Cabin service: Changed to once a day on RCI ?

[Scottdalfonso]

Well I don't speak for everyone, then. But I think MOST people are fine with once a day. Like @island lady said above, I hated feeling rushed out or in the way in the morning. Come while I'm at dinner, then the room is all ready for bed time later on. But if having your table dusted and toilet paper folded over twice a day makes your vacation better, then I guess you'll adjust (or get a suite) 

[pilot]

Most people are fine on RCCL because they don’t have a choice. So they accept it. We use to put RC in our cruise rotation with Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America, but now avoid them (unless we are taking grandkids…they love the activities on RC).  
 

The turn down service is not a big deal, but for us we will take our dollars elsewhere. With their full ships, I’m sure they don’t care. 

[DennysDad]

8 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

Well I don't speak for everyone, then. But I think MOST people are fine with once a day. Like @island lady said above, I hated feeling rushed out or in the way in the morning. Come while I'm at dinner, then the room is all ready for bed time later on. But if having your table dusted and toilet paper folded over twice a day makes your vacation better, then I guess you'll adjust (or get a suite) 

I'm not fine with it. But not much choice. I think maybe "a lot" sounds less know it all ish than "most". "Most" somehow feels more like speaking for others. I would even say "many who post on here seem to be". But the old days of turn down service felt special. There are many that do miss it and there feelings and opinions are just as valid.

[Russ Lomas]

Just came back from our first Princess cruise after several cruises with RCCL after they switched to once per day service.  It was so nice, always walking back into a tidy and clean cabin once again.  Doubt RCCL will bring back twice per day service (unless you pay extra for a suite), but it was one of the things that made our Princess cruise feel much more luxurious than our more recent RCCL cruises.

[Tlbecker1]

11 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

Just came back from our first Princess cruise after several cruises with RCCL after they switched to once per day service.  It was so nice, always walking back into a tidy and clean cabin once again.  Doubt RCCL will bring back twice per day service (unless you pay extra for a suite), but it was one of the things that made our Princess cruise feel much more luxurious than our more recent RCCL cruises.

I am also one that has been fine with 1 day service.  It is so nice to not have to worry about leaving our room at a certain time twice a day. I wasn’t sure I would feel that way, but it has been nice.  

[pilot]

8 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I am also one that has been fine with 1 day service.  It is so nice to not have to worry about leaving our room at a certain time twice a day. I wasn’t sure I would feel that way, but it has been nice.  

Never had a problem leaving our room at a certain time twice a day so room could be cleaned. The steward cleaned it on our schedule, not his. 

[DennysDad]

1 minute ago, pilot said:

Never had a problem leaving our room at a certain time twice a day so room could be cleaned. The steward cleaned it on our schedule, not his. 

Exactly. Same.

[Russ Lomas]

26 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I am also one that has been fine with 1 day service.  It is so nice to not have to worry about leaving our room at a certain time twice a day. I wasn’t sure I would feel that way, but it has been nice.  

On our Princess cruise last week, some things were very different, in a better way, to handle this.  They have a screen about 10" diagonal on the wall outside your cabin.  When you get within 3 metres or so of the cabin, your cabin door automatically unlocks if you are wearing your Medallion.  It was also programmed so that it automatically opened our kids' room if we went there.  When the door unlocks, is shows your profile photo on the screen on the wall and welcomes you.

 

There are 2 buttons on the screen at all times.  One is to "request cabin service" and the other is do not disturb.  Whenever we left the cabin, we hit the service button and whenever we were in the cabin, we hit the "do not disturb" button.  Problem solved about the cabin steward disturbing us when we were in the cabin.

 

He got an idea after a day or 2 of when we were out to dinner or breakfast, checked the screen to see if we were in or out, and then quickly cleaned it while we were out.  Never saw him in our cabin (only in the halls), but the cabin was neat and tidy 100% of the time.  It was like walking into a brand-new cabin every time we entered.  Other cruise lines need to consider a similar method.

[time4u2go]

49 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

I am also one that has been fine with 1 day service.  It is so nice to not have to worry about leaving our room at a certain time twice a day. I wasn’t sure I would feel that way, but it has been nice.  

The thing is, you could always have had once per day service. You could have asked your steward to only come once per day or you could have put the do not disturb sign out.

[Tlbecker1]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

The thing is, you could always have had once per day service. You could have asked your steward to only come once per day or you could have put the do not disturb sign out.

I am sure that I could have, but I am more of a “go with the flow” person.  

[Scottdalfonso]

7 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

On our Princess cruise last week, some things were very different, in a better way, to handle this.  They have a screen about 10" diagonal on the wall outside your cabin.  When you get within 3 metres or so of the cabin, your cabin door automatically unlocks if you are wearing your Medallion.  It was also programmed so that it automatically opened our kids' room if we went there.  When the door unlocks, is shows your profile photo on the screen on the wall and welcomes you.

 

There are 2 buttons on the screen at all times.  One is to "request cabin service" and the other is do not disturb.  Whenever we left the cabin, we hit the service button and whenever we were in the cabin, we hit the "do not disturb" button.  Problem solved about the cabin steward disturbing us when we were in the cabin.

 

He got an idea after a day or 2 of when we were out to dinner or breakfast, checked the screen to see if we were in or out, and then quickly cleaned it while we were out.  Never saw him in our cabin (only in the halls), but the cabin was neat and tidy 100% of the time.  It was like walking into a brand-new cabin every time we entered.  Other cruise lines need to consider a similar method.

We are doing our first Princess cruise in August, the medallion thing sounds really neat, you can even find others in your party on the screens in the hallway, or you can have food delivered right to your pool side seat....if it works the way it's supposed to, it's definitely a great idea. 

[ONECRUISER]

17 hours ago, pilot said:

Most people are fine on RCCL because they don’t have a choice. So they accept it. We use to put RC in our cruise rotation with Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America, but now avoid them (unless we are taking grandkids…they love the activities on RC).  
 

The turn down service is not a big deal, but for us we will take our dollars elsewhere. With their full ships, I’m sure they don’t care. 

True, Pre-CV Royal Ships averaged 108% Capacity, now 116%. Ships are Full! I remember Room Attendants came in 8-10 times a day, every time you left the Cabin. Back then they really worked hard, at nite turned 2 Couches into Double Bed, in am took apart and bedding replaced every day. All that for them earning $1.25 Per Person Per Day. Waiter made same, Asst Waiter .50 cents PPPD

Edited March 20 by ONECRUISER

[Saab4444]

One service per day is fine if you don‘t always leave a mess in your room (like some do) but it is not ok to increase service fees at the same time for half the service and also less staff needed on RCCL side. Who gets the significant additional money? 

Edited March 20 by Saab4444

[runner2013]

11 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

On our Princess cruise last week, some things were very different, in a better way, to handle this.  They have a screen about 10" diagonal on the wall outside your cabin.  When you get within 3 metres or so of the cabin, your cabin door automatically unlocks if you are wearing your Medallion.  It was also programmed so that it automatically opened our kids' room if we went there.  When the door unlocks, is shows your profile photo on the screen on the wall and welcomes you.

 

There are 2 buttons on the screen at all times.  One is to "request cabin service" and the other is do not disturb.  Whenever we left the cabin, we hit the service button and whenever we were in the cabin, we hit the "do not disturb" button.  Problem solved about the cabin steward disturbing us when we were in the cabin.

 

He got an idea after a day or 2 of when we were out to dinner or breakfast, checked the screen to see if we were in or out, and then quickly cleaned it while we were out.  Never saw him in our cabin (only in the halls), but the cabin was neat and tidy 100% of the time.  It was like walking into a brand-new cabin every time we entered.  Other cruise lines need to consider a similar method.

We've also sailed with Princess several times. I agree, the display screen outside the room is a very nice idea. It worked out well for us every time. 

[runner2013]

3 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

We are doing our first Princess cruise in August, the medallion thing sounds really neat, you can even find others in your party on the screens in the hallway, or you can have food delivered right to your pool side seat....if it works the way it's supposed to, it's definitely a great idea. 

The Medallion technology is pretty nice. We were skeptical at first but once on board it seemed to work out pretty well. 

One fun note, when standing by the elevators, watch the big info screens on the walls. They read who is nearby and sometimes will put a welcome message on the screen with your name. 

We were onboard for our 1st year wedding anniversary and all week every time we approached a screen it changed to a congratulatory message with our pic and glasses of champagne. It was a nice little touch that we appreciated. Definitely something you'd never get from Royal. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, runner2013 said:

The Medallion technology is pretty nice. We were skeptical at first but once on board it seemed to work out pretty well. 

One fun note, when standing by the elevators, watch the big info screens on the walls. They read who is nearby and sometimes will put a welcome message on the screen with your name. 

We were onboard for our 1st year wedding anniversary and all week every time we approached a screen it changed to a congratulatory message with our pic and glasses of champagne. It was a nice little touch that we appreciated. Definitely something you'd never get from Royal. 

I would prefer RCI not do such a thing.

[Scottdalfonso]

31 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would prefer RCI not do such a thing.

You can opt out of anything it does. I am surprised Royal hasn't adopted some of the ideas...the keep trying the bands but never seem to perfect it. This is much better technology

[Ocean Boy]

26 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

You can opt out of anything it does. I am surprised Royal hasn't adopted some of the ideas...the keep trying the bands but never seem to perfect it. This is much better technology

Good to know. Do they charge for the medallion?

[island lady]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Good to know. Do they charge for the medallion?

 

Agree there.  I don't like the bands either.  

 

Simple sea pass card slipped into my back pocket...just fine with me.  🙂 

[pilot]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would prefer RCI not do such a thing.

No problem, some just don’t like new technology. 

[pilot]

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Good to know. Do they charge for the medallion?

If you have purchased one of their packages they mail medallions to your home no charge. If you haven’t purchased a package there is a $10 charge to mail. 
 

If you don’t want to pay, just pick up at the pier, no charge. 

[snaefell]

We were with P&O last year,they are down to once a day BUT you had to put the Service Room sign on the outside of your door before 1.30pm,no sign no service,many had a problem with that,there were many raised voices where people wondered why their rooms hadn't been done!

Also we stayed in a Best Western last Ssummer where room service was every 3 days.

[Ocean Boy]

59 minutes ago, pilot said:

No problem, some just don’t like new technology. 

It has nothing to do with like, or dislike, of technology.

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, runner2013 said:

We've also sailed with Princess several times. I agree, the display screen outside the room is a very nice idea. It worked out well for us every time. 

I agree also. The Princess medallions are great for several reasons. 

[doghog]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Agree there.  I don't like the bands either.  

 

Simple sea pass card slipped into my back pocket...just fine with me.  🙂 

We received our Princess Medallions on 13 March for our 27 March cruise. No charge. About the size of a half dollar coin. Verdict is still out as this will be our first time using them. Still leaning towards the slim Seapass cards. They also came with a lanyard. 😂 Those immediately went in the trash.