Charged for pool towels

[klfrodo]

Why not just do the responsible adult thing and just return them when you're supposed to?

I know, I know.. I just got busy and forgot.   Not acceptable in my opinion. If your kid left their iPad at the beach or on the chair by the pool, would we accept their excuse of, but I got busy and just forgot.

No,, you would go ballistic and tell them they have no sense of responsibility and blame society on kids these days are spoiled.

 

 

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, sft429 said:

Do they ever actually make anyone pay for the pool towels?

 

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Those that don't call and complain about the charge

And those who don't check their final bill or compare it to their credit card charges.

[neverbeenhere]

Thanks Royal!  for supplying our towel needs for years.

 

 

 

 

It was too easy.

[DallasGuy75219]

22 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Why not just do the responsible adult thing and just return them when you're supposed to?

How about room stewards just not take pool towels if they're not going to make sure they get checked backed in?

[davekathy]

 IMO, the cabin steward shouldn't be removing the pool towels from someone's cabin for any reason.  

Edited January 30, 2023 by davekathy

[ARandomTraveler]

4 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Agree. IMO, the room steward shouldn't be removing the pool towels for any reason.  

We came back from the beach in our wet swimsuits, wrapped in pool towels, so we always had an old wet towel in our room that we planned to swap out before going to the next beach.  
 

Our room steward beat us to it every time. She would come in to clean our room every time we left, and she'd take our wet pool towels and replace them with clean ones before we came back from getting a snack or eating dinner.

Edited January 30, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[davekathy]

8 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

We came back from the beach in our wet swimsuits, wrapped in pool towels, so we always had an old wet towel in our room that we planned to swap out before going to the next beach.  
 

Our room steward beat us to it every time. She would come in to clean our room every time we left, and she'd take our wet pool towels and replace them with clean ones before we came back from getting a snack or eating dinner.

That would be acceptable to me as I would still have towels to turn in and not be faced with a charge for towels that were removed and not replaced by the cabin attendant. But I still prefer I turn them in no matter wet or dry. My responsibility. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by davekathy

[The Fun Researcher]

Fortunately we've always checked our folio the evening before we leave, or the morning of.  We've had pool towel charges show up (which are significant) despite the fact that we had always returned them.  Such a pain to stand in line at guest services for errors in their clerical work.

[moposh]

52 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Why not just do the responsible adult thing and just return them when you're supposed to?

Unfortunately, people took pool towels on shore excursions and did not bring them back.  Thus, the towel fee.  A few bad apples is why we have the towel fee. 

[The Fun Researcher]

55 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

Why not just do the responsible adult thing and just return them when you're supposed to?

I know, I know.. I just got busy and forgot.   Not acceptable in my opinion. If your kid left their iPad at the beach or on the chair by the pool, would we accept their excuse of, but I got busy and just forgot.

No,, you would go ballistic and tell them they have no sense of responsibility and blame society on kids these days are spoiled.

 

 

Wow, o.k.   

 

Folks get charged wrongly for towel charges.  Royal's system is far from foolproof, and results in erroneous charges.  THAT'S the issue.

 

Sure there may be a couple of bad apples that leave towels on excursions, or take them home.  (It's beyond me why someone would want a generic blue towel that's been washed over and over again already.)

 

In reality, talking with fellow cruisers over the years the charges on average are not correct and require the passengers to go to guest services to correct.

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, moposh said:

Unfortunately, people took pool towels on shore excursions and did not bring them back.  Thus, the towel fee.  A few bad apples is why we have the towel fee. 

Celebrity doesn't have you check out or check in towels. No matter if staying on the ship or leaving the ship. Stateroom attendants will usually will leave pool towels in the stateroom if it's a port day. Something that makes you say, hmmmm. 🤔

[moposh]

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Celebrity doesn't have you check out or check in towels. No matter if staying on the ship or leaving the ship. Stateroom attendants will usually will leave pool towels in the stateroom if it's a port day. Something that makes you say, hmmmm. 🤔

I guess if it's a bother, cruise on Celebrity.  Maybe Celebrity doesn't have problems.  I don't know.  When I first started cruising on RC, there was no towel fee.  RC probably lost a lot of money and had depleted towel supply.  Now they have to have a staff member check towels in and out.

[lovesthebeach2]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

Agree. IMO, the room steward shouldn't be removing the pool towels for any reason.  

I agree, but we’ve also had room steward LEAVE towels in the room when we never requested them. I never k ow if we will be charged or. Ot so I bring them to the towel station.

[davekathy]

8 minutes ago, moposh said:

I guess if it's a bother, cruise on Celebrity.  Maybe Celebrity doesn't have problems.  I don't know.  When I first started cruising on RC, there was no towel fee.  RC probably lost a lot of money and had depleted towel supply.  Now they have to have a staff member check towels in and out.

Just a comment. Wrong assumption as it's not a bother. We cruise both RCG lines. I don't care why and you don't know why! 

Edited January 30, 2023 by davekathy

[moposh]

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Just a comment. Wrong assumption as it's not a bother. We cruise both RCG lines. I don't care why and you don't know why! 

Just a comment for you and others if they think it's a bother.  Not assuming anything.  

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, moposh said:

Just a comment for you and others if they think it's a bother.  Not assuming anything.  

Since you only quoted me, it was an assumption on your part. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by davekathy

[soremekun]

4 hours ago, lbow1984 said:

We had left some pool towels in our stateroom. We planned to take them up to the pool deck towel attendant, but had gone in a different direction and were going to do so later. Our stateroom attendant picked them up, but we were charged for them. I had asked the pool towel attendant if it would be an issue and he said no. I have reached our to RC, but am waiting on a response. Has this happened to anyone else? If so did RC fix it?

Was gratuity added to the towel fee?  If not, it's such a lost opportunity.

[cruiseguy1016]

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

What is the best way to handle the pool towels?   It makes sense to me to check-out a towel, and then keep it, swapping it out as needed.  But, if they get removed from the room, then maybe it is better to always check-in the towel before you leave the pool area.  

Note, I tend to worry, and I handle my worry with plans.  

 

We always check out a towel on the first day using our Seapass. After that, we just bring our used towel to the stand and swap it out for a clean one. When not using our towels, we always leave them in our stateroom. Our cabin attendants have never taken our towels. We did get charged once but called and had the charge removed. I think if my cabin attendant removed my towels, I would ask him/her to bring them back so I didn't get charged for them.

[klfrodo]

2 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

How about room stewards just not take pool towels if they're not going to make sure they get checked backed in?

Yea, then people will complain to housekeeping because the cabin attendant didn't clean the room.

 

Just be responsible and return you're own dirty towels. If they're clean, put them in a cabinet or drawer.

[jencruzin]

We had an issue like this on our last cruise! It was our last night, we had left two pool towels in our suite. In the am right before leaving, our room attendant told us, no worries, because we were "in a grand suite." Without thinking ahead, I said OK. Lesson learned! Take the towels yourself and turn them in, never rely on a room attendant that would properly scan back in your pool towels - he probably just dumped them into a laundry bin! Subsequently, we were charged for two "missing" pool towels. DH called RCL after he noticed the extra charges and it was resolved with a refund after around 10 business days.

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

What is the best way to handle the pool towels?   It makes sense to me to check-out a towel, and then keep it, swapping it out as needed.  But, if they get removed from the room, then maybe it is better to always check-in the towel before you leave the pool area.  

Note, I tend to worry, and I handle my worry with plans.  

I check out towels at the beginning of the cruise, and swap out when dirty/wet.  I don't "check out and check in" over and over every single day... swapping means my account is accessed fewer times, which reduces the chance of an error somewhere.  It also means I already have clean towels each evening, so I don't need to stop and check them out again the next morning, either on the pool deck or when I'm leaving the ship on a port day.  Why wait in two lines a day when you could wait in just one????

When I meet my room attendant, I ask if they're able to exchange pool towels if I leave them on the bathroom floor.  Sometimes they say no, most of the time they say yes.  Then throughout the week, I leave any used pool towels on the bathroom floor, and the attendant leaves me the same number of clean towels as replacements.  On the last afternoon, I return all my towels, and confirm with the towel attendant that my account is at zero. 

 

[Tlbecker1]

10 hours ago, sft429 said:

Do they ever actually make anyone pay for the pool towels?

Yes, they do.  We were on B2B2B and one of the weeks we forgot to turn in our towels the night before but we did at 7AM the morning that others were leaving, we were charged even though we were still on the ship.  They couldn’t help us and wanted us to call guest relations.

[Starry Eyes]

My missing towel story:

On another cruiseline, they left pool towels in our cabin at the start of the cruise, stating we would be charged if they were missing at the end. Those towels sat unused for days.  We returned one evening and  were upset when we noticed one of the pool towel was missing from counter.  We were about to ask our steward about the missing pool towel when we noticed that evening’s towel animal had stripes.  It was made from the striped pool towel🤣

Edited January 31, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[Spurschick]

14 hours ago, sft429 said:

Do they ever actually make anyone pay for the pool towels?

Yes if you don’t notice the charge added and don’t question it.

[bigque]

The room stewards are not supposed to remove the pool towels from your room. That is why they are blue so that they can be distinguished from the room towels.