Two confirmed cutbacks!

[grand isle joe]

I was worried this post was going to be about the elimination of the poolside Carribean band. I think they played a total of 2 hours on our last Liberty cruise.

 

 

 

....as another cutback RCL will now only hire one band and send holograms to each ship while they pipe the music over the poolside speaker system.....;):D

[truffles2]

Towel animals don't cost money...

 

Time IS money.

[pinkmaija]

Time IS money.

 

Exactly!

[patseacruiser]

I was on Freedom last month. We did get towel animals but not every night and I told my attendant not to bother because they're cute but I know he has a lot of work to do and I did see when one of the kids walking down the hall opened their door that they had special towel animals and that's fine that he does it for the kids who look forward to it.

 

I haven't had chocolates in a few years. They weren't that good and I buy something much better either in the ship store or at port because I do love good chocolate.

 

No more diamond breakfasts and I do miss that.

[galavant3]

My guess is that people often toss the towel animal off the bed when they go to bed and it comes apart. The next day, the cabin steward takes the crumpled towels with the other used towels, and they are laundered, regardless of whether or not they were actually used. More laundry = more money on water/power/detergent. An extra towel x 1000 cabins x 7 nights x 20 ships is 140,000 extra towels being laundered each week. At even a fraction of that, I can see where it would add up!

 

A couple of cruises ago we had the same cabin attendant as the captain. He apologized the first day and said they were only permitted to make the towel animals every day because of the additional cost of laundering. Also, I guess some people line the animals up and save them for the week.

 

When I cruised with my daughter we bought a towel animal making book and made towel animals for the attendant each night. He seemed to think that was great and we had fun doing it.

 

I'm in the "I don't care about towel animals or chocolates" camp.

[knittinggirl]

They discontinued the chocolates back in 2009. They said they threw out a lot of chocolate, and yards and yards of foil. Still, I wasn't happy, because I figured those chocolates made up such a small cost our our cruise fare.

 

I noticed ice available upon request on our Mariner Cruise in January. But once I asked, the steward brought it each night. They have to sterilize the buckets each time. I wanted the ice for my back. With the long lines on embarkation day, I'm always sore when I get to my room, and ice helps calm my muscles down. Have they discontinued it completely?

 

Towel animals are so cute! I'm taking pictures of them each time I cruise.

[storm1of4]

I know everyone is probably making tongue-in-cheek comments, but for those of us who can only cruise once in awhile, these tiny parts of the cruise do mean a lot! They are those little extra surprises that make the cruise that much more fun and unique way to spend a holiday.

 

I'll miss them both :(

 

 

But its the little things in life that make the difference! I agree with you.

We take a little stuffed animal to keep on our bed or couch with us on every cruise. The steward usually puts it back on the bed with sunglasses at turn down. This always makes me smile.

[Marie51]

I recently cruised on Freedom. We had towel animals every night, no chocolates, Diamond breakfast offered one morning.

[knittinggirl]

I recently cruised on Freedom. We had towel animals every night, no chocolates, Diamond breakfast offered one morning.

 

Diamond Breakfast only one morning? Did you have a lot of port days?

[jakenashleysmom]

On Navigator in January, we requested a pitcher of ice water in the afternoons while we got ready for dinner. We were told they were no longer "allowed" to get that for us and returned with 4 glasses of ice water. Not sure what thats all about....:confused:

[Heidils]

I did a search on this and it appears that we are allowed to bring non-perishable snacks with us on board. That would include a bag of Giradelli! ;)

 

Also I like the idea of saving the towel animal, (if you really like them) and reusing them.

 

Like having a room mascot. :)

[Marie51]

Diamond Breakfast only one morning? Did you have a lot of port days?

 

We had 3 port days and I only noticed one Diamond breakfast in the Compass all week and it was at 9:30..............too late for us to eat breakfast.

As far as ice there was a sign in the cabin that ice is avaliable on request. I asked our cabin attendant to bring me ice twice a day and she brought a bucket of ice morning and evening with 2 glasses.

Cruise was wonderful.

[UCF_Knight]

We took our (then) 4 and 2 year old girls on Liberty back in 2010. Our 4 year old had really been looking forward to the chocolates on her pillow every night. The stateroom attendant told us at the time that chocolates had been discontinued except for suites. My 4 year old asked him very nicely with her best puppy dog eyes, and he got permission from his supervisor to bring us some. He gave us chocolates every night for the remainder of the cruise.

 

We're taking the girls on Freedom in a few months, and they will be very sad if they don't get their towel animals every night. While on Liberty, they were always so anxious to check back in our room after the nightly show to see what kind of animal we were getting that day.

[Jman1118]

We did not even get chocolate on the Liberty of the seas and I was very happy to see it on the Allure.

[Aquahound]

No towel animals or chocolates? I would never even notice this stuff if not for Cruise Critic posts.

[Sunebeach]

Chocolates? WHAT chocolates??? I've cruised a few times all 7 day cruises and have NEVER seen chocolates...oh, well then I guess I can't miss them now can I?

 

I will miss my towel critters though...and I do re-use the towels from them...so they don't get re-laundered. But I also understand the whole emphasis on 'save the waves'...

[Langley Cruisers]

They discontinued the chocolates back in 2009.

 

Yes, this is nothing new.

.

.

[smoosh21]

The Chocolates were never of a good quality, so I really don't care that they are gone. If they are going to keep putting chocolates on the pillow, I would rather that they raise the cost of a cruise by $10 pp for the week and put down some quality ones. (Yes, I am a chocolate snob).

 

On our recent Celebrity Xpedition cruise, they put down some very good Republic del Cacoa single origin chocolates every night. These were worth it :)

[spookwife]

Frankly I could care less about the towels.. its the same 3 or 4 designs every time. booooring. plus I hate it when the cabin steward takes my sunglasses and uses them to cutesify the elephant/monkey and I have a panic attack looking for them until my husband points out the thing hanging from the ceiling.

 

as for the choccie.. I lurve me some ghiardelli and I will gladly eat what DH doesn't.. but I won't be heartbroken if I don't get them every night. I can always get chocolate covered strawberries in the CL.....

 

I'd rather the attendant have the time to breathe between bouts of cleaning and turn down service. if he ain't exhausted, he won't miss the little things like me having run out of shampoo.

[CruisinCrow]

I won't miss the chocolate or the towel animals. But tell me it isn't true that they got rid of the escargot!! :(

[grand isle joe]

I won't miss the chocolate or the towel animals. But tell me it isn't true that they got rid of the escargot!! :(

 

 

....all I do is ask for a bowl of melted butter with garlic and ....whellah....RCI's escargot......D.I.Y.....and tastes the same....;)

[BGCruiser85]

I know everyone is probably making tongue-in-cheek comments, but for those of us who can only cruise once in awhile, these tiny parts of the cruise do mean a lot! They are those little extra surprises that make the cruise that much more fun and unique way to spend a holiday.

 

I'll miss them both :(

 

Count me in the disappointed group. As someone that doesn't cruise multiple times per year, this is one of those little things my wife and I look forward to. It's not the end of the world and wouldn't make me abandon RCI, but it's yet another thing to add to the list. I have to say that once the list reaches a certiain point, I'll have to seriously look elsewhere to spend my cruising $$$s.

[lovetotravel700001]

We so did that once and I'm not even kidding! He laughed. :D

.

.

 

I did look up some instructions, I wanted to be funny. I am still working on my peacock, but it is not pretty.

 

 

I definitely do not need towel animals or chocolates and I wish there was an optout form too so those poor people don't have to worry about special ways of making me happy. Just make sure the floor is vacuumed and the bathroom is clean, oh yeah, clean towels and sheets of course. As for the rest, I can amuse myself.

[shorbr]

I'm in the "I don't care about towel animals or chocolates" camp.

 

They are cute, but I don't care either.

[DonnaK]

I won't miss the chocolate or the towel animals. But tell me it isn't true that they got rid of the escargot!! :(

 

 

Unfortunately, there is a worldwide shortage of escargot, and even land based restaurants are affected. Google "escargot shortage" for more info.