Room Service!

[bUU]

All these posters who continually slam CCL but still give them their hard-earned money baffle me.

That might be because you're putting too much credence in their "slams". People complain; it's what we do. It's so pervasive that it is referred to as a "culture of complaining" by some. And what's happened is that there is so much complaining that "regular" complaining gets lost in the general noise, so people regularly exaggerate the severity of their concerns to try to evoke the kind of response to their concerns that they want.

 

As you implied, though, what matters is the actions people take. People who complain but don't change their purchasing behavior are effectively nullifying their own complaints. They're making clear that they just want to vent, not that the cruise line really did anything wrong.

 

Right now the cuts are preferable to large cost increases. AND YES I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN SOME PRICE INCREASES, but nothing more than I would expect to see.

This is a very important nuance that a lot of people miss. Far too many people read "lower price increases" and have the vapid, knee-jerk reaction you implied, i.e., "But wait, there have been price increases," utterly failing to understand that the size of price increases can be larger or smaller. It's even more of an egregious failure of understanding with cruise lines, since it is so easy to compare what we paid ten or fifteen years ago with what we pay now and see that cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean are charging less for a balcony today, adjusted for inflation, than they did back then.

[Drazil65]

You better calm down. I’m not deflecting. It still IS included free for 16 hours of the day. Again, as far as food waste, I explained how that is less likely to happen with the other food and why. If they charged for every item everywhere then that defeats the purpose of cruising and I wouldn’t. I would go to a land resort. Where did I say I hoped most people wouldn’t have an issue with it? You need to get your stuff straight before making accusations. What I was referring to was not about paying for things, it was about not wasting food. Do you know anyone that is against wasting food? THAT is what I don’t think people would have a problem with.

LIKE...LIKE...LIKE

[Michelle236]

Well...this post and all the colorful responses is very entertaining. I personally have never utilized the room service option as I am not in my cabin too much. And I do not eat that late at night anyhow, so would never be ordering room service after 10.

However when we cruise with our sons I always leave a stash of ones in the safe for them to tip room service as they like to order it on occasion. Charging doesn't bother me and if the boys use it between those hours then it will come out of their spending money :-)

I do understand the frustration of others that do use it and feel slighted. Change is never easy and when you think you are buying into something and it is ripped away it sucks! I hope this change doesn't ruin those peoples cruise and alter their treatment of the Carnival staff.

[NightOne]

I'm surprised nobody is talking about what I think is really going on here:

 

Just like the smugglers ruined the carry-on options for everyone the late night drunks are ruining late night room service for everyone. I'm sure Carnival thought about just limiting the number of items one room could order but they knew they would get a ton of push back on that for other reasons so they just decided to do it via fees.

 

 

Here is what probably happens too often for Carnival's liking:

 

Drunk couple comes in the room at 2am and a conversation like this happens:

 

Drunk #1: I'm starving

Drunk #2: Let's order room service

Drunk #1: YEAH, where's that menu? What do you want?

Drunk #2: I want some pizza and Guy's burgers!

Drunk #1: They don't have Guy's Burgers but they have pizza and BLTs

Drunk #2: and FRIES!!!

Drunk #1: We got to get some chocolate cake too

Drunk #2: I'm thirsty get some tea

Drunk #1: Ok, I'm calling now

Room Service: Can I help you?

Drunk #1: Yeah, can I get 2 pizzas ... hold on (to Drunk #2) you want 1 pizza or 2?

Drunk #2: I want one of EACH - pepperoni, sausage, and cheese

Drunk #1: (to room service) Ok, Can we get 6 pizzas? 2 pepperoni, 2 sausage, and 2 cheese

Room Service: You want SIX pizzas???

Drunk #1: Yes, and can we get 4 BLTs too

Room Service: 4 BLTs. Anything else?

Drunk #1: 4 fries

Drunk #2: Do they have chili cheese fries?

Drunk #1: (to room service) do you have chili cheese fries?

Room Service: No but we have soup

Drunk #1 (to Drunk #2): You want soup?

Drunk #2: Hell naw!!! but I'll take some cookies...they got cookies?

Drunk #1 (to room service) you have cookies?

Room Service: Yes, we have cookies

Drunk #1: How many cookies on an order?

Room Service: 3 cookies per plate

Drunk #1: OK, we'll take 5 plates of cookies

Room Service: Is that it?

Drunk #1: No, we'll take 4 chocolate cakes too

Drunk #2: Man, I could go for some nachos. They got nachos?

Drunk #1 (to room service) You got nachos?

Room Service: Sorry sir, we don't have nachos. We just have the stuff on the menu.

Drunk #1: Ok then. In that case you better make that 9 pizzas. 3 of each kind.

Room Service: Is that it?

Drunk #1: and 3 pitchers of tea...oh and can I get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich too?

Room Service: Is that it?

Drunk #1: Yes

Room Service: OK, so I got 9 pizzas, 3 cheese, 3 pepperoni, and 3 sausage. I have 4 BLTs, 4 fries, 5 plates of cookies, 4 chocolate cakes, 3 pitchers of tea, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Is that correct?

Drunk #1: Yes

Room Service: We'll have that to you in about 45 minutes

Drunk #1: Ok, what time is breakfast by the way?

Room Service: 6am sir.

 

45 minutes later several knocks on the door until the mostly asleep drunks realize the food is there. 2 room service people bring in many stacks of covered plates and 3 pitchers of tea. The two drunk proceed to voraciously eat an entire pizza each, share one plate of cookies, spill one of pitcher of tea on the floor, and pass out in their beds until 10:30am as they ponder that they may have ordered too much food last night. :confused:

[beerman2]

One of my concerns about having to go to lido to get coffee on debarkation morning is the elevator service, it's hard to get an elevator to get to the meeting place for your debarkation. So now if you are a coffee drinker you will have to get an elevator to lido, get coffee and/or danish, get elevator back to room, get last minute things done, then get elevator again to get to your meeting place. Not my choice for "Choose Fun". The rest of the room service change doesn't bother me, but the coffee does.

 

This is one reason we always book Lido. Makes it convenient to take that morning stroll to get coffee/danish.

You get a glimpse of tranquility watching the ship come to life.

Plus you get to see the "chair hogs"😂😂 at work.

[RiotAct]

Drip, drip, drip...

[firemanbobswife]

 

*Had to correct the word from “is” to “isn’t”. Caught it too late to edit. Oh the perils of posting from a phone.

[ChicoCA]

bUU I don't see your name on my post so please don't put words in other people's posts.

 

 

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lol....bUU has been on my ignore list for a long time.

[thesmiths]

Is there link to room service Menu's , for the Vista?

[bobjer17]

Just about every mass market line charge for room service and it is not just set hours but all times. I don't find it to be any big deal. If you look at the price of room service in a hotel it is a steal. Don't punish the staff by not tipping them. This was not their decision. 2-6 bucks is not a huge amount of money. A lot of people don't like change and I get it..but soon enough it will be the norm..and business as usual. Have a great cruise.

[siestakeys04]

On my last cruise I did try the fee items on room service and I have to say I still love my BLT with chips. To have to pay after 10 for room service won't make or break me. It's just not that serious to me. I have seen people be wasteful I'm sure we all have at some point but would we make 5 sandwiches at home and leave the on the counter uneaten? If our kids did that we would be upset. If I am hungry at 11pm I will order something pay for it and be done. Happy sailing!!

[coevan]

I always go up to Lido and get my husbands and I coffee every morning 1st thing then bring it back to the room. Then we go to breakfast in Lido a little later

We have never used room service , they take to long for me.

 

 

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You know you can request a delivery time and they are pretty accurate in our experience. We actually use room service as our wake call. The door knocks and our coffee, OJ, fresh fruit, and danish is ready for continental breakfast on the balcony. We love room service

[bUU]

lol....bUU has been on my ignore list for a long time.

Just about every mass market line charge for room service and it is not just set hours but all times. I don't find it to be any big deal. If you look at the price of room service in a hotel it is a steal. Don't punish the staff by not tipping them. This was not their decision. 2-6 bucks is not a huge amount of money. A lot of people don't like change and I get it..but soon enough it will be the norm..and business as usual. Have a great cruise.

It's a shame so many people work so hard to blind themselves to the realities that they don't want to face. What's worse, it doesn't really help them enjoy their cruises any better. If anything quite the opposite. They end up deluding themselves into thinking that things are supposed to be much better than they are actually supposed to be and so they repeatedly set *themselves* up for ever-deepening disappointment.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[bobjer17]

It's a shame so many people work so hard to blind themselves to the realities that they don't want to face. What's worse, it doesn't really help them enjoy their cruises any better. If anything quite the opposite. They end up deluding themselves into thinking that things are supposed to be much better than they are actually supposed to be and so they repeatedly set *themselves* up for ever-deepening disappointment.

 

This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors.

BUU price of cruise fare goes up 50-100 no bats an eye..a tray of food delivered for 2-6 dollars and people act like Carnival just ran over their dog. The thing I find most appalling is the people saying they will go with Tupperware and plastic bags and take the food from the Lido back to their cabins.

[horsegal]

My disappointment is that this lessens the bang for the buck, again. What brought me to Carnival was affordability. For the cruises I book, Carnival is now more expensive than its competitors, and doesn't offer anything more or special for the extra cost. My next cruise is Carnival, but I've booked on a competitor for the following one, which in addition to being less expensive, included what I would pay extra for on Carnival.

I'm curious, what line did you find that was cheaper? Every time I look carnival is still the cheapest option when looking at comparable ships, length, and itineraries.

 

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[Crusin Hogs]

The "outrage" (and there is a lot of it on that other site) comes from the death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy Carnival has adopted. I shamelessly lifted this list of changes from someone else:

 

*Staggered Check In Time

*Sample of amenities in bathroom removed

*No tablecloths

*No trays to hold plates

*Chocolate on pillows removed

*Turndown option

*No lobster on cruises with less than 5 days

*Bottle water increase

*Camp Carnival hours/fees

*Fee for Room Service

*Now No room service w/o a fee from 10-6

It's getting ridiculous and people are fed up with things being taken away and service being cut. All in the name of keeping the base price in the "value" range. When you start adding on all of these extra fees and a la carte price increases, Carnival might be MORE expensive than a competing cruise line.

 

Personally, I'm done. I have a 7 day this May on Carnival and that's it. Later in the year I'm booking another cruise for the family and we're going with RC. It might be better, it might be the same or worse than Carnival. But I'm voting with my wallet and trying something new.

 

And people keep saying RC charges $7.95 for room service. Fine with me, because that includes all you can order. In my situation, where I only order room service at night, it's going to be cheaper on RC versus paying for every darn item with Carnival.

 

 

You forgot the No TV networks on your tv in rooms now

[bobjer17]

I'm curious, what line did you find that was cheaper? Every time I look carnival is still the cheapest option when looking at comparable ships, length, and itineraries.

 

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I think Carnival is still the best value and price!

 

 

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[horsegal]

I think Carnival is still the best value and price!

 

 

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I agree, which is why I'm curious what line they found that is cheaper, once in a while I might come across a royal or NCL that is the same or maybe a little cheaper, but they both have a lot of upcharge stuff on them and the one royal cruise we did was the worst cruise we have ever taken. Never tried NCL but it doesn't sound like something we would like.

 

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[bUU]

The thing I find most appalling is the people saying they will go with Tupperware and plastic bags and take the food from the Lido back to their cabins.

Yes. I agree that that's a very petty reaction.

[mz-s]

I would have much rather seen them add a service fee for late night orders rather than charge per item, but I can see why charging per item would reduce waste.

 

This is not a good change. We always order a BLT at least one night of the cruise.

 

I got by without tablecloths (even though the wine bottle slid off the table one night of the cruise due to the ship's motion). I don't care about chocolates on the bed. I am Gold but don't mind missing out on the past guest party, but charging me for a BLT just because I called it in at 10 instead of 9:30 is ridiculous.

[CodyMiles1994]

Someone posted the "cutbacks" earlier and here is the explanation for each:

 

*Staggered Check In Time (lines reduced)

*Sample of amenities in bathroom removed (companies quit providing the samples)

*No tablecloths (ITS JUST A TABLECLOTH)

*No trays to hold plates (have hands?)

*Chocolate on pillows removed (did you really eat them?)

*Turndown option (just ask)

*No lobster on cruises with less than 5 days (cheaper to pay for lobster than an extra day)

*Bottle water increase (have you been to a grocery store? prices increase)

*Camp Carnival hours/fees (have you met the children that most of you complain about?)

*Fee for Room Service (there are free options if you want them)

*Now No room service w/o a fee from 10-6 (order at 9:59)

Take all of this with a grain of sarcasm, but it's mostly true.

Edited January 11, 2018 by CodyMiles1994
Hit post too early

[RenoNanaOz]

Limit the amount of Free Food that can be ordered by the number of people in the Cabin. If you go over then you pay;)

[chill6x6]

BUU price of cruise fare goes up 50-100 no bats an eye..a tray of food delivered for 2-6 dollars and people act like Carnival just ran over their dog. The thing I find most appalling is the people saying they will go with Tupperware and plastic bags and take the food from the Lido back to their cabins.

 

Well think about it.....

 

The cruise fare is a price one pays for said, advertised, documented, researched product up front. Pick your cabin, get your best deal....there's the price, you see it... PAY. You bought in good faith that the product you bought will be delivered to you.

 

AFTER you do the above a piece of the product that you bought is removed BUT your price stays the same.

 

IF it's about food waste...give everyone that bought a cruise before the change a $25 OBC to spend anywhere on the ship. For today forward....everyone knows so nothing for those.

 

Also...from 10-12...open up a sandwich/snack/finger food line at the buffet.

[chill6x6]

Limit the amount of Free Food that can be ordered by the number of people in the Cabin. If you go over then you pay;)

 

That would work too... One "plate" and one dessert per person. I'd have zero issue with that.

[jimbo5544]

Someone posted the "cutbacks" earlier and here is the explanation for each:

 

*Staggered Check In Time (lines reduced)

*Sample of amenities in bathroom removed (companies quit providing the samples)

*No tablecloths (ITS JUST A TABLECLOTH)

*No trays to hold plates (have hands?)

*Chocolate on pillows removed (did you really eat them?)

*Turndown option (just ask)

*No lobster on cruises with less than 5 days (cheaper to pay for lobster than an extra day)

*Bottle water increase (have you been to a grocery store? prices increase)

*Camp Carnival hours/fees (have you met the children that most of you complain about?)

*Fee for Room Service (there are free options if you want them)

*Now No room service w/o a fee from 10-6 (order at 9:59)

Take all of this with a grain of sarcasm, but it's mostly true.

 

 

 

There are a couple of chuckles, still trying to get my arms around staggered check in as a cutback tho......

 

 

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