Is Princess charging room service fees fleet wide or only on the Regal?

[Northender]

Yes, sorry about not being clearer...that was for the Regal & I read that you didn't get anything on the Royal's inaugural cruise & knew there was no chance of anything special on my inaugural TA on the Royal last October.

 

Whew....I thought someone misplaced the luggage tags.:D:D

[Astro Flyer]

And perhaps increase the 24 hour room service menu options as a compromise. But an absolute policy I think is poorly thought policy by Princess. Sorry...

I agree with others who have posted that if we could get a complete dining room menu in our cabin then a $3 fee might be appropriate. But I think that Princess' morning continental breakfast, drink service & poor room service menu shouldn't come with any extra charge.

Edited May 25, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Working 2 Cruise]

this room service fee,of 3.00,is it for anytime room service is ordered,or is it for just certain times,like from 12 midnight to 5am in the morning.?:)

 

Anytime. But it isn't fleetwide yet.

[TracieABD]

I am not really bothered by the $3 delivery fee-- except it just feels cheap and tawdry.

 

I have always love the (somewhat) understated/ casual elegance of Princess. This fee is just nickel and diming. One thing we have alway apprecieated about Princess, is that we have not felt nickel and dimed to death. Sad, really.

[shredie]

Great marketing Princess...hype your new ship & then ambush those passengers with new unannounced fees! :eek:

 

Ambush. That's a good word for it.

[PrincessLuver]

I'm confused as to why so many are THIS upset over a $3 non mandatory charge, while in another post you all claim to be tipping on top of mandatory tips. I understand and agree that the change is annoying, and perhaps in poor taste. However, this is currently imposed on only one ship, and is not a required charge to sail. There are still many options in free dining, and if you already tip for room service on top of the daily accumulating tip, what is the big deal? I just don't use the 'premium' services that I don't want to pay for. I think it's silly to have a separate part of the ship you have to pay extra to use, instead of simply not allowing children to enter.. so I don't use it. Just my opinion..

 

Exactly....it is only $3.00 versus an auto tip of $23.00 a day....I find it amusing that there is such an outcry over such a pittance....I certainly hope they do not hear about the fee that Princess is going to be charging allow passengers to wear formal clothes on formal nights.....:D:D:D

[insidecabin]

deleted----

Edited May 25, 2014 by insidecabin

[shredie]

Exactly....it is only $3.00 versus an auto tip of $23.00 a day....I find it amusing that there is such an outcry over such a pittance....I certainly hope they do not hear about the fee that Princess is going to be charging allow passengers to wear formal clothes on formal nights.....:D:D:D

 

Maybe you missed the part where the pax on Regal were charged with these new fees AFTER they were on board and AFTER the promotional literature for the cruise told them these things were complimentary. Possibly you would not mind if someone offered you something without cost then demanded you pay for it once you showed up to collect. It would probably just be a pittance anyway, so forget I even brought it up.

[jrzebird]

With all due respect this is fine that we all get to vent, rant and fume!!! Feels good and like all other threads this too will disappear in time and Princess knows this! So what to do????

 

Unfortunately, while solid followers of our selected cruise line, in this case Princess, we, the members of CC are very few in numbers as compared to the total number of passengers sailing on each ship.

 

This is the very reason there is nothing we can, in fact, do to resolve this. Princess knows this.

 

The only thing that REALLY matters to Princess, or any other cruise ship line, for that matter, is the bottom line. This is the fundamental reason for all corporate decisions. This is the information that we, the clients, can use to sway their corporate decisions. BUT it calls for a mass movement and solidarity, something that is rare indeed when dealing with individuals across vast locations.

 

IMHO I believe everyone (EVERYONE) needs

 

1. to remove auto tipping on boarding day. 100 percent removal. No-one on the ship should have this charge on their account.

 

2. stop using all services on board the ship that involves an extra charge. This includes the restaurants, laundry, drycleaning, shore excursions EVERYTHING.

 

3. Go to the Passenger Service desk everyday and demand a print out of your account to ensure no charges have been added.

 

4. depart the ship having spent a lovely week on board a ship, been fed, and entertained. And most important you will have given them NOT ONE CENT more than the cost of your cruise.

 

They may be able to nickel and dime us but we can penny them!

 

Do this on just one or even two cruise ships and things would change immediately. We the consumer have a multitude of options. Without us, however, these cruise lines are dead in the water!

 

We do have the power, the question is do we have the resolve??

 

I read about 100 post on this thread tonight, and I was going to let it all pass as I had already posted earlier on this. However, I couldn't get this one out of my mind.

 

To suggest that a way to protest these unannounced surcharges is to have all passengers remove the auto-tips is unconscionable! The only person that hurts is the, to quote you in a later post, "poor help". And most of your other suggestions hurt the passenger. Princess will survive without the $3.00 surcharge, but why should I give up a specialty restaurant, laundry, dry cleaning or shore excursions to protest a surcharge on a service I don't really need. These surcharges are optional. Finally, you want a copy of your bill on a daily basis, or even 10 times a day? Take a walk to passenger services and print it out. Just swipe your card and, voila, there you are, a free copy. On the newest ships, I understand you don't even have to leave your cabin for this information.

 

I also read on someones post about how we would be charged for fruit delivery, ice and glasses. Fruit delivery we can cover ourselves, by getting in at the buffet. As for ice and glasses, unless I am mistaken, these are things that my room steward provides, not room service, so these aren't even at issue. And, since I bring my own cup and rarely use ice, also not an issue.

 

Maureen

[dotty52]

The reason people are so upset is that it stated on the website said that room service was complimentary and Alfredos was free on the Regal,and then once people were onboard say sorry we didnt mean that ,not very ethiical ,we like eating in Alfredos but will probably not eat there much anymore ,but will not spoil my next cruise

[caribill]

when was the last time that you were at a hotel and asked for "room service" and signed for the bill and got shell shocked .

 

In a hotel, room service food is never included in the price of the room.

[caribill]

Trial run, designed to reduce room service orders and cut down on those who stiff the servers.

 

The auto-tip includes room service personnel, so anyone not tipping for room service delivery is not stiffing the servers unless the auto-tip has been removed.

[antsp]

This just punishes the staff which is a terrible response. By all means stop paying for extras if $3 is going to ruin your vacation, but leave the staff out of it

 

The room service staff are in the tip pool, so it won't punish them at all.

Edited May 25, 2014 by antsp

[PescadoAmarillo]

I have trouble understanding everyone's irritation with the way this was implemented. Sure, the Princess website still says 24 hour room service is included in the price of the cruise, but that hasn't been totally accurate for a few years. Phoning a Princess customer service rep with a question has no more than a 50% chance of getting a correct answer and therefore often yields surprises once on board. Policies and procedures are implemented unevenly across the fleet all the time (case in point: the Emerald Princess required that both people in a cabin needed to purchase the drink package far longer than other ships). Drink prices change from one cruise to the next. The Sanctuary doubled in price; the price for the Chefs Table went up more than 20%. And, as we know, the passage contract allows Princess to do pretty much anything it wants to do as long as it picks you up in a port and houses you for x number of days (it doesn't even have to drop you off at the right port at the end of it all) . I'm not certain why this change is being perceived to be that much harsher.

 

Frankly, the surprise was that Alfredos was ever free of charge. HAL has something similar with Caneletto. Our first two HAL cruises it was free, and we ate there one time on each. The next two cruises, it wasn't, and we ate there once on one and not at all on another. Paying $10 per person on one cruise and skipping it on the next had zero impact on our overall cruise enjoyment, and I wouldn't have even remembered it but for this discussion.

[caribill]

Not my point. It costs them x$ to provide any given service. They need to recover x+x%$ on that or some other service to make a profit.

 

 

Most passengers eat breakfast.

 

No matter where they eat it (dining room, buffet, IC, room service) there is a cost for food and personnel.

 

To say that Princess needs to charge additional for room service is to say they also need to charge extra to eat in a dining room, buffet or IC as these also have food and personnel costs.

[Cruise Junky]

The room service staff are in the tip pool, so it won't punish them at all.

 

Of course it will because most people don't know that and tip for room service

[caribill]

Except it doesn't work that way.

 

Princess cannot just raise their cruise prices and expect people to pay.

 

It's the same issue the airlines had, and why the cruiselines are adopting the airline model.

 

 

There is a big difference between cruise lines and airlines.

 

People fly because it is necessary (business reasons, funeral, etc.) or because it is the quickest or best way to get to a destination (Disney World, start of a cruise, holiday destination, etc.)

 

It is never necessary to take a cruise.

Edited May 25, 2014 by caribill

[caribill]

This is on the Regal, right?

 

Because the inaugural cruisers on the Royal got nothing, not even a letter.

 

Mike:)

 

I read they also received a photo of the ship.

[caribill]

I just received the following reply from Princess fb post:

 

"Princess Cruises: Hi Bob, we appreciate your feedback regarding these charges onboard Regal Princess. From time to time, we re-evaluate our onboard pricing, also taking into account guest demand for certain offerings and services.

 

The Captain's welcome party in the atrium (with Champagne waterfall and the Captain's welcome speech) is usually way too crowded. Taking this demand into account, possibly Princess could charge $2/person to attend this event and thus eliminate the overcrowding.

 

The Princess Theater is often full to capacity and additional passengers cannot see the performance they want to attend. If there was a $5/person charge for each show in the Princess Theater, then guest demand can be better regulated.

 

Usually 100% of the passengers will flush the toilet in their cabin, often several times a day. To control the demand for this service, a $1/flush charge should help.

Edited May 25, 2014 by caribill

[Bill B]

It won't be be long before it will cost $10.00 to attend muster drill (auto charged)... and people will be on Cruise Critic saying "I don't mind paying because it's for our safety."

 

Want a 'Priority Seat' on your lifeboat?... $100.00 ;)

[PescadoAmarillo]

It is never necessary to take a cruise.

My husband might take exception to that. ;)

[antsp]

Of course it will because most people don't know that and tip for room service[/quote

 

I never tip for room service

[thinfool]

The auto-tip includes room service personnel, so anyone not tipping for room service delivery is not stiffing the servers unless the auto-tip has been removed.

 

You may be right, but I have always understood this not to be the case. Hence the oft-repeated comments to be sure and tip the room service personnel.

 

From the Princess website: "This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet."

 

While somewhat ambiguous, the room service personnel are not spelled out as participants.

 

Is there a different location that indicates that room service personnel are included in the tip pool?

[thinfool]

I have read a lot of posts about this issue. A lot is speculation and unanswered questions.

 

At this point I am thinking that the $3. charge for room service is a way for Princess to compensate the personnel involved. I could easily see that very few passengers are tipping for the service.

 

If this is the case, it will make the charge a lot easier to pay.

 

But, at this point, it is for each person in a room. So a $6. charge for each trip.

 

Hmmmmm.

 

If my wife orders a piece of cheesecake and a drink, and I order nothing, I am not gonna be a happy camper to pay my half of the service charge.

 

Princess really needs to step up and clarify this issue. Details, details, details.

[chamima]

In a hotel, room service food is never included in the price of the room.

 

 

In most hotels NO food is included in the price of the room.

This is a cruise - not a hotel - and (at least up until now) food is part of the package you are buying when you purchase.