Carnival to charge for all room service!

[Kevin308]

35 minutes ago, Moz said:

Believe me on the JH bloggers cruise there will be additional staff and other extras to appease all the cheerleaders of JH and there won't be any shortages etc of anything.   Any cruise he is on as extra perks for his fans.  The red carpet will be out.  It's a sad situation that was once a very good cruiseline has turned into  somewhat of a disaster.  We were sad to leave but found two other cruiselines that offer the same amenities at a much lesser price plus a clientele that is much different.

In fairness from my looking I can never find anything cheaper on another line.  Then again I only look at two ports Galveston and New Orleans   But Carnival is still cheaper every time I look.

[Chervil]

It's a good thing my cruise is the End of January 😖

 

This will be our daughter's first cruise, and one of the things we kept mentioning was that room service was free unless you wanted certain items. Oh, well.

We always ordered up coffee/tea and snacks into the room so it was pretty nice. Guess not this trip.

I was okay with them changing it last year, since we just avoided the premium room service items. But this is just not ok.
And honestly, one of the reasons I chose Carnival over RC the last two times was because of all the additional upcharges RC has been putting on customers.

Seems Carnival can't resist trying to squeeze that extra dollar out of my pocket....

[crazy.cruzer]

6 hours ago, sc4125 said:

As far as them doing away with trays - one way to get around that is to order the free continental breakfast and keep the tray - I've done that a few times and never had any staff member questioning my use of the tray in the Lido.

 

GREAT suggestion...Thank you!   

[watermelonqueen99]

Meh, the only decent thing on the RS menu was the chocolate cake, so no big loss. Some of these comments from the drama queens on here tho.....eyeroll. Lol

[silvercrikhix]

Yeah, another nuisance charge. It is what it is.

Things continually change, everywhere. That’s life.

How we each decide to deal with a change is an individual thing. Does it suck? Yes!!  

Oh well, if we want something, we’ll still get it. Room service is something we can’t have everyday & enjoy it. 

That’s our choice with this change.

Others are allowed their choice.

If we can’t afford to order room service, we probably should not be on a cruise!!  

Let’s hope they make some menu changes & add some new choices too. 

[Mrs. Ram]

I'm only going to miss it on days where I don't feel well and stuck in the cabin. This was very nice for anyone that got sick during. They will now be going up to infect everyone else instead lol

[sanmarcosman]

31 minutes ago, silvercrikhix said:

 

Let’s hope they make some menu changes & add some new choices too. 

They've already made changes, there's now an omelet served with fries. Meager but it's a start. 

[Kevin308]

Once we get past everything.   $4 buck for a peanut butter and  jelly sandwitch is insane.

[BlerkOne]

$2 for some great fries is still a bargain.

[cruzincat50]

I don't believe there has been an increase in wasted food from room service.  I think that it is a case of more people seeing the trays outside the cabins, because there are fewer stewards or other personnel taking away the trays.  I've seen trays/plates/glasses sit there for more than a couple hours at times. This is an issue they created by cutting back in personnel, and now they are looking to grab more revenue for a false issue.  

 

If more people start bringing food to their cabins, the mess in the hallways will get worse.  There will be accidents, especially when the seas are rough.

[xDisconnections]

2 hours ago, cruzincat50 said:

I don't believe there has been an increase in wasted food from room service.  I think that it is a case of more people seeing the trays outside the cabins, because there are fewer stewards or other personnel taking away the trays.  I've seen trays/plates/glasses sit there for more than a couple hours at times. This is an issue they created by cutting back in personnel, and now they are looking to grab more revenue for a false issue.  

 

If more people start bringing food to their cabins, the mess in the hallways will get worse.  There will be accidents, especially when the seas are rough.

To be fair, there has always been a lot of food waste... especially when room service was 100% complimentary. Although everyone on Cruise Critic is perfect 😉, the general public has a tendency to order more than they plan to actually eat and order additional items simply because they can without charge.

Edited January 4, 2019 by xDisconnections

[sc4125]

13 hours ago, Moz said:

Believe me on the JH bloggers cruise there will be additional staff and other extras to appease all the cheerleaders of JH and there won't be any shortages etc of anything.   Any cruise he is on as extra perks for his fans.  The red carpet will be out.  It's a sad situation that was once a very good cruiseline has turned into  somewhat of a disaster.  We were sad to leave but found two other cruiselines that offer the same amenities at a much lesser price plus a clientele that is much different.

Do you mind letting us know which two cruise lines have a much lesser price?  I haven't found that to be true at all, so wondering if it's only during certain seasons or do some of the other lines have super sales at certain times of the year?  I get casino deals from CCL, but that aside, I would like to try other lines if their fare were the same as CCL's normal rates.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

21 hours ago, bigdog1958 said:

Make it everything like that.. some people don't eat in the MDR,  so charge 10.00 a person for it... Some people don't go to comedy club so charge 10.00 a ticket... Some don't go to shows,  charge 10.00 a ticket... This is only fair per your statement why should people pay for things the don't use...

Well, people may not want to eat in the MDR or other no extra charge food locations, but they do eat in some other food area covered in the cruise fare (they got to eat), so their cruise fare covers their daily food intake. Everyone cannot use every single entertainment activity, but they partake of some of the entertainment activities which are covered by the basic cruise fare. The basic cruise fare for cabins are based on the type of cabins. Carrying my comment to the extreme makes your comment appear foolish is non helpful in this discussion. Thanks!

[bigdog1958]

2 hours ago, Retired_to_Cruise said:

Well, people may not want to eat in the MDR or other no extra charge food locations, but they do eat in some other food area covered in the cruise fare (they got to eat), so their cruise fare covers their daily food intake. Everyone cannot use every single entertainment activity, but they partake of some of the entertainment activities which are covered by the basic cruise fare. The basic cruise fare for cabins are based on the type of cabins. Carrying my comment to the extreme makes your comment appear foolish is non helpful in this discussion. Thanks!

Glad you speak for everyone on cruise critic, that my comment is not helpful...  Thank you for speaking for everyone...

[AHS123]

23 hours ago, sanmarcosman said:

Next there'll be a la carte pricing for fun on Carnival. You get caught laughing at the comedy club and they'll ask for your sail and sign card. 

I hate to say it but you aren't far off from the way I see things going. 

[ragen]

My opinion, Happy Cruisers waste less food, Angry cruisers waste more,...

 

Most happy Customers with more options, will take more reasonable amounts, and snack/graze all day long at various options.

 

As opposed to an angry one who feels "Nickle and Dimmed.to Death", who now feels like it's a "challenge" to "Get even" by taking as much as they can to "get there moneys worth" at the "Free options."

 

So now instead of asking for one Pizza after standing in a long line, they will request 2 or 3 pizzas per person at a time,.....or multiple guys burgers, instead of one, etc,.....

 

or feel less "Guilty" about wasting tons of food in the buffet, because of human mentality, they will be "getting even" with the greedy cruise line, by using up the amount they feel personally "entitled to" related to the cruise fare, whether they eat it or not.

 

and most of all, they will be stock piling food from the lido deck all day in their rooms, just in case they want a late night snack later without the extra charges, (leading to MORE waste, because some of it will go bad before eating.)

 

,......I'm sure the "Ala-cart" pricing is due to this same understanding of basic human psychology, if you charge a $7.95 delivery fee, instead of "Free Room Service", people will actually order MORE food, because they want to get the "precevied value" for that Delivery charge by "getting even" aka, ordering way more food than they really want.,...

 

by charging per item, you avoid this OVER ORDERING,......however, you will, anger you're customers, and they will find creative, not so good ways to "get even" and satisfy this "preceived wrong," in other ways,

 

aka. by bad attitudes, customer complaints, being overly demandiing of crew, having unrealistic expectations and entitalment issues, showing rudeness to fellow passengers and crew, and Greed right back at the company, until they feel "justified and even." (Preceived value for thare money must be satisfied, one way or another.)

 

It's not right,.... but it's human nature,..... by setting up this feeling of a "value battle" in the customers mind, it's "us against the company and the beards greed", a... challenge "war" to see who can get the most from whom,....

 

Just creates a negative attatude for all involved, a worse cruise experince, customer dissatisfaction, negative reviews, and will create more waste, not less in the long run.

 

Why not provide more free food options, 24 hours a day, either on deck, or room service,.....aka, Happy Cruisers, Waste less, and return more often for more Cruises?

 

 

Anyway, Rant over, just my opinion....

 

(by the way, I still won't waste food, I do my best to take only what i will eat, and strive to finish all of it, even when i'm full, I feel guilty if i don't eat all of what i take,....however, I will be be "Stashing" a small plate of food, each evening in my room from lido, as a bedtime snack.)

 

 

 

or

Edited January 4, 2019 by ragen

[les37b]

Are you sure you're in the happy camp as you sure sound angry!

[ragen]

4 minutes ago, les37b said:

Are you sure you're in the happy camp as you sure sound angry!

 not angry, just stating basic human psycology.

 

I understand the reasoning behind the change, but know it will backfire if other late night alturnitives are not intraduced on ALL SHIPS to balance it.

Edited January 4, 2019 by ragen

[rjaywhit]

This policy change sucks. My wife and I enjoyed being able to order a late night snack from Room Service on past Carnival Cruises.

 

We will have to look for another cruise option on future vacations.

[Moz]

3 hours ago, sc4125 said:

Do you mind letting us know which two cruise lines have a much lesser price?  I haven't found that to be true at all, so wondering if it's only during certain seasons or do some of the other lines have super sales at certain times of the year?  I get casino deals from CCL, but that aside, I would like to try other lines if their fare were the same as CCL's normal rates.

Both NCL and MSC have lower prices.  This is based on us since we order the cheers package and with that factored in the two other lines mentioned have been lower priced.  Just came back from MSC and everything was outstanding.

[summersigh]

13 hours ago, Mrs. Ram said:

I'm only going to miss it on days where I don't feel well and stuck in the cabin. This was very nice for anyone that got sick during. They will now be going up to infect everyone else instead lol

I can see this happening.  The only thing on the menu that might work for a sick person is an omelette and I can't see that working for all "stomach upset people".

13 hours ago, Kevin308 said:

Once we get past everything.   $4 buck for a peanut butter and  jelly sandwitch is insane.

I hate that everything will have a price except continental breakfast (which I imagine is next to become a pay meal as well). 

My DH has mobility problems and sometimes just doesn't feel up to going "out" for lunch so he would order a PB&J sandwich with 2 bowls of chicken noodle soup.  So now the lowly PB&J is $4 and no soup even on the menu? 

[Crazy4Camping]

On 1/1/2019 at 12:01 AM, Shaded Lady said:

I too am disappointed in this... we sometimes use room service for breakfast, but never other than that... however we're taking a few first time cruisers on our next cruise and I was looking forward to telling them they could just order from the room service menu any time, as long as they picked the no charge items, any time during the day! Oh well!

This is why I'm so nervous about this cruise.  It's our first and we were led to believe that so much was included and was so cheap.  Since we first booked almost 2 years ago, everything has gone up(gratutities, beverage packages, etc.)and now this isn't even included.  Everytime I turn around I'm opening my wallet.  Even our flights were changed(Carnival says it was the airline but we booked through Fly2Fun and they said it wouldn't change)so now we have to get a hotel the night before since our flights are 3 hours earlier.  I'm sure it will be fun, but I don't think it's over $3K in one week kind of fun!

[Crazy4Camping]

On 1/1/2019 at 12:01 AM, Shaded Lady said:

I too am disappointed in this... we sometimes use room service for breakfast, but never other than that... however we're taking a few first time cruisers on our next cruise and I was looking forward to telling them they could just order from the room service menu any time, as long as they picked the no charge items, any time during the day! Oh well!

This is why I'm so nervous about this cruise.  It's our first and we were led to believe that so much was included and was so cheap.  Since we first booked almost 2 years ago, everything has gone up(gratutities, beverage packages, etc.)and now this isn't even included.  Everytime I turn around I'm opening my wallet.  Even our flights were changed(Carnival says it was the airline but we booked through Fly2Fun and they said it wouldn't change)so now we have to get a hotel the night before since our flights are 3 hours earlier.  I'm sure it will be fun, but I don't think it's over $3K in one week kind of fun!  I wonder if in the 5 pages of replies that admittedly I haven't read that anyone mentioned that now folks are forced to buy lunch on the islands rather than bring a sandwich from room service?  I guess I will be packing some granola bars from home.

[FlatlandDave]

2 minutes ago, Crazy4Camping said:

This is why I'm so nervous about this cruise.  It's our first and we were led to believe that so much was included and was so cheap.  Since we first booked almost 2 years ago, everything has gone up(gratutities, beverage packages, etc.)and now this isn't even included.  Everytime I turn around I'm opening my wallet.  Even our flights were changed(Carnival says it was the airline but we booked through Fly2Fun and they said it wouldn't change)so now we have to get a hotel the night before since our flights are 3 hours earlier.  I'm sure it will be fun, but I don't think it's over $3K in one week kind of fun!

 

Our first cruise too, feel about the same way..Doesn't seem right but as the "personal vacation planner" from Carnival said to me yesterday ( after I repeatedly asked her not to call during the day as we work nights ) it's all to make Carnival a more "green" cruise line by eliminating waste. Which will add value for the customer!  She then touted the next new ship coming out as being even more green as it will run on natural gas. All in all a rehearsed canned response...  I then asked her "well since I am trying to budget for this what else will be extra charges by the time we cruise?" Her answer was "there are no more changes being planned at this time and we do appreciate your business". I did ask her once again to only call in the morning and she said "I have only called once or twice" I said, " I have talked to you at least 4 times and ignored 8+ other calls I just didn't answer" She replied " ok you got me on that one".

[sanmarcosman]

8 minutes ago, Crazy4Camping said:

I haven't read that anyone mentioned that now folks are forced to buy lunch on the islands rather than bring a sandwich from room service?  I guess I will be packing some granola bars from home.

Taking foods ashore that were not wrapped by their manufacturer has never been permitted. This is done in most instances by the rules, regulations and laws of ports the ships visit. 

Edited January 4, 2019 by sanmarcosman