Another cut being tested: Once per day cabin service

[mo&fran]

2 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

I may be going out on a limb, and I am new to cruising, but regarding ice, I would be surprised if I ask the cabin attendant to refill my ice bucket twice a day, that he or she will say no. I have a cruise coming up Jan 8, I'll report back! 

Room service will deliver ice.  You should tip.

[goldfish65]

Just now, mo&fran said:

Room service will deliver ice.  You should tip.

Thank you. With this thread being about cabin service, I am going to see if the attendant will make it part of their routine, or not. 

[Ret MP]

8 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

I may be going out on a limb, and I am new to cruising, but regarding ice, I would be surprised if I ask the cabin attendant to refill my ice bucket twice a day, that he or she will say no. I have a cruise coming up Jan 8, I'll report back! 

Yes, please do.  Thanks.

[goldfish65]

Just now, goldfish65 said:

Thank you. With this thread being about cabin service, I am going to see if the attendant will make it  (ice twice a day) part of their routine, or not. 

 

[cruisin from florida]

1 hour ago, goldfish65 said:

Thank you. With this thread being about cabin service, I am going to see if the attendant will make it part of their routine, or not. 

It's already not part of the routine, unless you request it. We always request ice on the first day, and it's replenished twice a day the whole cruise. We tip accordingly.

[Ocean Boy]

7 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

It's already not part of the routine, unless you request it. We always request ice on the first day, and it's replenished twice a day the whole cruise. We tip accordingly.

Of course it was part of the routine until someone decided that it wasn't. That decision was probably made right before one of the rate increases.

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, mo&fran said:

Room service will deliver ice.  You should tip.

But, do they do the extra charge for Room Service for just a bucket of ice?    We don't do Room Service so I don't know the answer to that and I understand that there is an upcharge for a lot of Room Service now.  It would be good info for those that do because they could order their regular room service and include the ice with it and only pay once.  If there is no additional charge, great!  And yes, tip generously. 

[poocher]

So am I correct here?  If this is indeed implemented fleetwide by our May cruise, the “kids” in a balcony room will get one service per day which they can choose to be done in the evening allowing them to sleep off the previous night’s festivities.  The other 2 cabins are Junior Suites and will get 2 per day including opening & closing the sofa bed as needed?

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, mo&fran said:

Room service will deliver ice.  You should tip.

I will not be tipping for ICE

[not-enough-cruising]

35 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Of course it was part of the routine until someone decided that it wasn't. That decision was probably made right before one of the rate increases.

As far as I am concerned it is still considered part of the minimum service for the stateroom

[Ocean Boy]

16 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

As far as I am concerned it is still considered part of the minimum service for the stateroom

Yes. First it was changed from automatic to "ask for it" in the name of conservation. Now, apparently, some see it as an extra to be compensated. Pretty soon more than one set of clean towels per week will be considered an extra too. And those who haven't been around long enough to know differently will be fine with it.

[Ret MP]

10 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

As far as I am concerned it is still considered part of the minimum service for the stateroom

I hear what you are saying and I don't disagree.  Unfortunately, it is only minimum service for the stateroom if "they" say it is minimum service for the stateroom.  Some real old timers may remember the days when you could leave your shoes outside the cabin door and in the morning, they'd be all nice and shinny.  I remember the good old days when the Cruise Compass was printed and put in your cabin, regardless of status, EVERY EVENING.  Oh, how about when your cabin, regardless of status, was cleaned/refreshed twice a day.  And, I'll never forget when the bedding was changed daily.  I remember the days that cruising on cruise lines like Royal and Rustbucket was considered a great value.  Now we have to dig deep and hard to make that determination.  

 

Our only option is to decide to partake in the reduced services and pay more or not.  

[Ret MP]

16 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

 And those who haven't been around long enough to know differently will be fine with it.

And that is the root of the problem.  AND, don't think that the industry won't/doesn't use that to their advantage.  To us old timers, we know it and we know it has been going on for along time.  

 

As a former corporate director and general manager of a customer service/hospitality entity, I've witnessed it happen, in fact, to be honest, I may have contributed to the problem.  You'd be surprised what you'd do when you are in a "sink or swim" situation (I'm sure many of you in here know exactly what I'm talking about).  

 

 

Edited In:  With all the cuts in services, I wonder if any of the Corporate CEOs, CFO's, CCO's, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Directors have had their salaries cut/reduced?

Edited December 31, 2022 by Ret MP

[Wineaux007]

1 hour ago, cruisin from florida said:

It's already not part of the routine, unless you request it. We always request ice on the first day, and it's replenished twice a day the whole cruise. We tip accordingly.

There's no requirement to tip to get ice twice a day along with clean towels every day.  Those are normal stateroom duties.

[Morecruisesplz]

52 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I hear what you are saying and I don't disagree.  Unfortunately, it is only minimum service for the stateroom if "they" say it is minimum service for the stateroom.  Some real old timers may remember the days when you could leave your shoes outside the cabin door and in the morning, they'd be all nice and shinny.  I remember the good old days when the Cruise Compass was printed and put in your cabin, regardless of status, EVERY EVENING.  Oh, how about when your cabin, regardless of status, was cleaned/refreshed twice a day.  And, I'll never forget when the bedding was changed daily.  I remember the days that cruising on cruise lines like Royal and Rustbucket was considered a great value.  Now we have to dig deep and hard to make that determination.  

 

Our only option is to decide to partake in the reduced services and pay more or not.  

And what about the chocolate on your pillow, plus salad and desserts being prepared table side? 

[bucfan2]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I will not be tipping for ICE

Shock value of 0….we’re simply not surprised. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by bucfan2

[Ret MP]

8 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

And what about the chocolate on your pillow, plus salad and desserts being prepared table side? 

Ya, there is that!  LOL

[cruisin from florida]

40 minutes ago, Wineaux007 said:

There's no requirement to tip to get ice twice a day along with clean towels every day.  Those are normal stateroom duties.

There's never a requirement to tip. We choose to tip for special requests, which ice has become.

[Ret MP]

9 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

There's never a requirement to tip. We choose to tip for special requests, which ice has become.

Unfortunately! 

[mo&fran]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I will not be tipping for ICE

You are not paying for ice, but the nice person who brings it. That is expected for any room service.  If you don't want to, then don't.

[not-enough-cruising]

7 minutes ago, mo&fran said:

You are not paying for ice, but the nice person who brings it. That is expected for any room service.  If you don't want to, then don't.

Rest assured, I won’t; and I will be sure to have plenty of ice. 

[cruisegirl1]

4 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

Thank you. With this thread being about cabin service, I am going to see if the attendant will make it part of their routine, or not. 

It is customary for the cabin attendant to supply ice as part of cabin service.   Simply ask him or her.  No problem. 
 

m

Edited December 31, 2022 by cruisegirl1

[goldfish65]

25 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

It is customary for the cabin attendant to supply ice as part of cabin service.   Simply ask him or her.  No problem. 
 

m

If they'll supply ice 2x/day is what some here are wondering about, I think. I tend to agree that it won't be a problem, but I'll find out for sure.

[PamelaHunt]

I've been following this thread because these changes are going to affect all of us to some degree.  I took my first cruise in 2018 and oh do I wish I had started sooner!  After my first cruise, if anyone asked me, the thing I would always say that I loved most was being treated like a princess for a whole week.  I guess you could say that I paid for that treatment in the form of my cruise fare, extra tips, etc.  It just makes me sad to think that my cruises in the future might not be quite as 'special'.  

 

We always make our bed and keep our cabin tidy - but I still love the twice a day service that makes it so crisp and fresh.  I'm also one of those people who only uses a towel once, that is how I was raised and it will never change.  I can still hear my mother saying, "why would I wipe my face with something I dried my backside with yesterday?"  Our next cruise we have a Jr. Suite booked, so the twice a day service should still be there, our cruise after that we will be reduced to the once a day - that cruise will be on Icon so we made the financial decision to go with a cheaper room than a Jr. suite. 

 

Sorry for the rambling, again, it just feels SO sad.  I truly don't mind paying more for my vacation - everything is more expensive, I get it.  Personally, I wish they would just do a fare increase and not decrease service standards.  

[Ret MP]

5 minutes ago, PamelaHunt said:

I've been following this thread because these changes are going to affect all of us to some degree.  I took my first cruise in 2018 and oh do I wish I had started sooner!  After my first cruise, if anyone asked me, the thing I would always say that I loved most was being treated like a princess for a whole week.  I guess you could say that I paid for that treatment in the form of my cruise fare, extra tips, etc.  It just makes me sad to think that my cruises in the future might not be quite as 'special'.  

 

We always make our bed and keep our cabin tidy - but I still love the twice a day service that makes it so crisp and fresh.  I'm also one of those people who only uses a towel once, that is how I was raised and it will never change.  I can still hear my mother saying, "why would I wipe my face with something I dried my backside with yesterday?"  Our next cruise we have a Jr. Suite booked, so the twice a day service should still be there, our cruise after that we will be reduced to the once a day - that cruise will be on Icon so we made the financial decision to go with a cheaper room than a Jr. suite. 

 

Sorry for the rambling, again, it just feels SO sad.  I truly don't mind paying more for my vacation - everything is more expensive, I get it.  Personally, I wish they would just do a fare increase and not decrease service standards.  

I think that this is just about the perfect letter to be sent to the CEO of Royal.  Just to let him know what your/our expectations were and what reality is.  We all need to do a letter writing to the CEO.  This can't stand for long.  I like Royal and I don't want to give up cruising.  I can't think of another cruise line that isn't doing the same.  So, if I leave Royal, I'm leaving cruising.  I'm not there yet and I'm not sure how many straws it will take to break this camel's back.