do they have to be checked out at the pool deck?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

2 years ago, on our TA cruise in an Owners suite on the Voyager, we had pool towels placed in our cabin every night. Last year, in a Grand Suite on the Allure we did not have any pool towels.

 

Not sure if it is a ship based thing, or you have to have at least Owners Suite.

[smoosh21]

Just one person's opinion...

 

If you are unhappy with the policy, blame the thieves!!!!! Place your anger or disgust where it belongs. Yes, it is a pain, but we head to the pool all the time, so it simply means we do not have to carry them around...For shore excursions, we grab a cup of coffee, poolside, then get the towels, then get off the ship.

 

So, are you saying that Royal gets all the Criminals who decide to cruise? Celebrity, which is owned by Royal, just keeps their towels on the deck out in the open. You take as many as you like and nothing to check in our out.

 

Sorry, I don't get the pissy "Royal can do no wrong" attitude when it comes to the towel policy. I think it is a bad policy and probably Royal's worst policy.

 

And sorry if you feel I am attacking you to directly, but I myself have gotten flamed on so many occasions for complaining about the policy. As a passenger and as a stockholder I find it to be bad customer service and I will continue to speak out about that and not take crap from all the people who tell me I should just shut my mouth

[FLACRUISER99]

So, are you saying that Royal gets all the Criminals who decide to cruise? Celebrity, which is owned by Royal, just keeps their towels on the deck out in the open. You take as many as you like and nothing to check in our out.

 

Sorry, I don't get the pissy "Royal can do no wrong" attitude when it comes to the towel policy. I think it is a bad policy and probably Royal's worst policy.

 

And sorry if you feel I am attacking you to directly, but I myself have gotten flamed on so many occasions for complaining about the policy. As a passenger and as a stockholder I find it to be bad customer service and I will continue to speak out about that and not take crap from all the people who tell me I should just shut my mouth

I'm on your side.

[Mimajo]

We were planning on bringing our own towels for shore excursions (we live near port and have plenty of room in our suitcases) but when we're just by the pool we were going to use RCI towels. It seems that most people talk about checking them out at the beginning and then keeping them (trading for clean when necessary) for the duration of the cruise. Can we check them out as needed and then check them back in on the same day? Do you think doing this would make it more or less likely that we will be mistakenly charged for them?

 

We never took towels back to our room. We always got them daily and returned them daily. No problems.

[JulieRose]

We never took towels back to our room. We always got them daily and returned them daily. No problems.

 

Thank you, good to know. You didn't have any mystery charges for them, then?

[alfaeric]

So, are you saying that Royal gets all the Criminals who decide to cruise? Celebrity, which is owned by Royal, just keeps their towels on the deck out in the open. You take as many as you like and nothing to check in our out.

 

Sorry, I don't get the pissy "Royal can do no wrong" attitude when it comes to the towel policy. I think it is a bad policy and probably Royal's worst policy.

 

And sorry if you feel I am attacking you to directly, but I myself have gotten flamed on so many occasions for complaining about the policy. As a passenger and as a stockholder I find it to be bad customer service and I will continue to speak out about that and not take crap from all the people who tell me I should just shut my mouth

 

 

So, as a shareholder, what would you suggest they do?

 

If they have data that says that the RCCL ships are loosing enough beach towels that it's having an impact on both customer satisfaction (lack of available towels thanks to so many missing) and the bottom line (towels are not free)- what is a good solution to keep your shareholder value?

 

The policy may not be perfect, but it's far from one that's *that* bad. we can get 4 between the two of us, and drop them off as we get back on the ship (I don't want wet and sandy beach towels in my room). And most of the time, they have them available to 'check out' as you leave. Even with that, I'm not sure why it's so hard to go to the pool deck after eating breakfast to get some towels.

 

So I wonder, what is a good alternative that actually is in line with shareholders like yourself.

[smoosh21]

So, as a shareholder, what would you suggest they do?

 

If they have data that says that the RCCL ships are loosing enough beach towels that it's having an impact on both customer satisfaction (lack of available towels thanks to so many missing) and the bottom line (towels are not free)- what is a good solution to keep your shareholder value?

 

The policy may not be perfect, but it's far from one that's *that* bad. we can get 4 between the two of us, and drop them off as we get back on the ship (I don't want wet and sandy beach towels in my room). And most of the time, they have them available to 'check out' as you leave. Even with that, I'm not sure why it's so hard to go to the pool deck after eating breakfast to get some towels.

 

So I wonder, what is a good alternative that actually is in line with shareholders like yourself.

 

Again, why does Celebrity not lose towels? What about Carnival, Princess, HAL, NCL? What is so unique about RCI cruisers that they are Industry leading towel thieves that Royal is losing so much money?

 

I have had to stand in line 3 times on final morning to protest a wrongful towel charge on my statement. OK, twice it was wrongful, once they closed the towel stations at 7 PM on the last night so I had to turn my towel into front desk.

 

And as to having them available as you leave, not anymore. The last two sailings I was on, there are no longer setting up a towel station on deck 2.

[WetToes]

What's "dilly doo"?

[pittnh]

I think the policy of checking out the towels serves two purposes:

 

It cuts down on towels being taken home as keepsakes and it also cuts down on chairhogs just throwing a towel on a chair to save it.

 

the correct answer. It really makes people keep track of their towels and helps to prevent (somewhat) chair hogging. On an excursion, I heard a woman really chewing into her husband for misplacing a towel and worried if they didn't find it they would owe $25.

[macruisefan]

It's a poor policy. It causes more aggravation than is necessary. That being said, I have never had a problem with it. I grab a towel and swap it out whenever it's wet. No fuss, no muss.

[macruisefan]

Although before people continue to talk about Celebrity doing no wrong with their towels, I must say, they're policy on my recent cruise was CAPITALLY STUPID.... On days the ship was in a port, the pool towels were not uncovered until about a half hour AFTER the gangway opened. They said this was done to keep people from taking towels ashore. However, the end result was that on several days, the pools opened at 7am and there were no towels available at all until after 10:00!

[poncho1973]

There are always tons of extra towels laying on chairs for hours at a time. They are great for when you need an extra!

 

;)

 

But really... they are!

[macruisefan]

There are always tons of extra towels laying on chairs for hours at a time. They are great for when you need an extra!

 

I've done it and don't even feel a little bad about it.

[m*u*g*]

Those complaining they turned them in could be chair hogs who had their towel taken. I say charge them.

[m*u*g*]

There are always tons of extra towels laying on chairs for hours at a time. They are great for when you need an extra!

 

;)

 

But really... they are!

 

 

*Like

[Ocean Boy]

I think the policy of checking out the towels serves two purposes:

 

It cuts down on towels being taken home as keepsakes and it also cuts down on chairhogs just throwing a towel on a chair to save it.

 

Third purpose. It generates some income for RCI when people don't put the effort into contesting the erroneous charges.

[alfaeric]

Again, why does Celebrity not lose towels? What about Carnival, Princess, HAL, NCL? What is so unique about RCI cruisers that they are Industry leading towel thieves that Royal is losing so much money?

 

You are assuming that since other companies do not have a similar policy that RCCL does also not have a problem.

 

On the other hand, I assume that there IS a problem, why else would you put your customers through something like this. Do I know why? No- I'm not in the meeting or know exactly what is going on. But the fact that *something* happend suggests that there is some kind of issue.

 

Which brings me back to my original question, given a problem, what would you, the shareholder, do about it? There's a good possibility that the company you own shares in looses money on this- what do you suggest they do?

 

Nothing is not really an option as a shareholder. Don't answer like a customer, answer as if your money depended on it.

 

now suggest an alternative.

 

 

(FWIW- we use 4 towels at a time for 2 people, never had an odd charge to worry about for towels.)

[Royal_Cruiser]

Those complaining they turned them in could be chair hogs who had their towel taken. I say charge them.

 

Maybe. I hate chair hogs, too, but though I've never been charged for a pool towel that I have turned in, Royal Caribbean HAS incorrectly charged me for the mini bar on 2 of my 6 cruises with them. 33% is a ridiculously high failure rate, so I figure it's only a matter of time before I'm wrongly charged for a pool towel.

[stewpapa]

A good solution is not that elusive. Carnival has a stress free and very workable system. 2 Towels are in your cabin when you board. As long as two are there when you leave, you are not charged. If you want them cleaned leave them on the floor and two clean ones will magically appear, or you can exchange them at the pool. Lets, say you want 4 instead of two, ask the stateroom attendant. They will give you two more and as long as 4 are there when you leave, you are not charged. No card swiping and no lines. The towel policy is Royals poorest as I and others have posted many times on here. Nothing that would ruin a cruise, just silly and unnecessary. Other than that, Royal is awesome!

[alfaeric]

A good solution is not that elusive. Carnival has a stress free and very workable system. 2 Towels are in your cabin when you board. As long as two are there when you leave, you are not charged. If you want them cleaned leave them on the floor and two clean ones will magically appear, or you can exchange them at the pool. Lets, say you want 4 instead of two, ask the stateroom attendant. They will give you two more and as long as 4 are there when you leave, you are not charged. No card swiping and no lines. The towel policy is Royals poorest as I and others have posted many times on here. Nothing that would ruin a cruise, just silly and unnecessary. Other than that, Royal is awesome!

 

It's an idea, but bear in mind, if you have a cash account, and walk off with the towels, then you can't be charged. So, while workable, not perfect.

 

Anyone put this on their survey sheet at the end of a cruise? That's the best way to change things, by far. Put that at the end of the written part of the survey- you will be paid attention to. More than posting here, that's for sure.

[Langley Cruisers]

It's an idea, but bear in mind, if you have a cash account, and walk off with the towels, then you can't be charged. So, while workable, not perfect...

 

Anyone with a cash account (or who has a problem in any way with their account) who has an outstanding balance will definitely hear his/her name paged over and over again on disembarkation morning. Also, if that person attempted to leave the ship with an outstanding balance, the familiar "ding" is replaced with another sound which alerts staff to the situation. ;)

[alfaeric]

Anyone with a cash account (or who has a problem in any way with their account) who has an outstanding balance will definitely hear his/her name paged over and over again on disembarkation morning. Also, if that person attempted to leave the ship with an outstanding balance, the familiar "ding" is replaced with another sound which alerts staff to the situation. ;)

 

 

Assuming the room attendant gets there before you leave. :D

 

We can go back and forth on this all day.

 

But that's one alternative, what else, outside of just ignoring the "problem"?

 

And are you putting the suggestions on the survey form? Which is just as important as the ideas.

[zekekelso]

On an excursion, I heard a woman really chewing into her husband for misplacing a towel and worried if they didn't find it they would owe $25.

 

And that's a perfect example of why the policy is so bad. When I think cruise, I think sunshine, fun, no worries.

 

I don't think "stress over misplacing a towel and getting yelled at by my wife."

[reallyitsmema]

A good solution is not that elusive. Carnival has a stress free and very workable system. 2 Towels are in your cabin when you board. As long as two are there when you leave, you are not charged. If you want them cleaned leave them on the floor and two clean ones will magically appear, or you can exchange them at the pool. Lets, say you want 4 instead of two, ask the stateroom attendant. They will give you two more and as long as 4 are there when you leave, you are not charged. No card swiping and no lines. The towel policy is Royals poorest as I and others have posted many times on here. Nothing that would ruin a cruise, just silly and unnecessary. Other than that, Royal is awesome!

That was the policy, it didn't work, thus the new policy.