USA Today article on new food policy - post your comments there!

We were on the Jewel from May 7-16, a 9-day Alaskan cruise. During this time, we did not hear any announcements, or see any signage posted, or read any notifications in the dailies about not taking food from the restaurants back to your room. However, when we got home and I started reading on CC about this new policy, I assumed that the good officers of the Jewel in their wisdom had decided not to implement a change like this mid-cruise.

In fact, on the last morning of the cruise, we were planning to walk off and take our luggage with us because we wanted to get to the airport early. My husband was dressed and ready to go to the Buffet for breakfast. I was not ready so I suggested that he go on up and eat. He asked if I wanted him to bring me something back to the room. I said, "Yes, you could bring me a couple of croissants and a slice of cheese." He brought these items back, and no one said anything to him as he left the Buffet.

When we originally heard about the $7.95 room service charge, my thinking was that this amount was a little excessive, but in our 69 cruises, we have not used room service more than two or three times -- and that was when we had grandchildren with us -- so I wasn't overly concerned from a personal standpoint. However, I do know that some people think that being able to order room service is one of the most fabulous parts of cruising, so I was sure that this policy would not be met with favor.

I also think that NCL has gone overboard with this "no food taken back to the room" policy. We've never made it a daily habit to bring food back to the room, but a few times, one of us hasn't been feeling well and the other would go up and get food and bring it back, or if we are in a hurry to get away on the last morning, DH, who can always get dressed faster than I can, will generally go up and eat and then bring something back for me to eat. I also think about people who are diabetic. If their sugar level drops, they need food ASAP and a traveling companion can usually get to the Buffet and get something for them to eat much faster than you can get it from room service.

We are Platinum on NCL and have always enjoyed sailing with this cruise line, so my hope is that the "powers that be" will take a closer look at these latest food policies and make some adjustments in order to retain their loyal customer base.

Oh, puleez...no one is keeping sushi for hours and hours...and if they do...that's THEIR problem...idiots!

 

It's a money thing....that's all, pure and simple.

LOL Great post!

We were very disappointed to learn of the room service after paying in full for our cruise and in full penalty if we cancel.

Does anyone know if the fee includes the gratuity and if there is a limit on the amount of food you can order?

Our budget is our budget so NCL would not get "more" money from us. It will just detract from our experience elsewhere on the trip (fewer drinks,

NCL photos, ect..things like that).

We us room service frequently as are not pleased with the added cost.

It would be one thing if we have gotten a super deal on the cruise to begin with, but we didn't.

Right now, I feel like I don't want to spend a penny on the ship...lol.

It will likely be a deal breaker for our next trip...sorry NCL, but you pushed things too far with this move.

We were very disappointed to learn of the room service after paying in full for our cruise and in full penalty if we cancel.

 

Does anyone know if the fee includes the gratuity and if there is a limit on the amount of food you can order?

 

Our budget is our budget so NCL would not get "more" money from us. It will just detract from our experience elsewhere on the trip (fewer drinks,

NCL photos, ect..things like that).

We us room service frequently as are not pleased with the added cost.

It would be one thing if we have gotten a super deal on the cruise to begin with, but we didn't.

Right now, I feel like I don't want to spend a penny on the ship...lol.

 

It will likely be a deal breaker for our next trip...sorry NCL, but you pushed things too far with this move.

The best thing about cruising, is that you really don't have to spend a penny more if you don't want to. There is enough free food, free drinks, free entertainment, etc. NCL was smart by not raising the cruise fare (which would have been a worse deal than you got), but by raising prices on things that one can choose to use or not, since one is forcing you to do any of these extras.

And don't forget you can order the continental breakfast in the morning at no charge.

Actually, I do think that food safety IS an issue with food places such as the Sushi bar and the Raw Bar onboard. Those food items must be eaten within 24 hours of preparation IF they are kept refrigerated at the right temperature. Outside of the refrigerator, they should be consumed usually within an hour at most. But from what I understand about the drink refrigerators in the cabin, they might not be cold enough to even store sushi for 24 hours. What if someone took sushi or raw fish to their cabin and didn't refrigerate it or put it out on their balcony and ate it over 1 hour after getting it? What if they put it in the refrigerator but didn't eat it for several days? They would get extremely sick with food poisoning in both cases. So, I'm not really doubting that NCL DOES have concern about food safety.

I may be wrong but seem to recall that the sushi options wer one of the ONLY options that we could never order through room service....so tend to think that this argument is futile.....

And for the record I am still not certain what the main goal of NCL is....revenue generating or food safety...just don't think that that sushi consumption is in the "mix"

First off, welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

NCL was smart by not raising the cruise fare (which would have been a worse deal than you got), but by raising prices on things that one can choose to use or not, since one is forcing you to do any of these extras.

 

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And how would that have effected him -- since NCL did this after he fully paid for his cruise??

And how would that have effected him -- since NCL did this after he fully paid for his cruise??

And how would that have effected him -- since NCL did this after he fully paid for his cruise??

Also NCL certainly has raised the cruise fare on our upcoming cruise. Same cabin, same deck, same number of travelers...up $1008 in just over a month.

All that and $7.95 + 18% too...what a steal! :cool:

 

And don't forget you can order the continental breakfast in the morning at no charge.

No one seems to know what is now available on this door hanger menu now. Is ti the same as before or has it been scaled back?

LMaxwell said this in another post

At some point after the new charges were enacted a greatly scaled back continental hang tag came out without the fruits and yogurt. I do not think cereal was on there.

 

I've tried to find it in other posts too; if it was fruit, yogurt, cereal, coffee, milk I'd be pretty pleased overall. Would be nice to hear that is the case.

Or is it still this?

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/johnql/Getaway%20Cruise%20030814/Menus%20and%20Price%20Lists/BreakfastDoorHangerMenu.jpg

Would be a big difference without fruit and yogurt and cereal. :cool:

No one seems to know what is now available on this door hanger menu now. Is ti the same as before or has it been scaled back?

 

LMaxwell said this in another post

 

 

 

Or is it still this?

 

Hi

My findings on Getaway (just returned)

Free continental room service is pastries, coffee and juice

No yogurt, fruit or cereal etc anymore

Room service was 7.95. Served fast and all items were hot and didn't seem to have a limit. There was not an 18% service charge

Interesting side note... The most dishes I've ever seen in the hallway in6 ncl cruises! It could be I just noticed it more though!

Since I've never ordered it nor have I ever looked at the menu, couldn't tell you.

Well if this is a correct timeline,

1. Charge $7.95 for room service. Which will still come on trays and plates, which many will go in the hallway.

2. Ban/ask passengers not to take food to cabins.

3. Change the free continental breakfast door hanger as to remove choices to a bare minimum. Which will still come on trays and plates, which many will go in the hallway.

I can't see how anybody thinks this is about anything more than $. And certainly not coincidental

Hi

My findings on Getaway (just returned)

Free continental room service is pastries, coffee and juice

No yogurt, fruit or cereal etc anymore

Room service was 7.95. Served fast and all items were hot and didn't seem to have a limit. There was not an 18% service charge

Interesting side note... The most dishes I've ever seen in the hallway in6 ncl cruises! It could be I just noticed it more though!

Well I guess my coincidental list #3 is confirmed. :cool:

Mega lame.

But can't I take a snack, like cereal and yogurt and fruit from the buffet? :confused:

Beyond lame!!!

Well if this is a correct timeline,

 

1. Charge $7.95 for room service. Which will still come on trays and plates, which many will go in the hallway.

 

2. Ban/ask passengers not to take food to cabins.

 

3. Change the free continental breakfast door hanger as to remove choices to a bare minimum. Which will still come on trays and plates, which many will go in the hallway.

 

 

I can't see how anybody thinks this is about anything more than $. And certainly not coincidental

As I've said, I don't really care why they came up with the policy. NCL knows why they instituted the policy it and it will either be a success or failure depending on what outcome they are looking for. It will either make them additional revenue or limit the number of room service orders and only NCL knows what they were looking for when they enacted the policy. And, possibly, if they don't get the outcome they are looking for, they might just get rid of the entire policy....who knows.

Well I know from my perspective, looking from the outside, it looks lame and greedy. And I'm all for profit, without profit why be in business?

But this policy seems quirky for adding profit but as you say, who knows?

All I know if I don't like it AND may ignore the no food to my room rule/request.

I add such ambiguity to what this "policy" actually is. After all NCL "asks" passengers to,

"For our guests' well-being and to maintain a beautiful clean environment, we ask that guests enjoy their meals while dining at one of our many restaurants," Norwegian spokeswoman Vanessa Picariello said in a statement sent to USA TODAY.

Same article says,

Norwegian has banned passengers from taking plates of food out of its ships' buffets and other eateries to consume in other areas of the vessels.

So which is it a ban or a request to refrain from something?

Well I know from my perspective, looking from the outside, it looks lame and greedy. And I'm all for profit, without profit why be in business?

 

But this policy seems quirky for adding profit but as you say, who knows?

 

All I know if I don't like it AND may ignore the no food to my room rule/request.

 

I add such ambiguity to what this "policy" actually is. After all NCL "asks" passengers to,

 

 

Do what ever you have to do; at least from all reports they are not stopping anyone from taking food back to their cabins and who knows if they ever will.

You make a good point with your dose of reality there.

But that begs the question; why toss out there a policy that gets a lot of people passionate (in a mostly negative way) and then never enforce it?

They could have eliminated To-Go orders from some casual venues without much of an uproar. They could have even said "We are increasing staffing for our guests convenience" and kept ships cleaner and rolled a few bucks into the base price for it.

Coupled with the room service charges; they could have maintained an all day complimentary menu and added a fee for new premium items; some other cruise lines have done that without taking so much flak about it.

All together it seems like a bunch of missteps at once; unpopular changes, erratic and inconsistent roll out, unclear communications, ineffective or non-existent enforcement, nonsensical explanations.

The only thing I can think of is that the policies will drive some away, and NCL is gambling they can ask for more money to replace those vacancies, and with people who don't "know the difference" so to speak. If so, that's a heck of a gamble.

Not my monkeys, not my circus.

You make a good point with your dose of reality there.

 

But that begs the question; why toss out there a policy that gets a lot of people passionate (in a mostly negative way) and then never enforce it?

 

They could have eliminated To-Go orders from some casual venues without much of an uproar. They could have even said "We are increasing staffing for our guests convenience" and kept ships cleaner and rolled a few bucks into the base price for it.

 

Coupled with the room service charges; they could have maintained an all day complimentary menu and added a fee for new premium items; some other cruise lines have done that without taking so much flak about it.

 

All together it seems like a bunch of missteps at once; unpopular changes, erratic and inconsistent roll out, unclear communications, ineffective or non-existent enforcement, nonsensical explanations.

 

The only thing I can think of is that the policies will drive some away, and NCL is gambling they can ask for more money to replace those vacancies, and with people who don't "know the difference" so to speak. If so, that's a heck of a gamble.

 

Not my monkeys, not my circus.

I totally disagree, I think that eliminating "to go orders" from the restaurants would have still created an uproar on here, but it wouldn't be taken so bad, if NCL threw a bone and took back the food from the buffet part.

Since we don't know why NCL created the room service fee (either to make revenue or to cut down on the number of room service orders), everyone has a lot of "should have done" or "could have done", but since NCL makes the rules, it will be up to them what they want to do.

I disagree, I think a few may leave, but if you read the poll question thread about will your next cruise be on NCL, there are many new cruisers and a lot of old ones who are continuing to sail with NCL. It is easy for one to say they won't cruise again, just to make their point, but who knows if they really cancelled their cruises. Just like when all the Celebrity cruises were all up in arms and never cruising with Celebrity again and they are all still posting and cruising. Plus wouldn't it be foolish to cancel an upcoming cruise now and then have the policy fall by the wayside and now one would have to re-book at a possibly higher price or without a promotion.

wouldn't it be foolish to cancel an upcoming cruise now and then have the policy fall by the wayside and now one would have to re-book at a possibly higher price or without a promotion.

Both of your "disagree" basically agreed with me in content, if not in volume:confused:

Your above statement I agree with, to a degree. I think that applies to MOST people, an overwhelming majority actually. Not every has unlimited budgets or can rearrange things satisfactorily to leave over one new thing that ticks them off.

Perhaps they've enabled these policies to just try to keep people out of their room more. Even if you have a promo perk for drinks or dining, if you are out of the room there is more opportunity to spend on shopping, casino, bingo, spa, etc. If you're happy and content in your room, you aren't really spending anything at all. The overall cost of a "free" cocktail or beer is nothing in the grand scheme of things if it entices you to the casino instead of your balcony because you happened to be passing the casino after eating instead of going back to the room with your food for the balcony.

Lots of various ideas about what they want to accomplish and what their thinking may be.

 

 

 

I disagree, I think a few may leave, but if you read the poll question thread about will your next cruise be on NCL, there are many new cruisers and a lot of old ones who are continuing to sail with NCL. It is easy for one to say they won't cruise again, just to make their point, but who knows if they really cancelled their cruises. Just like when all the Celebrity cruises were all up in arms and never cruising with Celebrity again and they are all still posting and cruising. Plus wouldn't it be foolish to cancel an upcoming cruise now and then have the policy fall by the wayside and now one would have to re-book at a possibly higher price or without a promotion.

This is a valid point and presents an interesting dilemma. I have not cancelled my NCL cruise for next year because I received a very good deal and want to see how the policy shakes out before making a final decision. Fortunately, I have a good deal time to do so before entering penalty, which it really many do not. If the policy takes and is enforced, I will cancel. However, because I have not cancelled, will NCL take my stated opposition to the policy seriously, or will they only react to cancelled bookings and declining new bookings? I truthfully told NCL when they called me that I would not immediately cancel to give them an opportunity to rethink their new food carrying policy. I suspect that canceling my cruise right there and then would have gotten more attention, but it would also be an irrational and rash reaction given that the policy could very easily fall by the wayside -- and indeed, there is no evidence that it is being enforced beyond ending takeaway service at O'Sheehans and possibly hassling people who want food packaged to go at the dining rooms.

At the end of the day, I chose to book a cruise on the Escape because that's the cruise I wanted to take and I got a good deal on it. I'm not going to make a rash decision to cancel that cruise until I have more information about the longevity and implementation of the new policy, and I imagine I'm not alone. I will have to make a final decision at some point, and I truly wonder how NCL is weighing the feedback they're receiving -- written versus tangible booking activity -- in deciding how to proceed.

First off, welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

The best thing about cruising, is that you really don't have to spend a penny more if you don't want to. There is enough free food, free drinks, free entertainment, etc. NCL was smart by not raising the cruise fare (which would have been a worse deal than you got), but by raising prices on things that one can choose to use or not, since one is forcing you to do any of these extras.

 

And don't forget you can order the continental breakfast in the morning at no charge.

Thank you for the welcome!

I agree that no one will starve, but I don't think that has been the issue for anyone. For us it is out overall experience and this new policy will detract from that.

We often eat dinner late and before dinner go back to our cabin to realx, eat a snack /mini meal on our balcony, shower. It a very relaxing and enjoyable, private part of our day. Now we have to pay to do that. Not too cool in our opinion. It will impact where we can spend money elsewhere on our trip. Not cool.

The free service for continental breakfast is a joke, given they said they implanted the fee to upgrade the menu and there isn't much they offer for delivery of continental breakfast. Another meal we often eat on our balcony in private.

It is something that will be a larger factor in booking another cruise line next time.

Thank you for the welcome!

I agree that no one will starve, but I don't think that has been the issue for anyone. For us it is out overall experience and this new policy will detract from that.

We often eat dinner late and before dinner go back to our cabin to realx, eat a snack /mini meal on our balcony, shower. It a very relaxing and enjoyable, private part of our day. Now we have to pay to do that. Not too cool in our opinion. It will impact where we can spend money elsewhere on our trip. Not cool.

The free service for continental breakfast is a joke, given they said they implanted the fee to upgrade the menu and there isn't much they offer for delivery of continental breakfast. Another meal we often eat on our balcony in private.

It is something that will be a larger factor in booking another cruise line next time.

much to my dismay ncl (at least on the gem) has instituted a new kids camp policy that now only lets 76 kids attend camp (of all ages, with a separate minimum for 13+)

 

We are onboard right now with two 4 yr olds, a 7 and a 10 year old.

 

This new system is beyond terrible and now having me reconsider sailing with ncl anymore. We booked this family cruise so not only the kids could have fun, but so could the adults. And now this new system is terrible

 

The new policy is there are 3 camp shifts 9-12, 2-5, 7-10 (this part may have been the same as before). you now need to line up at least 30 min prior and they hand out camp tickets. If you do not at have a ticket between 1-76 you get put on a wait list and they will call you if someone leaves and a spot frees up.

If this is true and a new shoe to fall, NCL is clearly being led by the keystone cops.

Hey if the kids can't be in the kids club I guess they can be everywhere else.

sorry but I found the opposite. The rude ones i was speaking were the people who told others not to post were definitely not singing the cruise lines praises they seemed to hate the cruise line.

 

When the people are so mean it makes some of us scared to ask questions. I did get my courage up to ask a question on another topic and some really nice people helped me out.

If you see a ;) or a :D or a :) following something said, it means it was a joke or to be taken not seriously or to be in good humor.

Cheers

Also NCL certainly has raised the cruise fare on our upcoming cruise. Same cabin, same deck, same number of travelers...up $1008 in just over a month.

 

All that and $7.95 + 18% too...what a steal! :cool:

Someone posted that the 18% was only if you ordered drinks. That's what they were charged anyway on the Getaway I believe. Is that incorrect?