Room Service No Longer Free - NCL Starts $7.95 Charge Per Order

[mpk218]

Just off the Getaway ... The listings for the specialty rest. did in fact have the 18% gratuity posted.. We did not pay a $7.95 room service fee . and the best kept secret on that ship is the ice cream bar at O'Sheehans.. which is not posted anywhere on board. ;)

 

 

Another fee ,,, not good ... :mad:

[motleyfan]

Many people like to enjoy their morning coffee and danish right after waking up and room service was a great way to do that (and when one is on vacation what's wrong with lazing around a little in the room). Just because it isn't a big deal for you doesn't mean that you can dictate how others feel about it- different strokes for different folks.

 

Why not enjoy that coffee and Danish at the morning buffet?

[timetaffy89]

I called Ncl and even though we all know they are notorious for having the wrong answers, they did inform me that the charge also applies for suites!! That is so ridiculous!

Edited March 30, 2015 by timetaffy89

[motleyfan]

I called Ncl and even though we all know they are notorious for having the wrong answers, they did inform me that the charge also applies for suites!! That is so ridiculous!

 

I don't understand the big deal, as I said I am for now on calling this the motivation to get off your butt and go down to the restaurant or buffet service charge.

[Vellamint]

I love lazy mornings in bed on vacation. No coffee! Isn't gonna be the same

[Beaver1975]

I'm over it. I wasn't going to do anything because we have a group booking, but I'm going to look at other cruise lines now. If we can't switch, we can't ... but this will be our last on NCL. They can kiss my hiney.

 

There is an upside to this new fee!

[MrMike45]

I don't understand the big deal, as I said I am for now on calling this the motivation to get off your butt and go down to the restaurant or buffet service charge.

 

I think the point is if someone doesn't want to get off their butt to go to the buffet, they now have to pay $8.

 

Personally, the only time we use room service is mornings when we are docked at a port and have an early morning excursion or going to the beach. Was an wasy way to get bfast and pick/eat while getting ready. Certainly will not be paying $8 to half eat a muffin or banana and take a few sips of coffee before leaving the ship.

[BeachRum]

Firstly,

Before jumping overboard to conclusions, the room service charge is only a test. And it’s only on the Breakaway ($7.95) and the Getaway ($4.95).

As before, there is no charge on the other ships, except between 1am and 5am or some wee hours like that, and for pizza delivery.

Secondly, having said that, there are coffee makers in many cabins. They make very good coffee.

Thirdly, if you think that NCL is the only line to charge for room service, you're in for a rude awakening. DO you really think you're not paying for it on RCI cruises, whose average fare is already higher than NCL's?

Fourthly, if even $8 a day is going to be a deal breaker, I suspect that there are other financial issues at play. $56/week to have someone delight you with such a daily indulgence so you don't have to get your rear end up to the buffet for coffee and muffins?

[Sonora5]

Maybe it is to discourage room service. As I said earlier we tried twice to get a pizza but could not get through to them. After several minutes on hold we were switched to customer service then put on hold again. Guess it's a good thing we did not if it was that bad.

 

 

I was wondering about this also. Maybe they are just trying to stop folks from ordering room service.

 

We like room service when cruising, particularly breakfast. On sea says we like to loll about, and on port days it is nice to have something in the room before we leave.

 

We do not eat at the buffet very often.

 

My last NCL cruise, we were annoyed with kind of a hard sell on many items, starting before we had even embarked. I would spend a lot more in the spa, for example, if I wasn't getting bothered about buying product.

 

I would also buy a lot more of a better quality internet product.

 

We have two more cruises scheduled on NCL. After that, I think we will be looking at the higher end lines. They are not that much more expensive when you consider all the things NCL charges for that are included on lines like Oceania.

[luv2gonow]

Ok....didn't read all the pages.

 

But I am sailing on The Epic Mediterrean sailing.

 

So If I understand correctly there is a $7.95 charge for any room service order no matter what time of day?

 

Is that no matter how much you get?

 

Also was room service free 24/7 before?

 

Disappointing for sure!!! should make the buffet even more crowded.

Thanks

Kerri

[KateQ22003]

I don't understand the big deal, as I said I am for now on calling this the motivation to get off your butt and go down to the restaurant or buffet service charge.

 

The big deal is, this is our vacation. We have saved up all year for this one week. If we want to stay in bed until noon and indulge in room service breakfast, as we have always done, this should be included in our fare.

[motleyfan]

I think the point is if someone doesn't want to get off their butt to go to the buffet, they now have to pay $8.

 

Personally, the only time we use room service is mornings when we are docked at a port and have an early morning excursion or going to the beach. Was an wasy way to get bfast and pick/eat while getting ready. Certainly will not be paying $8 to half eat a muffin or banana and take a few sips of coffee before leaving the ship.

Its only happening on 2 ships,don't cruise those ships.

[KateQ22003]

Its only happening on 2 ships,don't cruise those ships.

 

For now.

[shealea]

Mitsuygirl - Honestly, if I had listened to everyone that told me how disappointed I would be with Carnival, I would have never got to have the experience we did. It was one of the best.

That is how I'm feeling. We have spoken with several people on our NCL cruises that have also cruised with Carnival. They enjoyed their Carnival cruises. They all said the food was better on Carnival.

 

So, we are going to give them a try on our next cruise. I used to be a big NCL cheerleader, but I'm really "over them" now! I'm not happy with their fees, and especially with the way they were introduced (actually NOT introduced)!!! ha!

 

I know you write extensive reviews, so I will watch for your review after your upcoming Carnival Cruise Line review. And have an awesome trip!!! Sure wish I was going with you! ha! Oh ....... where are you cruising to?

[Javerlin74]

I bet their test in two ships will make everyone on the other ships order the room service like it's going out of style!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[motleyfan]

For now.

 

Well as was posted earlier this is a test, if they start to notice less people are cruising the ships for that very reason then they will not implement it.

[bjtravelnews]

Let's get real they're never going to charge extra for the stewards to clean your cabin lol. some people over exaggerate away too much. I've been reading the posts that say things like we like to order coffee with our room service, really people why would you want to sit in your room during a cruise? That just sounds idiotic to me, not calling anyone names just saying that's how it sounds. I've never cruised the other lines but I've heard of some of their entertainment options and trust me Norwegians is way better. I'm probably fatter than anyone else on this board yet still am NOT lazy enough to sit in my room and order room service. You are on a cruise to get out and have fun so do so. I promise the restaurant going experience is much more fun than sitting in your room and ordering room service.

There really are times when room service makes sense. If you have an early excursion, you may not have time to eat breakfast in the buffet or MDR. On our prior cruises, we would get coffee and a light breakfast and sit on the balcony to relax before starting our day (a little hard to do that on NCL since the balconies are SO tiny!) I am all for getting out and having fun, but a big reason for me to cruise is to relax and unwind from my very stressful job and commute.

[motleyfan]

Ok....didn't read all the pages.

 

But I am sailing on The Epic Mediterrean sailing.

 

So If I understand correctly there is a $7.95 charge for any room service order no matter what time of day?

 

Is that no matter how much you get?

 

Also was room service free 24/7 before?

 

Disappointing for sure!!! should make the buffet even more crowded.

Thanks

Kerri

 

No it is only happening on two certain ships and the epic is not one of them

[maywell]

Gotta love the "doesn't affect me, so I don't care" posts. What a nice bunch!

It doesn't affect because I don't like picking up the phone on vacation anyway. So the room service charge is even more of a good reason for me to not use it. Plus the balconies are to small to eat or enjoy a drink properly, so I prefer eating at outside buffets - Other people probably got better reasons to not eat/ drink on balconies than I do. *shrug*

 

Its not hard to drag food back to your room especially with spillproof mugs/cups from Amazon / Bed Bath & Beyond / Walmart / Target / etc and tote / sack/ backpack / purse to hold it. Frugal people have been doing it since ever, they even have forums on Cruise Critic how to save money and get most without spending anything additional; so not a big deal (to me, anyway)...

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

[sparks1093]

Why not enjoy that coffee and Danish at the morning buffet?

 

Why? It's crowded enough with overweight old men, I don't need to add to the mix;). (And even more importantly, why do you care what I do onboard?).

[LrgPizza]

hey I am cruising with you on the 3 day escape, you are an awesome poster. But as I was saying this is just motivation to get up and get it yourself. nobody goes on a cruise to just sit in your room. when I first started cruising I didn't even understand why have room service when the whole point of the cruise is to be out of your room. For the people who bring their kids just stop bringing your kids. if you get a babysitter I promise you and your husband will have much much more fun.

That poster has been cruising since you were in diapers (assuming you still aren't, which is hard to tell sometimes.) I'm pretty sure you don't need to tell her how she can have a good time on a ship. Get over yourself.

[motleyfan]

Mitsuygirl - Honestly, if I had listened to everyone that told me how disappointed I would be with Carnival, I would have never got to have the experience we did. It was one of the best.

That is how I'm feeling. We have spoken with several people on our NCL cruises that have also cruised with Carnival. They enjoyed their Carnival cruises. They all said the food was better on Carnival.

 

So, we are going to give them a try on our next cruise. I used to be a big NCL cheerleader, but I'm really "over them" now! I'm not happy with their fees, and especially with the way they were introduced (actually NOT introduced)!!! ha!

 

I know you write extensive reviews, so I will watch for your review after your upcoming Carnival Cruise Line review. And have an awesome trip!!! Sure wish I was going with you! ha! Oh ....... where are you cruising to?

 

My main two reasons for not cruising carnival are they offer a beverage package at the same price of Norwegian yet its not unlimited, I'm sorry but if I'm paying money for a beverage package it damn well better be unlimited and the second reason is the entertainment Norwegian is second to none with their first class entertainment.

[Cruzinnana47]

Whether you use room service or not, for us, the issue is the way NCL is going about this. Communication is definitely lacking with some of these new policies being put in place and I'm disappointed in NCL's approach to their implementation of recent changes (not much, if any, announcement).

 

We don't use room service that often, but several times over the years, when we're up early to take a shore excursion, it was convenient to just order juice, coffee, fruit, yogurt or danish to make things simple. Once I got sick half-way through our cruise, and was happy to have a bowl of soup and a fruit plate delivered for my lunch so I could stay in the cabin and rest.

 

Time will tell how this new test program will pan out.

[cage keeper]

The big deal is, this is our vacation. We have saved up all year for this one week. If we want to stay in bed until noon and indulge in room service breakfast, as we have always done, this should be included in our fare.

 

Thank you, I totally agree. And it's not only the 7.95, it's everything added together. The increase in the daily service charge that is supposed to cover our tips for dining. We ate in specialty dining 5 of the 7 nights and were also charged the 18% gratuities. Nickel and dime us and we won't be back.

[sundercruiser]

I thought they already did that with $.95-2.95 increase? I mean, unless of course, you want NCL to charge that separately - I sure that will make the complainers even more 'happier'....[emoji57]

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

Uh, whatever.

 

I'm sure it's just me, but I can almost never tell what you're on about. :)