$3.95 Service Charge for Room Service starting

[Anton]

What will happen when people simply order food earlier than midnight and let it sit in the cabin for later consumption? Sandwiches won't go bad right away. Will the service charge then be expanded to cover more hours? Surely RCI thought of how people will try to get around this.

[footzz]

[Ocean Boy]

What will happen when people simply order food earlier than midnight and let it sit in the cabin for later consumption? Sandwiches won't go bad right away. Will the service charge then be expanded to cover more hours? Surely RCI thought of how people will try to get around this.

 

I'm sure that they have thought about it. And don't be surprised when we find out that the plan is to expand this to all room service as soon as the initial talk about this new charge dies down.

[marci22]

As I have read the thread, there are some observations that have been posted that also occurred to me.

 

I could easily see people over-ordering as a reaction to the charge. One International Cheese Plate extra-ordered will more than cancel the $3.95 charge.

 

The last few times we ordered room service, they were very careful about asking "how many people are you ordering for?" even when it was just 2 items. They must be required to ask every time.

 

When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'. I think I ordered an extra bread basket one time, and an extra fruit plate the other time. I thought it was aggravating but they must be sick of seeing a lot of wasted food come back.

[MaryZ]

What will happen when people simply order food earlier than midnight and let it sit in the cabin for later consumption? Sandwiches won't go bad right away. Will the service charge then be expanded to cover more hours? Surely RCI thought of how people will try to get around this.

 

I can't see people coming back to their cabin at 10pm just to order rooms service so it's there in case they are hungry at 1 am.

 

We sometimes order rs after midnight. A service charge is not going to prevent us from doing that.

[PH8]

 

When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'. .

ARE you kidding me????????:eek:

[marci22]

Okay now I understand what you mean by traffic...it is really more of a clutter in the hallways problem and I agree that is pretty unsightly and can be a problem for people in scooters/ wheelchairs or with mobility challenges in general

 

No, I don't think it's a clutter problem, I think they are trying to make people decide if they really want room service that bad, like surcharging for Johnny Rockets.

 

The wasted food in the hallways would be due to people indiscriminately placing food orders because it was 'free'.

 

Who knows why they are charging for it? They are going to be charging for more and more things and for me, it comes down to whether or not I want to go on a cruise or not. Prices of everything are going up; the cheap days for everything are over.

[marci22]

ARE you kidding me????????:eek:

 

No, and it really set me off, lol. I called and told them I was short something and they said 'you have enough food for that amount of people'. (and to clarify, I didn't order eggs and bacon and all that, it was like 2 bread baskets and 2 fruit plates, with coffee)

 

I usually don't order RS cause it is more trouble than it's worth.

[Anton]

they said 'you have enough food for that amount of people'.

 

Now that would bother me. What if I truly wanted to eat two fruit plates? I have to place another order and wait? I understand and appreciate their wanting to reduce waste but enforcement can be taken to extremes - as in your case.

 

Frankly we usually don't order room service either. Maybe once every three cruises on average.

[bplazo]

That is suprising that they shortned your room order. I have seen their fruit plates and they are not that big.

 

As far as college students not tipping, I happen to think that most people in that age bracket tip well because most of them have probably had jobs where they work for tips. I know my daughter helps pay for her college from the tips she earns. Although, she doesnt have alot of money she tips well.

 

I would like to know though what part of the $3.95 the employee gets to keep because I would want to make sure that the delivery person is still earning a decent wage and will not be hurt by this new policy.

[ladysail2]

I deplore the thought of wasted food. To order indiscriminently, then not eat it all is selfish, to say the least..........so...........

 

why not continue to have 'free' room service....and charge the cabin...for uneaten food food on the dishes.

 

It's true that sometimes when the food gets to the cabin, it isn't all that great..such as toast (cold and unappetizing), juice being warm, etc...so one would have to examine the food before the delivery person leaves....and return anything that isn't edible due to being cold, hard or whatever. They do tend to stay to receive a tip, it only takes a second to take a quick peek.

 

Some people do eat alot and shouldn't be 'shorted' because of that. That's being very judgemental on the part of the person in charge. It's none of their business how much food a person orders...what's more important is that one eats it all.

 

Just my two cents worth!!

[xpcdoojk]

Excuse me....but didn't I just read recently that passengers were revolting about not having their fuel surcharges refunded for recent cruises, and one of the things they were doing was ordering room service just to have it sit outside but feel, well there, no refund...I will get you! Well all they did was get their fellow cruise passengers....so you can thank them NOT RCCL for this.

 

As an anecdote, I really could see this being a possibility, unfortunately, as an anecdote it doesn't really prove anything. Do you have any other information to support this theory?

 

jc

[SAAdds1]

Can I see a show of hands for anyone that has ordered room service after midnight and before 5am?

 

jc<---- hand is not raised

 

jc<---- imagines 95% of the food ordered at this time occurs on spring break or summer cruises....:D

 

 

I've never ordered room service on any cruise. I wonder if I'm missing something...

[lagbunch8]

:eek: Not surprised one little bit by this news, the Airlines started the nickel and diming stuff so only seems right that the cruise lines follow suit. Next thing you know they will start adding charges for second bags checked, multiple trips to the dessert bar, pillows on the bed :rolleyes: ..... so I suppose we should all get use to it. They want to keep the price of the cruise low to get you on the ship....then nickel and dime you once on board! And they know most people will say it is only $3.95 it won't break me, unfortunately $3.95 here, $5 there it all starts to add up! :(

 

Just another reason why not--why to not cruise!

[lovesublime]

When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'.

 

 

 

Unbelievable!! Wow! :rolleyes:

[Ula]

I can not see a person ordering from room service that is not hungry. The menu is not that great. Have no idea what RCI is thinking. Have to wonder about the arguments from people who say they placed their order before or after the cut off time. This is going to be a mess.
Also what are the late night free options on RCI. They like to open and close venues all over the ship all the time. Room service might become the only option after midnight.

[Tanker4]

[quote name='lovesublime']When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'.



Unbelievable!! Wow! :rolleyes:[/quote]

We cruise fairly frequently (last cruise two weeks ago) and have never experianced this. Use room service sparingly and generally never waste any food. Not sure how I'd react if someone told me this.:rolleyes:

[xpcdoojk]

[quote name='Ocean Boy']I'm sure that they have thought about it. And don't be surprised when we find out that the plan is to expand this to all room service as soon as the initial talk about this new charge dies down.[/quote]

OB, I am not saying you are wrong, but. Seriously, I stand by my opinion that a very small percentage of passengers that use room service use it at these particular hours. If they expand this to all room service it will affect a very large percentage of their customer base, and if charging the 5% causes such an uproar, what will charging the other 95% do? I still believe that most of the problem is kids or young adults ordering party buffets in their cabins on sailings at a certain time of year. Any adult that is out in the casino blasting through tons of cash, or someone dancing and drinking adult beverages at the not inexpensive cruise ship prices is not really going to give a big rip if they have to pay a service fee. However the couple that likes to wake each morning to a fresh pot of coffee and some danish and who may not be used to blasting through the big bucks is going to be outraged if their morning ritual suddenly becomes a cruiseline money maker. So, again, just because they are doing this in the wee hours hardly means that it is a short step down the slippery slope to 24 hour a day service charges. I still say as I said during the silly JR discussions of long ago, if the cruiselines don't make enough money to be profitable we are going to be unhappy, and for some reason I don't really think this is going to suddenly boost the cruiseline's profits into the stratosphere. In other words, it seems to me to be a fairly reasonable business plan in these difficult economic times. For some reason so many people think that the cruiselines have a moral obligation to never change the product, and if there is going to be a change it can only be to make it better for the passenger. This kind of one sided economic system can not work forever.

jc

[Retired LEO]

I wouldn't mind seeing this charge 24 hours. I also tip more than $3.95 anyway.

[RJL58]

[quote name='rccl suite life']i wouldn't mind seeing this charge 24 hours. I also tip more than $3.95 anyway.[/quote]

me too............................:)

[FEMH]

The only time I ever ordered room service on a cruise was on my recent Majesty cruise and it was at 2 A.M. I had a cold and my throat was scratchy, so I ordered a pot of tea and some cookies. It was delivered in five minutes and I tipped $5.00, so I guess I will get off cheaper with the new regs.
This, in my opinion, is not a big deal.

[Tranquil Waters]

[quote name='lovesublime']When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'.



Unbelievable!! Wow! :rolleyes:[/quote]

Obviously your room service staff never met the OP or they surely would have clipped her wings..... rolleyes::p:

[quote name='Elizanessie']Milk & cookies !!! Hey its 3 sometimes 4 burgers with bacon(hold the onions), cheesecake,big pot of coffee,tea for two..oh yea and cookies and extra milk...thats all for now thanks.:D

After that its 3 hours sleep for me and I am up ready for my bacon and fresh rolls and pastries,coffee from room service before hitting the WJ for more bacon but with toast,fried egg(over medium),pancakes and blueberry sauce and two mugs of coffee :D

Strange thing...I never ever put on weight on a cruise.[/quote]

[Elizanessie]

[quote name='Tranquil Waters']Obviously your room service staff never met the OP or they surely would have clipped her wings..... rolleyes::p:[/quote]

My room service orders are for two people,one of which is a 6ft 2 inch 19 yr old lad..no wings on him :p

[Cruise_Couple]

[quote name='lovesublime']When I put out a breakfast order the night before, twice they shorted my order because they told me I ordered 'too much food'. Unbelievable!! Wow! :rolleyes:[/quote]

Holy Crap!!! Heaven help the staffer that dares to tell me I "ordered too much food"! Kiss that tip goodbye!!!

As part of my cruise fare, I paid for room service... not room service food police! Until I see a published policy regarding limits on the "size or quantity permitted of a room service order" it is absolutely none of their business and certainly not their place to decide how much I can or can't order. They can impose limits if they choose but I want to see a published policy.

I once had a waitress actually say to me "your going to eat all that?!" when I placed a large order in a restaurant. I was so offended I was speechless! (hard to believe, I know) 5 minutes later my friend joined me for the meal (yes, I ordered for both of us as we had pre arranged!) The waitress was way out of line to make such a statement and was "tipped" accordingly. I left a penny on the table and stood at the door waiting for her to pick it up. She turned and glared at me and I walked back and explained to her that perhaps next time she should keep her comments to herself if she ever wanted to make any money.

Sorry... this was way off track for this thread but it gets my blood boiling when I see people in the service industry (I am in it also) behaving reprehensibly. If there is not a rule against something and someone wants it then just give it to them and be happy you did your job... or else someone else will have your job. Ok.... stepping off my supersized soapbox now.

[phtktz3]

[quote name='marci22']No, and it really set me off, lol. I called and told them I was short something and they said 'you have enough food for that amount of people'. (and to clarify, I didn't order eggs and bacon and all that, it was like 2 bread baskets and 2 fruit plates, with coffee)

I usually don't order RS cause it is more trouble than it's worth.[/quote]

As I stated before we do use RS often and they do always ask when we call how many people we are ordering for....although I do not recall them asking this on Princess<<but the food and RS service on Princess was not very good>>