new towel policy

[AlohaPride]

The new towels are thick, plush and good looking. Whatever the reason

for providing and charging for them, fine. Last time I was on the NA (Jan 2014) I should have bought one. When I get onboard another ship in a few weeks, I hope that ship has them too...because I'm not coming home without one this time.

 

Thanks HAL. Those are nice towels !

 

I love big plush towels! I'm excited to read this. Every Summer I buy more beach towels from Costco because they have these HUGE super thick soft beach towels. If HAL's are anything like those I'll be buying a few ;) We go to the beach a lot.

[Sam.Seattle]

We have cruised on both RCI and Carnival since we last cruised on HAL. They both have similar systems in place. We had no problem with it, and we thought it wise, especially if it saves the cruiseline money. We used to see towels left everywhere. We didn't see much of that at all on RCI or Carnival. I think it encourages personal responsibility.

 

Robin

RCI has discontinued the towel check out procedure. Grab and go!

[afrayedknot]

This is true on HMC and Grand Turk. Not true on Orient Beach on St. Martin, where I saw many HAL towels (And Celebrity towels, NCL Towels, RC towels) on chairs after the wave of cruise folks departed, same deal at Magans Bay, at the Baths on Virgin Gorda and elsewhere. Having a way to know who was careless with a towel and caused a loss to the cruise line and charging them to compensate for said loss is NOT the same as "Selling Towels." If you return the towel, you are charged nothing.

 

I do not see this as a "reduction in service." If you can't manage to keep track of a towel that does not belong to you, you should pay for your inconsideration and lack of care.

 

I agree.

 

Pam

[Lizzie68]

Merely listing a name of beaches does not validate your point. I did note your " limited experience" though.

 

 

Evidently you missed the point then.

[POA1]

Reductio ad absurdum? (Please look it up before you argue. Thank you in advance.)

[Copper10-8]

Reductio ad absurdum? (Please look it up before you argue. Thank you in advance.)

 

Perfect! Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur

[POA1]

Perfect! Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur

 

;) Sorry. I tried to find a tongue-holding, smiley face, emoji thing. The best I could do was a wink.

Edited March 14, 2014 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

The new towels are thick, plush and good looking. Whatever the reason

for providing and charging for them, fine. Last time I was on the NA (Jan 2014) I should have bought one. When I get onboard another ship in a few weeks, I hope that ship has them too...because I'm not coming home without one this time.

 

Thanks HAL. Those are nice towels !

 

That is good news.

[GeriatricNurse]

Once I use my towel for a bath or shower it goes into the wash at home. It you use it, it will not be dry:confused:.

 

For some of the posters on this thread I think it may be a good time to investigate other cruise lines if everything that Hal does is so offensive. I truly feel sorry for the staff that has to deal with unnecessary fall out.

 

 

Sure the wet towel will dry! ;) All one has to do is to spread the towel out fully on the shower rod & it will dry over the day! It's really quite a simple procedure!:rolleyes: I can't imagine washing my large towel after every single use! :eek:

[VermeulT]

DH (who was not on my recent cruise) asked if you could get 2 per person. Interesting question. Perhaps I need to do some research :rolleyes: and take another cruise.:D

 

 

The new towels are thick, plush and good looking. Whatever the reason for providing and charging for them, fine. Last time I was on the NA (Jan 2014) I should have bought one. When I get onboard another ship in a few weeks, I hope that ship has them too...because I'm not coming home without one this time.

 

Thanks HAL. Those are nice towels !

 

I was on the fence. They are REALLY nice towels. But we rarely need beach towels at home so I passed.

[innlady1]

Merely listing a name of beaches does not validate your point. I did note your " limited experience" though.

 

And, that would be :confused:

 

I listed the islands we've been to on HAL cruises...actually there are more. We are 4 Star Mariners and with the exception of our Med and TA cruise last fall, all have been in the Caribbean. We've been to ALL the Caribbean and - Eastern, Western, Southern - to which HAL cruises. In each and every port, people flock to the beach with beach towels. I'm sure they've lost thousands of towels.:confused:

[Oceanwench]

Just got off Westerdam. I noticed the striped beach towels being used on the ship and wondered where everyone got them!

I actually looked in the store to see if they were being sold. Didn't spot any, so figured they were sold out. :p

 

Imagine my surprise on the last day, as I was checking our cabin cupboards and found two rolled-up towels with a note of them explaining the policy and cost!

 

(We don't go to the pool or to the beaches.)

 

I guess our stewards -- who were not the best we've ever had -- neglected to tell us about the towels.

 

We sailed twice on NA last year, and the towel program had not started on that ship.

 

I am in favor of the program, by the way. Makes sense.

[Krazy Kruizers]

And, that would be :confused:

 

I listed the islands we've been to on HAL cruises...actually there are more. We are 4 Star Mariners and with the exception of our Med and TA cruise last fall, all have been in the Caribbean. We've been to ALL the Caribbean and - Eastern, Western, Southern - to which HAL cruises. In each and every port, people flock to the beach with beach towels. I'm sure they've lost thousands of towels.:confused:

 

 

Yes Sheila -- I am with you -- HAL has lost thousands and thousands of beach towels over the years.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even though we no longer go on beach excursions, we do use the beach towels to cover the chairs out on our verandah.

For once I will not have to send DH on embarkation day up to the Lido pool to pick up a couple for use on the verandah.

[Taxguy77]

Right - just like we were in Kindergarten again.

 

30 or 40 years ago, at least, one of the luxury hotels had a notice in the room that towels were for sale at x$ each, and you would be charged if yours was missing!:eek:

[Sand Collector]

We just returned from a cruise on the Noordam. We actually like the new policy. On our 2013 HAL cruise, we had to sign-out/sign-in towels in the gangway area. It really slowed the process of leaving and reentering the ship. Additionally, in the past, we have gotten to the gangway later in the morning, only to find there were no towels, or the towels were damp, having just been rushed through the laundering process. The new policy really sped things up. A nice, large towel was conveniently placed in our stateroom the evening before a port of call, and we left it in the room upon our return. After dinner, new towels appeared in our cabin for our next day onshore! :)

[innlady1]

Right - just like we were in Kindergarten again.

 

If you are offended and feel as though you're "in Kindergarten again," I would suggest you put your money where your mouth is and book a more agreeable cruise line. Simple.

[djhsolara]

This is no different from what many other cruise lines do. It was this was on Eurodam last March.

[sunsetbeachgal]

RCI has discontinued the towel check out procedure. Grab and go!

 

As we are sailing on RC in two weeks with family, I have been spending some time on their boards and apparently the towel check out procedure is back. Not happy as that procedure is a nuisance on a large ship as you have to stand in line both to check out towels, and then to return them.

 

When we were on the Eurodam in November they had the two blue ines in the roomn which we just left there as I didn't want to risk losing it and being charged, and then stacks of purple ones at the pool which we used.

[doublebzz]

Having been in the hospitality business, I understand ...

 

If you are offended and feel as though you're "in Kindergarten again," I would suggest you put your money where your mouth is and book a more agreeable cruise line. Simple.

 

"Having been in the hospitality business", did you tell your guests to go to another hotel or whatever if they disagreed with one aspect of your operation?

[cruz chic]

If you are offended and feel as though you're "in Kindergarten again," I would suggest you put your money where your mouth is and book a more agreeable cruise line. Simple.

 

I often wonder why anyone would return to a cruise line was so terrible with everything. It's normal to have a few complaints but it seems that some are upset with everything. I'd hate to go thru life either that much negativity.

[innlady1]

I often wonder why anyone would return to a cruise line was so terrible with everything. It's normal to have a few complaints but it seems that some are upset with everything. I'd hate to go thru life either that much negativity.

 

I often wonder the same thing. Why not do the research to come up with something more in line with expectations?

[iancal]

The towel policy on HAL, or any cruise line for that matter, is about as important to us as the color of the cab that takes us to the ship.

 

I guess it is one of those glass half empty type of concerns. Out of all the cruises on various cruise lines with multiple towel policies we have never not been able to sort something out and have never had to pay for a towel. I suspect the vast majority of cruisers are in the same boat.

Edited March 15, 2014 by iancal

[MasterNotCommander]

The policy with Costa is one per person and must be returned to the cabin, I thought it was a bit of a pain. When you pay the additional premium to cruise '5 star' with HAL, you don't expect the same kind of hassle. It brings it down to 3 star holiday camp level.

[POA1]

I am going to hate myself for wading into this topic, but I didn't find anything wrong with the "towels in the room - you lose 'em, you buy them" policy. (I've only written one sentence, yet I feel so... so... dirty)

 

The striped, in-room towels were nicer than the old towels we used to pick up on the gangway. They were in our room, so score one for convenience. When we used them, clean towels were returned in their place.

 

The other weird thing was that there were still towels - FREE! - that's right, Free! Freakin' Towels - available at the pool.

 

Help me understand the angle here. Wherein lies the problem? ;)

Edited March 16, 2014 by POA1