Room service and to go food

[NLH Arizona]

This may be a first but I totally agree with you lol

 

Geri

Looks like something froze over LOL!

[tymike]

NCL, please do not insult the intelligence of your passengers with this drivel. If you're going to make a change, supposedly for our betterment, then at least give us an explaination that we can actually understand. Because this response I find to be highly insulting.*

 

*"For our guests' well-being"....

Do tell, how is the well-being of your dining room guests (or the parents) enhanced by the tantrums of a child simply because they cannot politely pack up their food and remove their child from the room? How is the well-being of a senior enhanced when they can't eat large meals and like to take their dessert back to their room to enjoy later and they must now skip dessert entirely? How is the well-being of a sea-sick guest enhanced when they cannot muster more than a few bites of their food before they need to excuse themselves; and now they must either stay and force the food down their throats and risk being sick or they have to eat the limited late night foods once they feel better? How is the well-being of your guests enhanced who have intentially paid for a balcony cabin because they want to avoid the crowds and enjoy quiet time on their balconcy with take out, but now they are forced to eat every meal in a crowded restaurant... the very crowds they are trying to avoid? Seriously, just WHOSE well-being is this for? WHO exactly does this better...other than you? How do you justify this statement of enhancing the passengers well-being by this new policy? If the rumored "food born illness" argument holds any water and you are trying to umbrella the logic of this "well-being" statement under food safety and improper refrigeration of leftovers, then you MUST include Room Service under this statement. You can't have it both ways. ALL FOOD leaving any restaurant would be subject to the same safety risks. BUT WAIT... this is the very Room Service that you just added a $7.95 'CONVENIENCE FEE' to each order! So, I guess I can 'conveniently' get sick from improperly refrigerated leftover RS, but you will protect me from my improperly refrigerated restaurant foods.*

 

"Maintain a beautiful clean environment for all our guests to enjoy"...

Do tell, how does the food that I take away from a restaurant to eat in my room take away from the beauty of the ship that the others enjoy? The only way that would be possible is if I leave my dishes in the hallway for pickup. Now wait, those dirty dishes piling the hallways would be unsightly and disgusting, correct? Thank you for protecting us all from those ungodly eyesores. EXCEPT, you seem to think the only way a passenger should be allowed to enjoy food in their rooms is to order room service. So I guess THOSE dishes are either invisible or are there for my enjoyment? Again, stop insulting our intelligence!

 

In the infamous words of my dearly departed mother, "You are talking out of both sides of your mouth, dear". At least your staff has the cahoonas to admit that since you implemented your RS Convenience Fee take our orders are skyrocketing and so take out has been ceased. This new policy has been implemented in an attempt to encourage more room service orders. Previously, when RS was free, corporate could have cared less who ordered RS, in fact, it was probably more of a nuisance. NOW, that corporate is trying to bring in revenue, some bean counter somewhere determined that limiting food to the dining rooms only will encourage more dollars to be spent on RS. Can you just grow a pair, NCL, and come out and say "We implemented this new policy, because it just made good financial business sense to do so" and stop insulting our intelligence.*

 

Off my soap box now....

 

Perfectly stated! Thank you for your post.

 

I have loved NCL for four cruises to date, with a second BA cruise booked and paid for this July. I am so disgusted with the nonsense lately coming from corporate intended only to increase revenue. I am saddened that this upcoming cruise will be the first one that will not include purchasing a FCC.

 

I don't want to dislike NCL but the new and ever changing policies have caused me way too much stress and potential funds to make me ever want to sail with them again.

 

In the interest of transparency....I have always sailed in suites or the Haven and I'll be in a FF penthouse this summer. Many of the new changes don't actually impact my cabin BUT I'm sailing with others who are next to us in balcony cabins and for whom I'm responsible for the bill. So even though my cabin can get room service for free, the other two cabins can't....and now they can't have take out food. I honestly don't care that nearly all the new changes don't have a direct impact on the suite/haven passengers; I'm simply disgusted by the corporate greed that is obvious with every change.

 

I'm also disgusted by how NCL sugar coats their responses on CC.

 

Ok...enough said!

[Nolesfan]

Full disclosure, my next NCL cruise was booked with old promo and I booked a Haven suite so in reality none of the recent changes really apply to my next cruise. I do find it hard to swallow that somehow food delivered by room service is more hygienic than food taken from the buffet. I understand NCL not wanting people just taking food to many public places on the ship and I would applaud them if they would enforce such a rule. But if hygiene was the true concern you could provide plate toppers at the buffet for guest to use while talking food back to their cabin.

 

I appreciate any company wanting to improve their profits but if your in the hospitality sector it much wiser to make these changes with full transparency rather than offering weak or nonsensical reasons for a policy change.

 

Come on NCL, Your better than this !!

Edited May 6, 2015 by Nolesfan

[Finabear]

I will continue to head to the buffet in the morning, get breakfast for myself and my wife, and bring it back to our cabin. If true, it's a stupid rule and I will refuse to follow it. The crew will have to forcefully knock my eggs and bacon on the floor to stop me :D:D:D

I am an early bird and my husband sleeps late. I frequently go to the buffet or a cafe to get a coffee etc to bring back to the cabin. I love sitting on the balcony enjoying danish and fruit with my coffee. It is so much a part of my cruise experience that I might be tempted not to sail with NCL IF I can't do that. Not certain it applies to the new rule though. Was looking at booking Breakaway soon. Will wait to hear how this turns out...

[Wendy&Grumpy]

So will the washy-washy girls now be given hand to hand combat training? So they can wrestle to the ground anyone leaving the buffet with food. and all the while smiling saying washy-washy! ;)

 

That might be fun to see.

 

They'll become the blocky-blocky girls and will be wearing football pads.

[Wendy&Grumpy]

ncl, please do not insult the intelligence of your passengers with this drivel. If you're going to make a change, supposedly for our betterment, then at least give us an explaination that we can actually understand. Because this response i find to be highly insulting.*

 

*"for our guests' well-being"....

Do tell, how is the well-being of your dining room guests (or the parents) enhanced by the tantrums of a child simply because they cannot politely pack up their food and remove their child from the room? How is the well-being of a senior enhanced when they can't eat large meals and like to take their dessert back to their room to enjoy later and they must now skip dessert entirely? How is the well-being of a sea-sick guest enhanced when they cannot muster more than a few bites of their food before they need to excuse themselves; and now they must either stay and force the food down their throats and risk being sick or they have to eat the limited late night foods once they feel better? How is the well-being of your guests enhanced who have intentially paid for a balcony cabin because they want to avoid the crowds and enjoy quiet time on their balconcy with take out, but now they are forced to eat every meal in a crowded restaurant... The very crowds they are trying to avoid? Seriously, just whose well-being is this for? Who exactly does this better...other than you? How do you justify this statement of enhancing the passengers well-being by this new policy? If the rumored "food born illness" argument holds any water and you are trying to umbrella the logic of this "well-being" statement under food safety and improper refrigeration of leftovers, then you must include room service under this statement. You can't have it both ways. All food leaving any restaurant would be subject to the same safety risks. But wait... This is the very room service that you just added a $7.95 'convenience fee' to each order! So, i guess i can 'conveniently' get sick from improperly refrigerated leftover rs, but you will protect me from my improperly refrigerated restaurant foods.*

 

"maintain a beautiful clean environment for all our guests to enjoy"...

Do tell, how does the food that i take away from a restaurant to eat in my room take away from the beauty of the ship that the others enjoy? The only way that would be possible is if i leave my dishes in the hallway for pickup. Now wait, those dirty dishes piling the hallways would be unsightly and disgusting, correct? Thank you for protecting us all from those ungodly eyesores. Except, you seem to think the only way a passenger should be allowed to enjoy food in their rooms is to order room service. So i guess those dishes are either invisible or are there for my enjoyment? Again, stop insulting our intelligence!

 

In the infamous words of my dearly departed mother, "you are talking out of both sides of your mouth, dear". At least your staff has the cahoonas to admit that since you implemented your rs convenience fee take our orders are skyrocketing and so take out has been ceased. This new policy has been implemented in an attempt to encourage more room service orders. Previously, when rs was free, corporate could have cared less who ordered rs, in fact, it was probably more of a nuisance. Now, that corporate is trying to bring in revenue, some bean counter somewhere determined that limiting food to the dining rooms only will encourage more dollars to be spent on rs. Can you just grow a pair, ncl, and come out and say "we implemented this new policy, because it just made good financial business sense to do so" and stop insulting our intelligence.*

 

off my soap box now....

 

this ^^^^^^^^^

[mistshar]

This poses a real problem for my wife and I. She has food issues and physically can't eat an entire meal at once. It's normal for us to go up to the buffet and build a plate to take back to the cabin for later.

 

At dinner, she will often have an entree sent to the cabin to finish later. Seriously considering canceling now as this WILL affect the quality of our cruise.

 

I don't believe they have thought this through. There are a lot of people that have health issues who need to eat more than just at meal time and don't feel like going back out of the cabin later at night.

[Sand and Seas]

I don't believe they have thought this through. There are a lot of people that have health issues who need to eat more than just at meal time and don't feel like going back out of the cabin later at night.

 

Totally Agree!

[Love2Cruz2015]

And people laughed when I cancelled my cruise due to the room service charge...I'm so giddy now knowing I made the right switch to Carnival. NCL under this bozo's leadership is going to sink...no pun

[tymike]

Full disclosure, my next NCL cruise was booked with old promo and I booked a Haven suite so in reality none of the recent changes really apply to my next cruise. I do find it hard to swallow that somehow food delivered by room service is more hygienic than food taken from the buffet. I understand NCL not wanting people just taking food to many public places on the ship and I would applaud them if they would enforce such a rule. But if hygiene was the true concern you could provide plate toppers at the buffet for guest to use while talking food back to their cabin.

 

I appreciate any company wanting to improve their profits but if your in the hospitality sector it much wiser to make these changes with full transparency rather than offering weak or nonsensical reasons for a policy change.

 

Come on NCL, Your better than this !![/QU

 

 

I hope NCL can better than what they are currently doing!

[SuiteCruiser]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

 

I've been accused over the years of being a cheerleader for NCL. I've officially hung up my pompoms.

[kassimer1]

first they add an almost 8$ charge for room service then stop yur family from bringing you food to your room if you dont feel weel and want to eat in the room. totally money grubbing manuver. taking food to your room does not increase noroviris if thier employees are washing the dishes and thier own hands properly. the same dishes in the dining room could have the viris if the customer didnt wash properly.

[CavalierX]

The new policy was confirmed in a statement by Vanessa Picariello, senior director of public relations for Norwegian. The line also posted it on the Cruise Critic message boards.

"For our guests' well-being and to maintain a beautiful clean environment for all of our guests to enjoy, we ask that they enjoy their meals while dining at one of our many restaurants."

 

What a load of... This sentence may well be the most annoying part of the new policy. Really, Ms. Picariello, how stupid do you think we are? Immediately after implementing a new $7.95 charge for room service, you forbid your guests from bringing food (which they paid for, mind you) to their cabins themselves? Did you think we wouldn't notice, or think that it was a coincidence? Do you really think we'd believe it was because you wanted to "maintain a beautiful clean environment" and not just to force those who wished to eat in their cabins -- for whatever reason; unlike so many others here, I don't presume to judge -- to pay an extra charge to have food delivered? It's so transparent that to pretend otherwise is actually insulting. I certainly hope the line isn't so hard up for cash that you need that extra $7.95... and that's on top of increasing the mandatory gratuity, which you did just a short time ago. And while it may surprise you, I can't tell the difference between dishes that passengers carried themselves and dishes that they paid $7.95 for someone else to carry sitting in the hallways.

 

As for me, I sometimes like to go to the buffet early on a sea day, before my wife wakes up, and make up a small plate to bring back for us to share on our balcony. It's a nice change from our normal hectic, crazy mornings on all other days. Mostly, she appreciates my going out of my way to do that for her. So thanks for taking that away. Thanks for adding an extra, annoying charge AND making me wait to have the food delivered by a stranger.

 

I'm starting to think I might be done with NCL for a while.

Edited May 6, 2015 by CavalierX

[daffodiliaz]

I had to chuckle at the tone of the CC article posted 4/30 vs today's article: "Norwegian recently rolled out a $7.95 fleetwide service charge for room service orders, expanded its room service menus, amended its pizza delivery program and reduced many specialty dining prices by a nickel. It also waived the cover charge for 12 of the line's Asian restaurants."

 

With today's news story posted where so many more CC members will see it than just the NCL board readers, I'm just embarrassed. Hey NCL, hope you are at least sharing the feeling.

Edited May 6, 2015 by AWENINAZ

[bedfordmom]

NCL should be ashamed of themselves for this new rule. if you want to beautify then pick up the plates in the hall,most of them are from your room service. After our next scheduled cruise we are switching back to Royal Caribbean! You have lost another loyal customer.

[karinad]

I guess I'm a little "late to the party" as would be said, but I didn't know about the fee for Room Service before I booked my April, 2016 cruise on the Epic a few weeks ago. I thought I read something about one of the cruiselines putting a charge on an extended room service menu, but I was in total shock when I read that NCL is charging for any room service.

 

We cruised on The Gem last Oct. and didn't use room service extensively, but, isn't Room Service a luxury that is highly advertised to entice future cruisers? I, for one, if staying in a hotel, will not order room service because it's such a rip off! Cruising is an affordable luxury for us that enables us to live the good life for a week or longer without being handed an outrageous bill for room service at the end of our stay!

 

I feel bad for people that it does make their vacation a little easier to have their meals in their cabins. People that are travelling with children or others that need assistance will have less of a vacation with this new rule put on. We pay rent for the cabins for the length of the cruise. What else are they going to tell us we can't do in our cabins?

 

Who doesn't love eating a snack in front of the tv or enjoying their breakfast out on their balcony that they paid $100's more for?

 

Maybe it sounds like a little thing to some, but isn't it the little things that matter? Putting a charge on room service is taking away one of the luxuries of cruising. It could be a deal breaker for some!

[SuiteCruiser]

I'm embarassed to say I sail NCL now, I've been telling people I only sail the Bahamas Celebration.

[SissasMomE]

I'm embarassed to say I sail NCL now,

 

Ugh - you and me both. I have SO many new people coming on our next group cruise ... people who refused to sail NCL because of the "nickel and diming" .... they finally wanted to give it a try and what happens? NCL proves them right. It's ridiculous.

[maywell]

Not according to NCL's press release.

 

I know it's killing you to admit it, but pretty much every rumour has been proven correct.

 

 

If you read the official general post and what others have said about the buffet - you can still get food and take it elsewhere. Tell me, how are they going to police the buffet? Don't worry, I can wait.

 

This from another thread, regarding who said what -

Here is what NCL posted:

 

For our guests’ well-being and to maintain a beautiful clean environment for all of our guests to enjoy, we ask that they enjoy their meals while dining at one of our many restaurants. Every ship in the Norwegian fleet offers dining at any time day or night for guests to enjoy, with a wide variety of options and cuisines available complimentary.

 

Cruise Critic posted this: Norwegian Cruise Line has banned "takeaway" food from its ship restaurants, main dining room and buffet areas.

Edited May 7, 2015 by maywell

[SuiteCruiser]

Ugh - you and me both. I have SO many new people coming on our next group cruise ... people who refused to sail NCL because of the "nickel and diming" .... they finally wanted to give it a try and what happens? NCL proves them right. It's ridiculous.

 

I hear you. I'm feeling the same way. I have 20 people booked for a family cruise in February and I feel horrible about all of the false information I've been giving them.

[NLH Arizona]

I hear you. I'm feeling the same way. I have 20 people booked for a family cruise in February and I feel horrible about all of the false information I've been giving them.

Celebrity is running a good promotion now, you might want to consider going on that line. They are awesome and I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms. Edited May 7, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[Gershep]

For our guests’ well-being and to maintain a beautiful clean environment for all of our guests to enjoy, we ask that they enjoy their meals while dining at one of our many restaurants. Every ship in the Norwegian fleet offers dining at any time day or night for guests to enjoy, with a wide variety of options and cuisines available complimentary.

So NCL, I guess you didn't care about your guests' well being and you didn't try to maintain a beautiful clean environment until you implemented the $7.95 room service charge.

[Cauzneffct]

The "cleanliness" excuse would make sense except for the fact they not only offer room service, but just touted their "enhanced" menu.

[newcruzer2]

I agree this issue is not about doggy bags. It's about being able to bring food from the buffet to your room if your not feeling up to a big meal or Not wanting to eat in that chaos , of a buffet. And I also agree that, as we rarely eat dessert ...but I enjoy being able to take it to go ESPECIALLY from the pay restaurants ! If NCL wants to stop to go food, then make the speciality restaurant, fees PER ITEM, why am I paying for a dessert I cannot eat and cannot take to go.

[Miss Pat]

After reading this announcement on the Princess board I first though it was a joke, then seeing that Cruise Critic posted the announcement I then though their site must have been hacked.

Here it is after 9 PM & there's still no retraction.

Make me really wonder what the future of NCL will be as more people find out the sad and depressing announcement. They can't possibly believe that the room service charge will make up the difference compared to what they'll lose in future business.

We haven't taken that many NCL cruises lately but if this proves to be correct there won't be NCL cruise in our future- no matter what the price.