Cabins not ready until 4:30- is this a thing now?!

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said:

I know you think you're being really clever.  However, I now have to carry medications for metastatic breast cancer - and prefer to have those with me until we get into our cabin.  It's my goal for this to not be my last cruise.  While this was not the case before, there were still vital medications in my carry on that I needed then and still need some of those now as well.  Granted, it's a much bigger deal now.

So your DH and DS knew this and abandoned your bags?  Maybe you should be talking to them and not me.

Edited July 10, 2023 by ChiefMateJRK

[GORDONCHICK]

8 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

So your DH and DS knew this and abandoned your bags?  Maybe you should be talking to them and not me.

It was stated in the post you quoted, "this was not the case before."

[bkrickles1]

Just now, JinxyB said:

And this thread will be locked in 3, 2, 1…..

And it should be for hurling insults at people. 

 

[cruiser52forever]

44 minutes ago, karl_nj said:

 

On Celebrity last week room weren't ready until 1pm, but was encouraged to stop by the room to drop off stuff/put passports in the safe/etc. once I boarded at 11:30am.

 

RCL still has the rooms ready at 1:30pm usually, from my recent cruises on that line.

Exactly this, if the big Oasis class ships can be ready by 1:10, ao can NCL. 

 

But even more important..,  I can't believe the number of people chiming that it is not that  big of a deal to not have a.clean room??? Seriously,  if someone else's toenails and body hairs and what other filth left in the bathroom , that is cause to immediately bring those issues to the head of housekeeping.  You aren't camping,  you are traveling some luxurious accommodations

 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

If I am paying good money for that cabin on the day we depart, Then I want in the room as soon as I board!!! Lets get the Captain and Officers to help out on day 1. NCL needs to have extra local staff to help out getting the rooms ready on Embarkation day.

Like a land-based hotel. You are paying for a room when it is ready and not before. 

[mkcurran]

1 minute ago, cruiser52forever said:

Exactly this, if the big Oasis class ships can be ready by 1:10, ao can NCL. 

 

But even more important..,  I can't believe the number of people chiming that it is not that  big of a deal to not have a.clean room??? Seriously,  if someone else's toenails and body hairs and what other filth left in the bathroom , that is cause to immediately bring those issues to the head of housekeeping.  You aren't camping,  you are traveling some luxurious accommodations

 

This is disturbing on many levels. On one level that the room was left this way. On another level that so many people who cruise this line are making excuses and seem to be okay with this. 

All of this is giving me some serious things to think about before I consider booking a NCL cruise. If I drop $$$ on a vacation I have expectations and I do my research before I go to ensure to the best of my ability that where I spend my money will meet those expectations.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, JinxyB said:

Royal isn’t much better, trust me. Once a day cabin cleaning and cutbacks in dining. Ask me how I know, sailed Symphony august 2022 and independence 4/23. But at least cabins were ready at 1:30 and were clean 

Since going to once a day cleaning, Royal cabins are not ready at 1:30. 

[JinxyB]

8 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Since going to once a day cleaning, Royal cabins are not ready at 1:30. 

I can report on two separate occasions in the last year that they were, in fact ready by 1:30. 

[JinxyB]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Like a land-based hotel. You are paying for a room when it is ready and not before. 

Then they need to set the expectation in writing and in the cruise contract that your room will not be available until 4:30

[omahabob]

They already tell you the rooms will be ready when they're ready, whenever that is. They don't specify a time because numerous unanticipated circumstances can affect when that time will be.

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by omahabob

[JinxyB]

4 minutes ago, omahabob said:

They already tell you the rooms will be ready when they're ready, whenever that is. They don't specify a time because unanticipated numerous circumstances can affect when that time will be.

 

That’s fine. I expect a clean room free of hair, food stains and toenails after waiting hours to enter my stateroom. 

[omahabob]

1 minute ago, JinxyB said:

That’s fine. I expect a clean room free of hair, food stains and toenails after waiting hours to enter my stateroom. 

 

As you should.

[Greenpea2]

19 hours ago, RB9643 said:

 

Whoa!  What NCL ships are downsized to only solo acts and game shows?

 

 

None as far as I know. Too much drama here, lol.

[hallux]

34 minutes ago, JinxyB said:

Then they need to set the expectation in writing and in the cruise contract that your room will not be available until 4:30

Have they ever set the expectation in writing that rooms will be ready at 1:30?  Go find it for me.  I'll wait, but won't be holding my breath.  Why should it now be in writing?

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

2 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

 Lets get the Captain and Officers to help out on day 1. 

This might be the most unintentionally hilarious thing anyone has ever posted here. 

[omahabob]

I think that may have been intentional sarcasm, but yeah.

[mking8288]

Persepctives: sailing NCL for 2 decades+ here, in the good old days, housekeeping paired up to service all the cabins, with priorities given to suites and Havens as early embarkation for the premium cruisers start as early as 10:30 am (at least, for New York cruises) unless there's unexpected delays, USCG inspections, or other unforeseen incidents beyond NCL's control.  With MDR partially opened and the buffet for lunch, steerage were mostly happy campers ... despite many not using porter services and not restricted to lugging their own oversized, overweight 26" or 28" and 29" jumbo rollerboards and spinners everywhere ... fortunately, cabins were mostly ready by 1 to 2 p.m. usually.  Squeezing and getting into elevators weren't always easy.   

 

One of the many reasons mission impossible was not a serious challenge, crew members from other departments were assigned, as a matter of routine, mostly from waiters and assistants - they help collect soiled linens, sheets, towels, etc. to be washed, etc. and worked the corridors to help housekeeping, whatever it takes to get ALL the cabins ready, cleaned & refreshed.  

 

Nowadays, not so much - on our recent 15 nights Epic TA, (ours included) room "attendant" with 20+ occupied cabins, started preparing for turnaround on Day 13 and 14, tiny details like restocking the body wash/shampoo and hand soap dispensers in the cabin.  Breakfast door hangers added to the mini binder.  BTW, remember those colorful pool towels that're always in the cabin ... nope, labor saving - it has been GIY up on the pool deck, as in Get It Yourself (but, I'll credit that as a collateral by-product of the Covid-era cuts)

 

Fast forward, assistant room stewards gone with the wind, and now, despite ships mostly sailing at or near, sometimes above double occupancies.   NCL ships sailing out of NY routinely sail on time at 3 pm or 4 pm year round, unless delayed for good reasons - lately, they've been updated to 4 pm or 5 pm ... ours coming up at 5:30 pm.  Provisioning delays among reasons given.  Yet, I haven't seen any recent reports that a given NCL ship are short staffed ... well, with the new normal staffing level (of course, for our inconvenience) to sail & sustain.  Frankie took his golden parachute and we are basically subsidizing his ongoing consultancy fees, just as much as better pays for the crews ... and the debts.  

 

Standby to ignore, feel free to flame and ignore, and you are welcome to respectfully disagree & debate among yourself.  Cheers ! 

Edited July 10, 2023 by mking8288

[JinxyB]

12 minutes ago, hallux said:

Have they ever set the expectation in writing that rooms will be ready at 1:30?  Go find it for me.  I'll wait, but won't be holding my breath.  Why should it now be in writing?

I don’t know about in writing, but it has been my experience cruising since 1996, that cabins have been ready at 1-1:30. If they knew they are severely short staffed with cabin stewards they could have sent a quick email saying, hey your cabins won’t be ready until 4:30, please plan accordingly. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[hallux]

11 minutes ago, JinxyB said:

I don’t know about in writing, but it has been my experience cruising since 1996, that cabins have been ready at 1-1:30.

That's my point.  It wasn't in writing, it became an unwritten expectation.  Things change...

[Mommapadraig]

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

That's my point.  It wasn't in writing, it became an unwritten expectation.  Things change...

Yes they do but it better not have changed so much that the room hasn’t been properly cleaned. Toenails and hair? Disgusting. I hope she has contacted housekeeping about this. 

[omahabob]

18 minutes ago, JinxyB said:

I don’t know about in writing, but it has been my experience cruising since 1996, that cabins have been ready at 1-1:30. If they knew they are severely short staffed with cabin stewards they could have sent a quick email saying, hey your cabins won’t be ready until 4:30, please plan accordingly. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

I would expect that to be true IF they had previously told you to expect them to be ready at 1-1:30. You're asking them to let you know if there's an adjustment to an expected time. In principle, that's a fair request. But, they never established 1-1:30 as the expected time. It's just something you got used to. They're suffering from a staffing shortage just like everyone else. It should be assumed that will have some effect, and it should be further assumed that the time it takes to accomplish things is one of the most logical things it would affect. But everyone should know there's a staffing shortage. While you might argue notification is necessary as a simple courtesy, it shouldn't be necessary for them to state the obvious. And how far should that courtesy extend? There must be hundreds, or even thousands, of things that could potentially be affected. Should they notify customers that all those things could potentially be delayed until a specific time, particularly when even that later time could be further affected by unanticipated circumstances? I get it. Nobody likes to be frustrated. It's even worse to be frustrated when no one is talking to you. But these things (delays) are givens in today's employment climate. They shouldn't need to state the obvious. And establishing any specific time is almost guaranteed to come back to bite them in the butt when something else happens. I think the most we could expect from them is a blanket statement that 'The employment climate sucks, stuff happens, and likely still will, but who you gonna call?'

 

That's just delays. Housekeeping, and the quality thereof, are different matters entirely. If it took them longer in an effort to get it right, then they should get it right.

[karl_nj]

13 minutes ago, hallux said:

That's my point.  It wasn't in writing, it became an unwritten expectation.  Things change...

 

[mugtech]

5 minutes ago, karl_nj said:

 

4:30 is after 2 PM, so it is in writing.

[JinxyB]

8 minutes ago, karl_nj said:

 

I’m not sure what ship this is from, but it’s not the Joy 

Edited July 11, 2023 by JinxyB

[omahabob]

I imagine it would also vary by port and itinerary.