Once a Day Cabin Service

[pilot]

We were on the Quantum in June for an Alaska cruise. RCCL had gone to once a day cabin service. 
 We asked for morning service and our steward did a nice job. At the time I thought no big deal. 
 

We are currently on a 12 day Regal Princess cruise. Princess still has twice a day service and they claim there are no plans to change. 
 

I have to admit it was nice to come back from breakfast and the room was clean. Also after coming back from dinner there was a turn down service. Nice that there were no wet towels on the floor all night. 
 

Again not a big deal, but a nice touch that makes cruising a little special. 
 

 

[heatherb1958]

I can live with once a day service,  got used to it now with Royal, P& O and I think it was once a day on Silhoutte in June . We were just on Sky Princess for 24 nights to Canada and New England round trip from  Southampton . After a couple of days of twice a day service I told our room steward he could have the night off for the rest of the trip from doing our cabin . We  made sure we had the  privacy button lit up all night incase a supervisor did a spot check.  

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by heatherb1958

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, pilot said:

Again not a big deal, but a nice touch that makes cruising a little special. 

I agree with everything you said; however, I could accept a reduction in service -- if it weren't accompanied by an increase in gratuity price.  It's the combination that really stings. 

[mac_tlc]

We had once a day on Jewel and Oasis this summer. Not a fan at all. With no change in gratuity. Sounds like less for more. 

 

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

13 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

I can live with once a day service,  got used to it now with Royal, P& O and I think it was once a day on Silhoutte in June . We were just on Sky Princess for 24 nights to Canada and New England round trip from  Southampton . After a couple of days of twice a day service I told our room steward he could have the night off for the rest of the trip from doing our cabin . We  made sure we had the  privacy button lit up all night incase a supervisor did a spot check.  

 

That is an issue I have with the change. If you only want once a day, you could always get it by asking. Now there is no option.

 

 

mac_tlc

[cruiselvr04]

We have adjusted to once a day as long as it’s evening service.  That said, it less for more.
 

 My biggest issue with once a day is the trash is overflowing from latitude cups and other trash and I really dislike dirty dishes/glasses in the cabin. There’s no room to put them in a balcony or lower. Sometimes I get irritated and put them outside the door which I also dislike but I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to do with them from now on. Otherwise the tiny table becomes a Jinga tower. 

 

[reallyitsmema]

We are on Serenade now and this is our first time experiencing once a day cabin service as we are only sailing in a balcony this week. We chose morning service and have had no problems at all. Steward leaves two sets of towels as requested. He asks us if we are all set when he sees us in the corridor. Trash has gotten full once on a sea day but not a big deal. We have some glasses piled in the corner of the vanity at the end of the night but that is no different than when we had twice a day service. As far as the price increase, what hasn’t gone up in price these days. 

[OCSC Mike]

Experiencing once-a-day for the 1st time on Allure right now and can barely tell the difference. We got extra hangers & towels on day one per request, chose morning and offered to be first b/c we get up early, still get ice twice a day, still see him in the hallway and get a big smile and asked if we need anything, still got a towel animal on day 2 (complete with googly eyes & a rubber band to keep the bear’s legs in perfect shape).

 

To each his/her own but it’s not an issue for us.

[HicksRA]

I was pretty agitated when they started this but have adjusted to once in the evening which has turned out ok. We don’t make a mess and I make the bed in the morning and it’s nice to know there won’t be anyone in the cabin if you need to make that quick stop to the restroom after breakfast. 
But, as said, raising grats and reducing service is not cool. Also it seems that the stewards are so overtaxed, you get no personal service anymore.  

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

We had once a day on Jewel and Oasis this summer. Not a fan at all. With no change in gratuity. Sounds like less for more. 

Actually there was a change in the gratuity...it went up! 😉

 

I'm not a fan of the once a day service either.

[laura85]

Has anyone experienced once a day with a Pullman bed? We did NCL over the summer, once a day, and they left our Pullman bed down the entire cruise! It was awful because it blocked the closet all week. Finally, on 2nd to last day they put it up… but didn’t come back to bring it down at night so my daughter had to squeeze in bed with us. Wonder how RC handles this. 

[amindu]

How do you select if you want morning or night, do you just tell the steward? 

 

I heard suites are still twice a day does that include junior suites? 

[mac_tlc]

Sounds like a luxurious holiday, jenga towers of glasses, making your own bed , full trash cans, trays in the hallway.  We often had a big pile of wet towels in the bathroom waiting for tomorrows visit by the room attendant who had 25 rooms to service. 
 

As someone who has to maneuver down the hallway with my DW in a wheelchair at times, it’s like an obstacle course of trays, scooters and service carts. 
 

Obviously it can be adjusted too, but it is a lessening of the experience. 
 

 

mac_tlc

[HicksRA]

2 minutes ago, amindu said:

How do you select if you want morning or night, do you just tell the steward? 

 

I heard suites are still twice a day does that include junior suites? 

The steward will ask you on the first day. 
Suites still twice a day. 

[Tree_skier]

27 minutes ago, laura85 said:

Has anyone experienced once a day with a Pullman bed? We did NCL over the summer, once a day, and they left our Pullman bed down the entire cruise! It was awful because it blocked the closet all week. Finally, on 2nd to last day they put it up… but didn’t come back to bring it down at night so my daughter had to squeeze in bed with us. Wonder how RC handles this. 

I had no problem.  We had 4 of us in an Ultimate OV cabin and the attendant turned the bed back into a couch in the morning service and then came back while we were at dinner set it back up again.  He did nothing else during that evening service but at least the bed wasn't in the way all day.

[Rudyard]

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Experiencing once-a-day for the 1st time on Allure right now and can barely tell the difference. We got extra hangers & towels on day one per request, chose morning and offered to be first b/c we get up early, still get ice twice a day, still see him in the hallway and get a big smile and asked if we need anything, still got a towel animal on day 2 (complete with googly eyes & a rubber band to keep the bear’s legs in perfect shape).

 

To each his/her own but it’s not an issue for us.

That was pretty much our experience on Allure last month. Our steward even told us that if we wanted to sleep in to just leave the magnet on the door and she'd add us to the evening list for that day. She also told us what evening hours she'd be working in case we needed anything during that time. Saw her in the hall multiple times during the day and she always asked how we were doing and if we needed anything. 

[pilot]

4 hours ago, HicksRA said:

I was pretty agitated when they started this but have adjusted to once in the evening which has turned out ok. We don’t make a mess and I make the bed in the morning and it’s nice to know there won’t be anyone in the cabin if you need to make that quick stop to the restroom after breakfast. 
But, as said, raising grats and reducing service is not cool. Also it seems that the stewards are so overtaxed, you get no personal service anymore.  

There is NO Way my wife is going to make a bed on vacation! That’s one of the bennies about being on vacation. 

[loman]

We got late afternoon ( around 4 -5 pm ) service on harmony , and it was ok.

We never had a messy room and the covers were pulled up on the bed so it didnt look messy.

And we never left anything out , lying around .

Made the room stewards job as easy as possible.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, pilot said:

We were on the Quantum in June for an Alaska cruise. RCCL had gone to once a day cabin service. We asked for morning service and our steward did a nice job. At the time I thought no big deal. 
 

We are currently on a 12 day Regal Princess cruise. Princess still has twice a day service and they claim there are no plans to change. 
 

I have to admit it was nice to come back from breakfast and the room was clean. Also after coming back from dinner there was a turn down service. Nice that there were no wet towels on the floor all night. Again not a big deal, but a nice touch that makes cruising a little special. 

 

We actually like once-a-day service. In the past, we would be rushing in from a shore excursion,,,, busy showering and getting ready for dinner, then having to pick up our shore stuff so that the cabin steward could "fluff a pillow". 

 

Now, we just leave the shopping bags and totes on the bed and don't have to worry about things getting moved around to make the room look clean by the steward. No,,, I don't need my flip flops lined up under the desk,,, not to be found in the morning. 

 

[Billy Baltic]

11 hours ago, laura85 said:

Has anyone experienced once a day with a Pullman bed? We did NCL over the summer, once a day, and they left our Pullman bed down the entire cruise! It was awful because it blocked the closet all week. Finally, on 2nd to last day they put it up… but didn’t come back to bring it down at night so my daughter had to squeeze in bed with us. Wonder how RC handles this. 

We had this problem with Explorer during the Summer. Even though we had to use the sofa bed in our room there was still only one room service a day. It was a real PITA but they wouldn’t budge on their service level saying it was orders from headquarters. 

[Scottdalfonso]

We just sailed a month ago, with a couch bed. It was pulled out night one and left out. We had no problem with that, we could still get around and to the balcony. We chose evening because, even though I'm up at the crack of dawn, the wife and kid like to sleep in on vacation. We liked going to dinner and coming back to a clean room\made bed. We would accumulate a few plates and  glasses over the course of the day, which we could easily pile up on the vanity. Our attendant still came by late morning to bring ice and take the dishes so it was perfect for us. We have no need for new towels twice a day (or even every day) and didn't really make that much trash that we couldn't wait for it to be removed at night. 

[little britain]

16 hours ago, pilot said:

….Nice that there were no wet towels on the floor all night. 

 

 

 

All the cabins I’ve had have hooks on the doors and a towel rail for you to hang up your towels after use…🤷‍♀️

[pilot]

As I originally stated, it was not a big problem. For those of you who like once a day great. Not so great for those of us that like the original twice a day. 
 

As someone else noted…it was a 50% reduction in service and approximately 10% increase in gratuities when implemented. 

[NoShoes2]

16 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Experiencing once-a-day for the 1st time on Allure right now and can barely tell the difference. We got extra hangers & towels on day one per request, chose morning and offered to be first b/c we get up early, still get ice twice a day, still see him in the hallway and get a big smile and asked if we need anything, still got a towel animal on day 2 (complete with googly eyes & a rubber band to keep the bear’s legs in perfect shape).

 

To each his/her own but it’s not an issue for us.

 

We had a similar experience last March on the Oasis. We had morning service. I actually think we saw our cabin steward more on this sailing than any other. I do miss the days of having our bed turned down (an the chocolates) but one day service hasn't been a deal breaker for us thus far. 

[Tatka]

I thought I will miss two services a day. But we cruised 2 times since it changed and I like it more. We are pretty accurate and don’t make a mess during a day. Maybe our bed is not 100%, but nothing requires cleaning second time. I used to tidy up everything before the second service …  I feel freer now. We also don’t need to check if our room is done or not in the evening.