$7.95 Room Service Charge

[Biker19]

Maybe this weekend will see a few more ships get the new menu, along with the charge.

The rollout schedule is as follows:

• Serenade of the Seas 3/27/2017
  
• Brilliance of the Seas 3/30/2017
  
• Majesty of the Seas 3/31/2017
  
• Navigator of the Seas 3/31/2017
  
• Enchantment of the Seas 3/31/2017
  
• Empress of the Seas 4/1/2017
  
• Rhapsody of the Seas 4/1/2017
  
• Freedom of the Seas 4/1/2017
  
• Harmony of the Seas 4/1/2017
  
• Liberty of the Seas 4/2/2017
  
• Oasis of the Seas 4/2/2017
  
• Allure of the Seas 4/2/2017
  
• Anthem of the Seas 4/2/2017
  
• Independence of the Seas 4/3/2017
  
• Grandeur of the Seas 4/8/2017
  
• Adventure of the Seas 4/9/2017
  
• Jewel of the Seas 4/10/2017
  
• Radiance of the Seas 5/5/2017
  
• Explorer of the Seas 5/9/2017
  
• Vision of the Seas 5/10/2017
  
• Ovation of the Seas 5/16/2017
  
• Mariner of the Seas 5/26/2017
  
• Voyager of the Seas 5/26/2017
  

[Biker19]

[Clarea]

Thanks for the menu.

 

First, doesn't include bran muffins. If we write in, do they charge us $7.95? ...

We won't know those kinds of details until this is put into effect and we get feedback.

[mac_tlc]

I'm on Oasis on 4/9. For the sake of research and the CC community, I will report back, maybe after sampling a few things.

 

mac_tlc

 

 

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[Virtopia]

I'm on Oasis on 4/9. For the sake of research and the CC community, I will report back, maybe after sampling a few things.

 

mac_tlc

 

 

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Would greatly appreciate that! [emoji4]

 

 

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[GadgetGod]

I'm on Oasis on 4/9. For the sake of research and the CC community, I will report back, maybe after sampling a few things.

 

mac_tlc

 

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mac-tlc - come join the roll call (if you have not already), there are a few other Connecticut cruisers on the April 9th trip.

[the mistral wind]

Must be hard on Sally to give up her favorite ship so you can have cold eggs on Carnival. [emoji33]

 

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I thought the food on carnival was good every time i sailed. No cold eggs for me ever.;)

[renza]

I just got off of our carnival cruise. We equally cruise both royal and carnival. We love the good choices on carnival. Guys burgers, Taco Burrito bar, deli, salad bar, better pizza 24 hour ice cream. Do many more choices and better dining Room food on carnival. But we do enjoy the ship that royal has. The entertainment is awesome on royal but I have to say the flick show on carnival was awesome.

 

 

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[Cel_cruise]

Someone is posting on other threads that Liberty is not converting until May 14? Anyone else heard that?

 

 

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[Biker19]

The transition seems to be fluid.

[LMaxwell]

The transition seems to be fluid.

 

Sludge is a fluid.

[Cel_cruise]

This response to my question on the change was posted to a Liberty Review from 3/26...

 

 

They revised the schedule. If the schedule has a middle of the week date, the implementation starts the following cruise. 5/14 for Liberty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[bamelin]

I had not realized NCL raised their gratuities, How long has it been that way?

 

I admit I'm always looking for an ulterior motive, but my feeling is that they added the charge to discourage room service use. Cut down on those non-revenue crewmembers to free up berths for more sales type people.

 

The issue is that their ships are getting too big and they haven't been able to maintain service levels. Charging for Room Service will cut down the number of orders while also creating revenue.

 

I think it's a terrible decision personally, and one that will drive customers to consider other lines.

Edited April 6, 2017 by bamelin

[cruising grandma]

We boarded Freedom 4/1, and the new menu sheet is in the drawer of the vanity. John checked on a few selections on the tv from the new menu, and never saw a $7.95 service fee, so unsure when or if it shows up. (He didn't go all the way through with ordering.) We haven't seen a breakfast menu, but have been going to Chops for breakfast, which has been very nice.

[bUU]

I think it's a terrible decision personally, and one that will drive customers to consider other lines.

So NCL's passengers will go to RCI because of room service charges and RCI passengers will go to NCL because of room service charges. Meanwhile Holland America passengers are switching to Carnival because of hefty increases to HAL's standard gratuities, etc., and Carnival passengers are switching to HAL because Carnival is doing away with tablecloths in the MDR on most nights. Swing your partner, doh see doh.

[bamelin]

So NCL's passengers will go to RCI because of room service charges and RCI passengers will go to NCL because of room service charges. Meanwhile Holland America passengers are switching to Carnival because of hefty increases to HAL's standard gratuities, etc., and Carnival passengers are switching to HAL because Carnival is doing away with tablecloths in the MDR on most nights. Swing your partner, doh see doh.

 

Personal opinion, but yes it does matter. For Caribbean sailings there is significant crossover between people who pick land based AI or cruise based on inclusions and price. There is also crossover between customers that flitter between the Contemporary (RCCL, NCL, Carnival), and the Premium (Princess, HAL, Celebrity) cruise line segment. Not to mention newcomers like MSC undercutting competitors and overturning table carts with their "class" style pricing options

 

Certainly decisions like this make Premium lines more attractive, or the idea of just heading to a more inclusive RIU or Iberostar resort instead.

[bUU]

So NCL's passengers will go to RCI because of room service charges and RCI passengers will go to NCL because of room service charges. Meanwhile Holland America passengers are switching to Carnival because of hefty increases to HAL's standard gratuities, etc., and Carnival passengers are switching to HAL because Carnival is doing away with tablecloths in the MDR on most nights. Swing your partner, doh see doh.

Personal opinion, but yes it does matter. For Caribbean sailings there is significant crossover between people who pick land based AI or cruise based on inclusions and price.

I don't understand. Are you saying that you think that the crossover is something other than a veritable wash? If so, in what direction. If you visit AI forums you'll find a bevvy of folks expressing shock and dismay about how much prices have increased, including comments such as, "this will definitely be our last trip as we are getting priced out of the market," and, "just checked prices with my Travel Agent for same time next year and there is a 50% price increase!!!! This has convinced me that for us XXX is a thing of the past."

 

There is also crossover between customers that flitter between Contemporary (RCCL, NCL, Carnival), and the Premium (Princess, HAL, Celebrity) segment.

So what you're saying is that RCL may see movement of passengers from their RCCL division to their Celebrity division, and CCL may see movement of passengers from their Carnival division to their Princess division. Okay, maybe, but putting aside the fact that the corporations would consider that good news, is that even real? Count me among those who after cruising on Holland America, considering Princess, and planning on cruising Holland America for one more cruise, we will likely be switching to Carnival and switching back to Royal Caribbean from then on because of pricing and affordability.

[bamelin]

I don't understand.

 

Let me spell it out clearly for you then as apparently my "personal opinion" qualifier wasn't enough.

 

IMHO:

 

Clients who book cruises, a significant portion do so because of the all inclusive nature of the trip. The more that gets cut out the less inclusive the trip gets, the more likely some clients will say screw it and book a land based Caribbean/Mexico AI or switch to a more inclusive line.

 

 

And while yes they *might* switch RCCL to Celebrity, they are 66.6% more likely to end up on Princess or HAL.

 

 

That's a lose for RCCL.

 

 

And that's if they don't just head to RIU, Iberostar, Palladium, Gran Bahia Principe or any one of the many land based AI's that also include alcohol at comparable, or better, rates than RCCL.

 

 

Another lose for RCCL.

 

 

Food used to be the one thing you could count on with cruises. Far better quality than AI's and all included. They have been slowly chipping away at that. You may be pleased to be nickeled and dimed, but there are definitely some customers who are not myself included.

 

 

I'm sticking to Premium lines for now - and advising my cruise customers to do the same. Many other travel agents are also doing the same.

 

 

That's a lose for RCCL.

 

 

It's not as simple as you are trying to make it out to be, decisions like this do have repercussions particularly in how if effects TA's advising new cruisers on which cruise lines represent a good inclusive value versus those that do not.

 

 

I mean sure if you don't mind a low cabin rate but a zillion fees while on board I guess this is a great move. Yay?

Edited April 6, 2017 by bamelin

[MANDMTRAVEL]

Not fair, when I booked my cruise this was not in effect. Also, it will start on my sailing :( Just my luck!

[bUU]

Let me spell it out clearly for you then as apparently my "personal opinion" qualifier wasn't enough.

This reply makes it seem like you did not read my reply beyond the first few words. I was asking to better understand your opinion in light of the point you were replying to, i.e., "Swing your partner, doh see doh," (that the end result is just customers going from one division to another in the same company, or losing as much business to a competitor as that competitor is losing to them, for the same basic reasons - money.) If you would rather not reply, that's perfectly fine, but please acknowledge that I had a legitimate question.

 

It's not as simple as you are trying to make it out to be, decisions like this do have repercussions particularly in how if effects TA's advising new cruisers on which cruise lines represent a good inclusive value versus those that do not.

Given the examples I provided, which ones are those? Those that rate better at including things (like Celebrity) cost more.

 

I mean sure if you don't mind a low cabin rate but a zillion fees while on board I guess this is a great move. Yay?

The typical American consumer isn't rational - I agree with you about that. However, we've seen it with hotels, we've seen it with airlines, we've even seen it with regard to electrical energy providers and banks. The typical American consumer is maniacally driven to the lowest base price to the exclusion of other considerations.

[Wanna Be Retired]

You know what I hate more than anything? The extra fees might make you crazy but the sloppiness of the cruise line is even worse. I am taking my entire family on a cruise. I am paying for all 11 of us. You would think the least they could do is quit unlinking our reservations. My poor TA has had to relink them over and over. She has had to repeatedly work with dining to put us back at the same table. My TA has the patience of Job. If they want to keep adding fees, they need to be on their best game. I always give out extra tips and I never ask for anything extra. I just want a week to relax and enjoy myself. I bet the first night our tables will be scattered all over! It will all work out, but I don't think asking them to keep our reservations linked is asking too much!

[Biker19]

The typical American consumer is maniacally driven to the lowest base price to the exclusion of other considerations.

Ding, ding, ding.

[Biker19]

[cruzinlisa]

Let me spell it out clearly for you then as apparently my "personal opinion" qualifier wasn't enough.

 

IMHO:

 

Clients who book cruises, a significant portion do so because of the all inclusive nature of the trip. The more that gets cut out the less inclusive the trip gets, the more likely some clients will say screw it and book a land based Caribbean/Mexico AI or switch to a more inclusive line.

 

 

And while yes they *might* switch RCCL to Celebrity, they are 66.6% more likely to end up on Princess or HAL.

 

 

That's a lose for RCCL.

 

 

And that's if they don't just head to RIU, Iberostar, Palladium, Gran Bahia Principe or any one of the many land based AI's that also include alcohol at comparable, or better, rates than RCCL.

 

 

Another lose for RCCL.

 

 

Food used to be the one thing you could count on with cruises. Far better quality than AI's and all included. They have been slowly chipping away at that. You may be pleased to be nickeled and dimed, but there are definitely some customers who are not myself included.

 

 

I'm sticking to Premium lines for now - and advising my cruise customers to do the same. Many other travel agents are also doing the same.

 

 

That's a lose for RCCL.

 

 

It's not as simple as you are trying to make it out to be, decisions like this do have repercussions particularly in how if effects TA's advising new cruisers on which cruise lines represent a good inclusive value versus those that do not.

 

 

I mean sure if you don't mind a low cabin rate but a zillion fees while on board I guess this is a great move. Yay?

 

Its hard to really say what will happen. If you check out the board from pretty much any of the mainstream cruise lines you will find people complaining about "cutbacks" or some change they don't like which is making them swear off that line. For example:

 

Carnival- keeps reducing benefits to their loyalty program making some repeat cruises feel devalued

and they did away with table clothes except on elegant night. I don't see it as a big deal but some people do.

drink packages are not as good as others

 

NCL- charging for room service and too much emphasis on specialty dining

 

Disney- prices are sky high and they did away with letting you bring alcohol on board

 

Royal- room service charges and hard selling/pressuring by staff

 

I am sure if you look at Celebrity, Princess and HAL you are going to hear complaints there too.

 

Eventually there is just no where else to go. Except not go.

 

Move on to AI or land vacation- those are going up in price and if more people jump ship from cruising to AI, I would expect that price to go up more.

 

Its like a game of chicken between the passengers and cruise line to see who blinks first. At some point they will go to far and alienate the customers. Except the beloved "first time cruisers" (that have not done their research) and don't know any better and spend tons of money. But after one cruise you know better. Eventually they will run out of them and either change their ways or go out of business. At least that is what we can expect.

 

Until then, we either have to pay their prices and get what we get, go on another type of vacation, or stay home.

[Biker19]

Eventually they will run out of them and either change their ways or go out of business.

The cruising industry as a whole is expected to go from 25 M passengers today to 38 M in 10 years.