Another cut being tested: Once per day cabin service

[Ret MP]

7 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

Au contraire mon frère! The best (greediest) ones do remember your name in the morning! They need to so they can call you up and do it to you all over again the next time, and the next time, and the next time ...  😉

 

Oh oui, mon ST<(I have no idea how it is really spelled).  Merci.  It's a bunch of merde!

[cruisin from florida]

We did a Carnival sailing with once a day cabin service. You can't always get the time you want (how would you like to have the unmade bed and wet towels all day, only to have the single service at bedtime?) and the stewards are all so busy that you never see them in the halls for a quick hello or request. It's much more like hotel maid service. You get the room done, sometime, by somebody. Period. 

The level of service is reduced far more that the "twice a day to once a day" description makes it seem. 

Can we survive it? Of course!! But the cruise industry has been built on a tradition of providing a much higher level of service than we normally expect on land. I hope the industry can survive and be profitable without changing that identity.

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

Oh oui, mon ST<(I have no idea how it is really spelled).  Merci.  It's a bunch of merde!

You posted on the wrong thread. I think you meant to post on this thread.

 

[Ret MP]

2 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We did a Carnival sailing with once a day cabin service. You can't always get the time you want (how would you like to have the unmade bed and wet towels all day, only to have the single service at bedtime?) and the stewards are all so busy that you never see them in the halls for a quick hello or request. It's much more like hotel maid service. You get the room done, sometime, by somebody. Period. 

The level of service is reduced far more that the "twice a day to once a day" description makes it seem. 

Can we survive it? Of course!! But the cruise industry has been built on a tradition of providing a much higher level of service than we normally expect on land. I hope the industry can survive and be profitable without changing that identity.

And, years ago, the hotel industry and then shortly after the Cruise Industry decided that they were only going to change the bedding once every X days.  I remember when I loved going to a hotel for several days and getting nice, clean, crisp, smell good sheets and pillow cases.  Now, even when the bedding is cleaned, it isn't the same nice, clean, CRISP, and smell good bedding.  However, I believe that, at least RCCL still irons, just enough to get the wrinkles out, the sheets.

 

And no matter how much these businesses implement these cost cutting measures and try to put lipstick on the pig, the louder and louder the aristocracy yells that we aren't doing enough and we are paying more and more for less and less service(s).

[Ret MP]

8 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

But I'm sure the marketing folks are had at work dreaming of ways to sell this subprime real estate. 

 

Perhaps marketing to the environmentally conscious crowd with the fuel saving of a below waterline cabin vs those topside cabins with all those non streamlined, fuel sucking port hole and balcony cabins. "Save the Planet by sailing below!"

 

Or perhaps market them to the history crowd; "Sail just like your forefathers did, in the belly of the ship!" 

 

I'm sure there are more target markets but I'm still on my first coffee of the day. ☕

 

Like my Marketing 101 professor  used to say; "If someone gives you sub-prime real estate, find some suckers to sell it to who think they are buying midtown Manhattan!" 😉

Well, the saying used go, "If you believe that, I'll sell you the London Bridge".  I'll be damned, they did.  Now it's, "I've got some land for sail in S.W. Florida for sale".  Guess what?......

[deliver42]

NCL is expanding it's menu because they  no longer rotate. It's the exact menu every day of the cruise.

[Ret MP]

28 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

NCL is expanding it's menu because they  no longer rotate. It's the exact menu every day of the cruise.

Boring.  Boooooooooooooooooooring.

[bretts173]

4 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We did a Carnival sailing with once a day cabin service. You can't always get the time you want (how would you like to have the unmade bed and wet towels all day, only to have the single service at bedtime?) and the stewards are all so busy that you never see them in the halls for a quick hello or request. It's much more like hotel maid service. You get the room done, sometime, by somebody. Period. 

The level of service is reduced far more that the "twice a day to once a day" description makes it seem. 

Can we survive it? Of course!! But the cruise industry has been built on a tradition of providing a much higher level of service than we normally expect on land. I hope the industry can survive and be profitable without changing that identity.

But for this service in a hotel you pay a hell of a lot more. I am cruising in a couple of weeks, family of four paying $350 a night for accommodation, as much food as I want, entertainment and transport. The night prior to my cruise my 4 star hotel is costing us almost $400 for a bed and a roof over our head.

[restasured]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:18 AM, loman said:

I dont see it being an issue for me personally . 

They should reduce the gratuity amount though.

Its a cost cutting measure as i see it.

LOL  Yes that $3 a day for going in changing the towels, emptying the trash making the bed, vacuuming should definitely be cut to $1.50 a day.  After all on a 7 day cruise that could by a whole one more drink.  Sorry but we Americans are quite cheap.

[Longford]

6 minutes ago, restasured said:

 Sorry but we Americans are quite cheap.

You, probably.  The rest of us?  Not as much as you.  🙃

[Mum2Mercury]

12 minutes ago, restasured said:

LOL  Yes that $3 a day for going in changing the towels, emptying the trash making the bed, vacuuming should definitely be cut to $1.50 a day.  After all on a 7 day cruise that could by a whole one more drink.  Sorry but we Americans are quite cheap.

Not to be argumentative, but back when the tips were $14.50/person/day, the stateroom attendant got $3.55/person/day ... so, assuming two people in a cabin, the steward was getting $7.10/day for a cabin ... more if the cabin holds a 3rd or 4th person.  Now it's a little more since tips have gone up to $16/person/day.  That seems pretty fair.  

 

For the record, I am pretty cheap.  

[rockon391]

The simple fact is all these cost cutting changes are going to change the cruising experience many cruisers have come to love. There will be a line for many…and that line for myself and fam is going to be crossed shortly. 
 

Luckily we have options…and we will probably have one less option because cruising and cruising with RCL speficially will no longer be our yearly go to any longer.
 

Good luck with the changes in the name of profitability because I sincerely think they are going to piss off their core customer base that got them here in tge first place. 
 

 

[BennyandBo]

10 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We did a Carnival sailing with once a day cabin service. You can't always get the time you want (how would you like to have the unmade bed and wet towels all day, only to have the single service at bedtime?) and the stewards are all so busy that you never see them in the halls for a quick hello or request. It's much more like hotel maid service. You get the room done, sometime, by somebody. Period. 

The level of service is reduced far more that the "twice a day to once a day" description makes it seem. 

Can we survive it? Of course!! But the cruise industry has been built on a tradition of providing a much higher level of service than we normally expect on land. I hope the industry can survive and be profitable without changing that identity.

"You get the room done, sometime, by somebody". This will effect tips both auto gratuities and cash (regular & extra) a great deal. Many more will remove and reduce tips because they won't have as much face to face interaction and say why should I bother. This will create problems retaining crew, and as word gets out, finding replacement crew to hire. And to respond with how very very much you tip is pointless. People who are on here are not the norm or the masses. Those are the people I see tipping based on what they see Vs what they don't daily. 

[Spurschick]

7 hours ago, deliver42 said:

NCL is expanding it's menu because they  no longer rotate. It's the exact menu every day of the cruise.

Incorrect there is a daily rotation option as well so not quite exactly the same just predominantly the same

[Spurschick]

7 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Boring.  Boooooooooooooooooooring.

Not in the slightest it is actually a very good menu ( yes I have tried it)

[cjoyner]

I guess I will be the outlier. I love twice a day, I will frequently return to my room for a nap in the afternoon and I really enjoy knowing that when I return to dress for dinner, my bed will once again be made and the room freshened. This won't be a deal killer for me, but the whole idea of a cruise is that it is something special. The little extras, robes, twice a day service, etc. add to this perception of luxury for me. If it devolves into a dorm room with a free buffet, I will go elsewhere for the experience I am seeking.

[loman]

11 hours ago, restasured said:

LOL  Yes that $3 a day for going in changing the towels, emptying the trash making the bed, vacuuming should definitely be cut to $1.50 a day.  After all on a 7 day cruise that could by a whole one more drink.  Sorry but we Americans are quite cheap.

They just raised the gratuity rate recently , and now they cut the level of service,

but i guess you missed that .

[BND]

10 hours ago, rockon391 said:

The simple fact is all these cost cutting changes are going to change the cruising experience many cruisers have come to love. There will be a line for many…and that line for myself and fam is going to be crossed shortly. 
 

Luckily we have options…and we will probably have one less option because cruising and cruising with RCL speficially will no longer be our yearly go to any longer.
 

Good luck with the changes in the name of profitability because I sincerely think they are going to piss off their core customer base that got them here in tge first place. 
 

 

How long have you been cruising?   We have for 17 years and it's changed a lot just in that timeframe.  I can tell you there are others on here who have cruised a lot longer and remember many things cut.

 

I'll say what I've said before, as long as people demand cheaper fares, there will be things cut.   Cruising has changed from a luxury that not everyone could afford to a vacation for the masses so of course cuts happen.  I'm always amazed that people expect while costs of everything go up that they think costs of cruising shouldn't.   To respond to that, this is what you get.

[cruisin from florida]

18 minutes ago, BND said:

How long have you been cruising?   We have for 17 years and it's changed a lot just in that timeframe.  I can tell you there are others on here who have cruised a lot longer and remember many things cut.

 

I'll say what I've said before, as long as people demand cheaper fares, there will be things cut.   Cruising has changed from a luxury that not everyone could afford to a vacation for the masses so of course cuts happen.  I'm always amazed that people expect while costs of everything go up that they think costs of cruising shouldn't.   To respond to that, this is what you get.

We're D+, and almost to the 340 mark. If they keep cutting we won't make Pinnacle... We'll look elsewhere for the level of service that Royal taught us to expect. X is an option, but the equivalent Captains Club level definitely doesn't offer enough incentive to put them ahead of similar products.

[BND]

19 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

We're D+, and almost to the 340 mark. If they keep cutting we won't make Pinnacle... We'll look elsewhere for the level of service that Royal taught us to expect. X is an option, but the equivalent Captains Club level definitely doesn't offer enough incentive to put them ahead of similar products.

We currently have 543 pts but won't quite make Pinn with the cruises we have currently booked (all in JS) over the next two years. We'll be at 667.   DH retires in a year so maybe sneak a few more in.  Our issue with X is limited ports to cruise from.  We prefer Baltimore and PC to cruise out of.  We do NJ occasionally and have been on Summit from there.  I don't really like FFL and Miami.   One reason we really like the smaller ships is service is always great.

[Jimretired]

I'm not happy about this at all and the implication is if you want service twice a day then pay more money for a Jr. Suite or above, which is a slap in the face to those that perhaps can't afford Jr. Suites and above. This company built it's reputation on service and this is not the way to go.  It was understandable during the pandemic and that's what hotel services did to protect their employees.  I doubt that the gratuity structure will change, however, I will change it and cut in half what I pay the Cabin Attendant with only having service once a day. Like many other comments I suspect they will require Cabin Attendant to be responsible for more Cabins below Jr. Suites and this is just not right.

[Ret MP]

9 hours ago, Spurschick said:

Not in the slightest it is actually a very good menu ( yes I have tried it)

We'll see, I guess.  If it is a large and varied menu, I guess it could be acceptable.  But, for us, if it only has a few main entrée items and someone is picky, like me, it can be very Booooooooring.  Oh, and please note that I didn't say that it was a bad menu (note that you said I said it was, just for general consumption). 

 

Having said that, I know I don't and I don't know of anybody that goes to their favorite restaurant, up to, 7 or more times a week, consecutively (like a 7 night cruise).  My wife and I used to go out for diner several nights a week, we didn't go to the Outback more than once a week.  One night Outback, one night, Olive Garden, one night, On the Border (not really a good example of what we actually did but just as an example).  Why, because at all the places the menu only changes once or twice a year and there are many things that we won't eat so that leaves a very limited selection that doesn't change often. 

 

At least with a daily changing menu, there is a variety of options in one venue.  

 

But, as usual, these are opinions and you are more than welcome to yours.  I respect that and nothing I've typed is an attempt to change your mind about anything.  Only presenting my observations, experiences, likes and/or dislikes.    

[White123]

Just got off nieuw statendam.   Holland now has 1 time room service. It was fine. Had choice of morning or evening.

[Ret MP]

23 minutes ago, White123 said:

Just got off nieuw statendam.   Holland now has 1 time room service. It was fine. Had choice of morning or evening.

Too bad really!

[Cherries Jubilee]

I have to admit this doesn’t bother me. I know it bothers others and I understand.

 

 I personally didn’t enjoy having to leave my room twice at times that were convenient to the room stewards. 
 

I have seen that the stewards prefer the morning service but I’m not a morning person on vacation. That’s where the problem is for me.

 

 I will try my best to convince my steward to bring me fresh wash clothes and towels daily and then I won’t really care what they do.

 

It is kind of rude to cut this service down and raise the gratuity price at the same time but the staff deserves the money so I don’t care.