SURPRISE! Fees for some Rm Service Items

[cdnmr]

All you really ever need from room service is a BLT and the chocolate cake. Oh, that chocolate cake is absolutely heavenly. Those remain free so I am happy as can be. :)

 

I have a weakness for chicken tenders, I am like a 5 year old boy that way. I will try not to spend $5 on those but if I am drunk I can't make any promises. lol

 

 

Yup...$5 for a philly steak sounds like the deal of the century at 2am after several DODs. :D

[jimbo5544]

No chocolates at turn down. No sheer curtains. Can't take bottles on board...I can't find soda water or water in cans, the prices they charge for liquor through Bon Voyage are beyond usury rates. On HAL I got 3 bottles for less than what 1 bottle on Carnival costs. The list goes on.

 

How did the price of the cruise on HAL compare to Carnival's? Listen I get your point, but everyone is doing it.

[sparks1093]

At least they don't charge for basic room service like NCL does.

[zqvol]

Just got off Glory last week. The wings were AWESOME and well worth $5! Oh and I don't drink. Sometimes you just feel like chicken wings. Was going to try the Firecracker shrimp, but never got around to it. There are still free things as well. The chocolate chip cookies (free) were super yummy too :) !

 

 

Looking at these menus it seems to me that they have added things to the menu with an extra charge, but haven't taken any of the old "free" items away. Looks like a "win - win"!

 

Everyone gets what they want, and no one is left out.

[jimbo5544]

I agree

[Sillyjilly]

I'll have No problem trying the wings and Philly cheesesteak for the small fee

 

I'll be sure to post back after my cruise how they were 😜

 

The wings were delicious and come with sliced celery & carrot sticks. It was a nice change from the usual room service fare and well worth the 5 bucks.

[sparks1093]

Looking at these menus it seems to me that they have added things to the menu with an extra charge, but haven't taken any of the old "free" items away. Looks like a "win - win"!

 

Everyone gets what they want, and no one is left out.

 

Agreed times 2.

[saint_em]

Does the revised breakfast menu, I.e. no more smoked salmon bagels, go along with this change? I seem to recall that some ships had a new breakfast menu but I'm not sure if they are the same ones that also had the paid-for menu for other meals.

[BJzink]

Especially smelly is the lox!

 

I will really miss the shrimp salad, best thing on board.

Re. smelly lox - does that mean that the smoked salmon is still on the breakfast room-service menu? I had hoped that the menu revision would include starting to have some hot items on the breakfast one...I'd be willing to pay a premium for omlets, bacon, sausage, etc. so I wouldn't have to go up to the buffet & schlep them back to the room for a real breakfast on the veranda.

[cruisersunsetbrat]

We ordered room service several times and ordered the $5 wings once. The wings were "okay" (we were on the Fascination). Honestly, $5 for eight wings seemed a little steep The buffalo sauce was non-existent and they were a bit dry. The celery and blue cheese were a nice touch. We probably wouldn't order again.

 

NCL offers free wings in the Longboard Bar (on certain ships). They are free and pretty darn good.

[MaiTaiMary]

As long as they still have the "free" options, I really like this. :D

[The4Cruisers]

To me, they're offering more options to the room service menu, but these new ones have a small fee associated with them. Big whoop. Can't argue with them for that.

 

The only thing CCL cut back and now charges for (that rubbed my family wrong) is the after dinner coffee choices in the MDR. My DW used to enjoy sitting with a cappuccino, which used to be free. Now she doesn't order it because it rubs a nerve with her if she has to pay for it now. So, she does without.

[wmwmarmstrong]

At least they don't charge for basic room service like NCL does.

 

I agree with you. Paying $7.95 for each order of room service is ridiculous.

[cruising maniac]

We were on the Breeze over Thanksgiving with the pay room service menu and they still had smoked salmon on the breakfast menu. We just ordered cream cheese and bagels separately. DH had that every morning on the balcony looking for flying fish. We did not order anything off of the pay menu, but I think it all sounded really good.

[Anneschmera]

Just got back off the Liberty yesterday and they had the fee room service menu and it was good

[PurdueChefAmber]

I am excited about the new menu and new options. I like farm to table restaurants and their menus are always changing. Sure, you miss your old favorites but then you find new ones. As most have said, at least there are still free options. You do not have to pay to get room service, you choose to, if you wish.

[crusinpsychRN]

How did the price of the cruise on HAL compare to Carnival's? Listen I get your point, but everyone is doing it.

 

I got a good deal for a balcony on a 7 day Eastern, $1235 plus taxes, port fees.

[crusinpsychRN]

NCL offers free wings in the Longboard Bar (on certain ships). They are free and pretty darn good.

 

Carnival used to have wings in the sports bar on some ships at 5pm, no fee.

[crusinpsychRN]

No chocolates is a cutback not nickel and diming

 

I don't know what sheer curtains are, but if they just don't offer them it's not nickel and diming

 

No bottles isn't nickel and diming because it's for safety concerns. Water is still free on the ship just not in a bottle. Also Dasani now has canned water so you must not be looking to hard.

 

The price of non voyage liquor is just there price. Not really nickel and diming.

 

Nickel and diming would be having to tender to port and Carnival not letting you tender until noon unless you pay $5 per person unless you booked a ship excursion.

 

Nickel and diming would be charging us for checked bags.

 

I don't understand how you figure that. Those items cost Carnival, not having them cuts their cost by nickles and dimes.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

I think what gets lost in the evaluations of things like room service fees is that Carnival seems to be, as they have done in the past, making a Cruise affordable for everyone that hopes to sail. Thousands upon thousands of peeps who would have never had the opportunity 10 years ago because of price restrictions have become cruisers.

 

Once upon a time cruise fares covered "everything"...but how is that equitable for people who don't drink alcohol, or fru-fru coffee, or soft drinks, or don't want speciality room service items, or milk-shakes and extra special desserts or that elite dining experience.

 

Carnival makes the fares fair and allows passengers with bigger budgets to get the extras for an additional fee without making the "little" guy pay for those who like to indulge.

 

As long as the basic fare gives you three squares, a room, a few beverage options (without the fru-fru), some entertainment, and passage from point A to point B who can argue with that. Want a "gaudy" package tied up with a bow...just plan on spending a few dollars more. Best of both worlds...in my opinion.

[marshhawk]

For those of us who loved the shrimp salad sandwich, first it was in the MDR at lunch on sea days, but Carnival got rid of lunch on sea days, and extended breakfast, called it brunch and served pork chops, and salmon (see dinner menu) and they left it on the room service menu, and now it's gone from that so that was one way of cutting back. You don't have to carry tons of cans of tiny shrimp anymore. :rolleyes:

 

They don't bake the breads on the ship anymore. They don't give you a chocolate on the pillow anymore

 

BUT then again, I see very few cruisers who dress up for dinner as if they were on a cruise liner of the past. Showing respect for the cruise line's wishes, or the fellow passengers. I said years ago, if we kept dressing down, then the cruise lines would too, and guess what? They did. Go figure.

 

If you want change that is positive, make a positive change.;)

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

 

If you want change that is positive, make a positive change.;)

 

So dressing up and playing pretend (oh, I'm on an ocean liner full of the rich and the upper crust, how exotic) is a "Positive" way to cruise in this century. Sorry to say it isn't the 1920s anymore and people do live their lives completely differently than those traveling during a bygone era.

 

And when did living our lives "casually" become "dressing down". I loved it as my church stopped requiring hats, I didn't need to wear prissy white gloves, slacks became acceptable for women, girdles and silk stockings and even panty hose became a distant memory and status wasn't reflected in the amount of ostentatious bling a woman chose to wear.

 

I applaud Carnival for keeping up with the times and not trying to be a "blast from the past".

[jennraycruise]

I'm on the Victory next month and am excited to try some of the things.

[jimbo5544]

I got a good deal for a balcony on a 7 day Eastern, $1235 plus taxes, port fees.

 

That is a good deal, I would be interested in hearing more about it. DId you do a review?

[tkportersat]

I might have to spring for the chicken tenders as well :D

 

All you really ever need from room service is a BLT and the chocolate cake. Oh, that chocolate cake is absolutely heavenly. Those remain free so I am happy as can be. :)

 

I have a weakness for chicken tenders, I am like a 5 year old boy that way. I will try not to spend $5 on those but if I am drunk I can't make any promises. lol